'It's wrong that anybody in this country has to live that way': Anti-terror boss says rise in anti-semitism 'incredibly worrying'
The Head of Counter Terrorism Policing told Andrew Marr it was both "interesting and incredibly worrying" that "antisemitism crosses into every part of our caseload."
The Head of Counter Terrorism Policing has shown sympathy for the UK's Jewish community amid a "significant rise" in antisemitism.
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Yesterday, the UK government imposed targeted sanctions and a trade ban on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis described it as a "dark day for British Jews".
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, the host asked Commissioner Taylor: "That takes me on to some of the antisemitic attacks we've seen this year.
"The Chief Rabbi said yesterday it was a dark day for Britain after the change of policy on the West Bank, and he is very concerned about fast-rising antisemitism.
"Is that your biggest concern at the moment in terms of ideologies on the rise?
Commissioner Taylor responded saying it was both "interesting and incredibly worrying" that "antisemitism crosses into every part of our caseload."
He explained: "Whether it's Islamist terrorism, whether it's extreme right-wing or extreme left-wing. That is a feature.
"We have seen a significant rise in antisemitism and completely understand why Jewish communities feel unsafe, and it's wrong that anybody in this country has to live that way."
Andrew then asked: "I hear a lot, which is that Palestine Action, whatever you think of them, they were labelled and designated as a terrorist group, and we saw all sorts of images of kind of elderly clergymen being kind of manhandled into police vans and the rest of it. Yet people who are appearing outside Dover in balaclavas and black coats are not.
"Do you think this has been an unfairness, as it were, in terms of how the far right and the disruptive left have been treated?
Commissioner Taylor answered: "Well, Palestine Action were proscribed as part of a process that is a well-used process working with government.
"It's a government decision and a policy decision. It's right that police then enforce the law. Now, individuals who are supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation, whether you agree with that proscription or not, are breaking the law. And it would be remiss of the police to stand by and allow people to break the law.
"Equally, when people are conducting protest, we have to take a proportionate approach, and if those protests cross a line or police feel it is appropriate to intervene, then they should and will do so."
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Ed Milband unveiled a package of sanctions against Israeli settlements as he insisted Britain could not "continue to stand by' the destruction of the West Bank.
In unison with France and Canada, Britain will ban goods produced in the illegal Israeli settlements
Announcing a major shift in the Government's stance, Mr Miliband accused the Israeli government of turning "a blind eye" to the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Benjamin Netanyahu's government has retaliated by announcing plans to close the UK's consulate in Jerusalem.
This evening, Donald Trump questioned the UK's timing of the ban on trade with illegal West Bank settlements.
The move, announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Tuesday, has triggered a diplomatic row with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and sparked domestic criticism.
Asked about the trade ban as he headed to a Republican convention in Texas, Mr Trump said: “Well, I’ve just seen it and I’ll be speaking to Israel. I’ll be speaking to them and I’ll find out what’s their thinking.
“I understand exactly what’s going on, but I want to find out why all of a sudden does that happen."