Firebomb attacks won’t stop me says brave 82-year-old woman as police investigate string of new attacks
An 82-year-old woman said a firebomb attack on her London synagogue will not prevent her from attending services there.
Rhona Brickman was speaking as the UK Chief Rabbi said horrific attacks on the Jewish community are “gathering momentum”. She has attended the Kenton Synagogue in Harrow for 50 years and told the Mirror: “I am absolutely horrified and terrified. “But I will still keep going to the synagogue.
“We need to show we are strong and we are not going to be intimidated.” Police were called after a molotov cocktail was thrown through a widow around midnight yesterday. By fluke, it failed to ignite properly.
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Rhona went on: “I am very afraid though for our country. I am shocked how things have deteriorated so much in such a short time. I feel so much has been allowed by the authorities that should not have been – these hate marches, and this poison being spewed. This only encourages hate crime.”
Another congregant, who asked not to be named, said: “We are so lucky that the bottle filled with flammable stuff was thrown through a window that is inside our medical room.
“There was nothing much in there to catch alight. If it had been thrown in the next window, the library, a huge fire could have been set off. We have fire alarms. But the whole synagogue could have gone up in flames.”
The Met’s Deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans said incidents over a 48-hour period were similar in nature and had been claimed online by a group called Ashab al‑Yamin, which had also claimed attacks on Jewish targets across Europe.
She said: “We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran – as you would expect we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves.”
She added: “I’ve spoken previously about the Iranian regime’s use of criminal proxies, and we’re considering whether this tactic is being used here in London.
“This is recruiting violence as a service, and the people who conduct that violence often have little or no allegiance to the cause and are taking quick cash for their crimes.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis described the latest attack as “cowardly” while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was appalled and that “visible policing” would be increased. Deputy commissioner Matt Jukes said the Metropolitan Police was facing “a concerted campaign” targeting Londoners and the Jewish community.
He said: “London is better than this” And said police officers will be present on the streets of London “tonight, tomorrow night and in the weeks ahead, seen and unseen” with hundreds of additional patrols.
Addressing the arson attempt at Kenton United Synagogue, he said: “Indeed, it was one of those patrols last night that found one of those incidents that’s taking place most recently and quickly identified that event.” Jukes warns anyone looking to commit acts of intimidation on behalf of others as “thugs for hire” will face the full extent of the law.
He says: “Finally, and without commenting on the live investigations, we have seen other cases of thugs for hire who commit criminal acts and intimidation on behalf of others.
“Vicki and I can stand here today and be 100 per cent clear that the teams we have led have put people in prison who thought they could make easy money that way. Let’s be really clear – it’s a mug’s game.”
