Girls aged as young as 10 have been asking for armed police escorts to Hanukkah parties in Manchester, the head of Greater Manchester Police has said.
Sir Stephen Watson (pictured centre below) made the chilling reveal at an event at the Policy Exchange think tank in London - where he also laid down the law to pro-Palestine protesters in his city.
"We are getting telephone calls into Greater Manchester Police day in and day out over the recent days where you have got a group of 10-year-old girls wanting to go to a Hanukkah party, where they should be frankly interested in balloons and bicycles, [and] are making a request for armed police officers," he said.
"You cannot say, 'Well, that is a ridiculous request'. You understand from whence it comes." Sir Stephen added that "the intolerable had become normalised" for Jewish people, particularly following the Hamas massacre on October 7 - but now, again, after the Bondi Beach mass shooting.
His force area contains the second-largest Jewish population in the country. Two people died in an antisemitic attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester during Yom Kippur in October.
Sir Stephen said: "I know that I had reports that there were people in Manchester celebrating the Bondi attack, in ways which is just sickeningly distasteful." Following the Australia attack, London's Metropolitan Police announced increased patrols around synagogues and community venues.
Both Sir Stephen and Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley issued a joint statement pledging a more robust approach to policing protests involving "hate speech". The pair stated that due to the escalating threat facing Jewish communities, forces would now "recalibrate to be more assertive".
Sir Stephen explained: "Even six months ago, chanting 'globalise the intifada', it's questionable whether you would find yourself being held up by the police."
FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.gbnews.com/news/antisemitism-girls-armed-police-escorts-hanukkah-parties
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