London announces new bus line so Jewish residents feel more safe

Jewish groups welcome direct route between Golders Green and Stamford Hill, hopefully enabling passengers to avoid antisemitism because they won’t have to change buses

By AFP Today 6th August 2024, 12:55 pm

The new service was welcomed by Jewish groups.

“In a period where our community is encountering unprecedented anti-Semitism, any measure that bolsters the confidence of Jewish individuals in using public transport is immensely valued,” said co-chairs of the London Jewish Forum Andrew Gilbert and Adrian Cohen.

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Khan said the Jewish community has been campaigning for a direct transport link for 16 years.

The Jewish community was “frightened because of a mass increase in antisemitism since October 7 last year” when Hamas attacked southern Israel, he told BBC radio.

Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Stamford Hill area of London, January 17, 2015. (Rob Stothard/ Getty Images via JTA/ File)

“I was told stories by families who, where they changed buses from Stamford Hill to Golders Green at Finsbury Park, were frightened about the abuse they had received,” he said.

Antisemitic incidents in the UK hit record levels in the first half of this year, according to one Jewish charity.

The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism in Britain, recorded 1,978 such incidents from January to June, its highest six-month tally since it began its count in 1984.

It said it was the continuation of a surge seen after the October 7 attack on Israel.

The increase represented a 105-percent increase on the 964 incidents recorded in the same period in 2023, the CST added.