Yesterdays anti semitic incident in North West London

 I'd be pretty surprised if anyone who follows my blog is unaware of the anti semitic incident in our neighbourhood of London yesterday. If you didn't there is a report on the Barnet Times here.

We cannot have people driving around our community, intimidating, insulting people and inciting violence. There is no place for 'whataboutery' in relation to this incident. It was plain, blatent anti semitism, with a large dollop of sexist misogyny thrown in. There is nothing that could excuse it and no decent person should bother trying. 

We do not want this in our community. The police and the authorities need to ensure take appropriate action. 

I have always supported the right of people to protest peacefully, even for causes I find disagreeable. This was no such thing. It was a clear attempt to insult and intimidate one section of our local community.  I spoke to several people this morning who feel threatened by what happened. I find it hard to understand how the Police allowed the situation to develop. It's not as if the perpetrators were acting in a stealthy manner. 

The idiots who did this have caused massive damage to their own cause and the more moderate and sensible elements in their movement.  I never thought I'd see peace in Northern Ireland in my lifetime, when bombs were going off. Things can change, but it requires people to be civil and respectful and for there to be dialog. People who act like this make such things all the harder. They are not on the side of anything good.