Under-fire UK boosts security for Jews after latest attack
/ Photo: © AFP
Under-fire UK boosts security for Jews after latest attack
The UK government on Thursday announced an extra £25 million ($33 million) for security outside synagogues and schools, a day after two Jews were stabbed in the latest attack on the community.
Two men were knifed in the street in broad daylight in Golders Green in north London on Wednesday.
There have been arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in the area and a deadly attack in which two people died at a synagogue in Manchester last year.
"People have a sense of deep insecurity... and that is why the government is bringing forward investment, an additional £25 million to invest in the security of our Jewish community," interior minister Shabana Mahmood told Sky News.
"That will pay for more protective security for our Jewish synagogues, schools, places of worship, community centres," she added.
A 45-year-old man, a British national who was born in Somalia and came to the UK as a child, remains in custody following the stabbings.
The victims -- aged 76 and 34 -- were in a stable condition in hospital.
Rabbi Ben Kurzer, of the Golders Green Synagogue, called on the government to do more to protect Britain's Jews.
"There is definitely not a significant police presence on a regular basis in these areas. We have little bits here and there, but most of the security that we're seeing is private," he told BBC Radio.
- 'Cumulative impact' -
A little-known group believed to be linked to Iran, and which has claimed responsibility for the London arson attacks, said one of its "lone wolves" was behind the stabbings, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.
Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) -- meaning The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand -- made the uncorroborated claim in a video posted online, according to SITE.
Mahmood said the government would legislate to deal with "a gap in the law when it comes to organisations that may be linked to hostile states" and their proxies.
The government would be "fast tracking that legislation in the coming weeks", she said.
Kurzer also urged ministers to take action on pro-Palestine marches which he said were fuelling the attacks.
"I think they are hate marchers... We all believe in free speech, but there's obviously a limit to free speech when it's leading to events such as we had yesterday," he said.
Last year the government of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced it would give police greater powers to restrict protests.
They were aimed at allowing police to take into account the "cumulative impact" of frequent protests.
Monitoring groups have reported a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
(U.Stolizkaya--DTZ)
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