A Jewish Manchester man was spat on and punched in an unprovoked attack on Saturday when a companion began to speak about Israeli politics.
Ehud Woodbridge told The Jerusalem Post that he was in central Manchester with an acquaintance who was speaking loudly about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A visibly Muslim man approached Woodbridge and spat in his face, though Woodbridge had not spoken or engaged in the conversation with his acquaintance.
Woodbridge said that he instinctively pushed the man away in self-defense to distance himself from the attacker. The man then struck Woodbridge in the eye, leaving him with a swollen black eye and sore jaw. The victim's glasses were also knocked off in the attack and damaged.
Incident leaves Jewish victim feeling shaken, unsafe walking in Manchester
Despite being attacked, Woodbridge did not contact the police out of a belief that they wouldn't investigate or address the matter.
The incident left Woodbridge shaken, and unsafe walking in Manchester, but his concern was primarily about how the attack served as an indicator of a wider societal affliction in the United Kingdom. The unprovoked assault, motivated by what he felt was explicitly antisemitic, demonstrated the dangers faced by British Jewry and how antisemitic rhetoric by some actors could escalate into physical violence by others.
"I believe the UK is in a dire situation. Over the years, many people have been let in from Muslim-majority countries who are pushing ideologies that are harmful to society. This is creating major unrest between locals and these communities," said Woodbridge. "Recently, I visited a migrant hotel and was shocked at what I saw. There were no women or children, only fighting-aged men. Our government is importing large numbers of men from countries that do not share British values."
The attack left Woodbridge fearing that violence against UK Jews could intensify in the future, and advised his co-religionists to leave the country.
"I want to tell my story because people should not be afraid to speak out about the detrimental effects radical Islam is having in the diaspora," said Woodbridge. "This attack on me was not just random — it’s part of a wider problem that too many are scared to acknowledge.”