The Glasgow Divisional Commander of Police Scotland and several of her senior officers were invited to address a specially arranged meeting hosted by JCoS (the Jewish Council of Scotland, newly formed by a restructure of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council) in order to explore the policing of the hostile demonstration against a communal vigil for the hostages remaining in Hamas captivity, and to discuss opportunities to work together in future to ensure that the community feel safe at communal events.

The meeting, attended by more than 100 members of the community in Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue, was chaired by JCoS Co-Chairs Nicola Livingston and Timothy Lovat, and opened by Rabbi Moshe Rubin who recited a prayer for peace and the safe release of the remaining hostages.

Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff, Glasgow Divisional Commander, spoke about Police Scotland’s intention to work with the community to ensure safe and meaningful events. She said she was sincerely apologetic that the Jewish community felt let down by the response of Police Scotland to the hostile and belligerent protest against the vigil, and assured the meeting that they would be mindful of the community’s concerns in future.

Superintendent Derrick Johnston, who is responsible for local policing, said he had looked into the more than 100 complaints received from members of the community after the event, and had written to everyone who complained. Several members of the audience drew attention to the fact that insufficient officers had been in attendance, as well as other operational errors on the day, and expressed the hope that Police Scotland had learned from this and identified steps to take in future to ensure that a peaceful memorial event would not be disrupted in this way.

Inspector Michael Fletcher, whose remit includes Hate Crime, spoke about how these incidents are categorised and dealt with by the Police, and explained how to report them. Participants expressed concern that Police Scotland do not always act on reports of incidents that the victims or witnesses perceive as Hate Crimes. Rabbi Shabo, the Jewish Student Chaplain, explained how vulnerable Jewish students are currently feeling, and noted that they have said the police do not appear to take action when they have reported crimes and harassment on campus.

The meeting also heard from Louise McKean, Compliance Officer at Strathclyde University, who described the many tools being used across the University to protect students and staff. Although she did not address specific incidents of anti-Israel hatred at the University, such as a Palestinian flag flown from the student union, she agreed to initiate a dialogue with Rabbi Shabo and the local Jewish students.

The Northern Regionl Security Co-ordinator of the CST described action being taken to combat antisemitism across the UK in the context of the huge increase in antisemitic incidents both on campus and more generally since 7th October 2023. He stressed the importance of reporting incidents, and outlined how to capture relevant information to pass on to the CST and the police.

The final speaker was local MP Blair McDougall, who spoke of his disappointment at the failure of the police to take adequate action to prevent a peaceful, prayerful, vigil being disrupted as it had been, as well as the failure of political leadership in allowing antisemitism to prevail, with dangerous results for our community.

Following the meeting, Chief Superintendent Ratcliffe said: "It was a privilege for us to work with you all and learn and listen. It was an honour to be welcomed into the Synagogue and feel so welcomed by all.  We all came away from the meeting with a better understanding of the strength of feeling, and we really appreciate the positive feedback. We are committed to working together with the community and building on this meeting and help rebuild the bonds between our faith communities."

Nicola commented, “We are grateful to the senior officers from Police Scotland who took the time to meet with members of the community. We hope that they have gained a better understanding of how upset and let down people felt about the mistakes that were made in the policing plan for the Vigil, and that lessons have been learnt so that future events can take place safely and without undue harassment.”