ZACK Polanski insists it “wasn’t appropriate” for him to share a social media post questioning response of police during the Golders Green attacks.
The leader told Sky News he had apologised for resharing a message on X that insisted cops were heavy-handed.
Zack Polanski says his controversial social media post “wasn’t appropriate” Credit: Alamy
Polanski says it’s a “distortion” to say pro-Palestinian marches make Jews unsafe Credit: Elliott Franks
His reaction came after two men were stabbed in north London with video footage showing the arrest of a suspect.
Polanski said: “You generally apologise when you make mistakes for putting that in the wrong forum.
“It should be something I take directly to the commissioner and I accept that,” the leader says.
Polanski said that be “recognises the bravery of officers who run towards incidents”.
He also said he wants to find “the appropriate forum to say that no one, especially the police, should be above scrutiny”.
But he also said thahe remains “concerned” about the police actions and will discuss the matter in private with the Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
He told the BBC: “I was very concerned by what I saw and I remain concerned. The reason why I’ve apologised is because I accept that X, or social media, is not the appropriate forum to have that concern.
“I also think an open letter from the commissioner also wasn’t the necessarily the appropriate forum but I’m glad we’ve resolved that now. I’ve asked the commissioner for a meeting and I’ll be taking those conversations up in private.
Communities Secretary said: “It’s shameful that Zack Polanski is still questioning the police’s response to the appalling antisemitic terrorist attack in Golders Green.
“Brave police officers ran towards unknown danger, risking their lives, at the time having no idea how much further the situation could have escalated.
“Polanski’s apology clearly means nothing given he continues to denigrate the actions of our brave police officers. He should be utterly ashamed – he is completely unfit to lead a political party.”
He also told Sky News that even if the pro-Palestinian marches make Jewish people unsafe that may not be the reality.
He said: “There are times when Jewish people, including myself, are actively unsafe. That’s clearly very true, and it’s always been true.
“There’s also times where we hear marches, Palestinian marches that I, as a Jewish person, walk on, where Jewish people say that makes them feel unsafe.
“Now, I don’t think that actually makes them unsafe, clearly, because I’m a Jewish person who is on that march.”
He added: “When people say that makes them feel unsafe, that’s a distortion of what the march is” – and that people who see the protests as hate marches who haven’t actually seen evidence of hate on them have a “perception issue”.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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