Rowan Laxton, UK Diplomat, Arrested Over Alleged Anti-Israel Tirade

LONDON — A senior British diplomat has been arrested after he allegedly launched an abusive tirade against Israel and Judaism at a London gym, police said Tuesday.

Rowan Laxton, the 47-year-old head of the Foreign Office's South Asia desk, was held on suspicion of inciting religious hatred _ an offense that carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

He allegedly used foul language as he criticized Israel's conduct during the conflict in Gaza at a fitness center at the London Business School last month.

Laxton is also alleged to have made an offensive comment about the Jewish religion.

A police spokeswoman said Laxton was arrested Jan. 27 and released on police bail _ meaning he has not been charged with an offense.

The spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy, said Laxton must return to a police station to face further questioning about the incident next month.

Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor said an alleged rant by one individual wouldn't sour relations with Britain.

"The treadmill of diplomacy between our countries continues to run smoothly," Prosor said in a statement. "The abusive tirade of this one individual should not be seen as a reflection of the health and fitness of our relations."

Prosor said he had been informed that an internal inquiry is taking place, and that action will be taken if the allegation is proven.

The Foreign Office said it wouldn't comment while police inquiries are ongoing, but confirmed that Laxton remains in his role.

It was not immediately clear whether Laxton had hired a lawyer in the case. The Foreign Office said it could not confirm whether or not Laxton had legal representation.

Laxton coordinates work on the South Asia region and is responsible for briefing Foreign Secretary David Miliband and other ministers about the area.

Comments

[SpaghettyIrish]

Thank the 1st Congress for the 1st Amendment.

[Macready]

sounds like some pro-israeli sympathiser disliked what he said . . . poor guy

[gageeandbaba]

well we now can see the double standards that there are between certain groups and others.

[fbr79]

This article is very misleading. He was arrested because he was a gym watching tv walking on a treadmill when coverage of Gaza came out he started screaming "f***ing Israelis, f***ing jews. People who were at the gym asked him to come down and he wouldn't stop yelling so the security escorted him out and the police was called. I kid you not.

[gakabani]

So much for freedom of speech! You cannot even criticize Israel in England, wow. I wonder sometimes when the British democracy stop functioning. This is BS. However, you cen get to dehumanize the Pals anytime and nothing goes wrong! Pathetic, simply pathetic.

[moflard]

No, criticism of Israel isn't punishable or even an offence. It appears that this person stepped over the line with invective about Jews in general. The UK has laws about Incitement to Racial Hatred and Religious Hatred.

However, I seriously doubt this person will end up charged as they would have to prove /intent/ to incite religious or racial hatred. Someone mouthing off shouldn't be enough to prosecute. Frankly I think the police over reacted (AGAIN!) - as they also have the option of issuing a caution, so why didn't they use that?

[gakabani]

I looked for the exact words he used and found nothing wrong with them, they are though but racists to the Jewish state. So, again I say, where is the diversity in ideas when you get punished for speaking out!

[harrymellon]

WOW...England is The Evil Empire. 7 years in jail for criticizing Israel? Israel isnt a religion and even if it was who cares. Im sure they tolerate tirades against Muslims all the time. This is pure evil and another reason why we should view Britain as an enemy like we did in 1776 and 1812. In a democratic,free country we can say whatever we think about a religion or government trying to rule us like slaves. Brits make me sick. And Israel is willing to destroy the whole planet to serve their selfish ends. With companies like Amdocs and ConverseInfosys they are prying into our lives and blackmailing us into submission to their goals.

[roald]

Why are you so scared of the bid bad Israelis? The charge was not for criticizing Israel, but for his tirade against Judaism.

The British banned a Dutch politician for anti-Muslim comments.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/11/dutch-politician-geert-wi_n_166004.html

[moflard]

Yes, they banned the Dutch politician and made a bad situation even worse. There's a growing backlash in the UK aimed at Muslims, because of the perceived kowtowing they receive from the authorities. The cancelling of "Nativity Plays" at Christmas so as not to offend Muslims, the cancelling of communal Assemblies in schools for the same reason, the almost openly Muslim-Only areas in some of the Inner Cities, and the list goes on.

Whilst some of the Muslim population of the UK no doubt deserve the criticism, the vast majority of the damage has been caused by English "do gooders", who mistake condescension for acceptance.

[Horst]

The British are pathetic. In their multi-culti zeal they are stifling free speech through phony human rights commissions and hate speech laws. Same thing is happening in Canada and the Netherlands. The net effect is to ratchet up the hostility among groups. In Holland the MP who is accused of insulting Islam by pointing out the violence associated with many of its practitioners has to live under 24 hour police protection because of death threats.

[cinesimon]

That is not the net effect at all.

Boy, you guys speak entirely through ignorance, with a righteous anger directed at your assumptions - very little else.

[Horst]

Wilders popularity in Holland is soaring. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is increasingly viewed as an embarrassment.

[Veeve]

I have a real problem with even the curtailment of hate speech; short of inciting a riot. I am thankful for the first amendment. I hate everything the KK and Aryan Nation stand for. But if someone told me that I couldn't tear them apart in speech, I'd go ballistic.

[crowdog]

And who snitched him off, pray tell? He was in what I assume is a private club and was engaged in a private conversation that someone objected to. So this snitch called the cops on him? And the next thing we know his conversation is all over the news, charactersized as somehow "hate speech" when we actually have no transcript or description of it by either Mr. Laxton or the police. So the snitch charactrerized it as hate speech. Laxton hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing. Why is that?
Perhaps some "upstanding cititzen" of Britain felt they were doing their civic duty by snitching. More likely they just didn't like what he had to say or perhaps bear a personal grudge against the man. Whatever the motives of the snitch they are disgusting.
I find this incident appalling in its absolute pettiness. Would this have occured if the man wasn't employed by the Foreign Service? Somehow I doubt it very much!

[slytot7]

"Would this have occured if the man wasn't employed by the foreign service"?

Or if his rant had been against blacks?..or mexicans? or any other non-white group?

[cinesimon]

YES.

[roald]

You are making a lot of assumptions to support your conclusion. Does your conclusion changes if those assumptions are wrong?

[Shirah]

Crowdog, no one snitched. Laxton created such a scene that the police had to be called in. He could have been arrested just for that.

I'm also not sure why the Huffingpost Post thinks that saying "F---ing Jews" is merely anti-Israel and not antisemitic. I personally don't beleive that anyone should be arrested for language however awful, but Laxton disturbed his fellow gym members.

[AliMB]

I don't think this gentleman should have been arrested, but as a member of the British foreign service his commentary is attrocious to say the least... he should be dismissed ASAP. If there is one thing a diplomat cannot do is engage in political rants that go against his government's stated position. That is true irrespective of one's assignment (desk job or not), and likewise one's political orientation.

[rwt1138]

Actually, all I am really interested in, is what the hell did he say?

[fbr79]

He was walking on a treadmill watching tv about the gaza conflict at this gym and he started screaming "f***ing Israelis, f****ing Jews" and I guess he wouldn't come down.

[RobinSeattle]

One can rightly argue that the British government should have fired this guy, but arresting him is patently ridiculous. Even if he is a blowhard, you can't imprison people for thought crimes. Or so I thought until I saw this.

C'mon Britain, you're better than this.

[Agentprovokatur]

Unfortunately for this gentleman, the U.K. does not have the same standards for free speech as does the United States.

[Horst]

Absolutely correct.

[Chazmania]

hear it is again! political correctness blended with hysterics. have the brits become a nation of wimps and US Israeli suck ups?
A man is outraged at a nation of violent Zionist politics that are duplicitous and abusive. and he is arrested for it? And what Israel themselves inciting racial prejudice and hatred towards a whole group of people (Palestinians) yes indeed what hold does Israel have over these governments?
So it seems the power and abuse by the Israeli government are justified wile no one is allowed to be rightfully upset over it for fear of prosecution? hum! seems a lot like an indicator of a mentality that makes them feel entitled to behave like an abusive fanciest state. does anyone see the parallels with Nazi Germany and the Warsaw ghettos? I do and i think that Israel is just as dysfunctional and insane as the Nazi persecution of the Jew's was. you think they would have grown up from it sins then but to repeat and emulate that behavior has rendered their credibility to be zero. and garnering there own hatred directed at them. anyone not blind followers of Israel can see the truth. go on Google earth and look around the region. talk to Palestinians and hear there horror stories and stop sucking up the Israeli coolaid.

[Nooneyouknow]

Palestinians aren't a race. The British law is against "inciting religious hatred." It doesn't say anything about Israel or Judaism at all. It's about any religion. The Warsaw Ghetto was where the Nazis starved, shot, and worked Jews to death because they were Jews. The killed all the Jews they could find.
Israel oppresses Gaza, but it's obviously not trying to murder everyone in it. Israel is willing to talk with the people who are shooting rockets at it and sending suicide bombers into their buses, restaurants, and cafes.
If you can't see the difference between Nazi Germany and Israel, I suggest you crack a book sometime.

[CaptainStormfield]

If they are not a race then what are they?

[VS007]

No first amendment in UK?

[thaneb]

No Bill of Rights. No Constitution, for that matter.

[cinesimon]

Because America's perfect version has allowed for such human rights over the past eight years!

[moflard]

Uhmm, yes there IS a constitution, sorry. It's an unwritten constitution made up of legal rulings and customary practises. It WAS very strong, and used to protect free speech and human rights.

Until Tonly Bliar got hold of it that is.....

[roald]

I hope that was a satirical question.

[cinesimon]

Guys, I, too am a huge critic of Israel's murderous policies.

But in this case, you're barking up the wrong tree.
Before passing judgment, how about you do a bit of research on UK law - freedom of speech in Britain does not include the incitement of religious hatred.

It may well be that the above case was brought on by the overreaction of a Zionist onlooker, but the police must still investigate if a complaint is made.
HE'S NOT IN JAIL, remember. And he won't do jail.

Why do Americans seem to think that the right to incite religious hatred is more scared than using swear words? I'll never figure that one out!

By the way - if you didn't get it: this has nothing to do with the Israeli government: it's a long cherished(apart from by the UK's far right) law that has dramatically contributed to religious harmony. In the UK over the years.

[RobinSeattle]

Because religion is merely an idea. It isn't something people are born with and can't help.

Making religion sacrosanct iin common law s inane. Next you will have "incitement to philosophical hatred" and you will be arresting professors and students who have problems with the ideas of Kant or Schopenhauer or Keynsians who oppose the ideas of Friedman or Ayn Rand. It's ridiculous.

When governments act this way, they make people into martyrs and erode their own credibility with the larger public. There is just no good public policy reason to charge this guy with anything.

And I do agree that the concern about cursing in the media in the U.S. is a waste of time.

[cinesimon]

Problem is, the law actually works very well.

And the government has lost no credbility.

The fact of the matter is that in America, religious intolerance, especially of Islam, has fermented racial hatred.

But you got your free speech: who cares if an entire people is victimized?

[moflard]

The law about incitement of religious hatred is not a "long cherished" part of the British legal framework. It was only passed (with much criticism of the government) in 2006.

As to the matter at hand, I can't see this person being prosecuted as it would be very difficult to prove he was speaking in such a way as to show he "intends thereby to stir up religious hatred." Intent is a very difficult thing to prove.