I’m ex-police. Banning Palestine marches is wrong
JVL Introduction
Nailah Sharif spent 13 years in the Met Police and she is clear that the danger to people’s safety is from the march planned by Yaxley Lennon (Tommy Robinson) and not the Palestine marches. She questions the double standards and the lack of even a public briefing from the Chief of the Met police about Robinson’s rally on the same day as the planned Nakba march (which is only the second national march this year).
Ms Sharif is highly critical of the Met police and Commissioner Rowley who has claimed, for example, that the organisers want to take Palestinian marches close to synagogues. She is also highly critical of the evidence free assertion that the marches cause rises in antisemitism.
She also references the important and damning 2023 Casey Review that found the Met police relationship with the people of London to be fragile. The needs and experiences of Muslim people are too often sidelined, hence allowing the real hate march where speakers incited hatred of Muslims. We all need and deserve better.
LL
This article was originally published by Declassified on Thu 7 May 2026. Read the original here.
I’m ex-police. Banning Palestine marches is wrong
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It would be interesting to know who guides the Met’s thinking. I have marched with pro-Palestinian groups in a number of English cities and every one of them has been as Nailah Sharif describes in her article above.
I too have attended the pro Palestine marches where I have met holocaust survivors and jews, all the marches have been good natured and I have never seen any sign of trouble.
This “Tribune” article argues that Met Police Commissioner Rowley’s involvement with a particular (pro-Israel, Zionist) faction is so active and overt as to be incompatible with his job – see https://tribunemag.co.uk/2026/05/mark-rowleys-right-wing-crusade.