Senior rabbi subjected to horrific anti-Semitic attack in north London

2 December 2019, 15:37

A senior rabbi was left "bleeding and dazed" after being beaten up in an anti-semitic attack in Stamford Hill on Friday.

His attackers are reported to have shouted "kill the Jews", "f**k Jews" and "dirty Jew" at the rabbi before attacking him on Clapton Common in Stamford Hill at about 9.45pm on Friday.

The senior religious figure was then repeatedly punched, thrown to the ground and beaten.

During the attack, the two men continued to hurl anti semitic abuse at him.

The prolonged assault only stopped when a passing female shouted at them to stop the assault.

The assailants are thought to be teenagers.

Security group Shomrim said the rabbi was in the UK for a family wedding and has since flown back to Israel and is said to be "traumatised" by the incident.

They also said that he had left the Bobov Synagogue in Egerton Road and was walking along Clapton Common when he was approached by the men.

Shomrim continued: "The rabbi, who sits in a Judaic court as a judge, was left "collapsed on the pavement, bleeding and dazed where he lay for several minutes.

"The Jewish community in Stamford Hill is shocked by this assault. Over the last two weeks the community has reported many hate crimes to Shomrim.

"We have seen a significant rise in hate crimes over the last year."

The attackers have been described as young, slim, black men who were wearing hooded tops.

One was wearing grey trousers and white trainers.

Local MP Diane Abbott took to Twitter to condemn the attack.

She wrote: "This is horrific. It has shaken our Hackney community to its core.

"We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Stamford Hill and across the UK."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also spoke out against the attack.

He wrote: "This racist attack on the Sabbath is appalling.

"My thoughts are with the Rabbi who was attacked and I stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.

"I have spoken to Rabbi Gluck from the Shomrim security group to express my concerns. We must stop this scourge of antisemitism."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tweeted: "This is an awful, racist attack and should be condemned by all. My heart goes out to this Rabbi and the whole Jewish community. We stand with you against all forms of antisemitism."

Writing on Facebook, Stamford Hill Rabbi Herschel Gluck, who is president of Shomrim in Stamford Hill, said the rabbi had been "beaten up in a totally unprovoked attack."

He said: "For a government that claims to care about antisemitism, this is another in a long sequence of such incidents where there is no credible response or followup.

"The rabbi said it was evidence of how seriously "authorities claim to take" antisemitism and made a demand for 'action.'"

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "An assault was reported to have taken place in Amhurst Road, N16 at 21.45pm on Friday, November 29.

"Officers are attempting to contact the victim for a full account.

"No arrests at this time."

Anyone with information is being encouraged to call the police on 101 quoting reference number CAD6332/30/11/19, or call Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123.