PALESTINE campaigners have hit back at the Met Police chief, demanding he withdraw his “incomprehensible and defamatory” comments that alleged peace marches “feel like antisemitism.”

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign and protest co-organisers published an open letter today asking commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to walk back his “scurrilous claim of antisemitism” regarding national marches for Palestine.

Speaking in the wake of the Golders Green knife attack on two Jewish men last Wednesday, the police chief said proposed routes for this year’s demonstration commemorating the Nakba “involved walking by a synagogue.”

But campaigners explained in their letter that none of their proposals was to pass Jewish places of worship.

They added that after several months of back and forth with the force, the police “arbitrarily imposed” a shorter route.

The groups added that one of their route plans was denied after three months of waiting for a response, with the Met explaining that their plans would clash with an approved march organised by far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, which had been “granted the whole political centre in London.”

“The truth is that at no point have we ever requested to ‘walk by’ a synagogue on any of our marches,” the groups wrote. “We have no interest in doing so. Police recordings of our meetings with you will confirm this.

“It is completely unacceptable for a senior public official to make these false claims and accusations, which can only raise the level of tension in the current situation.

“We urge a speedy public retraction of your statement and the accompanying scurrilous claim of antisemitism.”

The Met Police said comments made by Sir Mark Rowley were not specific to the upcoming protest on Saturday 16 May and instead were “reflecting on the totality of the period of sustained protest since October 2023.”

A spokesperson said the commissioner referred to “the original proposals” which they claimed included routes “starting or ending in the vicinity of, or walking past, a synagogue.”

They said: “On 20 occasions the route or form up point has been changed to protect Jewish communities and sensitive premises from disruption and/or intimidation, either by the imposition of conditions or as a result of pre-event discussions between officers and organisers.”