A woman was seen cutting down yellow ribbons, which represent the hope for the safe return of the Gaza hostages, in Muswell Hill, north London, before she was confronted by passers-by, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
Miranda Levy, an author and freelance journalist, recorded the woman vandalizing the memorial. In the video, the woman, who didn’t share her name, said: “You’re not going to do this. I’m not committing a crime. If I am, call the police and you let them know that you have an issue with this.”
She was later called “disgusting” by the passer-bys, to which she responded: “I think condoning genocide is disgusting. That’s what this is.”
“I was walking to get a coffee, it was a lovely sunny day, and there was a woman very mechanically snipping away with a pair of scissors,” Levy told the British outlet.
“These ribbons are to remember people captured. Put up your own stuff but don’t take ours down,” she said, adding that it was not the first time that this type of situations has happened, despite north London's relatively large Jewish population.
London’s Metropolitan Police told the Telegraph that it was investigating the situation to determine whether any offense, including a hate crime or criminal damage, had been committed.
Antisemitism in the UK on the rise
Antisemitism is on the rise in the UK, with the most worrying situation being the terror attack on a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur last Wednesday, in which two people lost their life.
For the moment, six people were arrested because of connections to the attack done by Jihad al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent.
On Yom Kippur, the holiest day for Jews, al-Shamie rammed his car into the synagogue before stabbing multiple congregants.
Al-Shamie was out on bail for rape allegations and is suspected of being behind the death threats sent to a pro-Israel MP in 2012.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told The Jerusalem Post that she is “disappointed with the British government,” citing the Manchester terror attack as “the clearest proof of that.”
Haskel spoke to the Post from the UK on Monday, having traveled to London and Manchester as part of a solidarity trip with the Jewish community. Two Jews were murdered outside a synagogue in Manchester during Yom Kippur last week.
Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.