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UK PM says 'appalled' by arson attacks against Jewish sites in London / Photo: © AFP
UK PM says 'appalled' by arson attacks against Jewish sites in London
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Sunday to bring perpetrators of recent arson attacks on Jewish sites in London to justice as Britain's chief rabbi said "a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation" against Jews was accelerating.
Starmer said he was "appalled" by a spate of recent arson attacks in northwest London, the latest of which came on Saturday night, after a similar incident late on Friday.
"This is abhorrent and it will not be tolerated. Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain," the prime minister said in a post on X.
"We will not rest in the pursuit of perpetrators."
Counter-terror officers from London's Metropolitan Police are investigating multiple arson or attempted arson attacks against Jewish properties in Britain's capital in the past month.
Officers have stepped up patrols in areas with large Jewish populations, amid an upsurge in antisemitic incidents in Britain.
In the latest incident, a fire caused minor smoke damage to a room at Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow on Saturday night, said the Community Security Trust (CST), which provides safety advice to Jewish groups. No injuries were reported.
A property formerly used by the charity Jewish Futures was targeted in nearby Hendon on Friday night.
"A sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum," the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said in a post 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," he added.
- Counter-terror police investigating -
In a statement, London's Metropolitan Police said that officers on patrol noticed damage to the window of the Kenton synagogue on Saturday night.
"On further inspection they saw smoke inside a room and evidence that a bottle with some sort of accelerant had been thrown through the window."
A police statement added that, as with the other recent events, counter-terror officers were leading the investigation.
On Wednesday, police arrested two people over an arson attack on a synagogue in nearby Finchley.
In late March, four Jewish community ambulances were torched in Golders Green, also in north London.
A little-known group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), with links to Iran, has claimed responsibility for many of the attacks, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
The group previously claimed similar attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
P. Batista--JDB
