By Michael Holden
LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s chief rabbi said on Sunday a sustained campaign of violence against the Jewish community was gathering momentum after a synagogue in north London became the latest target in a spate of arson attacks.
UK counter-terrorism police are heading up an investigation into the latest incident, which occurred at Kenton United Synagogue in the Harrow area of the city shortly after midnight.
The fire did not cause any significant damage but it was the third “cowardly attack” on Jewish sites in the British capital in less than a week, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said.
“A sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum,” Mirvis said on X. “Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society.”
AREA CORDONED OFF AROUND ISRAELI EMBASSY
On Friday night, there was an attempted arson attack on a business premises with links to the Jewish community, while a few days earlier police arrested two suspects over an attempted arson attack on another synagogue in the capital.
Meanwhile an area around the Israeli embassy in London was cordoned off following an online report that it had been targeted with drones carrying “dangerous substances”. Police later said items they found did not contain any harmful or hazardous substances.
Last month, several ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola, which were parked near a synagogue in Golders Green, were torched.
Police said they had boosted their presence in the area, deploying armed response vehicles and resources from the counter-terrorism division. It was officers on a “deterrence” patrol shortly after midnight who spotted a window at the Kenton synagogue had been damaged.
They found an accelerant had been thrown into the building.
“I am appalled by recent attempted anti-Semitic arson attacks in North London,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X. “This is abhorrent and it will not be tolerated. Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain.”
PRO-IRANIAN GROUP CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY
Pro-Iranian group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, or Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand of Islam, has claimed responsibility for most of the recent incidents, posting on social media that it was behind the Kenton arson, along with a video purporting to show the attack.
The group has also said it was responsible for a spate of attacks across Europe on U.S., Israeli and Jewish targets.
“We recognise the feeling of concern among local people and do not underestimate the impact of incidents of this nature – particularly our Jewish communities,” Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in northwest London, said in a statement.
“We continue to work with our colleagues from Counter Terrorism Policing who are leading the investigations into all of these incidents due to the similar circumstances and online claims of responsibility.”
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by David Holmes)
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