Jewish Man Assaulted After Confronting Anti-Israel Graffiti in London

On Tuesday evening in the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency, 52-year-old Dan Levene intervened when two activists were spraying a stencil that read “puppet of genocidal Israel” on a wall. Levene says he kicked the stencil away and told the vandals the message was “neo-Nazi propaganda.” One of the perpetrators, described as considerably larger than Levene, responded with a prolonged physical attack, striking and kicking Levene for about 20 seconds before bystanders intervened and the assailants fled. Levene sustained bruises, a bleeding forehead wound and a possible cracked rib.

Times of Israel

The graffiti appeared ahead of a local by-election in which Green Party leader Zack Polanski, a Jewish MP and vocal Israel critic, is seeking the seat vacated by former prime minister Keir Starmer. Earlier that week the Green Party passed a motion labeling Zionism as racism and calling for a Palestinian state. Levene linked the anti-Israel slogan to that motion, noting that similar stenciled messages have been used by Green activists during the campaign. The party has faced multiple antisemitism investigations, including a recent probe of 30 candidates and criticism of Polanski’s retweet of a post about a separate knife attack on Jewish men in Golders Green.

Times of Israel

London police are treating the assault as an antisemitic hate crime, according to the reporting outlet. The classification reflects the authorities’ assessment that the attack was motivated by the victim’s Jewish identity and the anti-Israel content of the confrontation. No arrests have been reported at the time of writing.

Times of Israel

“He started shouting at me and started punching me. I stood my ground and then he started kicking me in the side of my legs quite hard for about 20 seconds, clearly trying to get me down on the floor,” — London. Dan Levene

Times of Israel