Sales of stolen land –what were the police doing?
JVL Introduction
This is a follow up to the Sale of Greater Israel stolen lands held last week at Edgware United synagogue, a protest at the appalling policing of the event.
Please go to this page where the display is clearer. There you can read some accounts as to what happened and send off a number of model protest letters: to the Mayor of London and Mopac (the body that holds the Met to account)), to the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct), to the EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) and to your MP.
See also our earlier report Stolen land sale – “The Greater Israel Real Estate Event”
That a place of worship should allow itself to host the sale of stolen lands and for the Board of Deputies of British Jews then to demand protection for it because it is a place of worship beggars belief,
What exactly was being worshipped on this occasion?
26 testimonies. Who protected the protesters?
They were assaulted at a peaceful protest in Edgware. Demand an independent review of how the police handled the day, in one click. If you were there, prepare your own crime report and complaint too.
What the demonstrators reported
26 protesters told us what happened. This is what the police did not stop.
Survey of 26 demonstrators, 17 to 20 June 2026, corroborated by video footage and medical records held by the organisers. Reported, not yet adjudicated.
- 69% feared for their life during the attack
- 27% of attacks were stopped by police, although officers witnessed almost half
- 73% did not report it: they did not believe police would act
- 50% were attacked before they even reached the protest
- 100% say the attack was politically motivated
- 92% were targeted as a group, not as individuals
One documented case
A demonstrator was punched, kicked and pushed by three people on the way to the protest, suffering a fractured nose, a black eye and deep scratches treated at A&E, and had their bank cards taken by force. Police at the scene said they were short-staffed, said they could not arrest anyone, and called an ambulance only after a delay.
Demonstrators reported being called a “terrorist supporter”, alongside antisemitic abuse and slurs mixing political and religious hate. 65% believed the attack was racially motivated, 69% religiously, and 42% that they were targeted over their gender.
Under section 2 of the Public Order Act 1986, three or more people using or threatening violence so that others fear for their safety is violent disorder, punishable by up to five years in prison. Not simple assault. This campaign asks that it be investigated as what it is.
How the police failed
The first twenty minutes, minute by minute.
From a timeline compiled by demonstrators on the day, corroborated by footage held by the organisers. Reported, not yet adjudicated; the named detail is held for investigators.
The first officers reached the scene about seven minutes after the first attack.
Only three to four officers at first. Reinforcements took several more minutes.
Officers formed a barrier and held it, but did not engage the crowd attacking demonstrators.
An assailant demonstrators had identified attacking two people at 11:15 was still free at 11:19.
A demonstrator was assaulted twice while officers were nearby.
A steward who tried to reclaim a banner stolen from the group was arrested, while the identified assailants were not.
Timeline
- 11:08. Protesters arrive by bus into a heavy counter-protest presence.
- 11:13. First attack: the group is set upon. No police present.
- 11:15. Second attack: the group is kettled and two demonstrators are assaulted.
- 11:16. Police arrive, three to four officers. They form a barrier and do not intervene.
- 11:19. An identified assailant is still free.
- 11:36. A demonstrator is assaulted twice nearby; a steward is arrested for reclaiming a stolen banner.
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Add your details and UK postcode on this page. We email MOPAC, the IOPC and the EHRC, and send a letter to your own MP, for you. If you were at the protest, you can also tick the two ‘if you were there’ options: we prepare your crime report and IOPC complaint and open the official forms for you to submit yourself.
I wrote to my MP, Ellie Reeves, about it. In her concerned reply, she assured me the Department of Business and Trade has ‘strengthened’ its ‘advice’ to businesses not to trade land stolen from the occupied territories. As you know, the government has referred the Synagogue to Advertising Standards! I imagine they’re trembling.
I am not surprised, the Police has all the time to arrest peaceful protester that protest genocide. But, the Police doesn’t have the time to arrest the actual violent terrorists.
I don’t blame British Jews for the actions of Israel. However, the Brits (no necessarily Jews) that go out of their way in the protection of the terror State that Israel has become and engage in violent disorder against peaceful demonstrators, they are the terrorist and the police should have arrested them.
It is excellent that an openly Jewish group is denouncing these attacks. So that it becomes clear that no every British Jew support Israel’s land theft and terrorism.
What were the police doing during this obviously illegal sale of stolen land?
It seems that the police in attendance were enabling the illegality. Police are accustomed to deferring to the establishment, regardless of it being wrong.
The unholy scenes at the synagogue remind me of police in attendance at illegal animal hunting, where the police usually defer to organised hunters, because they are recognised as establishment, to let them enjoy their sport. Police still usually act against those monitoring this immoral illegal activity.
Thank you for posting this & making it so easy for us to lodge our outrage & disgust at this heinous activity & the fact the Police protect those engaged in such heinous commerce.. like vultures tearing apart the victim that is Palestine