To the police and CPS.

With reference to complaints made by Gabriel Kanter-Webber about Rupert Nathan. I understand that the matter has now been referred by the police to the CPS. Given Webber is from Brighton I imagine the original complaint would have been received by Sussex Police but cannot be certain.

I have known about this complaint for some time – and was shocked from the outset when I learnt that the police had turned up early in the morning at Rupert Nathan’s home, arresting him in front of his child. This created unnecessary trauma. Webber (and remember we are talking about someone who – progressive or not – qualified to be a Rabbi), also reported the incident to Rupert Nathan’s professional body – the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment [CISI]. Thankfully, they chose to take no further action. But we have every right to question the ethical position of a man (Rabbi or not) who would knowingly attempt to damage someone’s career over a single personal comment made on social media.

The reason I am writing this is because I believe I possess relevant information. On December 4 2023 (long before the incident you acted upon), and because of his behaviour, I felt compelled to write this in an email to Gabriel Webber:

“Please stop commenting on my website. You are deliberately goading people as part of your ongoing harassment. I have work to do and am not there to police deliberately provocative behaviour – and the responses to it.”

Despite my written request Gabriel Webber continued to post comments on my site – and I felt forced to disable his ability to post freely in my comment spaces.

On the incident itself

I would not claim to know Rupert Nathan well. My understanding is that before this incident we may have briefly met once or twice at events. My own position is this. I never use the word Kapo. Nor, to turn to more contemporary smears, do I use terms such as ‘self-hating Jew’. I think the term ‘Kapo’ is misplaced when used anyway. None of us know how we would have behaved within the horrors of a concentration camp. Some ‘Kapos’ may have acted to try to save the life of a wife, a parent, or children. The Holocaust was the worst of times, and none of us are fit to judge. Which means using Kapo as a replacement word for ‘traitor’ – is historically illiterate. I do think it is a horrible word to use – but said by one Jewish person about another, I just do not see why the police got involved.

My experience with Gabriel Kanter-Webber

My opinion of Gabriel Kanter-Webber, the Rabbi at Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, is built from years of personal experience. I am a journalist and run my own website. My interactions with Webber were mostly political (we disagree on most things), but since 2018, I have tried for the most part to avoid intra-Jewish community disagreements. It is energy draining, and I feel we have far greater problems. This means that I have had almost no exchanges with him on social media since 2019. However, Webber has continued to come to my website and seek me out on 100s of occasions – posting comments underneath my articles.

One of his more common party tricks is to make GDPR requests. On 25 October 2023, after more exchanges with people in the comment section on my website, Gabriel Kanter-Webber sent me such a request. This was less than three weeks after October 7, and I was still experiencing deep trauma. Did we really have nothing better to do with our time?

As a journalist, I could have relied on several exemptions. However, I wanted to let Webber know (in no uncertain terms) that I hold no personal information on him, and also asked if he would stop wasting my time with spurious requests. And I told him that he has the online persona of a troll.

I am fully aware Webber has sent numerous such requests to other pro-Israeli organisations. He has quite the reputation for it. It is within his rights, but the motivations are questionable and strange. My response clearly did not suffice – as Gabriel Kanter-Webber actually complained to the ICO about me. This is an official body that can cause me a lot of trouble, and several months later I received notification from the ICO that a complaint had been opened.

I am just a Jewish activist standing up against antisemitism, and I found myself under an unnecessary and (in my opinion) vindictive attack. What possible good could a Rabbi get from causing me these problems?

A day after the GDPR he was back posting on my site again (five posts on the 26th). Important to note, most of these exchanges on the site are not with me – I (mostly) ignore him. And then in December, following another exchange, someone threw a sarcastic and clearly untrue insult at him – so Webber threatened to sue me if I did not delete the comment.

In my response (I did delete the comment he referred to), I told him he was harassing me and asked him not to post anymore. I also made it clear I had enough:

I did not see the point of him coming to my site just to stir up trouble and make a scene.

There is also another angle to this. Gabriel Kanter-Webber blocked me on X (Twitter) long ago. He also blocked me on FB. This is what I see if I navigate to his FB page.

I am not abusive on social media, nor does he interest me – and he is free to block as he pleases. But it is odd that someone who blocks me across the platforms, comes to my website to persistently make comments there. It appears strange and cowardly behaviour. In fact, Webber has been coming to comment on my website for years. Checking against just one email address, I can see 100s of comments – even as recently as last month (almost a year after I told him to stop):

One more relevant image. Dec 3 2023 Webber posts this comment. It is several weeks since he opened a complaint about me with the ICO – and a day before he sent me a defamation notice. Pay attention. This is someone who continually chooses to come to my website and cause trouble. And note his accusations. I stalk, bully, abuse, and harass him.

How am I stalking, bullying, and harassing him if the only exchanges we ever have are when he chooses to persistently come to my website? The nonsense in this image is what this is all about.

People are obviously and understandably intimidated by all this. Jewish activists and Jewish organisations. When a Rabbi complains to the police – or ICO – or any official body – such a complaint is given added weight because of the religious title. But I am not so easily intimidated and felt dutybound to tell you my thoughts – as one of the many Jews that the Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber has targeted.

Thick skin and hypocrisy

One final point. Being a political activist (as Webber also is) opens you up to attack. This is what my personal message stream looks like on X – all day -every day. These posts are from just the last few hours:

And that is just X. There are also those on other platforms – or those who choose to send me messages via my website – this is one from two days ago:

Those are some just from this week. And I have been doing this for more than 10 years, so I have received 1,000s of these. Not all of them are anonymous, and I could spend my time – and waste a hell of a lot of yours – reporting every one of the 1000s of actual hate crimes I am targeted with. But in all honestly I would rather you spent your time trying to catch murderers and rapists. Perhaps this is something the Rabbi should consider? And if you do want to fight antisemitism – perhaps deal with the actual Jew hate – that is continually being ignored.

Isn’t it reasonable to expect an activist (Webber, who has been an online activist for years) to have slightly thicker skin? What on earth does he gain by involving the police? But I also feel you are greatly overstepping your place in society when you act on situations such as this. This has left me unsure of where to direct the most anger. At Webber for playing the system as he does – or at you, for empowering his behaviour even further.

As for the Rabbi – maybe he should listen to his own advice. He came out to defend the rights of those extremist Jews who said prayers for Hamas terrorists on the basis of free speech. Apparently he considers free speech a Jewish value. One he does not appear to hold closely to his heart:

I hope other Jews he has targeted have the courage to come forward – I know there are plenty of them.

Best wishes

David Collier

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