Jewish children were not allowed to board London buses, and according to a complaint received by the police, several passengers encouraged the driver while making anti-Semitic comments.
Police in London are investigating reports that Jewish children have been prevented from boarding London buses.
The police received several reports when bus drivers refused to board Jewish children waiting at bus stops, allegedly at the encouragement of the passengers.
In one such case, several Jewish schoolboys were waiting for the bus in the Stamford Hill neighborhood, which is home to a large Jewish community, and signaled it to stop. The driver slowed down but did not stop.
According to the complaint received by the police, several passengers encouraged the driver while making anti-Semitic comments and expressed their gratitude that he did not stop.
The incident was first reported to the local Jewish volunteer group Shomrim, who forwarded the complaint to London's Metropolitan Police. The complaint was made by a bus passenger who said he felt "threatened, intimidated, shocked and terrified" as he was the only Jewish person on the bus at the time.
Another incident took place three days later: a 13-year-old Jewish girl reported a similar incident when the bus driver did not stop for a Jewish boy, but stopped for another non-Jewish passenger.
Transport for London said it was taking the reports "extremely seriously", adding:
"We do not tolerate any form of discrimination on our network".
Since the outbreak of the war, anti-Semitic incidents in London have increased, in October they increased by 1353% (!) compared to the same month last year.
According to Chaim Hochhausert, head of Shomrim
"children dread going home from school or using public transport".
“There have never been so many hate crimes in one month. Usually an average of three a week. Since October 7, Shomrim has reported 84 hate crimes. We're not talking about this happening on a national level, just around Stamford Hill."
