By: Fern Sidman

A Jewish lawyer was arrested in central London after police accused him of “antagonizing” pro-Palestinian demonstrators by wearing a Star of David, a case that has ignited outrage across Britain’s Jewish community and raised fresh questions about the Metropolitan Police’s handling of antisemitism during anti-Israel protests. The incident, first reported by The Telegraph of the UK and covered on Sunday by Israel National News (INN), has come to symbolize what critics describe as a disturbing erosion of Jewish civil liberties in the United Kingdom.

The 40-something attorney, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, was detained on August 29 outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington, where a large pro-Palestinian Arab rally was taking place. Acting as an independent legal observer to monitor the protest for unlawful conduct and police response, he instead found himself handcuffed, placed in a police van, and held for nearly 10 hours at Hammersmith Police Station before being released at 4:30 a.m.

Footage reviewed by The Telegraph shows a senior officer accusing the man of “openly wearing a Star of David in a manner that could cause offense” — a claim that has since drawn condemnation from Jewish organizations and Israeli officials alike. The lawyer was wearing a small gold Magen David pendant around his neck, visible over his shirt.

According to the information provided in the Israel National News report, the man remains on police bail more than six weeks later, facing investigation under the Public Order Act. “It is outrageous that police should claim wearing a Star of David somehow antagonizes people,” he told reporters. “When it was first raised in the police interview, it rang alarm bells for me immediately. Police crossed the line.”

He continued: “They are trying to criminalize the wearing of a Star of David. They said I was antagonizing and agitating pro-Palestine protesters with my Star of David. In an environment of antisemitism, I will not be cowed by this. I will carry on wearing it.”

The Metropolitan Police have pushed back against claims that the arrest was antisemitic, insisting it was not based on the man’s religious identity or his wearing of the Jewish symbol. A police spokesperson told The Telegraph that the attorney “repeatedly breached” an order meant to keep opposing demonstrators separated and that he “moved beyond observing to provoking.”

According to the Met’s statement, officers on the scene had reason to believe the lawyer’s actions risked escalating tensions near the embassy, where protesters had been chanting anti-Israel slogans and waving Palestinian flags. “The individual was repeatedly warned not to approach the main body of the protest,” police said. “When he continued to do so, he was arrested for breaching a Section 14 order under the Public Order Act.”

But the Israel National News report noted that this defense has failed to quell criticism from both Jewish advocacy groups and civil rights lawyers, who argue that the arrest reflects a dangerous precedent — one where Jewish identity itself is treated as a provocation.

“This is one of the clearest examples of two-tier policing you will ever see,” the lawyer told INN after his release. “Police are arguing that wearing a Star of David is antagonizing to protesters, while we have seen all manner of antisemitic slogans on placards and shouted at Jews that have gone unpunished.”

He also said he was personally targeted with verbal abuse before and during the protest, including being called a “Zionist baby killer.” Despite witnessing what he said were “dozens of criminal acts” — including incitement, hate speech, and vandalism — no arrests were made for those offenses, he claimed.

The case has struck a nerve across Britain’s Jewish community, many of whom see the arrest as emblematic of what they describe as a pattern of police leniency toward antisemitic demonstrators and excessive scrutiny of Jews and pro-Israel voices.

As Israel National News reported, Jewish organizations have been documenting repeated instances of what they term “two-tier policing” — where pro-Palestinian marchers are permitted to chant “From the river to the sea” and display terror-affiliated flags, while Jewish individuals displaying Israeli or Jewish symbols are told to hide them for “their own safety.”

The arrested lawyer’s account adds weight to those concerns. He told INN that he had “documented around 30 incidents of criminal behavior” during the August 29 protest — including calls for jihad and chants glorifying Hamas — yet none resulted in prosecution. “Instead,” he said, “the only person arrested was the one wearing a Jewish symbol.”

A prominent Jewish barrister quoted in the Israel National News report called the incident “a chilling moment for British Jewry,” adding, “If police now view the Star of David as a provocation, then Jews are being told that their identity itself is an act of aggression.”

The backlash has not been limited to Britain. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the arrest in strong terms, telling Israel National News that it represents “a moral disgrace.”

“The Star of David is a symbol of Jewish identity, not provocation,” Sa’ar said. “The fact that Jews are warned in central London not to display it publicly shows how rampant antisemitism spread through hateful ‘pro-Palestinian’ marches in Britain has poisoned the streets.”

He urged the British government to ban antisemitic slogans and review police conduct, saying, “British authorities must act decisively to restore public order and ensure Jewish citizens can live without fear or humiliation.”

Sa’ar’s comments came amid growing alarm in Jerusalem over the surge of antisemitic incidents across Europe since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in Israel, which left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 250 taken hostage. As INN reported, Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has been tracking a sharp rise in hate crimes and Jewish intimidation worldwide, particularly in major Western cities such as London, Paris, and New York.

Domestically, the arrest has reignited controversy over Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of anti-Israel marches, which have continued weekly since the start of the Gaza war.

Opposition MPs and Jewish community leaders have accused Starmer of failing to curb extremist demonstrations that glorify terror groups and intimidate Jewish citizens. The Israel National News report noted that the anger intensified after two Jewish worshippers were murdered on Yom Kippur in Manchester, yet pro-Palestinian marches were still permitted to proceed unimpeded that weekend.

Former Conservative minister Robert Jenrick said the latest arrest “confirms that London’s policing has lost its moral compass.” He told reporters, “The message seems to be that chanting support for Hamas is tolerated, but wearing a Star of David is not. That is utterly shameful.”

Meanwhile, the Board of Deputies of British Jews issued a statement urging the Metropolitan Police to issue a public apology and launch an independent review of the incident. “The Star of David is a sacred symbol of faith and identity,” the statement said. “Any suggestion that it could be construed as ‘antagonistic’ has no place in a democratic society.”

For many British Jews, the arrest is not merely an isolated act of overreach but part of a larger societal shift in which Jewish visibility has become increasingly fraught. Synagogues across London have hired private security, Jewish schools are under police protection, and families report being advised not to wear Hebrew jewelry or Israeli flags in public.

“This is how intimidation works,” said one North London rabbi interviewed by Israel National News. “You tell Jews their symbols are dangerous, that they must hide their identity for safety. It’s an inversion of morality — the victims of hate are treated as the source of the provocation.”

The rabbi added that the notion of a Jew being arrested for wearing a Star of David “would have been unthinkable a decade ago” in the United Kingdom, but “is now entirely plausible in the climate created by these pro-Hamas demonstrations.”

The controversy has drawn comparisons to previous policing scandals involving antisemitic bias. Analysts cited in the Israel National News report warn that the Metropolitan Police, already under scrutiny for internal misconduct and declining public trust, may be on the verge of another reputational crisis if it fails to confront what critics describe as systemic double standards.

The case also draws attention to the increasingly blurred line between anti-Israel activism and open antisemitism in Britain’s public sphere — a distinction that many Jewish observers say has been deliberately eroded.

As one columnist for Israel National News wrote, “The message this arrest sends is unmistakable: Jewish identity, when visible, is treated as a political statement. That is not policing neutrality; it is moral surrender.”

For the unnamed Jewish lawyer at the center of the storm, the issue remains deeply personal. “I will not be cowed by this,” he told INN. “The Star of David is who I am. If I can be arrested for wearing it in London, then something is profoundly broken in this country.”

His words echo a sentiment now reverberating far beyond Britain — that in a time of rising hatred, the simple act of wearing a Jewish symbol has once again become an act of courage.

As the Israel National News report observed, “What began as a police misunderstanding has become a test of democratic values — of whether London remains a city where Jews can walk freely under their own flag, or whether the Star of David itself has become, in the eyes of authority, a provocation.”