British Jews face the greatest threat in their history, as police investigate an Iran-linked group claiming responsibility for a spree of antisemitic attacks, London’s top cop warned.
“If you overlay three things now — hate crime, terrorism and hostile state activity — you add all that together, that combined effect with that building of ideology online, that is really dangerous and troubling,” Sir Mark Rowley, head of London’s Metropolitan Police, told The Times of London Friday.
“Whether you’re extreme left, whether you’re an Islamist terrorist, whether you’re a right-wing terrorist, and some hostile states as well, now with some sort of Iranian-related threats. There’s sort of a ghastly Venn diagram that they’re at the middle of,” Rowley added.
The comments come on the heels of a horrific antisemitic knife attack on Wednesday, in which two Jewish men were stabbed in north London, allegedly by 45-year-old Somali-born Essa Suleiman, The Times of Israel reported.
Suleiman was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place, according to authorities.
Shadowy Islamic group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the knife attack, The Times of Israel reported.
That group has also taken credit for at least eight arson attacks on Jewish locations in London in recent weeks, NBC News reported.
HAYI has direct links to the regime in Tehran, with British authorities investigating whether the group is linked specifically to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps or another arm of Tehran’s crumbling government, The Times of London said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised the government was taking immediate action and suggested the attack could have backing from a foreign state.
“We’ve increased enhanced funding for police patrols and protective security and we’re fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign state actors,” Starmer wrote on X, adding, “My message to Jewish people is this: you belong here, and we will do everything we can to keep you safe.”
Starmer also suggested that people using the leftist rallying-cry “globalize the intifada,” widely seen as an antisemitic call for violence against Jew, at anti-Israel marches should be prosecuted.
“[I]f you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews. If you stand alongside people who say globalize the Intifada, you are calling for terrorism against Jews and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted,” Starmer said in an address Saturday.
Starmer added he would consider banning some of the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel marches if they used the occasion to spread calls for intifada.
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