“Institutional antisemitism” plagues West Midlands Police according to a whistleblower, who accused the police force of consistently failing to act on reported hate crimes targeting Jewish people in Birmingham.
The allegations emerge from a dossier handed to a Sunday newspaper, which includes internal correspondence and official crime records that appear to demonstrate a pattern of the force dismissing complaints about antisemitism and extremism from members of the local Jewish community.
Among the most serious claims is that officers declined to investigate an incident where a 12-year-old Jewish girl was physically assaulted by a fellow pupil who shouted “free Palestine” while punching her in the face and kicking her stomach, leaving her requiring medical treatment.
The girl’s mother said officers even suggested the attacker’s family might prosecute her daughter for allegedly pushing him first.
“It cost a lot of money. It took a lot of nerves. But we had to leave the town,” the mother told The Sunday Telegraph, explaining the family relocated from Birmingham within two months, having lost confidence in both the school and police to ensure their protection.
The dossier also claims the force’s Prevent unit, which is tasked with early intervention in potential radicalisation cases particularly involving young people, faces scrutiny for apparently ignoring multiple reports of extremism and hatred directed at Jews.
Additionally, the unit appeared to dismiss concerns about extremist material displayed at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Birmingham, which included a statement declaring that “the military action of the Palestinian resistance on October 7 was justified” what amounts to an apparent endorsement of Hamas terrorism.
A separate incident from May 2021 saw the mother of a Jewish boy report disturbing messages from a student WhatsApp conversation to police, in which one participant wrote that he wished Hitler had “f**king ended the little rats [Jews]” and expressed a desire to travel to Palestine to “f**king ruin em.”
Chief Constable Craig Guildford suddenly resigned on Friday after the fallout from the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban
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West Midlands Police officers are accused of failing to investigate an incident where a 12-year-old Jewish girl was physically assaulted by a fellow pupil
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Despite this report, no action was taken. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, the mother said: “The Jewish community has to rely on the police for services. But we have no faith in the police to protect us.
“And every time we go to synagogue, we think to ourselves, will this be the time we will have to lie over the bodies of our children to protect them?”
When former police volunteer Marina Kaplan attempted to revive this case in late 2023, the Prevent unit responded that “policing has no role to play” as it constituted a school matter.
These revelations come as the scandal-hit force faces mounting pressure following Chief Constable Craig Guildford’s sudden retirement on Friday, announced with immediate effect after controversy over the ban on Israeli fans attending a Europa League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa.
Hundreds protested over the ban of the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans
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There was huge political pressure over the actions taken by West Midlands Police
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Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the findings “show that West Midlands Police systematically ignored reports of antisemitic abuse and failed to protect Birmingham’s Jewish community,” calling for the force to be placed into special measures.
A West Midlands Police spokesman stated the force will “never tolerate any form of hate crime” and that officers “treat everyone equally whatever their race, sexual orientation, disability, faith, age or gender.”
The Home Office confirmed policing minister Sarah Jones would meet the acting chief constable next week to discuss rebuilding public confidence.