By Sam Tobin and Muvija M
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to take action to protect the Jewish community in Britain, acknowledging that Jews were scared a day after two men were stabbed in north London following a spate of antisemitic attacks in the British capital.
Starmer, who has faced severe criticism from some in the Jewish community for the government’s response, promised more police in Jewish areas, a crackdown on those spreading antisemitism, and new legislation to deal with state-sponsored threats from the likes of Iran.
He had earlier been jeered and heckled by a small crowd waving banners reading “Keir Starmer Jew Harmer” when he visited Golders Green where the two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday.
‘PEOPLE ARE SCARED’
“People are scared, scared to show who they are in their community, scared to go to synagogue and practice their religion, scared to go to university as a Jew, to send their children to school as a Jew, to tell their colleagues that they are Jewish,” he said in a televised statement.
The suspect in the Golders Green attack, a 45-year-old British national who was born in Somalia, had a history of serious violence and mental health issues, police said.
They also confirmed he had previously been referred to the counter radicalisation scheme Prevent in 2020, while local media reported he had served time in prison for an incident in 2008 when he stabbed an officer and a police dog.
Amid widespread calls for more to be done to protect the about 290,000 Jews living in Britain, Starmer said the government would do “everything in our power to stamp this hatred out”, with stronger powers to shut down charities promoting extremism and a clampdown on “hate preachers”.
The government has also said it would fast-track legislation allowing the prosecution of people acting as proxies of a state-sponsored group, so they can be dealt with in the same way as spies for foreign intelligence services.
“We need stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran, because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews,” Starmer said.
A pro-Iranian government group has claimed responsibility for some recent attacks while last month, two men were charged under Britain’s existing National Security Act with being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance.
Tehran has rejected such accusations.
PROTEST PROBLEM
One of the major issues which has caused anger amongst the Jewish community in Britain has been pro-Palestinian marches, which have become commonplace since the October 2023 Hamas assault on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza. Critics say the protests have generated hostility and become a hotbed of antisemitism.
“If you stand alongside people who say ‘Globalise the Intifada’ you are calling for terrorism against Jews, and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted,” Starmer said. “It is racism, extreme racism, and it has left a minority community in this country, scared, intimidated, wondering if they belong.”
The recent incidents in London are part of a rising number of antisemitic attacks.
Last October, two people were killed after an attack at a synagogue in the northern English city of Manchester. A week later, two men went on trial over a plot to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community.
They were found guilty in December, just over a week after a mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Australia’s Bondi Beach.
Britain’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall, told the BBC the British attacks had become “the biggest national security emergency” since 2017, when there was a string of high-profile attacks.
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(Reporting by Muvija M, writing by Sam Tobin and Michael Holden; Editing by Kate Holton, Aidan Lewis and Andrew Heavens)
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