Israel-Palestine conflict: Metropolitan Police detective sergeant Rebecca Collens sacked over ‘antisemitic’ post about Gaza
A Metropolitan Police detective sergeant has been sacked after posting “clearly political” content on social media, including a comment deemed antisemitic, about the conflict in Gaza.
Rebecca Collens served in the Highway and Transport Policing command.
He reposted a photo tagged “Palestine 2024” next to a photo of victims from what looked like a concentration camp, tagged “Germany 1945.”
The post was captioned: “The world said never again and here we are again, 79 years later.”
Alongside the post, he commented: “A classic example of abuse becomes the abuser…right?”, a police misconduct panel has heard.
The panel said Ms Collens accepted that the use of the word “abused” referred to the Jewish people rather than the State of Israel, which did not exist in 1945. This post therefore fell within the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
The posts were collectively deemed “overtly political” and the panel found that they “demonstrated a lack of impartiality and presented a one-sided view of the Gaza conflict at a time of increased public debate following the events of October 7, 2023, which led to war in Gaza.”
The panel heard Ms Collens shared the posts with more than 100 followers on a private Instagram account.
It was reported anonymously to the police’s Right Line reporting service in May 2024.
He once posted: “Stop calling it war. There is no equality of power. Israel is one of the most powerful, nuclear-armed militaries in the world and is unconditionally funded, equipped and supported by the most powerful nuclear-armed military in the history of the world. This is genocide.”
Another time, he posted: “Israel bombed and decommissioned the international airports in Aleppo and Damascus in Syria. It bombed civilian airports in Syria. It massacred families in Gaza. It dropped white phosphorus on Lebanon and Gaza. According to this power, this is the Israel that the Western media calls you ‘victim’.”
In another post, the Met said it reshared a graph comparing the number of children killed in a day in Auschwitz with the number of children killed in a day in Gaza.
He also shared a post criticizing the possible ban or conditions of a march calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and added his own comments: “God keep away from people protesting against war/war crimes/genocide for a ceasefire on a day when we remember the destruction of every day during a world war…make this logical!” he said.
Ms Collens said her aim was to highlight the “pain and devastation in Gaza” and that she felt “guilt, helplessness, heartbreak and pain” at what was happening.
He told the panel he had no intention of “hurting anyone or disrespecting the Jewish faith.”
Regarding the post found to be antisemitic, the panel wrote: “The IHRA’s working definition includes contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life and, in relation to this post, found the following example appropriate: drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy with that of the Nazis.”
“The panel concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, the post itself was antisemitic, whether or not the officer appreciated at the time that it would be viewed as such.”
Ms Collens told the panel she was “horrified, embarrassed and heartbroken to be called anti-Semitic.”
Detective Superintendent Donna Smith said: “DS Collens’ behavior was completely unacceptable and I find it inconceivable that he did not consider that these posts could be seen as offensive or overtly political.
“There is no room in the organization for anyone who thinks this type of behavior is appropriate. We are building a culture where everyone is welcome at the Met and those who undermine that are unfit to serve.”
