London Mayor Sadiq Khan is facing criticism after activists said City Hall officials attempted to block a vigil in Parliament Square commemorating Jewish victims of the Bondi Beach Chanukah massacre in Australia, even as national authorities moved to toughen enforcement against antisemitic rhetoric amid rising security threats.

The vigil, organized Sunday by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), was intended to mark the second night of Hanukkah and honor the 15 people killed in the antisemitic terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. But CAA CEO Gideon Falter said officials from the Greater London Authority (GLA) arrived shortly before the event and told organizers they were not permitted to set up in Parliament Square.

“Officials from the Greater London Authority turned up with clipboards telling us that we are not allowed to set up on Parliament Square at all,” Falter said. He described the intervention as especially jarring given that Khan had earlier pledged to do “everything in his power” to keep London’s Jewish community safe and had called for heightened police protection for Chanukah events.

Falter said the Metropolitan Police closed the road adjacent to Parliament Square, forcing the gathering into a more constrained space. He added that holding the vigil on the square itself would have been safer and avoided traffic disruptions. According to Falter, City Hall cited concerns that the memorial was “too dark” to proceed.

“It’s pretty galling,” Falter said. “We’ve just seen the terrorist attack in Sydney, and now we’ve got the mayor of London — instead of solidarity — telling us, apparently, it’s too dark.”

Several politicians attended despite the disruption, including Reform UK leader Richard Tice, shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson, and another Conservative shadow minister. Falter also said organizers had been told to expect participation from Communities Secretary Steve Reed, but Reed’s office did not make contact until after the event began, apologizing and saying he had instead attended a separate Chanukah gathering for Jewish members of the Labour Party.

The reports prompted political backlash. MP Sarah Pochin wrote to Khan demanding clarification, citing what she described as a pattern in which pro-Palestinian demonstrations have repeatedly disrupted London while Jewish events face obstacles.

“At a time when London is regularly disrupted by protests organized by Palestinian activists, many of which appear to be condoned or inadequately challenged by authorities, you owe it to the Jewish community to provide clarity as to your position,” Pochin wrote, asking whether Khan had attempted to prevent the vigil.

The controversy unfolded against a backdrop of escalating concern over antisemitism in the United Kingdom following the Bondi Beach massacre and an attack on Yom Kippur at a shul in Manchester’s Heaton Park. Speaking in the House of Lords on Monday, Lord Wolfson said Jewish security discussions must move beyond physical fortifications.

“The debate around Jewish security needs to move away from higher walls around our synagogues and more guards outside our schools, and on to the root causes of why we need such security,” he said.

On Tuesday, Reed announced that the government would unveil a national antisemitism action plan within days. Speaking at a Jewish Labour Movement Chanukah reception, Reed said antisemitic intimidation would no longer be tolerated.

“Whether it’s in our universities, our schools, whether it’s marches and the appalling things that are said and written on banners, or places where people think it is appropriate to intimidate people simply because of their faith — it will no longer be tolerated,” he said.

A day later, Britain’s top police officials announced a significant policy shift. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Greater Manchester Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said police will now take enforcement action against protesters who chant or display the slogan “Globalize the intifada,” citing an “escalating threat context.”

“Those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action,” the officials said in a joint statement. “We will act decisively and make arrests.”

The move follows years of debate over whether the phrase met criminal thresholds. Prosecutors had previously advised police that it did not. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has since ordered a review of public order and hate crime laws.

Jewish leaders welcomed the announcement. Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, called it a “tougher and clearer approach” and urged consistent enforcement nationwide.

“This new, more robust approach may not have come soon enough for the victims in Manchester or Bondi Beach,” Rosenberg said, “but if this determination is replicated across public authorities and civil society, we stand a far better chance of protecting our community.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)