Worshipers inside the Ahavas Torah synagogue on Craven Park Road in Stamford Hill used chairs as shields against the attackers, who assaulted at least one man and smashed windows. Metropolitan police arrested two women and four men in connection with the attack, calling it an anti-Semitic incident.
“The incident is being treated as an anti-Semitic incident, due to remarks made by one of the group,” said a spokesman for the metropolitan police. “At this early stage, there is no suggestion that this was a far-right or extremist attack but rather the completely unacceptable actions of a drunken group.”
Police are looking into finding others who may have been involved in the incident. They have also increased patrols in the area. But Rabbi Maurice Davis told the BBC, “I think this incident was more anti-social than anti-Semitic.”
The attack, which was caught on video, did not appear to be planned, but instead was the result of a bunch of drunken people at a party who got together and decided to start a row. But Meir Taub, a member of a local patrol designed to crack down on violence against Jews, told the Telegraph: “The number of these incidents has increased in the past few months, since before Charlie Hebdo,” according to CBS News.
Because of the recent attacks on Jewish synagogues in Europe, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has encouraged Europe’s Jews to leave. His remarks have sparked a lot of debate over the safety of Jews in Europe, as well as whether officials in the different countries are doing enough to protect all their citizens.
