Write to your MP about J. Hall KC

Introduction

Jonathan Hall K.C. is currently the Government’s Adviser on Terrorism and State Threats Legislation, a post that carries the responsibility to act with prudence and to keep clear of partisan narratives.

Adam Waterhouse, Jonathan Coulter and Alan Mackie deliver our letter to 6KBW Chambers

Hall made comments justifying the banning of pro-Palestine marches in the wake of the Golders Green stabbings, notably in a recent episode of BBC Panorama (at 15.45, 21.20 and 24.40 mins). He has done this by asserting, but failing to establish, a causal claim between the marches and violence against Jews. He has used this argument to recommend the suspension of a fundamental civil liberty in the UK.

We analysed Hall’s claims carefully in the statement below that we delivered to his Chambers in the City of London. We now invite you to share it with your MP.

We sent the statement to Hall for comment, and he responded as follows:

I have been very open in my speeches and media appearances about how I reach the conclusions that I do, and I would encourage you to look at what I have said, where I address many of the points you raise. You will recall that I warned about stigmatising of Jews in my ‘After Bondi’ speech, and how the precautionary principle could apply when considering the effect of demonisation of Jews, and Israelis, in public. You will also recall that I drew attention to the lack of care taken about collective demonisation when it comes to Jews, despite the care that is (rightly) taken to avoid stigmatising other minorities.

I am grateful for your letter, and will of course reflect on its contents. None of this is easy. But I am confident that there is a national security emergency for the UK’s Jews. I am also confident from my experience of reviewing terrorism of the power of words.

Hall gave his After Bondi speech at an event organised by the right-wing think tank Policy Exchange on January 13^th. In it, he talks about an extraordinary amount of antisemitism in the public domain and open hatred on the streets. He peppers his speech with references to violent Islamists including Abu Hamza, Amjem Choudary, Al Muhajiroun (whose followers murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby), the (ISIS-inspired) Bondi Beach atrocity, and the trashing of 7 October memorials. In so doing he confuses a legitimate protest movement that opposes Israel’s ethnic cleansing and mass murder of people in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, with nihilistic extremists that enjoy negligible support within the UK.

Some violent Islamists might invoke the Palestinian cause to justify launching violent attacks in the UK. But Hall fails to point out that the best way to head off this risk is by showing to all and sundry that peaceful protest pays. Indeed, the best way HMG can apply the precautionary principle is by ending all British support for Israel, joining European countries like Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Nordics that are similarly inclined. This action would lower the whole temperature around Palestine, except for vocal supporters of Israel who would doubtless be angry.

Hall makes other dubious statements. He describes the word Zionist as a word which invites stigma and othering, but fails to point out that this term encapsulates the official ideology upon which Israel is founded. He claims that West Midland Islamists were hostile to Maccabi Tel Aviv because of nationality, without any reference to the mayhem that these fans had caused in Amsterdam in October 2024 and in Israel itself. He also includes breathtakingly vague statements, for example that

some protests on Israel and Gaza appear to be inseparable from violent hatred of people.

In the letter below, we point to various illogical statements and non-sequiturs. Hall implicitly clusters together under the heading of antisemitism a range of different phenomena that are categorically different. He treats Jews as a single monolith, assumed to be supportive of Israel and ignores the sizable Jewish block and the ultra-Orthodox Haredis at all the national demonstrations. He fails to differentiate between different sources of feelings of insecurity among Jews, and demands that the pro-Zionist Jews should be given privilege over the rights of pro-Palestine demonstrators to demand an end of ongoing injustice. His interpretation of the chants is questionable and ignores the central demand expressed on the marches, that Israel should stop displacing and killing Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Here is the letter we delivered to Hall.

Letter to Jonathan Hall KC final.pdf

Download PDF • 418KB

We suggest you forward it to your MPs, with the request that they push back against the way in which accusations of antisemitism are being weaponised to undermine our fundamental democratic rights.