According to the Metropolitan Police, a lecture by an imam advocating for the demolition of Jewish homes is not considered a hate crime.Two weeks after last year's Hamas killing in southern Israel, a preacher at a mosque in east London reportedly urged followers to "break their words" and "curse the Jews." "Oh Allah, curse the children of Israel and the Jews," he uttered. Bless the polytheists and the unbelievers, O Allah.“Oh Allah, break their words, shake their feet, disperse and tear apart their unity and ruin their houses and destroy their homes.”

Police pledged to examine the speech after footage of the sermon by an unnamed imam was broadcast late in 2023 as part of an investigation into anti-Semitic hate speech in British mosques.After reviewing the footage, the Met concluded that “it does not meet the threshold of a crime,” according to the Jewish Chronicle.

But after outrage on X the force said it would urgently review its decision.

It wrote: “We recognise the significant concerns around our decision and we will review this outcome urgently.”Mosque in Redbridge

A spokesman said: “Last October we were made aware of a video on social media which showed part of a sermon being delivered at a mosque in Redbridge.

“We know many people found the content upsetting and our specialist officers worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to assess the video. 

“The entire sermon, including the wording, context and narrative were reviewed and at this stage, it was concluded that it did not meet the threshold of a crime.

“Following further concerns raised with us, in May this year a decision was made to review the case and it was re-opened. A number of further enquiries were carried out.

“A file was passed to the CPS in October, and we await their decision”.

Referring to the Met’s decision not to label the sermon a hate crime, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said: “This is another poor decision by the police in a long line of such decisions over the past year, and it is Britain’s Jews who suffer the consequences.

“Our lawyers are examining further options, and there is also an outstanding complaint about this incident with the Charity Commission. We hope that the regulator shows more sense than the Met.”

The Jewish group Community Security Trust said that many would “struggle to understand” the decision.

A spokesman added: “Many people in the Jewish community and beyond will struggle to understand why it is not possible to prosecute this type of hate speech”.