Four charged over alleged antisemitic abuse shouted from car convoy

Four men have been charged after allegedly shouting antisemitic abuse as they drove around in a convoy in north London.

The suspects, all from Blackburn, Lancashire, are accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting words likely to stir up racial hatred.

Mohammed Iftikhar Hanif, 27, of Pringle Street; Jawaad Hussain, 24, of Revidge Road; Asif Ali, 25, of Pringle Street; and Adil Mota, 26, of Leamington Road, were charged via postal requisition on September 16, and are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on October 6.

It is claimed that they used antisemitic language as they travelled around as part of a convoy of cars covered in Palestinian flags in St John’s Wood, north London, on May 16.

The alleged incident took place after protests in London and other cities across the UK and Ireland in support of Palestine amid renewed conflict with Israel.

The Community Security Trust tweeted it “welcomes the news that four men have been charged in connection with antisemitic abuse being shouted from a car convoy on Finchley Road, north London, May 2021. We thank Met Police for their work on this investigation.”

A spokesperson said: ““This was a particularly distressing incident that caused alarm across the Jewish community. CST worked closely with the Police on the day itself and afterwards and we are pleased that their investigation has led to these charges.”

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “This was an extremely distressing incident. Jewish families have told us that they were sent running in fear as a convoy of cars drove through London flying the flag of the Palestinian Authority and shouting ‘F*** the Jews…rape their daughters’. We are pleased that suspects have now been charged but the convoy should never have been allowed in the first place and there remain many other unsolved crimes committed against British Jews from that same period of fighting between Hamas and Israel. The perpetrators in these cases must be brought to justice.”