Catholic bishops and other religious leaders have condemned the anti-Semitic terror attack in Golders Green, after two Jewish men were stabbed in broad daylight in north-west London in an assault that has intensified fears within Britain’s Jewish community. The attack, which police have described as terrorism, prompted a swift chorus of solidarity from Christian and Jewish figures, along with renewed calls for stronger action against anti-Semitism and violent extremism.
Archbishop Richard Moth said he was praying for the victims and praised the police officers whose intervention prevented further bloodshed. He added that Christians must stand firmly against hatred and violence directed at any person on account of faith.
The two men injured in the attack were identified as members of the local Jewish community, one aged 76 and the other 34. The suspect, who was arrested near the scene after being subdued by police, was described in the police report as a Somalia-born British national with a history of mental health difficulties. The same report said a group with links to Iran, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, had claimed responsibility.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said the stabbings demonstrated with brutal clarity that visibly Jewish people in Britain do not currently feel safe. He called for the whole country to stand with the Jewish community and insisted that the deeper causes of anti-Semitism must be confronted rather than merely its outward symptoms.
Other public figures echoed that concern. Sarah Mullally said there must be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or any other form of hatred, and urged faith communities to work together urgently against extremism. Bishop Jeremiah Anderson of Edmonton described the assault as an attack not only on individuals but on the safety and spirit of the wider neighbourhood.
The attack comes amid what the report described as a wider pattern of hostility towards Jewish communities in north London. Theologian Joseph Kelly, writing on The Catholic Directory website, said the incident would have shocked few within Jewish circles, given the rise in anti-Semitic attacks since the Iran war began. He argued that many Jews now feel unsafe on British streets and said the deeper roots of anti-Semitism lie in a persistent failure to trust those seen as different.
Political leaders also reacted strongly. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the rise in anti-Semitic attacks a “national emergency”, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged ordinary Londoners to show solidarity with Jewish people. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer convened a Cobra meeting and said the government must confront the root causes of both extremism and anti-Semitism.
