UK's Starmer urges country to unite against antisemitism after latest attack

LONDON (AFP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Thursday to boost security for the Jewish community following the latest attack against it, while urging Britons to unite against antisemitism.

Facing accusations from angry British Jews that his government has repeatedly failed to protect them, Starmer pledged immediate increased funding for synagogues and other sites but insisted U.K. society must “come together” to “fight antisemitism.”

The British leader also accused Iran of wanting “to harm British Jews” in the wake of Wednesday’s latest attack targeting the community in which two Jewish men were stabbed in north London.

His comments follow repeated warnings from officials that hostile states are intent on using proxies to conduct attacks in the U.K., after a string of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in the capital.

“This is about society every bit as much as it is about security,” Starmer said in a televised Downing Street address, hours after visiting the scene of the knifings, where he faced boos and heckling from locals.

“This government will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out,” he added. “We will strengthen our security and protect our Jewish community. But I also call on everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear.”

Security fears

The two men were knifed in broad daylight in Golders Green, an area of north London with a large Jewish population.

The victims, aged 76 and 34, were in a stable condition in hospital.

A 45-year-old man, a British national who was born in Somalia and came to the U.K. as a child, remains in custody following the stabbings. U.K. media has named the suspect as Essa Suleiman.

It comes nearly seven months after a deadly attack in which two people died at a synagogue in Manchester, and the recent string of arson attacks.

Monitoring groups have reported a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Earlier Thursday, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced an extra 25 million pounds ($33 million) would pay for more protective security for Jewish synagogues, schools, places of worship and community centers.

But Rabbi Ben Kurzer, of the Golders Green Synagogue, urged the government to do more.

“There is definitely not a significant police presence on a regular basis in these areas,” he told BBC Radio. “We have little bits here and there, but most of the security that we’re seeing is private.”

A little-known group believed to be linked to Iran, and which has claimed responsibility for the previous arson attacks and others in Europe, said one of its “lone wolves” was behind the stabbings, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) — meaning The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand — made the uncorroborated claim in a video posted online, according to SITE.

Mahmood said the government would fast-track legislation to deal with “a gap in the law when it comes to organizations that may be linked to hostile states” and their proxies.

‘Suffer’

Meanwhile, Starmer said the government was assessing what new measures might be introduced to deal with contentious pro-Palestinian protests, which critics claim are a hotbed of antisemitism.

He added if those attending the marches were standing “alongside people who say ‘globalize the intifada,’ you are calling for terrorism against Jews”.

Golders Green local Max Radford, 53, said Wednesday’s attack was “exactly what the intifada looks like.”

“They’ve been chanting it on the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham,” he told AFP. “And now intifada is on our street, that’s what we have to suffer.”

Last year, the government announced it would give police greater powers to restrict demonstrations, to take into account the “cumulative impact” of frequent protests.

Marchers insist that their protests intend to draw attention to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and are in no way targeted at the Jewish community.

Jonathan Hall, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, on Wednesday said it was impossible for such marches not to “incubate” antisemitism.

He described recent attacks on Jews as a “massive national security emergency” and called for a “moratorium” on pro-Palestinian marches.

Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right Reform UK party, visited the Golders Green attack scene Thursday and accused the authorities of being too “soft” on “discriminatory” chants.

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By HELEN ROWE Agence France-Presse