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Woman Arrested Following Antisemitic Insults, Spilled Fries, Alleged Assault at Kosher Cafe in London
Illustrative: Police officers block a street as pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather in protest against Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s plans to proscribe the “Palestine Action” group in the coming weeks, in London, Britain, June 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police in central London arrested an unnamed woman, 32, on Thursday and began an investigation into a potential hate crime after she allegedly attacked employees and patrons at a Reubens Cafe and Bakery, a Kosher establishment, after yelling antisemitic statements.
In a statement, law enforcement described how the woman’s remarks “related to the conflict in the Middle East.” They suspected her of racially aggravated criminal damage and assaults before later releasing her on bail.
An X user with the name “Akiva” and the handle “@kivafein” shared a video of the encounter on Sunday which reached more than 100,000 views as on Monday, writing that “while sitting at a bakery in London, a friend of mine was assaulted in an antisemitic attack just for being Jewish and eating at a kosher bakery. This isn’t history. This is now. If you’re still pretending antisemitism isn’t real, just watch. Don’t look away. Don’t stay silent.”
The blurry, 1-minute and 20-second video starts from the perspective of the victim and shows the alleged attacker bellowing at her incoherently. The phone perspective rises from capturing the bowl of golden fries – or “chips” to use the local vernacular – on the table. The woman approaching has long brown hair, wears a dark gray baseball cap, black tank-top, and yells “terrorist” before flipping over the fries and smacking the phone down onto the ground.
The perspective shifts for 10 seconds to provide a view of the underside of the table before pink fingers emerge to pick up the phone and the victim continues filming her assailant who has walked over to another cafe table to loudly express her feelings about Jews. “She threw my phone on the floor, it’s broken,” the young woman behind the camera says in a British accent.
The view then returns to the suspect lecturing people at the other table, her words out of earshot. She jabs her finger in the air multiple times, pointing at people in the cafe. Then the woman suddenly points toward the camera and yells “I ask them!” She then shifts her attention back and swears at her interlocutors in the cafe with whom she had argued.
While sitting at a bakery in London, a friend of mine was assaulted in an antisemitic attack just for being Jewish and eating at a kosher bakery.
This isn’t history. This is now. If you’re still pretending antisemitism isn’t real, just watch. Don’t look away. Don’t stay silent. pic.twitter.com/qSB8N4eoXJ
— Akiva (@kivafein) July 20, 2025
“In general, we couldn’t understand half the things she was saying,” Yael Isaac told Jewish News. “But at one point during her tantrum, I asked her, ‘What if I don’t support Israel?’ She said she didn’t care and that I was Jewish, so that’s all that mattered to her.”
Instagram creator Moriel Lee Shviki witnessed the attack and said, “Unfortunately, it took the police quite a long time to get there. She went on to harass a lot of other people.”
The UK-based watchdog group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) shared the video and wrote, “Now it seems that they are freeing Palestine by throwing food over Jews at a kosher restaurant. Do you recognize our country anymore? Thuggery is commonplace and the people of the solidarity movements and anti-racism awareness initiatives have gone awfully quiet.”
CAA shared the statistic that “fewer than half of British Jews (43%) feel welcome in the UK” and asked, “With attacks like these, is it any wonder?” The group noted that “police have made an arrest and are reportedly treating this as a hate crime. Those responsible for any attack must face the full force of the law.”
Akiva followed up the video with a post where he praised the cafe staff, writing, “If you’re based in London or the area, please show love and support to Reubens Bakery. They made sure my friend and all those affected were comforted and safe. They called authorities right away and took care of the scene. They need and deserve the support.”
Reubens provides customers “a taste of NYC in the heat of LDN.” The menu offers a wide variety of bagel options and New York deli staples, while also listing London classics like fish and chips with tartar sauce for £24.
On Monday, meanwhile, the UK’s National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) shared a report with The Jerusalem Post which polled 138 Jewish teachers. The research showed that approximately 51 percent of respondents said they experienced antisemitism at school in the last year. Seventy-eight percent of those who reported such incidents said it occurred against them personally while 37 percent said they witnessed the hate and 38 percent heard about the abuse.
The Jewish teachers also revealed seeing swastika graffiti in schools (44 percent) and hearing Nazi-related comments (39 percent). Teachers working in secular schools experienced antisemitism more regularly (79 percent) compared to faith-based institutions (29 percent).
The post Woman Arrested Following Antisemitic Insults, Spilled Fries, Alleged Assault at Kosher Cafe in London first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.