Several MPs and more than 40 Holocaust survivors and descendents have written to the Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, and to the prime minister Keir Starmer, calling on them to retract statements linking recent attacks on Jewish communities with the Palestine movement.
More than 30 MPs and four members of the House of Lords signed Jeremy Corbyn’s call for the Met chief to withdraw the baseless claims, which they say is ‘maligning a mass movement’.
The letter states:
“At no point have the organisers ever ‘set out with an intent to march near synagogues’ or actively sought to ‘walk by’ a synagogue on any of the marches.
“It is totally unacceptable for a Commissioner to make these baseless claims, which malign a mass movement standing up for peace and humanity.”
Corbyn claimed the Met’s words were contributing “to a climate of division, distrust and fear” and added: “Our marches bring together people of all faiths and none; including thousands of Jewish people.”
Commenting on his X account, he pointed out that: “Our government is still supplying arms to Israel as it continues to bomb, starve & dispossess the Palestinian people.
“That is why thousands of us continue to demonstrate — and that is why we reject disgraceful attempts to malign our movement for peace.”
Holocaust survivors and descendants
In a separate letter this week, more than 40 British survivors and descendants of survivors of the Holocaust wrote an open letter to the prime minister, copied to the home secretary Shabana Mahmood MP and to the Met commissioner.
The letter criticised statements by Starmer and others that link recent attacks on Jewish persons and property to pro-Palestine marches. It deplored the instrumentalisation of Jewish safety in order to further repress freedom of speech, protest and assembly.
It called on the Prime Minister to promote Jewish safety constructively by publicly acknowledging that Israel is not acting on behalf of all Jews and that its crimes are condemned by many Jewish people in Britain and around the world.
Letter in full:
Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA
12 May 2026
Copy to:
Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department
Sir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to you as Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors of the Holocaust.
We have noted that you have expressed support for the banning of pro-Palestine marches and protests following the recent attacks on Jewish people and property. Your statements have given the impression that you agree with those who call these marches “hate marches” and who claim that they are a source of antisemitism and an incitement to violence against Jews.
The Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner have made similar statements and we are copying this letter to them.
While we condemn the attacks that have taken place against Jewish people and property, we reject the notion that these attacks result from demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people and in protest against the crimes of the Israeli government and its armed forces.
We and numerous other Holocaust survivor descendants have participated in almost every one of the national marches for Palestine. We have stood under the banner “Holocaust Survivor Descendants against Gaza Genocide” and we have individually worn placards that clearly identified us as Holocaust survivors or descendants of Survivors.
Never once have we experienced the slightest hostility from the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who have marched past us. On the contrary, just like the thousand or more Jews who march as part of the Jewish Bloc, we have been shown nothing but solidarity and even poignant displays of affection.
The only hostility we have experienced has been from the small but over-amplified pro-Israel counter-demonstrations, whose participants have clearly resented our presence.
Yet their offensive and even racist language has largely been without consequence. We therefore strongly oppose any attempt to instrumentalise the attacks on Jewish people in order to further restrict the right to protest, in particular in relation to Palestine.
Not only would this be a further assault on all our freedoms, but it could also lead to resentment against Jews if it appears that this repression is happening because of a disingenuous and opportunistic exploitation of concerns for Jewish safety and prioritising this over the safety of other groups who also suffer violent attacks.
The Jewish community is not one homogeneous bloc. Many Jews, including those in our group, condemn Israel’s crimes in Gaza and elsewhere. We resent that you should even consider preventing us from expressing that condemnation, even as Jews and as Holocaust survivors and descendants of Holocaust survivors.
There is a real danger that the anger caused by Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people and others in the region leads in some cases to wholly inexcusable attacks on Jewish people in the UK. If you genuinely wish to reduce the danger of this occurring, then further restricting the right to protest against these crimes is not the answer.
Instead, we urge you to publicly acknowledge that Israel is not acting on behalf of all Jews and that its crimes are condemned by many Jewish people in Britain and around the world.
Yours sincerely,
Holocaust Survivors
Doctor Agnes Kory, Child survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary
Stephen Kapos, Child survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary
And descendants of Holocaust Survivors