Metropolitan Police are hunting down a man who was filmed on an east London street as he threatened: ‘Jews gonna get beheaded.’
Officers were on Friday sent to Whitechapel Road in Tower Hamlets after an online video circulated of the suspect making threats and slurs, the Metropolitan Police said.
Footage shows a man, dressed in a black puffer jacket, pointing his finger seemingly directed at someone, saying: ‘F*** Israel. Big up Palestine. Free Palestine to the river to the sea.
‘F*** Israel. Big up Palestine. Palestine will be free. The Jews, you’re gonna get beheaded one by one. You dirty Jews. Big up Palestine.’
A separate person joins the chant, as the young man continues: ‘Palestine will be free. But Israel, if I catch that Government, on my mother’s life I will f*** you out.’
The man then gets pushed by another man who seemingly gestures he stops his rant and moves aside, however, undeterred, the person proceeds to chant: ‘Free free Palestine from the river to the sea.’
The camera circles to the person he is addressing, separated by a line of people with cameras, who tells him to ‘shut up’.
The Jewish community police force Shomrim (London North & East), who shared the video, described the footage as a ‘horrific video circulating on social media showing a gentleman threatening to behead Jews and much more’.
Metropolitan Police are hunting down a man who was filmed on an east London street as he threatened ‘Jews gonna get beheaded’
The man then gets pushed by a separate man who seemingly gestures he stops his rant and moves aside, however, undeterred, the person proceeds to chant: ‘Free free Palestine from the river to the sea’
The camera circles to the person he is addressing, separated by a line of people with cameras, who tells him to ‘shut up’
It said it was ‘aware of the fact that the Orthodox Jewish community is exceptionally concerned about these threats’, adding it is ‘working closely’ with the force.
It hoped this may provide some reassurance to the community, which has experienced a series of recent attacks.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘We are aware of this video, which was reported to police earlier on Friday afternoon.
‘Officers have attended the scene and are carrying out urgent inquiries to identify the man involved.
‘We understand that incidents like this cause significant concern and we take all reports incredibly seriously. Hate crime of any kind has no place in our communities.’
Earlier this month the force announced there would be a dedicated team of 100 additional officers specially allocated to protect London’s Jewish communities.
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Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley previously urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to release urgent funding to recruit 300 extra police officers, as he warned Jewish people face a ‘ghastly Venn diagram’ of anti-Semitic hate.
Sir Mark Rowley said on May 1 that British Jews were experiencing their greatest ever threat, with anti-Semitism becoming increasingly prevalent in a social media-driven age.
He said the rise of a ‘social media-led’ news ecosystem meant more people were forming views from ‘non-traditional sources’ – adding that anti-Semitism was ‘becoming more and more mainstream’.
This stark warning followed the UK’s terrorism threat level was raised last month to ‘severe’ in the wake of the Golders Green attack and a series of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London – meaning an incident is now considered ‘highly likely’.
This followed a stabbing on April 29 in Golders Green, north London, which left two Jewish men – Moshe Shine, 76, and Shloime Rand, 34 – wounded.
Survivor Mr Rand said the blade came just ‘two centimetres’ from his heart.
The suspected knifeman Essa Suleiman, 45, appeared on Friday at the Old Bailey for the first time.
The British national, born in Somalia, is charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place over what police declared a terrorist incident.
He appeared on a video link from HMP Belmarsh wearing a grey prison tracksuit, slumped backwards with his arms crossed on a red three-seater bench.
Suleiman spoke only to confirm his name and age and appeared relaxed throughout the hearing.
