Nazis to ‘rip up Israeli flags and burn Talmud’ at Golders Green demo

18 June 2015, 12:47 pm
Piers Mellor [left] and Eddie Stampton [centre] from neo-Nazi group New Dawn were behind a planned neo-Nazi march in Golders Green

Piers Mellor [left] and Eddie Stampton [centre] from neo-Nazi group New Dawn are understood to be behind the planned Golders Green rally
White supremacists hoping to mobilise neo-Nazis in Golders Green next month say they will rip up Israeli flags and burn copies of the Talmud. Joshua Bonehill-Paine, who has been promoting the “anti-Jewification initiative” on 4 July, this week urged supporters to bring Israeli flags to destroy, because Israel is “responsible for horrific war crimes”. He also said: “There will be a private ceremony held before the demonstration at an undisclosed and private location where copies of the Talmud books will be burnt in recognition of its racist anti-white teachings.”

Bonehill-Paine, who lives in Yeovil, was dismissed as a “provocateur” by Jewish security chiefs, who explained that it was not his rally to organise. The latest comments follow a Sunday meeting between the Community Security Trust and representatives from synagogues in Golders Green and Hendon, to address policing and security arrangements. “While they were deeply concerned and repelled by the far-right demonstration, they were not afraid of it,” said a CST spokesman after the meeting. “Extensive police planning is underway… The operation will be comprehensive.”

Police say they are powerless, legally, to stop a static demonstration. Among those thought to be involved in organising the rally – which follows a similar, though unsuccessful event in Stamford Hill in April – is right-wing group New Dawn. The Stamford Hill demonstration, described by the CST as “quite pathetic and largely ignored,” was attended by fewer than 30 people, who were held by police away from the Jewish community.

More than 11,500 people have so far signed a petition to Home Secretary Theresa May, urging her to ban the event. Launched by pro-Israel advocacy group North West Friends of Israel, it asks the Home Office to “ban the planned Neo Nazi Rally in Golders Green, London”.

The petition page says: “A neo-Nazi rally or march in this area is intended to be inflammatory and threatening. It is racist in nature and has no place in modern Britain. The Jewish residents of Golders Green should not be subject to this racist abuse.”

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