Anti-Israel activists held a demonstration outside a London synagogue on Sunday night to protest an Israeli immigration event.
Groups led by Jewish Anti-Zionist Action (JAZA) and Palestine Pulse rallied outside the St. John’s Wood United Synagogue against a World Zionist Organization Aliyah Day, asserting that the event was facilitating the genocide of Palestinians and colonization of their land.
Activists projected “Jews for Palestine” and “Stolen lands sold here” onto the synagogue facade, according to JAZA – though the WZO event description related only to immigration aid and advice. Banners unfurled across the synagogue just outside a police restricted area, proclaiming that anti-Zionism did not equal antisemitism.
“We don’t want no two states, Palestine ‘48,” masked activists chanted as seen in videos posted on social media by Labor Against Antisemitism director Alex Hearn. “From the river to the sea, Zionism is f**king treif (unkosher).”
Hearn wrote on X/Twitter that he was told by an activist to “go away, Zio.” Another masked activist complained to an officer that “they wanted to kill children and stand there like they’re f**king victims” and that others should listen instead to the anti-Zionist “real Jews.”
Pro-Israel protesters counter-demonstrate outside London synagogue
A counter-protest was organized by Stop The Hate UK, aiming to challenge what it saw as intimidation of the local Jewish community. Pro-Israel activists stood outside the restricted area with Israeli and Union Jack flags.
JAZA claimed in a statement that their protests received antisemitic and racist abuse from pro-Israel counterprotesters.
London’s Metropolitan Police said that it had arrested two people at the demonstrations, one for a suspected racially aggravated public order offense – and the other for failing to comply with the conditions that it placed on the synagogue’s vicinity. Demonstrators were told that they couldn’t protest in the synagogue’s area, and the Met claimed that most left when informed of the condition.
“There is no legal mechanism to ban the protest from taking place; however, we have used Public Order Act conditions to prevent disorder and disruption,” the Met announced on Sunday.
The United Synagogue said that the event concluded safely, but synagogue president Saul Taylor said in a statement that “It cannot be that in modern Britain it is seen as acceptable to protest outside a place of worship and beam hateful messages where Jews come together to pray and to attend community events.”
“I call on those demonstrating to think again about the appropriateness of targeting our buildings and Jews who simply want to attend a synagogue and Jewish community center,” Taylor continued.
He called on Jewish supporters to attend synagogue services, social events, or volunteer in response to the targeting of the house of worship.
Staff at WZO, the organizer of Aliyah Day – featuring information stands, lectures from aliyah experts, and immigrants’ firsthand stories – told The Jerusalem Post that it would not be deterred by such protests.
“Zionism was never a project built out of convenience; it grew out of a deep belief in the right of the Jewish people to a national home and the freedom to choose to live in the State of Israel,” WZO UK and EU’s Matan Bar-Noy said on Monday.
“No protest or pressure will be able to prevent us from continuing to encourage immigration, strengthening the connection between Diaspora Jewry and Israel, and opening the door to every Jew who dreams of creating their future in the land of Israel. We stand tall, out of love for the people and the country, and continue the significant work that enables Jews from around the world to realize the Zionist dream.”
JAZA said in a statement that it didn’t wish to protest outside a synagogue, but while it was “heartbreaking” to do so, it was “unacceptable that two years into the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” the synagogue was “hosting an event supported by and supportive of the Israeli regime.”
The organization rejected the concept of aliyah, casting it as “colonial and racist” and stating that “Jews are a diverse community who should feel at home wherever they live.”
“Palestine always has and always will belong to the Palestinians,” JAZA said.
Campaign Against Antisemitism and Stop the Hate criticized the police for failing to protect Jewish institutions. Stop the Hate argued that the Met had created restrictions to prevent political demonstrations such as UKIP’s late October Tower Hamlets protest, but declined to apply the same measures against synagogue demonstrators.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said ahead of the protest that it was “absolutely unacceptable.”
“It is clear that the ugly, extremist, and antisemitic face of part of the global pro-Palestine movement, determined to wreck cohesion and spread hate and chaos on our streets, has gone unchecked for too long,” Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg said in a statement.
“There is a space for protest, but the boundaries have been continually pushed. It is time to ensure a better balance between freedom of speech and civic responsibility. That includes not protesting outside sacred places of worship.”
Rosenberg noted that the Home Office had announced on November 15 that it would be reviewing existing public order and crime legislation amid concerns about political violence and racial riots. He also noted that the London synagogue was the second in five days to be protested for aliyah events, with a Nefesh b’Nefesh Park East Synagogue event protested by the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation Al-Awda in New York City and New Jersey (PAL-Awda NY/NJ).
Another WZO aliyah event was set to be held on Monday evening.
“Nothing will stop us,” said Bar-Noy. “We will continue to hold events, develop programs, and lead aliyah – now and in the future.”