Footage showing Jewish attendees being verbally abused at London’s Pride march has prompted a Metropolitan Police investigation, despite around 650 officers being deployed to the event amid pledges of “no tolerance of hate crime.”
The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into antisemitic abuse filmed at London’s Pride march after clips shared online showed Jewish attendees being told to “go back to your Zionist homeland” and accused of killing children in Gaza. The footage, which emerged from Saturday’s event in Soho, showed confrontations that began with chants of “Free Palestine” and escalated into abuse directed at individuals identified as Jewish. Officers were visible nearby as the incidents unfolded, though no arrests were made at the time.
What the Footage Shows
According to Scotland Yard, the clips depict Jewish revellers being told to “go back to your Zionist homeland” and that “you kill Arab children, you kill gay children,” in reference to the war in Gaza. In one clip, a woman is heard shouting an expletive alongside the word “Jew” during one of the confrontations. At least two police officers were visible in the street as events unfolded, but no arrests were made for racist or religious abuse at the scene.
The Met has confirmed a formal review is underway, with officers examining multiple videos circulating online to establish whether criminal offences were committed, including religiously aggravated public order offences or hate crimes, according to a police statement. A force spokesperson said: “We are aware of videos circulating online that show verbal abuse directed towards attendees at the Pride in London event. Officers are currently reviewing footage to assess and investigate.”
A Heavily Policed but Enormous Event
The Metropolitan Police had deployed around 650 officers across central London for Saturday’s parade, telling The Independent beforehand that there would be “no tolerance of hate crime” during the celebrations. The scale of the event was considerable: organisers said the parade featured more than 35,000 participants from over 600 groups, with more than one million spectators expected to line the route through central London, according to The Independent.
Jewish Groups Respond
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has called for those responsible for the abuse to be identified and “punished.” A spokesperson for the organisation told The Telegraph: “The transition from ‘free Palestine’ to ‘f*** Jews’ is usually silent. This incident shows it loudly and explicitly.” The group added: “Jewish people have given up expecting to be included in so-called inclusive movements, but they should still be entitled to the same protections under the law as everybody else.” Separately, Jewish community organisations have said the footage should be treated as alleged hate crime, arguing it crosses the line from political protest into antisemitic abuse.
Some Jewish groups had already opted out of this year’s parade. The Jewish LGBTQ+ charity KeshetUK and the West London Synagogue chose not to take part, saying some of their members no longer felt safe attending, and organised a separate Pride event for the community instead, according to the Jewish Post and News. This came despite Pride in London having publicly condemned antisemitism ahead of the event, with organisers saying they stood against rising hatred towards both Jewish and Muslim communities and that all attendees should be able to take part safely regardless of background, the Jewish Post and News reported.
Part of a Wider Rise in Antisemitic Incidents
Saturday’s events add to a broader pattern of antisemitic incidents recorded across London this year, including the attempted murder of two men in Golders Green earlier in the year. Some 140 antisemitic incidents were logged across the capital in April, up from 98 in March and 67 in February — the highest monthly figure since the Metropolitan Police changed its method of recording hate crimes in March 2024.
The borough of Barnet, which includes Golders Green, Hendon and Finchley — areas with large Jewish populations — recorded the highest number of incidents, accounting for 51 of the 140 logged in April, or 36 per cent of the total. The month also saw attempted arson attacks at Finchley Reform Synagogue on 15 April and at the former premises of a Jewish charity in Hendon on 18 April, along with an attack on a memorial wall in Golders Green on 28 April.
Separate data using the Met’s previous method of recording hate crimes showed a sharp spike in antisemitic offences following the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel conflict in October 2023, with cases rising from 61 in September that year to 518 in October and 411 in November. In response, the Met set up a dedicated 100-officer “community protection team” to tackle anti-Jewish hate crime, though it is understood the unit would need to triple in size, at an estimated cost of £35 million a year, to meet current demand. A Met spokesman said: “The Met continues to work hard to tackle hate crimes of all types, and officers across London have made more than 90 hate crime arrests since the end of March.”
