Four men arrested and bailed over antisemitic “F*** the Jews…rape their daughters” convoy as CAA demands more arrests

Four men have been arrested and bailed on suspicion of shouting “F*** the Jews…rape their daughters” as they drove in a convoy through Jewish neighbourhoods on Sunday, waving the flag of the Palestinian Authority, as well as an antisemitic incident in Salford, Manchester in the early hours that day.

The men are alleged to have been part of the convoy of some 200 cars displaying Palestinian Authority flags is understood to have driven from Bradford, Sheffield and Leicester down the M1 motorway before veering into Hendon and Golders Green, two of North London’s Jewish neighbourhoods. According to witnesses, convoy participants shouted to Jewish passers-by “Free Palestine! Go back to Poland” and other antisemitic chants.

The men arrested are alleged to have blared from a megaphone: “F*** the Jews…f*** all of them. F*** their mothers, f*** their daughters, and show your support for Palestine.” The speaker went on to call listeners to “Rape their [the Jews’] daughters”. The incident took place a stone’s throw from a synagogue in West Hampstead.

Additionally, the men are suspected of involvement in an alleged antisemitic incident in Manchester in the early hours that day.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Service admitted that they had failed so badly to monitor the convoy that it took hours to find the car in question, which was identified from photographs taken by a Jewish member of the public who had the presence of mind to capture images of the vehicles’ licence plates. The statement said that “Enquiries were carried out and officers traced the car to the A40 in Hillingdon. The police helicopter was deployed and officers stopped the car at approximately 18:30. Four men were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences. They were taken into custody at a west London police station. Whilst there, they were additionally arrested in connection with a similar incident which took place at around 01:35 on Sunday, 16th May in the Broughton Park area of Salford, Manchester.”

The incident attracted widespread condemnation, including from the Prime Minister and Home Secretary.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “The convoy and demonstrations this weekend 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. Whilst we commend the police on tracking down suspects, they should have been there at the time, monitoring this convoy.

“Many hate crimes have been committed against Britain’s Jews in the past week, but there have only been half a dozen arrests. 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 the appalling scenes of antisemitism that we have witnessed 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.”

Witnesses should call the police and contact [email protected].

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

The image on this article has been partially obscured due to legal restrictions on the reporting of active criminal cases.