Simply Unacceptable

Yet again the reputation of the club is being dragged through the mud. On Saturday 29/05/21 the Chelmsford Muslim Society organised a “Free Palestine “ protest in Chelmsford, Read a report here.

The demo we witnessed was loud, and appeared quite hostile at times. A number of bystanders looked quite uncomfortable, and didn’t stay long.

It’s incredible that a charity that owns and runs what it purports to be an inclusive community leisure centre would associate themselves with the anti-Semitic Palestine Forum In Britain. Protesters were photographed holding placards claiming that “Anti Zionism is a duty”. Many experts including the French government class anti Zionism as anti -Semitism.

Just last month police arrested four men in connection with a video which showed anti-Semitic abuse being shouted from a car (draped in Palestinian flags) in North London.

In short, it’s unacceptable for an organisation that claims to run an open and inclusive “community centre” to organise a protest like this. How will centre users of the Jewish faith feel ? We feel this also raises a number of safeguarding issues for groups that use the centre.

Of course CMS will claim that they have the right to protest peacefully, and we only saw a minimal police presence. How different to when four local residents dared to question worshippers outside the Hamptons mosque, when the police responded by sending the entire shift.

One final point. It’s clear from the photos and videos that there was no attempt at social distancing. With cases of the Indian variant of Covid 19 being recorded in Chelmsford, you have to have ask why the police never intervened.

Having hosted the NHS Vaccination Van at Hamptons and rather milking the publicity, you’d think the organisers would have set a better example.

KBO