Two Jewish people were stabbed in London on Wednesday, the latest in a series of antisemitic attacks plaguing the city.
The two victims, who are reportedly in the hospital with severe injuries, were attacked on the street in the Jewish section of Golders Green, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said. Surveillance footage published online shows the suspect charging a man in a yarmulke who was waiting by a bus stop in the neighborhood.
“There has been an appalling attack on two Jewish Londoners in Golders Green,” Khan said following the attack. “The police have made an arrest, and I’d like to thank all the emergency services and heroic volunteers … for their swift response to this horrific incident.”
The attacker was apprehended and subdued by Shomrim, a volunteer security organization that provides supplemental emergency services in Jewish communities. Responding personnel subdued the knife-wielding man with a taser before the Metropolitan Police could arrive.
There have been multiple antisemitic attacks as of late in the United Kingdom’s largest city.
In recent weeks, two male suspects were taken into custody after allegedly attempting arson on the Kenton United Synagogue. Four Hatzola volunteer ambulances were set on fire in Golders Green, and two other firebombings were reported at Finchley Reform Synagogue and the former Hendon site of Jewish Futures.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement in the aftermath of the Wednesday incident lamenting the “antisemitic attack” and promising that “those responsible will be brought to justice.”
“Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain,” the premier said. “Thank you to Shomrim, Hatzola and the police for acting swiftly.”
But Starmer’s message, which echoes countless previous statements addressing similar attacks on British Jews in recent months, is beginning to fall on deaf ears.
Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday that “Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statements are no substitute for confronting the roots of antisemitism festering across United Kingdom.”
“After attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions, community ambulances and now Jews targeted in Golders Green, the UK government can no longer claim this is under control,” the ministry said. “British Jews should not need security patrols and emergency volunteers to live openly as Jews. Enough words. The UK must act decisively and urgently.”
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Harakat Ashab al Yamin al Islamia, an ostensibly Iranian-aligned terrorist collective that claims to have operatives scattered throughout Europe, has taken credit for many of the recent attacks in the U.K. and across the continent.
The Metropolitan Police has warned that the group represents an increasingly common “thugs for hire” model of terrorism developing through online channels.