Deputy Commissioner reflects on visit to the London Central Mosque

Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens has visited the London Central Mosque in Regent's Park as part of the Met's ongoing efforts to engage with and reassure those communities most impacted by the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza.

Writing to Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan, Director General of the mosque, Dame Lynne reflected on her visit, the impact of recent events on Muslim and Jewish Londoners and how policing can respond.

We are grateful to Dr Al-Dubayan for agreeing that the letter can be published online.

Dear Dr Al-Dubayan,

It was my pleasure to join you earlier today at the London Central Mosque. I was grateful for the warm welcome and for the informative discussion we had on how these times are impacting your congregation and the wider Muslim community.

I heard about the grief and anxiety being felt by many as we see civilians killed, injured or displaced during the conflict in Gaza. My heart goes out to anyone personally affected. The reflections you shared with me echo those I have heard from my own colleagues who are either personally impacted or who feel the wider effect on their respective communities.

We were all horrified to learn of the appalling terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7. Of course, in the weeks since those attacks we have all seen the sustained campaign of military action that has taken place in Gaza. I have found it deeply upsetting to watch the images of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict.

The attacks on Israel had an enormous personal impact on Jewish communities here in London and I know that the plight of civilians in Gaza is very distressing for Muslim communities and on non-Muslim Arab communities here too. I welcome your rejection of anyone who would seek to use this moment to incite hatred or to fuel extremism.

London’s diversity is one of its strengths, but sadly we know that having so many nationalities, ethnicities and faiths represented in our city means when tensions rise and conflicts erupt elsewhere in the world, we will see bonds between communities and individuals strained here at home too.

The ability of community and faith leaders to reach across those boundaries, to maintain relationships and to call for calm in these difficult days is much needed. You and your counterparts across London have an important role to play in championing compassion and cooperation at times like this and I was heartened to hear that vital work is taking place.

I know that some of your congregation will have participated in the Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstrations that have taken place over the past two weekends. My colleagues who policed those demonstrations found the majority of participants to be well natured, responsible and focused on expressing their feelings in a lawful and respectful way. We will continue to work with the organisers, policing events without fear of favour, respecting the right of everyone to protest providing it is done in a lawful way.

That includes working ahead of events with representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities, inviting them to join us in our operations room on the day to see how decisions are being made. I would be happy to facilitate such a visit should it be something that you wished to take up.

Regrettably, despite this cooperation and careful planning, we have seen some examples in recent weeks of behaviour during protests that was reprehensible, either because it was racially or religiously discriminative or disorderly. Just as we will continue to protect the right to free speech and protest, we will also continue to crack down decisively and without delay on anyone who uses hate speech, who is verbally or physically abusive or who uses this moment to endorse or support a proscribed organisation such as Hamas or Hezbollah.

Beyond protest, you will know that since the start of this conflict, we have seen a significant increase in offences targeted at Muslims in London. We are determined to do all we can to bring those responsible to justice and to be present in a visible way to act as an effective deterrent.

In the last two weeks we have stepped up our deployment of officers and PCSOs in the heart of communities, particularly in those places where we know the risk of hate crime is higher and where we know there is a need for greater reassurance. I was pleased to hear your positive feedback about the efforts of local officers who help to make sure your congregation can be safe and secure at the mosque. I will make sure it is passed on to them.

I would urge anyone who has concerns to speak to those officers or to call the police on 101. Of course, they should call 999 in an emergency. Where anyone has been the victim of a hate crime, we want to help. That starts with knowing something has happened at the earliest opportunity. Sadly we know hate crime reporting is often lower than we would all like. If, for whatever reason, a victim doesn’t want to speak to us I would urge them to contact Crimestoppers or one of the many great independent organisations, such as Tell Mama, who are set up to help.

I wish you, the London Central Mosque team and the wider Muslim community all the very best in the coming days and weeks. You have my absolute commitment that the Met will be here to protect you and to keep you safe.

I am grateful for your agreement that this letter can be shared on our website so that it can be read by the wider Muslim community among others.

Dame Lynne Owens QPM

Deputy Commissioner