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Charges dropped against members of ‘Palestinian convoy’ calling for rape of Jewish women

Members of the “Palestine Convoy” called to “F*** the Jews, their mothers and daughters” during the war with Hamas. 

By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News

Charges against two British Muslim men arrested in London for driving through the city shouting anti-Semitic hate slogans on loudspeakers last year have been dropped, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said this week.

The charges against Adil Mota and Asif Ali, two of four men arrested in the aftermath of the “Convoy For Palestine” incident, were dropped because a conviction seemed unlikely, the CPS told a court in the north London neighborhood of Wood Green. Neither man was required to attend the court hearing.

The CPS will still move ahead in its case against Mohammed Iftikhar Hanif and Jawaad Hussain, the CPS told the court. The two are charged with “using threatening, abusive or insulting words, or behavior, with intent, likely to stir up racial hatred,” it said.

The men had traveled in vehicles adorned with Palestinian flags from the northern English city of Blackburn to London, ostensibly to protest against Israel during the 11-day conflict with the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group in May 2021.

“F*** the Jews… F*** all of them. F*** their mothers, f*** their daughters and show your support for Palestine. Rape their daughters and we have to send a message like that. Please do it for the poor children in Gaza,” the men yelled from loudspeakers in at least two recorded incidents in areas heavily populated with Jews.

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Using license plates from the videos, police detectives traced the cars and arrested the four men, who were subsequently released on bail.

Mota’s attorney, Ghafar Khan, was quoted in British media as saying: “We are glad that the case against our client has been dismissed. We had advanced the innocence of Mr Mota from the outset, he has stressed he is not antisemitic and has nothing against Jewish people.”

“There was a car protest in which he took part to protest the difficulties faced in Palestine for the Palestinian people,” Khan said.

He added that his client was thankful for the decision, which follows a “really difficult and stressful time for the past 14 months.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the incident a “race crime” at the time and pledged to bolster the security needs of the local Jewish community, including increased police presence around synagogues and Jewish schools.

He slammed the anti-Israel protesters for using the Gaza conflict “as an excuse to be anti-Semitic and racist.”

“The impact of this criminal behavior has a ripple of fear effect on Jewish Londoners and those across the country,” Khan said.