Gideon Falter
Gideon Falter (zionist, activist) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | July 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Warwick | ||||||||||||||||||||
Interests | anti-semitism | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has hailed him as a “Jewish hero who proves that there are still powerful ways to leverage democratic rules to serve justice and protect Jewish community”.
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Gideon Falter became Chairman of the Jewish group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) in September 2014.[1]
In April 2024 the Metropolitan Police were criticised after suggesting Gideon Falter’s presence at a pro-Palestinian demonstration was ‘provocative’ and ‘antagonising’ to marchers because he was “openly Jewish”.[2] March organiser Ben Jamal, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, accused Falter of attending the demonstration with a film crew to “provoke a confrontation”.
Former Met chief superintendent Dal Babu said if he were policing the march he would have considered arresting Falter for “assault on a police officer and a breach of the peace” after a 13-minute video of the full interaction was published:
“You saw Mr Falter put trying to push past, push police officers out of the way and that is a common assault,” he told Sky News.[3]
Contents
CAA surveys
Commenting on the results of two CAA surveys released in January 2015, in which 60 percent of British Jews did not consider they had a long-term future in Europe, and nearly half of British adults held some type of anti-Semitic sentiment, Gideon Falter said:
- “The results of our surveys are a shocking wakeup call straight after the atrocities in Paris. Britain is at a tipping point: unless anti-Semitism is met with zero tolerance, it will grow and British Jews will increasingly question their place in their own country.”[4]
Student activist
Gideon Falter studied law at the University of Warwick, building up the JSoc whilst fighting off opposition within the Students’ Union. He was elected Anti-Racism Officer for the student body and appointed to the Race and Religion Incident Review Panel of Warwickshire Police and West Midlands Police's Key Individuals Network. He graduated and returned to London in 2005.
Campaigner
In the summer of 2014, as fighting flared between Hamas and Israel and "anti-semitism" peaked in Britain, Gideon Falter joined Campaign Against Antisemitism. He was the principal organiser of the CAA's major rally outside the Royal Courts of Justice calling for zero tolerance law enforcement against "anti-semitism!. Falter was elected Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism in autumn 2014, a duty which he performs as a volunteer.
Gideon Falter has spoken at the UK House of Commons and given evidence to the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. His work for Campaign Against Antisemitism has been publicly praised by Theresa May. In 2014, Falter was named by The Algemeiner as one of the “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life”.[5]
On 7 March 2019, Falter tweeted:
- "It is a sad indictment that the once great anti-racist @UKLabour Party is now being investigated by the equality and human rights regulator it established just a decade ago. Our incredible volunteer team has worked tirelessly to achieve this. It is an honour to work with you all."[6]
Police complaints and private prosecutions
Rowan Laxton
In 2009, Gideon Falter reported and pressed charges against Rowan Laxton, the then head of the Foreign Office’s South Asia Group, for antisemitic hate speech.[7] The conviction was later overturned on appeal.[8] [9]
Alison Chabloz
- Full article: Alison Chabloz
- Full article: Alison Chabloz
In 2016 Falter made a police complaint about a song originally sung by Alison Chabloz at the May 2015 London Forum event a video performance of which was uploaded to Youtube about a year later. The CPS declined to prosecute the matter and so Falter's CAA brought a private prosecution in Westmister Magistrates Court.[10] The CPS then recanted its decision and took over the prosecution itself. A guilty verdict was returned on 25 May 2018.[11]
Businessman
Gideon Falter has worked in high-tech, commercial real estate and management consultancy. He is CEO of telecommunications equipment manufacturer Rimota Ltd, which was dissolved in February 2020.[12] Falter was on the Executive Board of the Jewish National Fund, UK since January 2017.[13]
References
- ↑ "Campaign Against Anti-semitism Management", organisational web page, accessed 9 March 2018.
- ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/
- ↑ "Antisemitism campaigner Gideon Falter accused of ‘provoking’ incident to halt pro-Palestine protests"
- ↑ "Survey: Almost 60% of British Jews Believe They Have No Future in Europe"
- ↑ "Gideon Falter on SourceWatch"
- ↑ "Our incredible volunteer team has worked tirelessly to achieve this (investigation of the Labour Party by the EHRC)"
- ↑ "Foreign Office diplomat found guilty of racial harassment"
- ↑ "Exposed! How Britain’s Anti-Semitism scaremongers operate"
- ↑ Foreign Office man wins appeal against race abuse claim - Jewish Chronicle 25 March 2010
- ↑ CAA launches first private prosecution after CPS fails to act
- ↑ YouTuber Alison Chabloz guilty over anti-Semitic songs - BBC News website
- ↑ "Rimota Ltd"
- ↑ Gideon Falter on LinkedIn"
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