UK: Council reported disabilities drama group to police over Gaza genocide protest
An Essex drama group supporting people with learning difficulties and disabilities was reported to the police by its local council after a performer mentioned Gaza during a recital of a list of genocides at a Holocaust Memorial Day event.
Harlow Council also withdrew support for the group, Razed Roof, and banned it from using council facilities following the performance, while the leader of the council appeared to accuse it of promoting “extremist narratives”.
“The council has a duty to take a firm and unwavering position to ensure that council-supported events and organisations do not promote hatred, intimidation, or extremist narratives,” Dan Swords, leader of the Conservative-controlled council, wrote in a letter, setting out the measures it intended to take against the group.
Harlow’s Labour MP, Chris Vince, also resigned from Razed Roof’s board of trustees.
“I was in attendance at the event, which was a moving and timely memorial to one of the darkest chapters in human history. It is deeply frustrating that, at a moment when we should have been reflecting on these horrors, our attention has instead been diverted elsewhere.”
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In a post on its Facebook page on Monday, Razed Roof said it had been forced to cancel all its activities until further notice.
The group had performed annually at the council’s Holocaust Memorial Day service for more than 20 years prior to its involvement in this year’s 27 January event.
"A mutual decision was reached [with the organisers] that the statement about Gaza would not be read out, and the artistic director physically removed the statement from the script," Razed Roof said in a statement.
"The reason for this was explained to the member of Razed Roof who was due to read it, and the decision was accepted.
“Razed Roof is a group that has consistently provided a lifeline to members who are often excluded elsewhere"
- Joshua Gold
"Unfortunately, despite strong assurances to the contrary, the original reader of the Gaza statement made a personal decision to break his promise and make a statement about Gaza."
The controversy erupted after a member of the drama group, Joshua Gold, mentioned Gaza alongside the Holocaust and other recognised genocides during the performance in Harlow Council’s Civic Centre.
After the line was delivered, a local rabbi, Irit Shillor, stood up and thanked the group, but added, “I’d just like to note that the last statement is a statement of opinion. It’s not fact. None of these facts have been verified.”
Gold replied: “Actually, it is.”
Video footage posted online showed a member of Razed Roof snatching Gold’s script from his hands in an attempt to get him to not mention the word Gaza during his performance.
Both Razed Roof and Gold also confirmed to MEE that the word Gaza was taken out of the script before the performance.
Police: No offence committed
Essex Police confirmed to Middle East Eye that no criminal offence had been identified after reviewing footage and online material of the event.
The police declined to disclose who had made the complaint against the drama group.
“All posts and footage have been fully assessed by senior officers, and we can confirm no criminal offences, including support for a proscribed organisation, have been identified,” said the Essex Police spokesperson.
Gold, who made the reference to Gaza during the performance, told MEE that it had been part of the original script and was not intended as a separate political intervention, but was removed during the final rehearsal, shortly before the performance, at the request of the event's organisers.
“People seem to think I interrupted the piece to make some grand speech, but that’s just not what happened,” he said.
Gold said he had strongly objected to the removal of the line from the script.
“It was never to be treated specially,” he said.
“I could not have anticipated that the council would react so disproportionately,” he said. “I was also very upset.”
He accused the council of using the incident as a pretext to shut Razed Roof down, suggesting its actions were motivated by a mix of cost-cutting and political posturing.
Supporters of the group have accused the council of overreacting to the incident, warning that dozens of vulnerable people risk losing access to a vital creative and social support network.
An online petition opposing the council’s ban of the group has so far gathered more than 1,500 signatures.
Supporters said Razed Roof had provided a safe space in Harlow for people with learning difficulties, disabilities, and additional needs for many years, offering creative expression, community connection, and emotional support.
Gold also disputed reports that the charity had failed safeguarding standards, saying: “Based on my knowledge of the atmosphere of the group, I reckon the Charity Commission will call bullshit on that,” though he warned that resolution could take weeks, leaving the charity in limbo.
Campaigners on the petition said the council’s actions reflected a lack of understanding of the Special Educational Needs community, arguing that penalising an entire organisation for the actions of a single performer is harmful and patronising.
“This is a group that has consistently provided a lifeline to members who are often excluded elsewhere,” said Gold.
“Stripping it of funding and premises is devastating for the community it serves.”
In his letter to Razed Roof, Swords claimed the charity had breached the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism adopted by the council in 2018 by mentioning the genocide in Gaza, and said the council would be complaining to the Charity Commission, police, and inform “third-party funders” who give grants to Razed Roof.
The council leader also said that the decision to cut funding and access to the group “is not subject to negotiation or appeal”.
Mark Etkind, the son of a Holocaust survivor, condemned the decision to strip Razed Roof of its funding and commended Gold for his decision to highlight the genocide in Gaza.
"In my view, the only meaningful way to commemorate the six million victims of the Holocaust - including my father's entire family - is to oppose all genocides and to speak out against genocide whenever and wherever it is happening," Etkind told MEE.
"By speaking out against the Gaza genocide, this brave young man was doing just that."
Harlow Council has not responded to requests from MEE for comment.
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