Jewish children, teens violently attacked in London: ‘streets are no longer safe’

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The latest targets of antisemitic attacks spreading through Western Europe were Jewish teens and children in the United Kingdom. On Thursday, two buses carrying students from a London Jewish school were attacked at a bus stop by a swarm of around ten teens from a nearby school who wielded large rocks, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Four teens boarded one of the double-decker buses and went to the second level, where they began to swear at students and give them the middle finger. One 12-year-old student, who professed he was “scared” by the attack, described how the teens “were swearing at us, saying ‘F— Israel, nobody likes you. F— off, you bitches. They were filming us like they were enjoying it. There were lots of people in the street and nobody tried to stop them,” the student told The Jewish Chronicle. 

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After the four teens got off the bus, they began to throw heavy rocks at the buses. An 11-year-old student recalled, “I don’t know where they got the rocks from – maybe they had them in their bags. None of us knew what to do.” She reported that some students ran off the bus, but she remained aboard. “They were swearing at us and filming us,” she explained. “We don’t know what they are going to do with that video or why they did what they did.”

“This incident did not take place in a vacuum,” a spokesperson from the British organization Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital. “Over the past year, we have repeatedly warned of the dangerous consequences of Jew-hate going unchecked.” 

Citing the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s findings that “69% of British Jews are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism in public,” the spokesperson explained that “the simple truth is that our streets are no longer safe for British Jews and their children. . . . It is time for arrests and those who break the law must face consequences.”

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Antisemitism in the UK is hitting record levels since the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7. (Campaign Against Antisemitism on X)

Antisemitism has seen a startling rise in the UK in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks. Citing CST statistics, the BBC reported that 1,978 antisemitic incidents occurred during the first six months of 2024, up from 964 during the same period in 2023. The number may be higher, as the Metropolitan Police’s data reporting was obstructed for three months due to technical difficulties.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism has recorded the emotional toll of the past year for British Jews. According to their research, “42% of British Jews considered leaving Britain” over the last two years on account of antisemitism. The number rose to 85% when considering antisemitism in politics. The organization also found that only “26% of British Jews think the Crown Prosecution Service does enough to protect the Jewish community.”

A boy, wearing a kippah, holds the British flag at a march against antisemitism, after an increase in the UK, during a temporary truce between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel, in London on November 26, 2023.  (Reuters/Susannah Ireland)

Thursday’s school bus attack follows another startling act of violence. On Nov. 25, a man on an East London balcony launched glass bottles at a group of Jewish teenage girls walking to a rehearsal, the Jewish Chronicle reported. One of the Jewish teenagers was hospitalized with “serious but non-life changing head injuries.” The incident is being investigated as a “potential antisemitic crime.” The spokesperson from the Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital that the victim was “visibly Jewish.”

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London, Dec. 9 2023: anti-Israel protesters hold a banner saying “From the river to the sea..” Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images (Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

In 2023, 4,103 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the UK, with more than half of them, 2,140, occurring in London. 

Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism previously called London “the most antisemitic city,” on account of the “atmosphere created by Hamas supporters.”  

 

Beth Bailey is a reporter covering Afghanistan, the Middle East, Asia, and Central America. She was formerly a civilian intelligence analyst with the Department of the Army. You can follow Beth on Twitter @BWBailey85