The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) organization has demanded that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill KC, “immediately explain this decision or resign” and is exploring its legal options after the Jewish Chronicle reported the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had dropped all charges against the remaining suspects in a notorious convoy that drove through London last May.
As fighting flared in Gaza, a convoy waving the flag of the Palestinian Authority set off from the north of England, heading into London. Men in one of the cars shouted from a megaphone: “F*** the Jews…f*** all of them. F*** their mothers, f*** their daughters, and show your support for Palestine.”
The speaker went on to call listeners to “Rape their [the Jews’] daughters”. The incident took place a very short distance from a synagogue and was condemned at the time by Britain’s Prime Minister and Home Secretary.
The car was part of a convoy of some 200 cars displaying Palestinian Authority flags which started in Bradford, passing through Sheffield and Leicester down the M1 motorway before veering into Hendon and Golders Green, two North London neighborhoods with large Jewish populations.
According to witnesses, convoy participants shouted abuse at Jewish passersby, including “Free Palestine! Go back to Poland”.
The news of the dropped charges against Mohammed Iftikhar Hanif, 27, and Jawaad Hussain, 24, comes four months after an announcement in July by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that it had dropped charges against Asif Ali, 25, and Adil Mota, 26, who had also until then been suspected of being involved.
This now means that all charges against the four original suspects have been dropped.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said, “The Director of Public Prosecutions must immediately explain this decision or resign. If the CPS is incapable of bringing to justice the people who drove through London in broad daylight on camera calling for the rape of Jewish women and girls, then it has reached the absolute pinnacle of pointlessness.
“This was a crime that sent Jewish families running in fear and caused the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to demand action. Britain’s Jews are facing surging hatred and are crying out for justice. We are exploring whether we can bring a private prosecution, and we are also considering whether we could bring a judicial review against the CPS.
“It shames our country that our criminal justice system has yet again left Britain’s Jews to fend for themselves.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of more than five hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than five times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.
