Pig heads and cars on fire: How Britain’s Jewish and Muslim communities have both suffered since Hamas massacre
The war and hostage crisis in the Middle East has had a significant impact on Jewish and Muslim communities in the UK (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Cars set on fire, attacks in the street and mosques and Jewish schools vandalised with red paint. These are just some of the incidents Britain’s Jewish and Muslim communities have faced amid a surge in hate crime since the deadly Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October. Last month the Metropolitan Police said antisemitic attacks in London had increased by a staggering 1,353 per cent.
Tens of thousands of people took part in a march against antisemitism in London (Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
Jewish children have been told to disguise their uniforms over fear of reprisals and there have been multiple incidents of posters of Israeli hostages being torn down. Last weekend, tens of thousands of people took part in a march against antisemitism in London in a show of solidarity. Over the same period, there has also been a sevenfold increase in Islamophobic incidents, according to reports by Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti Muslim Attacks).
In a shocking incident in October, a man was arrested after a Muslim mother[1] was struck with a concrete slab in a broad daylight attack in Dewsbury. From abuse in the street and vandalism to accusations of being ‘terrorists’, it is striking how similar many of the incidents being faced by both communities are. Since the Nova Festival killings, volunteer security force Shomrim has reported 84 Hate Crimes against people of all religions in one Jewish quarter of north London alone. [2]Stamford Hill has seen cars set on fire, and visibly Jewish people threatened with being stabbed as they walk along their local shopping promenade.
In one incident, a hooded figure in a black face mask was caught on CCTV splashing the walls of a local school in red paint.
CCTV shows a figure in a mask and carrying an umbrella before throwing the red paint (Twitter) A school security guard, who did not wish to be named, told The Independent: “It is because of the situation on the news but these children have nothing to do with it, of course. What did they do?
It’s not nice for them as they come in but it’s not only here it is happening.” In a separate incident, a man was arrested after CCTV showed a flaming box left underneath a family saloon shortly before it caught alight outside a woman’s home. Story continues
Chief executive Chaim Hochhauser of Shomrim the Jewish Community Safety Patrol said: “We are Charedi Orthodox Jewish people, we are an easy target and we are vulnerable.” “Our greatest fear is that it starts with shouting but it doesn’t end there. Someone will get hurt.”
Vandalism at Shomrim Stamford Hill included red paint being thrown at doors and gates (Shomrim Stamford Hill/PA)
But Shomrim doesn’t just investigate antisemitic crimes. He pointed to an attack on a Muslim mother[3] walking alongside her three children, aged 16, 5, and 3, in Stoke Newington when she was verbally and physically assaulted. The female attacker made Islamophobic remarks, calling the victim a “monkey” and told her to “Go back home, go back to your country.”
She then assaulted her scratching her under her eye, drawing blood, and hitting her on the head, shoulders and arms, Mr Hochhauser said.
A Muslim woman was scratched under her eye in one incident (Shomrim) “We collected all the CCTV evidence and reported it to the police,” he continued. “She didn’t have the words to thank us and the Jewish community who helped her take the case forward. We get on so well with our local Muslims that we have great relations.
We are an example that we can work together.” Mr Hochhauser called for more police visibility in Stamford Hill adding hate crime victims are always shocked at being targeted for their religion. “We are talking about families of young girls coming home from school and being pushed into the road and shouted at,” he said.
“They are not Muslims, these people who are shouting at the Jewish community. They are from different ethnic minority communities, but they now shout ‘Free, Free Palestine’ and commit hate crimes targeting the Jewish community. “It’s happening all over.
At supermarkets and clothes stores, they say ‘We are not serving you Jewish people’. “We are seeing it all over London and it’s unfair. Why should we suffer like this?
Our children don’t know what is happening in the Middle East – it’s not their fault.”
Thousands have attended marches in support of Palestine but certain slogans and chants have been contentious (AFP via Getty Images) Stamford Hill’s Labour MP Diane Abbott told The Independent she had twice raised the need for police to be alert to hate crimes with the Met’s borough commander. She said: “We know that there are heightened tensions because of the terrible scenes people are witnessing on their TV screens.
“But this provides no excuse to anyone to engage in either antisemitic or Islamophobic attacks, which are both despicable. “There can be no place for any form of racism in our shared community.” Britain’s Muslim community is also facing a rise in hate, with reports of verbal and physical abuse, as well as vandalism and even the dumping of a pig’s head at a proposed mosque in the market town of Barnoldswick, Lancashire.
Abdulmaalik Taylor was asked if he knew anyone who could “release the hostages” at a meeting on hate crimes (Abdulmaalik Taylor)
Abdulmaalik Tailor, a convert to the Islamic faith, is Britain’s first professionally qualified Muslim tour guide. He says he regularly gets online abuse such as being called a “Muslim dog”. He says he was also asked by a member of a synagogue at a hate crime meeting in London whether he “knew anyone over there [in Palestine] that could release the hostages?”
“I was shocked and horrified,” he told The Independent. “I thought what have I done to deserve this? The insinuation was that I was linked with Hamas.” He says children have been affected as their local mosques have been vandalised with red paint.
“Red paint is essentially saying, ‘blood on your hands’,” he said. “Kids are asking us why it’s happening. People in the Muslim community don’t report things either – there is a sense that police won’t do anything anyway.”
A worshipper walks away from the vandalised Acton Central Mosque (Supplied) Acton Central Mosque was attacked on four separate occasions since 7 October each time sprayed with red paint.
“We’ve not seen anything like this for over thirteen years,” he said. “People were scared, they were worried. We couldn’t open everything back up at once. The last time he did it it was in broad daylight and we thought he could do anything.
We have classes here for children, and parents wanted to know what was going on.” Taj Ali was on his way home with his friends from a pro-Palestinian protest, when he says they were attacked by a woman calling them “terrorists”. She pointed at the Palestinian flag and said it was the flag of “Pakistan”.
“It just feels like people are so brainwashed,” the journalist and co-editor of Tribune magazine told The Independent. “The thing that was so heartwarming is that two Jewish women intervened and told the woman Palestine is not Hamas. “We sat together on the tube on the way back and one of the Jewish women was in tears. She was saying ‘I just want all of this to stop’.”
Mr Ali, who has been vocal about antisemitism, says he sees both struggles as part of the same fight against anti-racism. “There is no difference between a Jewish man wearing a kippah and being attacked, and a Muslim woman wearing a hijab being attacked.”
The Met turned out in force on Armistice Day to defend the Cenotaph amid rising tensions (PA Wire) In response to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza and its impact in London, the Met launched Operation Brocks, with a dedicated website[4] appealing for help to identify people suspected of hate crimes at protest marches.
In a statement last month, the force said: “The Met is determined to bring those suspected of hate crime in London to justice. “We know some of our communities continue to feel extremely vulnerable as violence in the Middle East continues. “Hundreds of officers are undertaking extra patrols at places of worship, schools and other premises.
“They are also listening to the concerns of community leaders and representatives of different faiths.
“There is no place for hate or division in our city and we will take robust and positive action wherever we can.”
References
- ^ mother (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ Shomrim has reported 84 Hate Crimes against people of all religions in one Jewish quarter of north London alone. (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ mother (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ with a dedicated website (news.met.police.uk)