A masked man tore mezuzahs from the entrance of a kosher restaurant and a Chabad synagogue inLondonearly Saturday in what authorities are investigating as an antisemitic hate crime.
The suspect, wearing a hoodie and with his face covered, was seen on security cameras removing a mezuzah from the entrance of Moss & Maple, a kosher restaurant on Fairfax Road in West Hampstead, shortly before 7 a.m., according to the restaurant’s staff. He then approached a nearby synagogue and forcefully tore down another mezuzah, placing it in his pocket before walking away.
The suspected hate crime
(Video: Chabad)
Restaurant staff discovered the damage the next morning and reported it to the owner and head chef, Uri Avraham. Avraham, 33, an Israeli native who has lived in the United Kingdom for 12 years, said the incident left him shaken.
“It makes me want to move back to Israel,” Avraham told the Jewish Chronicle, a British Jewish newspaper. “How can I feel safe here? If I had been inside, who knows what could have happened? He could’ve taken a knife and entered the restaurant. You just don’t know.”
Avraham said he views the incident as a hate crime. “When someone does this, they’re saying they hate Jews,” he said. “He didn’t target anything related to Hamas, Israel or the IDF — he took the one thing most sacred to Jews, the mezuzah. That’s what happened during the Holocaust. The Nazis tore mezuzahs from Jewish homes — this is exactly the same.It’s pure antisemitism.”
The French-Mediterranean restaurant opened two months ago. Avraham said he had never experienced anything like this in London and plans to affix a new mezuzah soon.
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers were called around 11 a.m. Saturday following reports of vandalism and antisocial behavior at both the restaurant and synagogue. “It was reported that mezuzahs had been torn down. The suspect fled the scene. An investigation is ongoing,” the statement said.