‘Sickening’ but small anti-Jewish protest in Golders Green is condemned

Jewish security bosses have blasted a “sickening” group of protesters who unfurled banners reading “This is London, not Tel Aviv” in the centre of Golders Green.

The demonstration, against Jewish volunteer patrol group Shomrim, saw nine activists coalesce at the war memorial on Saturday afternoon. 

A spokesman for the Community Security Trust (CST) said: “The demonstration was extremely small, but it occurred near the heart of one of Europe’s largest and most vibrant Jewish communities, so will come as a shock to many Jews.”

He added: “It is sickening to think of these thugs demonstrating at a war memorial for those who died fighting against Hitler and Nazism.”

The CST did not attend the 30-minute protest, due to it being on Shabbat, but police officers were present. No arrests are thought to have been made, and no other anti-Semitic incidents were reported. 

Last year, far-right activists tried to hold an “anti-Jewification” demonstration in Golders Green, but this was eventually moved to Whitehall on the basis of police advice, following security fears about a clash with anti-fascist groups.

According to the CST, Saturday’s demonstration “appears to have occurred [at] very short notice and with little or no attendant pre-publicity.” It included Bernadette Jaggers, a former National Front organiser in Essex, and Jeremy Bedford Turner, who was reported to police for his “anti-Semitic” speech at Whitehall last year.

Turner is behind the far-right London Forum group, which talks about “the astonishing role and influence of the Jewish lobby,” and says that “countering Jewish-Zionist power is vitally important”.

The far-right group also produced a video-clip of the protest: