- A house in Hackney was gutted in a fire around lunchtime on Wednesday
Terrified Jewish people in London are living in fear of Nazi-style anti-Semitic attacks, with campaigners warning crimes against Jews have reached a ‘new level of hate’.
The fears come as police continue a probe into a fire which gutted a house in the east of the capital, leaving four injured – with cops treating the inferno as a possible ‘anti-Semitic hate crime’.
Speaking to MailOnline today, The Campaign Against Antisemitism condemned the Hackney arson attack, and warned: ‘Over the past few months, we have seen an extremely worrying surge in anti-Semitic violence, from beatings to knife-wielding.
‘This suspected arson attack, if it had an anti-Semitic motivation, takes our society to a whole new level of hate.
‘Was it not enough that Jews may, judging from the evidence, have been burned alive by Hamas on 7th October? We cannot sit by as that grotesque violence is potentially mimicked by Jew-haters in the UK.’
It is believed the fire in Newick Road, Hackney, was started deliberately. Police have arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of starting the fire and for allegedly shouting ‘threatening comments some of which were allegedly anti-Semitic’
A police car sits in front of the fire damaged property on Thursday night as the Met investigates
The gutted shell of the house shows significant fire and smoke damage after the blaze in Hackney
Hatred towards the Jewish community has exploded following the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel, which led to a full-scale invasion and bombing campaign of Gaza by the Israeli military.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Britain has seen its worst outbreak of anti-Semitism since 1984, when Jewish advisory body the Community Security Trust (CST) began recording such data, with 4,103 reported incidents.
While in an alarming statement earlier this month, the Government’s counter-extremism commissioner, Robin Simcox, declared London had become a ‘no-go zone’ for Jews each weekend amid on-going pro-Palestine protests.
While earlier this week London was branded the most anti-Semitic city in the West thanks to a mix of the ‘radical Left and Islamic extremism’, a top Israeli official has declared.
Israel’s diaspora minister Amichai Chikli, a notoriously hardline member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, said the capital was no longer a safe place for Jews because of the erosion of free speech in Britain.
It comes amid reports some Jewish families were actively seeking to leave the UK, with some claiming it ‘feel like Nazi Germany’ did in the 1930s before the Second World War.
‘The anti-Semitism we see today in the West is the worst since the 1930s because of… the combination of the radical Left and the radical Islam groups that work together,’ he told journalists at a Europe Israel Press Association conference in Jerusalem.
The latest incident to rock the capital’s Jewish community took place in Newick Road, Hackney, at lunchtime on Wednesday, when a suspected arsonist torched a house.
People living in the street claimed families with young children had to be evacuated from the building as a result of the blaze, with one woman and her child being rescued from the top floor by a builder who was working nearby.
Police in forensics gear, along with a sniffer dog, gather outside the property on Thursday
The incident comes as London was branded a ‘no-go zone’ for Jews at the weekend amid ongoing pro-Palestine protests in the capital (pictured: a rally on February 3, 2024)
CST figures show huge spikes in reported anti-Semitic incidents following the October 7 attacks in Israel
The motivation behind the attack is unclear. However, the Metropolitan Police has arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life made threatening and for making ‘allegedly anti-Semitic’ comments when detained.
It’s not known if any residents in the house are Jewish. However, the Met is treating the incident as a suspected hate crime.
Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway said: ‘On his arrest the man made a number of threatening comments, some of which were allegedly anti-Semitic.
‘We take instances of antisemitism extremely seriously and for this reason we’re investigating the incident as a potential hate crime.
‘Undoubtedly this will be extremely concerning news for our Jewish communities in Hackney and beyond, and I and my officers will be engaging with partners including the Community Safety Trust and the Shomrim, to answer their questions and listen to their views.
‘Whilst the investigation will continue to explore the motivation for this offence, we believe at this stage that this was centred on a localised housing-related issue. We have no indication, at this very early stage, that the motivation was connected with any specific local or global events.
‘I know our Jewish communities are about to begin celebrations for Purim, and we have a robust policing plan in place, including increased patrols and enhanced police visibility, to ensure the festivities can be enjoyed safely and securely.’
Following the fire, Jewish campaign group CST described the attack as ‘very serious’, and praised police for their ‘swift action’.
Police are looking into whether the fire was started as part of an anti-Semitic hate crime
A Metropolitan Police and a London Fire Brigade van parked in front of the fire damaged property
The aftermath of the blaze show the charred remains of the house in Hackney
‘We have been in contact with police since yesterday and we will be working with them to provide reassurance to the local Jewish community over the coming days,’ A spokesman for the group added.
In its damning report last month, CST warned attacks and graffiti at synagogues and letters threatening headteachers were among incidents heralding an ‘explosion in hatred’ towards British Jews in the wake of the Hamas terror attack.
The antisemitism charity said it recorded 4,103 incidents of Jewish hatred in 2023, up from 1,662 the year before, with the majority recorded after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
The figures include 266 violent assaults, up 96 per cent year-on-year, and – for the first time on record – at least one anti-Semitic incident for every police force in the UK.
CST sourced its reports from police incidents and direct reports from victims as well as witnesses, its own staff and volunteers, friends and family of victims as well as CATCH, a London alliance of hate crime charities.
Of the 4,103 incidents recorded, more than half – 2,410 – were logged in Greater London, with 555 reported in Greater Manchester and the remainder spread across other regions of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
A synagogue is daubed with the letters ‘IDF’ and what appears to be the ‘lightning bolt’ insignia of the SS, the Nazi paramilitary death squads
A pro-Palestine protester holds up a sign comparing Jewish people to the Nazis
A poster of Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, is daubed with swastikas
A sticker of a Palestine flag with the slogan ‘Jews are the scum of the earth’ is displayed in London in October
The suspect of the alleged arson attack in Hackney, who is reported to have been a resident of a flat in the house, suffered minor injuries in the fire and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Four other people were also injured in the blaze but none are in a life-threatening condition.
Homeowners on the road claimed they heard a ‘bomb-like explosion’ that left debris and smoke everywhere.
Horrified residents told how a fire which tore through a property in a suspected arson attack caused nearby houses to ‘shake’.
Speaking to MailOnline today, one woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: ‘There was a loud explosion and even though I live a bit down the street, my entire house shook.
‘I had no idea what had happened, so I rushed outside and saw the house – all of its windows were smashed.
‘A man who lived there came out with blood on his head, and then the house went up in flames.
‘I quickly rang 999.’
Other neighbours said their windows had been damaged by the explosion – but they too were anxious about being named.
One man said: ‘I know people have cracks in their windows, but I don’t really want to say anything else or have my name out there as it’s a worrying time.’
Another added: ‘We’re all upset and shocked by what happened, but I’m hesitant to say any more because we don’t know if something similar will happen again.’
Zakariya Ahmed, who lives next door to the property, said his family had to be evacuated as the flames threatened to consume their home.
The 29-year-old business development manager, who is Muslim, said that his wife and their two-month-old daughter had to rush to escape, while their Jewish neighbour Dave Rindl came to help his elderly father who has dementia.
He told The Times: ‘He’s a Jewish man, we’re a Muslim family, and he came to help. There was glass on the floor and my granddad didn’t have shoes on, so we had to protect him from the glass as we escorted him.’
He also praised a ‘heroic’ builder who sprung into action after hearing the screams of a woman trapped on the top floor of the building.
Mr Ahmed said the man, who is called Chris, ‘jumped two fences, got the ladder, and brought down a mother and the child’.
Others today claimed there had been ‘rumours’ about one man who had been living in the property.
‘He was a very aggressive man. He was angry at life and angry at people,’ one woman claimed.
‘I heard that he had been given notice for the end of his tenancy and wasn’t happy.
‘So there have been rumours but no one knows anything.’
London Fire Brigade said eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters tackled the fire, which left the ground and first floors of the three-storey house destroyed.
DCS Conway said the Met had a robust policing plan in place, including increased patrols and enhanced police visibility, as Jewish communities begin celebrations for the Purim holiday period.