The Metropolitan Police dismissed complaints about pro-Palestinian protests glorifying the Oct 7 massacre as “almost petty tit for tat”, The Telegraph can reveal.

A British-Israeli man told an officer that an activist with a megaphone was shouting praise for Hamas, the Islamist terror organisation behind the attack, during a demonstration last September.

He captured the protester chanting “I love the 7th of October” and “I like any organisation that starts with H” on video.

However, the officer claimed he had not heard the offensive comments and told him to “calm yourself down” at the rally in Swiss Cottage, north-west London.

The British-Israeli man subsequently lodged a complaint with the Met over the dismissal of his concerns.

But an official response from Scotland Yard defended the officer’s actions, saying: “[The sergeant] said that these weekly protests at Swiss Cottage have become quite heated and there have been almost petty tit-for-tat allegations with absolutely no foundation from either side, in what seems to be an attempt to legitimise their own cause by attempting to get the police to do what they want, despite there being no evidence, or evidence to the contrary.”

The response added: “This was almost bordering on making a false report and wasting police time, however, [the sergeant] said that he believes that the response he gave was proportionate and appropriate in the circumstances.”