Revealed: Man threatened with arrest by police for 'breaching the peace' by being 'quite openly Jewish' near Gaza march is chief executive of leading Jewish group - as he calls for mass demo in response

A man who was threatened with arrest by a Metropolitan Police officer after trying to cross the road at a pro-Palestine march is the chief executive of a leading Jewish group.

Gideon Falter, who is the CEO of Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), was pulled aside by an officer who said he was 'breaching the peace' because he was 'quite openly Jewish'.

Video of the confrontation, which was shared online, has sparked a furious response with the Met being branded 'beyond appalling' for the incident, which took place as Mr Falter tried to walk around London after going to a synagogue last Saturday.

In the incident, which took place in the Aldwych area of the capital, Mr Falter was told his presence was 'antagonising a large group of people'. The Met Police said it was aware of the video and 'fully acknowledge the worry it has caused'.

The CAA has called for a mass demonstration tomorrow in response, saying 'enough is enough' and that people need to 'stand up for the tolerance and decency of which this country is so rightly proud, simply by going for a walk'.

In a video shared by CAA from Saturday's march, Mr Falter - who was wearing a kippah on his head - was seen telling the officer: 'I don't want to stay here, I want to leave.' 

The officer then replies: 'In that case sir, when the crowd is gone I will happily escort you out.' 

After the defiant man attempts to walk across the road in the Aldwych area, the officer blocks him and says: 'I don't want anybody antagonising anybody... and at the moment sir, you are quite openly Jewish. This is a pro-Palestinian march. 

'I am not accusing you of anything but I am worried about the reaction to your presence.'

Later on in the video, another officer says: 'There's a unit of people here now. You will be escorted out of this area so you can go about your business, go where you want freely or if you choose to remain here because you are causing a breach of peace, with all these other people, you will be arrested.'

He clarifies: 'Your presence here is antagonising a large group of people that we can't deal with all of them if they attack you... because your presence is antagonising them.'

Mr Falter has been the head of Campaign Against Antisemitism since 2014 and is also vice chairman of the Jewish National Fund UK, a charity which supports 'Zionist pioneers' in Israel.

He was named as one of the 'top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life' by the Algemeiner Journal, a US-based newspaper which coves Jewish and Israel-related issues.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has described him as a 'Jewish hero who proves that there are still powerful ways to leverage democratic rules to serve justice and protect Jewish community'. 

Speaking afterwards, Mr Falter said: 'For months we have been told that when anti-Israel protests course through London it's perfectly safe for Jews.

'Notwithstanding the antisemitic placards, the genocidal slogans, the glorification of Hamas, the Islamist flags, the swastikas, notwithstanding all of that, it's still safe to be openly Jewish on the streets of London during these anti-Israel protests. That's what we're told and yet that's not true in practice.'

Mr Falter said he was not criticising the officers who he spoke to on Saturday, as they are 'put in impossible positions week in, week out'. 

He said: 'They're being asked to police huge protests with few officers where there's all sorts of criminality on display from racism to glorification of terrorism, and even violence.'

He added: 'It has been six months now where every single weekend we have to witness the streets of London awash with people, many of whom seem to have no problem at all declaring their full-throated support for Hamas, waving around antisemitic placards, calling for jihad, showing swastikas, waving antisemitic flags. It's enough.

'I'm asking you to join us, whether you're Jewish or not. The next march is on April 27, it's a Saturday. Take a walk with us, the Jewish community, and show that we are not going to be put in a box or told where to go by the Met. 

'That if these marches are truly safe then we will walk wherever we want as Londoners who are free in our home city and if we want to wear a kippah that is exactly what we will do.'

The video has sparked another backlash for the Met who have been accused of failing to make London safe for Jews. Robert Largan, the MP for High Peak, Derbyshire, shared the video and wrote: 'This is beyond appalling'.

Another clip from the protest was also shared of a second officer telling the Mr Falter: 'I am trying to make sure you are safe and that no one attacks you or your group or anyone else, that's all.

The Jewish man, who asks him why there is no-one surrounding any of the pro-Palestine protesters, adds: 'I'd like that too but your sergeant here has told me that because I'm Jewish, it's antagonistic to the crowd and it's dangerous for me.'

The officer replies: 'I'm not saying that.'

But the man interrupts, saying: 'But he's just said that. Do you have any idea what it's like being a Jew in London at the moment?'

When the officer says no, he adds: 'Let me tell you, this goes on every Saturday, you probably know it, your colleagues know it. You guys are on the front line. The route changes every single week, you never have any idea where it's going to be. 

'Because you're Jewish in London, you now have to cross these huge groups of people. It's intimidating enough and now look at the number of police that are around her... I'm just a Jew in London trying to cross the road.

'I've been told repeatedly by the Met that these are completely safe for Jews, that I should have nothing to worry about and yet here I find myself in this bubble. This guy has just been shouting at me and shoving me because I want to cross the road.'

Campaign Against Antisemitism also shared shocking footage from the march of protesters shouting 'scum' at the Jewish man. Another pro-Palestine protester was heard shouting 'Nazi' in front of an officer. 

A third protester told Mr Falter: 'I'm watching your movement... that's right. We're all going to watch your movements and record you. The police ain't gonna help you in this scenario.'

Mr Falter said: 'After months of being gaslit by the Met, it's not safe for Jews to be walking in the presence of these protests.  And was there anything so crazy about what we were trying to do? Just walking around our home city on a Saturday.'

He added: 'Is this something that we are willing to accept? That now the police have to keep Jews away. We mustn't accept it.'

The Met Police arrested nine people at Saturday's march for public order offences. It came hours before Iran launched an unprecedented Iranian strike on Israel that has raised fears of the war in the Middle East escalating.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'We are aware of this video and fully acknowledge the worry it has caused, not only to those featured, but also anyone who watches it, and will review the circumstances.

'We have always said that we recognise the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to be an issue of concern for many Londoners, and this includes the regular protests and marches in central London.

'Everyone has the right to travel throughout the capital in safety.

'We will meet with anyone who wishes to organise a march or protest ahead of 27 April.'

At another protest last month, an officer told a Jewish woman that swastikas 'need to be taken into context' when she reported seeing the Nazi logo on posters at a pro-Palestine march. 

At the time, Jocelin Weiss, 30, told MailOnline: 'I think there's a problem with a lack of basic education for this police force.'

Campaign groups have condemned the Met for the spike in anti-Semitism.

A poster of a baby kidnapped by Hamas was defaced with two swastikas in an incident in London at the end of last year, including a swastika drawn on the infant's forehead.

And in October a synagogue in Sussex was daubed with 'SS IDF' in red paint, with 'SS' depicted as the emblem of the Nazi's genocidal elite guard, and 'IDF' referring to the Israeli Defence Forces.