Golders Green attack was not a 'surprise,' says Dave Rich

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]I think like a lot of people in the Jewish community, um, my heart sank when I heard that there had been yet another attack. But it wasn't especially a surprise that this has carried on. We had the terrorist attack in Manchester in October at Heaton Park Synagogue where two people were killed. We've had the string of arson attacks targeting synagogues and other Jewish community premises in North London over the last few weeks. And now this stabbing attack today which is just yet another appalling act of violence against the Jewish community.

[00:00:33]I think the levels of anti-semitism that have been allowed to flourish for far too long mean that nobody in the Jewish community is especially surprised by this.

[00:00:43]>> Yeah. And that lack of surprise I I assume speaks volumes of unfortunately where we're at right now.

[00:00:50]>> That's exactly the case. the number of anti-semitic hate crimes being recorded by police, the number of incidents being reported to my organization, CST, the amount of extremism and violent incitement on the streets and on social media. It's been far too high for far too long. And the Jewish community have been calling out for more than two years now for much stronger action against it.

[00:01:15]have been warning that if violent language is allowed to become normalized then violent acts will always follow and a lot of people are looking at what's happened over the last few weeks and saying well we told you so this is what we warned about >> and just tell us a bit more about the work that CST do the community security trust for those that aren't quite aware of its role >> so at CST we provide physical uh security and protection across the Jewish community that security at synagogues at Jewish schools at Jewish communities events. We support victims of anti-semitic hate crime. We work very closely with police and government in doing that. We administer the home office grant that pays for commercial security guards at hundreds of Jewish buildings across the country. So, it's very much a partnership, but it's all based on the idea that ultimately we are part of British society. Attacks on the Jewish community are an attack on Britain and on our society as a whole.

[00:02:11]and we have to work together in partnership to try and tackle this.

[00:02:14]>> And how did CST exactly coordinate with Shamrim and the Metropolitan Police with the initial response to the stabbing at Highfield Avenue this morning?

[00:02:24]>> So Shamrim is an organization that provides uh kind of security and patrolling within a particular part of the Jewish community in northwest London and acted very bravely in uh trying to detain the attacker. The police then arrived very quickly um and and detained him properly as did Hat Solo, the ambulance service whose ambulances were burnt out just around the corner from where the stabbing was, you know, a few weeks ago and they then came and treated the injured. Uh CST's volunteers uh and other guards deployed by us then came and assisted the police and others with with the the cordon and so on. We'll be doing lots more security operations and protection around that general area of the Jewish community in the coming days.

[00:03:11]>> You began by talking about this rise in anti-semitic crimes, but how effectively do you think they're currently being dealt with?

[00:03:17]>> Well, I think clearly more definitely could be done. I mean, in terms of the actual protection on the streets, there's been a huge amount of resource by police put into Jewish community areas. Uh, and that's very welcome and absolutely necessary. in the investigation into these arson has produced a lot of arrests very quickly.

[00:03:35]But I think the broader picture of anti-semitic hate crime, we still see the number of hate crimes that are actually prosecuted and lead to convictions is still far too low relative to the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes that are actually happening.

[00:03:50]And we need those prosecutions to happen so that there is a deterrence for the people carrying out these anti-semitic attacks. And also so there's a sense in the Jewish community that they are being protected by the criminal justice system. But >> is there an ability to get to these attacks in time in good time? And by that I mean are there enough measures in place to recognize before people are getting seriously hurt? Are you getting access to surveillance to security uh in the gold area for example? Look, there's a lot of protection, a lot of security work going on across ourselves, the police, security companies who work at these buildings and so on. But I think there's a much bigger piece of work which is much harder to grapple in a way which is dealing with the kind of extremist ideas, the ideologies and the hateful and violent incitement that is leading to this sustained high level of anti-semitism. Whether it's the hate crimes, whether it's the arson, or now we've seen yet another terrorist attack, these all come from ideas. They don't come, they don't just drop out of a clear blue sky. They are the product of an environment where this kind of hate and this kind of incitement is normalized. And I think tackling that extremism is the much deeper challenge and the more long-term challenge that as a country we really need to get hold of.

[00:05:09]So beyond the obvious education which is obviously the long-term solution, what can be done immediately to make an an instant impact in this regard?

[00:05:18]>> I think there are a few measures could be taken very quickly to send the right signals to everyone. I think that the uh arrests and prosecutions coming out of these strings of arson could be sped up through the criminal justice system in the same way that prosecutions in relation to the riots of two summers ago were expedited to send that deterrent uh message to wouldbe offenders and also it would send a very strong message to everybody about the seriousness of this.

[00:05:47]I think I know the government has said they are going to bring in legislation to allow them to prescribe the IRGC which is the arm of the Iranian state which is suspected as being behind at least some of these arson incidents and others in this country. I think there's an argument for prescribing the group hy which is claiming responsibility for these attacks as well. So these would be short-term measures. But then we need much more of a long-term commitment not just from government but across society I think to recognize that that violent language, hateful language leads to these kind of attacks. And we need some really strong red lines across society so that when people call for death, globalize the interifer, when they march through the streets supporting armed resistance, this is the impact it then has further down the chain on our streets in Britain. And I think we need to recognize that connection and deal with that kind of extremist language.