Outrage as convoy of cars driven through Jewish community in Finchley yelling ‘f*** their mothers’

Boris Johnson has condemned acts of ‘shameful racism’ after a convoy of cars bearing Palestinian flags drove through a Jewish community in north London while the passengers screamed ‘f*** their mothers, f*** their daughters’ – and a rabbi was attacked in Essex.   

Metropolitan Police confirmed that four arrests were made after one of the cars was stopped at around 6.30pm on Sunday. Footage on social media had showed the vehicles passing down Finchley Road with passengers heard to shout offensive language and threats against Jews. 

Onlookers were left horrified after the convoy yelled: ‘F*** the Jews… F*** all of them. F*** their mothers, f*** their daughters and show your support for Palestine. Rape their daughters and we have to send a message like that. Please do it for the poor children in Gaza.’   

A police spokesman said officers received reports of people shouting anti-Semitic abuse from a car travelling within a convoy of vehicles through the St John’s Wood area on the afternoon of Sunday, 16 May. 

‘Four men were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences. They were taken into custody at a west London police station where they remain,’ the spokesman said.  

While ‘appalling’ incidents of antisemitism have been reported, many peaceful pro-Palestinian protests have taken place across Britain – amid rising tensions in Israel. Officers engaged with protesters at a planned demonstration on Whitehall during the afternoon. ‘The event passed peacefully and concluded without any arrests,’ police said.

It comes amid reports that a senior London rabbi was attacked by two youths near his Essex synagogue.

Rabbi Rafi Goodwin’s injuries are being assessed in King George’s Hospital after he suffered cuts to his head and around one eye, following the attack in the Limes Estate area, Jewish News reports.

An email sent to members of the community this evening said: ‘From the description of how the incident started, it does not, at this point appear to be an antisemitic attack.’ 

An Essex Police spokesman told MailOnline officers attended Limes Avenue shortly after 1.15pm today following reports of a religiously-aggravated assault on a man in his 30s in Chigwell  

‘It is believed that two teenagers stepped out in front of the victim’s vehicle whilst he was driving, they shouted at him and spoke in a derogatory way about his religion before going on to damage his car,’ the spokesman added.

‘When he got out of his car to confront them, he was attacked with an unknown object causing him to require hospital treatment. During the attack the victim’s phone was also stolen. The two boys – believed to be aged between 15 and 18 – are believed to have left the scene on foot.  

‘They have both been described as being of Asian ethnicity, one was 5ft 9ins tall and wore his hair in an Afro-style and the other was described as being 5ft 7ins tall. 

‘Both wore black jackets and the latter wore grey tracksuit bottoms. We know that this incident may be concerning for those in the local area, and we are working quickly to identify those responsible and to liaise with community leaders for any further support for those impacted.’ 

It is not suggested that the assault was motivated by the current conflict in Israel.  

The Finchley Road footage, along with other incidents that have emerged following large pro-Palestine rallies over the weekend, has received cross-party criticism. 

Prime Minister Mr Johnson Tweeted: ‘There is no place for anti-Semitism in our society. Ahead of Shavuot, I stand with Britain’s Jews who should not have to endure the type of shameful racism we have seen today.’   

Superintendent Jo Edwards, in charge of the policing operation, said: ‘This behaviour was utterly shocking and will not be tolerated. I understand that this would have caused considerable concern within the community and we have arranged extra patrols in the St John’s Wood and Golders Green areas this evening.’ 

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: ‘Hate crimes are inexcusable and have no place in our city. I’ve been in touch with the Met Police Commissioner about the appalling reports of antisemitic attacks this weekend.

‘Londoners can expect to see high visibility police patrols, and the Met Police have been working closely with the Community Security Trust. My team and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

The incident comes after thousands of people marched through London on Saturday to the gates of the Israeli embassy, while protests took place in other cities across the UK and Ireland in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes after a week of sustained conflict.

Since Monday night, Palestinian militant group Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, whose military responded by barraging the Gaza Strip with tank fire and air strikes.

Mike Freer, MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said: ‘The scenes I’ve witnessed in my constituency today have left me sick to my stomach.

‘The blatant and open anti-Semitism on display today, deliberately targeting areas with large Jewish populations is nothing short of incitement and I have urgently raised the matter with the Home Secretary, Commissioner and Mayor.’

Home Secretary Priti Patel also described the scenes as ‘disgusting anti-Semitism’.

‘There is no place for this hatred in the UK,’ she tweeted.

‘I expect @metpoliceuk to be taking this seriously.’

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq condemned the ‘horrifying’ scenes of anti-Semitism in Finchley, adding that there is ‘no place’ for ‘vile hate speech’. 

Siddiq, the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, tweeted: ‘I have seen the footage of horrifying antisemitic behaviour on the Finchley Road in my constituency. 

‘It has been referred to the police and I hope action can and will be taken. This vile hate speech has no place in Hampstead and Kilburn or anywhere else.’

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, told MailOnline: ‘This convoy and demonstration were utterly predictable and preventable. They have been advertised for a week.

‘Jews have had to witness the shocking reality that in 2021, people can drive through the capital of our country calling for our daughters to be raped, with nobody in sight to protect us or take action.

‘There must be an immediate police crackdown on those responsible for these acts of Jew-hatred, and an inquiry into why the Metropolitan Police Service permitted these protests to go ahead without proper measures in place to stop this criminality, in full knowledge that today’s scenes were likely to the point of certainty.

‘Britain’s Jews will not wait until this persistent antisemitic incitement leads to violence. We pray that it will not take bloodshed on our streets before the authorities realise they have let this go too far. These antisemitic thugs must face the full force of the law.’

The Metropolitan Police confirmed they have launched an urgent probe into the incident.

‘We are aware of a video appearing to show anti-Semitic language being shouted from a convoy of cars in the St John’s Wood area this afternoon,’ the Met Police said. ‘Officers are carrying out urgent enquiries to identify those responsible. This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.’   

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described the incident as ‘utterly disgusting.’

‘Anti-Semitism, misogyny and hate have no place on our streets or in our society,’ he said. ‘There must be consequences.’

Referring to the video of the convoy, Housing and Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: ‘This, on the streets of London, is deeply disturbing. Vile, criminal hatred like this must not be tolerated.’

In a statement Mr Jenrick continued: ‘Whatever your view of the conflict in Israel and Gaza, there is no justification for inciting anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim hatred. The incidents of anti-Semitism we have seen in recent days have been shameful.

‘Some of the language used on marches this weekend and in posts on social media is intimidating, criminal and racist.

‘We must not tolerate this vile, shameful hate in our country. These actions must stop.’

Cabinet minister Michael Gove described another video appearing to show protesters shouting anti-Semitic abuse as ‘deeply concerning’.

Meanwhile spokesperson for Community Security Trust, a charity providing safety for the Jewish community in the UK, Dave Rich said: ‘This video of vile antisemitism being shouted from a car as it passed through an area of London with a large Jewish community has caused enormous upset and alarm. 

‘It is outrageous and we are working closely with the police to assist in identifying the culprits.

‘Tonight is the beginning of the Jewish festival of Shavuot and it is disgraceful that Jewish people should be subjected to this kind of intimidation as they prepare to celebrate.’  

Nigel Farage also condemned the convoy of cars, which were seen filling the roads across north London, as their horns blared and called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to act.

‘This footage from Golders Green is shocking, provocative and dangerous,’ Mr Farage tweeted. ‘The Home Secretary and the police must act right now.’

It comes after nine police officers were injured and missiles were thrown amid efforts to disperse pro-Palestine protesters outside the Israeli Embassy in London on Saturday. 

Further protesters have gathered in the capital today, with pro-Palestinian protesters scuffling with police.   

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick condemned the violence he has seen in the last few days.   

‘Whatever your view of the conflict in Israel and Gaza, there is no justification for inciting anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim hatred. 

‘The incidents of anti-Semitism we have seen in recent days have been shameful. Some of the language used on marches this weekend and in posts on social media is intimidating, criminal and racist.

‘We must not tolerate this vile, shameful hate in our country. These actions must stop.’

Thousands of people marched through the capital on Saturday to the gates of the embassy in Kensington, while protests took place in other cities across the UK and Ireland in solidarity with the people of Palestine. 

The Metropolitan Police said nine people were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder in London, and a further four were arrested on suspicion of breaching the Health Protection Regulations.

The force said small pockets of disorder had followed a largely peaceful demonstration.

Protesters were seen scaling buildings, climbing on the gates of Kensington palace, setting off fireworks and clambering to the top of traffic lights outside the embassy. 

A video showed that some clashed with police, with one officer shown on the ground injured while another man was arrested. A separate video showed people throwing drinks at officers stationed at the palace gates.  

Meanwhile, in Paris protesters defied a strict order against large gatherings to express their anger over the treatment of the Palestinian people. Riot police reacted with force, spraying desperate Parisians with water cannons to try to dispel the crowds.

In Birmingham hundreds of demonstrators descended on the city centre today in support of Palestine amid escalating violence between the Arab state and Israel. 

Organisers in London say ‘immediate action’ is needed by the UK Government to help end the ‘brutal’ violence against the Palestinian people. 

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the crowds international action provides ‘succour, comfort and support’ to those suffering in the conflict. Crowds chanted ‘oh, Jeremy Corbyn’ and threw roses as he took to the stage. 

Other speakers outside the Israeli embassy were Labour MP Zarah Sultana and rapper Lowkey. The names and ages of the children killed in the conflict were read out, followed by a minute’s silence.

People were told to move further down the road as a matter of crowd safety, and there were cheers as organisers told them the turnout was ‘the biggest pro-Palestine demonstration since 2014’.

Organisers said demonstrator numbers were estimated at 150,000. Coloured smoke was set off along Kensington High Street and some demonstrators climbed on to buildings and bus stops. 

Among the buildings to be scaled were the offices of the MailOnline, where protesters climbed on scaffolding and set off fireworks. 

It comes as thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee from their homes after a week of sustained conflict.

Since Monday night, Palestinian militant group Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, whose military responded by barraging the Gaza Strip with tank fire and air strikes.

At least 126 people have been killed in Gaza, including 31 children and 20 women. In Israel eight people have been killed, including a six-year-old boy and a soldier.

Mr Corbyn added: ‘Think what it’s like being a mother or father and seeing a building bombed in front of you, knowing your family is in there, and you can do nothing,’ said Mr Corbyn.

‘It’s our global voices that will give succour, comfort and support in those settlements alongside Gaza and all over the West Bank, East Jerusalem who are suffering at this time.

‘End the occupation now. End all the settlements now and withdraw then. End the siege of Gaza now.’

Husam Zumlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told crowds: ‘This time is different. This time we will not be denied any more. We are united. We have had enough of oppression. Today we are saying enough, enough with the complicity. Thank you for standing with us.’

The crowd stretched back to Bayswater Road from Kensington High Street. 

Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told crowds they were part of a ‘worldwide movement for justice’.

‘We must remember we are part of an international movement,’ she said. ‘This is a worldwide movement for justice. Palestinian people are having their land seized… and they are now being killed in their homes. All of this is illegal.’ 

Images from Birmingham show protesters waving Palestinian flags and holding Free Palestine banners as they called for an end to airstrikes. It is estimated up to one thousand people filed down crowded streets from Victoria Square to the Bull Ring.

Saturday is the Palestinian Nakba day, which marks the anniversary of the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Arabs from their homes more than 70 years ago.

The Birmingham protests came after an Israeli rocket destroyed a media building in Gaza and an Israeli airstrike hit a Gaza refugee camp, killing ten people, including eight children.

Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets on Israeli cities, killing one person in Tel Aviv.

Violence between the neighbours erupted following the eviction of Arabs from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.

Earlier in the afternoon, demonstrators in London marched from Marble Arch Station to the Israeli embassy, holding banners and chanting. 

The Metropolitan Police said: ‘Officers are engaging with a group of people who have gathered for a demonstration in central London this afternoon.

‘A policing plan is in place to ensure everybody is kept safe and to reduce the spread of Covid-19.’ 

It comes amid reports an Israeli air strike destroyed a high-rise building that housed the AP, Al-Jazeera and other media in the Gaza Strip.

The AP said the air strike came roughly an hour after the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate the building.

The news agency said there was no immediate explanation as to why the building was targeted.

The demonstration in London was organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Stop The War Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain.

A spokesperson for the organisers said: ‘It is vital that the UK Government takes immediate action. It must stop allowing Israel’s brutal violence against and oppression of the Palestinian people to go unpunished.

‘The bombardment of Gaza which is killing civilians including children is a war crime. The UK Government is complicit in these acts as long as it continues to offer Israel military, diplomatic and financial support.’

It comes after a week of rising tensions, when Israel on Thursday pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 11 senior Hamas military figures and toppling a pair of high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities in a series of airstrikes.

The Islamic militant group showed no signs of backing down and fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities, including heavily populated Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Palestinian militants have stockpiled enough missiles to continue bombing Israel for the next two months, security experts have warned, as escalating fighting led the UN to warn of ‘all-out war’.

Meanwhile, street clashes continued on Israel’s streets across the country, with Jewish and Arab citizens both attacking one-another in numerous incidents, leading to over 370 arrests across the country.

The conflict sparked hundreds of demonstrators across the US Wednesday. In Downtown Chicago, a rally organized by the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine, drew a crowd of nearly 1,000 protestors who said Palestinians were being mistreated. One woman held sign that said: ‘Free Palestine!’

In New York, protesters clashed in Times Square, with both sides screaming at each other and separated by barricades. Pro-Israel supporters could be seen draped in flags. 

In Cleveland, an Israel supporter asked people not to forget the people suffering in that country, even though he said Palestinians are made out to be the victims.  

And in Los Angeles, pro-Israel demonstrators gathered in front of the city’s federal building; the prior day in the city there had been skirmishes between the factions, but photos from the scene showed only Israel supporters waving American and Israel flags. 

Marches in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were also held today in a dozen French cities, but the focus was on Paris, where riot police got ready as organizers said they would defy a ban on the protest. 

Paris police chief Didier Lallement ordered shops closed around the starting point of the planned march in a working-class neighbourhood in northern Paris after an administrative court confirmed the ban. 

Authorities noted a banned July 2014 pro-Palestinian protest against an Israeli offensive in Gaza that degenerated into violence and running battles with police to justify the order against Saturday’s march.

Organizers said they intend to ‘denounce the latest Israeli aggressions’ and mark the fleeing of Palestinians after Israel declared independence in 1948.

In Israel heightened tensions led to street brawls in areas populated by Jews and Arabs, with an Arab man dragged from his car and beaten by Jewish ultranationalists in one attack, while in another a Jewish citizen was attacked by sticks and stones by Arab Israeli protesters.

At least 122 people have been killed in Gaza since violence escalated on Monday, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Eight people have been killed in Israel, medical officials said. 

One of the Israelis – a five-year-old boy named Ido Avigal – was killed by shrapnel on Wednesday night in the Gaza border town of Sderot when rockets struck the building he was living in with his mother.

Britain’s Boris Johnson led international leaders in calling for the two sides to step back from the brink, but a UN Security Council meeting failed to agree on a joint statement due to opposition from the United States, Israel’s key ally, diplomats said.

Pleas for calm appeared in vain as Israeli and Palestinian leaders traded blood-curdling threats and further rocket strikes, with a rocket setting off alarms in the north of Israel in the early hours of Thursday morning – some 62 miles North of Gaza – sending thousands of Israelis to shelters.

And after a senior Hamas commander was killed Wednesday, the Islamist militant group responded with a barrage of rockets into southern Israel which rescue workers said killed a six-year-old boy.

Israel’s defence minister Benny Gantz vowed more attacks on Gaza to bring ‘total, long-term quiet’ before they would consider truce talks after six days of violence. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military would only use ‘increasing force’ in the conflict. 

‘We eliminated senior Hamas commanders and this is just the beginning,’ he said. ‘We will inflict blows on them that they couldn’t even dream of.’ The leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh hit back, vowing that ‘if Israel wants to escalate, we are ready for it’.

Six high-ranking commanders and a further five key Hamas figures were ‘neutralised’ on Wednesday, including Brigadier General Bassem Issa and Jamal Zabda, head of the group’s rocket unit, according to the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).  

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson tweeted a plea for both sides to ‘step back from the brink’ and ‘show restraint’. He added: ‘The UK is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions.’

His calls were backed up by similar messages from the EU, the US, Russia and Turkey.

The UN’s Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland warned the latest violence was ‘escalating towards a full-scale war’. And UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was ‘gravely concerned’ by the ongoing troubles.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired more than 1,000 missiles in the first 48 hours of the conflict which began on Monday, an average of one every three minutes, and has enough to keep the bombardment going for two months.

Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said: ‘According to our estimates we’re talking about between 20,000 and 30,000 rockets in Gaza today, rockets and mortars.

‘We’ve seen a constant expansion in terms of range and also in terms of the size of the warheads. They have an advanced arsenal of rockets, I think it’s on a par with the fire capabilities of a few small European countries.’

While Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence system has intercepted nine out of ten Palestinian rockets, the remainder have killed at least six civilians and injured more than 90. Families in Tel Aviv have taken cover in underground shelters.

Israel’s retaliation has included hundreds of air strikes on Gaza, led by F-35 stealth bombers and Apache attack helicopters, which are understood to have killed 32 and wounded more than 300. Israel says most of the dead were terrorists and insists the children killed were victims of stray Palestinian rockets.

The UN security council met Tuesday to discuss the crisis. The heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in the Hamas-ruled enclave has increased international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.

‘Israel has gone crazy,’ said a man on a Gaza street, where people ran out of their homes as explosions rocked buildings.  

Israel’s army last week said it had received a rocket warning in the north of the country, the first time the alert has been given there since hostilities soared between Israel and Palestinians earlier this week.

The approximately 1,500 rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas militants since Monday had so far set off warnings in southern and central Israel, but not in the north, the army said. 

However in the small hours of the morning of May 6, alarms not only sounded in the economic capital Tel Aviv in the middle of the country – where residents rushed to shelters – but also in Jezreel Valley in the north.

There was no immediate word of a rocket strike or casualties in Nahalal, some 100 km (62 miles) from Gaza.