Anguish grows among British Jews over double stabbing attack in north London

LondonThe Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (HAYI) group, an Islamist organization with alleged ties to the Iranian regime, has claimed responsibility for a knife attack against two Jewish men this Wednesday in the Golders Green area, north London, home to a significant Jewish community. The two victims, one aged 34 and the other 76, were injured but their lives are not in danger. The assailant, aged 45, whose identity has not yet been released, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder. In his attempt to flee, he also tried to stab a police officer.

Scotland Yard has confirmed that the investigation is being led by the counter-terrorism unit, as there are clear indications that the attack was specifically directed against the Jewish community in the area. However, it has not yet confirmed the claim of responsibility by the Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya group disseminated on social media. The head of Scotland Yard stated in his appearance that it is too earlyto saywhether the double attempted homicide has any connection with Iran, although he also reported that in recent years some twenty potential attacks sponsored by the ayatollahs' regime on the streets of the United Kingdom have been thwarted.

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Mark Rowley, confirmed that the detainee had a history of repeated violence and also mental health problems. The assault is one more in a trickle of attacks against Jews that have occurred in various parts of the United Kingdom in recent months.

In fact, the double attempted homicide occurred just 300 meters from where, last month, there was an attack with incendiary bombs against a medical emergency service, Hatzola, which serves the entire community, although it is funded by Jews. Four ambulances were destroyed there. The two people who suffered what Rowley described as a "terrifying attack" were first aided by volunteers from this organization.

Other volunteers from another Jewish support organization, Shomrim, who carry out surveillance tasks in Golders Green, called the police when they saw a man with a knife running down the main street of the neighborhood, Golders Green Road, trying to attack Jews. In this part of London, where about 8,000 Orthodox Jews live, they dress in a very characteristic way and are perfectly identifiable. In Golders Green there are about thirty synagogues and many kosher shops.

"If you are Jewish, you are not safe in the United Kingdom"

This Wednesday's events have caused the patience of the area's residents and the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, Ephraim Mirvis, to run out. He stated that "today's events demonstrate that if you are visibly Jewish, you are not safe in the United Kingdom, and much more needs to be done." He called on all communities in the country to support Jewish people and condemn these attacks. "There is a sustained effort to terrorize the Jewish community. We face these kinds of attacks and incidents with great strength. However, this cannot be allowed to continue. We must address not only the symptoms but also the causes. We must recognize that state-sponsored terrorism [allegedly by Iran] on the streets of our country is simply unacceptable."

During his press conference, Mark Rowley had to face the community's calls for his resignation, at a time when the growing frustration of a part of the neighborhood's population has become visible due to incidents as serious as today's. In a way, the commissioner echoed Rabbi Mirvis's words when he acknowledged that "too many Jewish people in this country feel they have to make decisions that no other British person should ever have to make: they have to decide how they dress, where they go, or to what extent they live or openly display their Jewish identity."

In addition to the incendiary bomb attack last month, in recent months there have been various incidents that the police have described as antisemitic violence, the most serious of which was the murder of two people in an attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur.