Counter-terrorism police are investigating a suspected arson attack at a former synagogue.

Jewish security charity Shomrim said that fire crews were called out to the building in Nelson Street, Whitechapel, east London, in the early hours of Tuesday.

The incident is being investigated alongside a number of apparent attacks on Jewish sites in London since late March.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called just before 5.15am by the London Fire Brigade, and that minor damage had been caused to a set of gates and a lock at the front of the building.

CCTV showed that the fire had ben started deliberately minutes before, the force said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Brittany Clarke said: “We are taking this incident extremely seriously and we will be working closely with colleagues from Counter Terrorism Policing to support the investigation.

“The building targeted has not been operational as a synagogue for some years but that will be of little comfort to the Jewish community in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and beyond, who are first in my thoughts this morning.

“Local residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while inquiries into this incident continue.”

The former synagogue in Whitechapel was due to be sold at auction earlier this year, with a separate bid by a Muslim group to buy the building and convert it into a mosque and community centre.

Since late March there have been a series of arson attacks at Jewish sites in London, as well as a double stabbing in Golders Green that is being treated as an act of terrorism.

Most of the attacks have been claimed by a group called Hayi, that is suspected to be backed by Iran in a bid to sow division in Britain.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is hosting a meeting of senior public figures on Tuesday to drive forward the UK’s response to antisemitism.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter-Terrorism Policing London, said: “This incident follows on from a number of arsons and attempted arsons targeting Jewish Londoners in the north-west of the city and we will be considering any potential links as their investigation gets under way.

“Detectives are already working quickly to gather evidence and identify those responsible and I would urge anyone with CCTV or information that could assist detectives to contact police.

“Counter-terrorism officers continue to work closely with our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police in response to the various incidents.

“We’re providing protective security advice and support to various organisations, community venues and businesses.

“With the (terrorism) threat level now raised to severe, everyone can play their part to keep themselves and their communities safe.

“If you see or hear anything that doesn’t look or feel right, then please report it to us. Your information could help us save lives.”

Anyone with information about the Nelson Street arson can contact police on 101 quoting reference CAD 1000/5MAY.

A man who scrawled “kill jews” on a cell wall with crayons after he was arrested for stuffing Korans down a hospital toilet has been found guilty of hate crimes, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Ibhraim Iqbal, 36, from Leeds, was found guilty of two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage and another count of criminal damage at Leeds District Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the CPS confirmed.

The CPS said the conviction comes as prosecutors deal with a record number of hate crime referrals.

A spokesman said Iqbal smashed a framed Islamic scripture before defacing multiple Korans in a multi-faith room at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, in November last year.

He tore out pages, setting them alight and using them to block the sink and toilet.

Iqbal then returned to the hospital two weeks later and deliberately stuffed items down the drains to cause a blockage, the spokesman said.

He was detained by hospital security staff when he returned the following day and attempted to access the multi-faith room again but found it locked due to the earlier damage.

After he was arrested, he asked for crayons and used them to write the “kill Jews” on his cell wall, the spokesman said.

Iqbal will be sentenced at the same court on February 16.

Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside Luke Hopkinson said: “Ibhraim Iqbal carried out a deliberate and sustained campaign of hatred, targeting both Muslim and Jewish communities with his actions.

“This comes at a time where our prosecutors are working on the highest ever number of hate crime cases referred to us by police.

“I hope today’s conviction demonstrates the CPS’s commitment to tackling religiously aggravated hate crime, and reiterate how we will always seek to prosecute those who target others because of their faith where their conduct strays into criminality.”

The CPS said data for July to September 2025 showed it received 4,358 cases from police which have been flagged as having a hate crime element, which is a 14.7% increase on the previous quarter, and 2.8% up on the same period in 2024.

The jury has been sent out to consider verdicts in the trial of a 16-year-old boy accused of planning a terror attack on local synagogues.

Counter terror police found what Leeds Crown Court heard was an “arsenal” of weapons, including a crossbow and knives, when they raided the teenager’s home in Northumberland last February.

The defendant, who cannot be identified due to his age, denies preparing acts of terrorism, being a member of a proscribed organisation – a neo-Nazi group called The Base – as well as possessing and publishing terror documents.

The jury has seen images of his bedroom, including a replica of an SS officer’s cap, a flag of Rhodesia and a skeleton in a mask.

They have also been shown online messages with members of white supremacist groups and violent journal entries.

The jury has heard how the youth watched a video of the New Zealand mosque terror attack then looked up synagogues in the Newcastle area.

Michelle Heeley KC, prosecuting, has previously told the jury: “He communicated with others about his desire for action and he had carried out numerous preparatory steps towards carrying out those threats.”

Frida Hussain KC, defending, said the boy was “desperately lonely” and had been “plagued” with thoughts of killing himself and created an online persona as a distraction.

During the trial, Miss Hussain asked him: “Writing in these terms about harming other people, was this anything you wanted to do in reality?”

The defendant replied: “Just thoughts in my head. I never intended to harm anyone.”

Mr Justice Wall sent the jury out to consider their verdicts on Monday morning.

Unidentified perpetrators have scrawled graffiti over posters with photographic portraits of survivors of the Buchenwald concentration camp in Weimar, according to police.

A police spokesperson said on Thursday that a charge of damage to property had been filed. The police assume that the act was politically motivated. The graffiti on the two portraits would be removed as soon as possible, they said.

The pictures are part of an open-air exhibition in Weimar called “The Witnesses”, which shows large-format portrait photographs of former prisoners of the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald. Panels of the exhibition have also been defaced in the past.

The organisers of the Jewish-themed Achava Festival, which regularly takes place in Weimar, posted about the case on Twitter on Wednesday evening and asked for witnesses to come forward. “Today two photographs were smeared and thus desecrated!” they tweeted.

In all, 280,000 people were imprisoned in Buchenwald during the Nazi era, with 56,000 losing their lives there.

Media watchdog Ofcom has concluded the BBC committed “significant editorial failings” in its reporting of an antisemitic attack on Jewish students travelling on a bus in London.

The body said its investigation found the broadcaster failed to observe its editorial guidelines to report news with “due accuracy and due impartiality”.

The incident on November 29 2021 saw a group of about 40 young Jewish people aboard a Hanukkah party bus in London’s Oxford Street attacked by a group of men who swore, made obscene gestures and threw a shopping basket at them.

In its coverage, the BBC reported that an anti-Muslim slur had been heard from inside the bus.

Following BBC coverage on December 2, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Chief Rabbi were among a significant number of groups and individuals who complained to the broadcaster about the accuracy and impartiality of the coverage.

Ofcom said in a statement: “Our investigation uncovered significant editorial failings in the BBC’s reporting of an antisemitic attack on Jewish students travelling on board a bus in London.

“The BBC’s reports claimed that an audio recording made during the incident included anti-Muslim slurs – which it later changed to the singular ‘slur’ – which came from inside the bus. Shortly afterwards, it received evidence which disputed this interpretation of the audio.

“The BBC failed to promptly acknowledge that the audio was disputed and did not update its online news article to reflect this for almost eight weeks. During this time the BBC was aware that the article’s content was causing significant distress and anxiety to the victims of the attack and the wider Jewish community.

“This, in our opinion, was a significant failure to observe its editorial guidelines to report news with due accuracy and due impartiality.”

Ofcom said it had also investigated a connected report broadcast on BBC London News, concluding that “at the time it was broadcast and for the 24-hour period it was available on the BBC iPlayer, the programme did not breach our rules”.

It added: “That said, the BBC made a serious editorial misjudgment by not reporting on air, at any point, that the claim it had made about anti-Muslim slurs was disputed, once new evidence emerged.”

The watchdog said the BBC’s “failure to respond promptly and transparently created an impression of defensiveness by the BBC among the Jewish community”.

Ofcom said the BBC has “further to go” in learning how to responding to critiques of its reporting.

It will also review how the broadcaster addressed the complaint, handling and transparency issues raised by the incident.

A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Almost a year after the BBC’s abominable coverage of an antisemitic incident on Oxford Street, Ofcom has seen what every viewer and reader of the BBC’s coverage could but which the BBC itself refused to accept: its reportage added insult to the injury already inflicted on the victims and the Jewish community, and abysmally failed to meet the most basic editorial standards.

“Ofcom’s decision today begins to undo that insult.

“Sadly, the BBC’s stonewalling is exactly what British Jews have come to expect from our public broadcaster.

“Now that Ofcom has warned the BBC after the BBC disgracefully failed to uphold our complaints against it, it has become clear as day that a Parliamentary inquiry into the BBC focusing on its coverage of issues relating to Jews is warranted, and we have joined the Jewish Chronicle and others calling for one.”

The Ofcom investigation followed one by the BBC’s own executive complaints unit (ECU), which concluded both the online and TV story “did not meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy”.

In the January following the coverage, the BBC issued an apology and confirmed it had amended the story on its website, also issuing a clarification of the TV report aired on the same day.

Ridley Road starts on BBC One on Sunday, October 3.

It’s the Swinging Sixties in London’s East End, and far-right fascism is on the rise.

Enter Vivien Epstein, a young Jewish hairdresser from Manchester who finds herself embroiled in an undercover movement against racism, after following her lover, Jack Morris, to the capital.

This sets the scene for a new four-part BBC thriller called Ridley Road, written by Sarah Solemani and based on the book of the same name by British author Jo Bloom.

It’s a vivid, romantic, and inspiring series, which is rising star Aggi O’Casey’s first television role (she plays Vivien) and also stars Rory Kinnear, Eddie Marsan, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tamzin Outhwaite, and Tom Varey.

What makes it more poignant is how it’s inspired by real events; Jack (played by Varey) is a member of the 62 Group – a coalition of Jewish men who formed in 1962, largely in response to the National Socialist Movement, which was created by Colin Jordan (played by Kinnear in Ridley Road).

Here, O’Casey, Marsan, and Oberman tell us more about the characters and timely themes explored in the drama.

EMPOWERING WOMEN

Ridley Road was O’Casey’s first audition after graduating from The Lir Academy in Dublin, and she admits she found the script “really encouraging”.

It also feels relevant, because we are living in times when we are seeing the rise of fascism again. “It’s just as alive, just rebranded – and just as ignored,” suggests O’Casey.

“We see Vivien make decisions about how to take control and look after her community and the ones she loves,” she says.

“It’s a really important story for now because people feel really disempowered and they’re not sure how to go about things that they believe in and there’s so much fear. Vivien is scared all the time, but she fights through that.”

HUGE RESPONSIBILITY

Londoner Marsan, 53, plays cab driver Soly, the leader of the 62 Group. Discussing his research ahead of filming, the actor – best known for crime drama Ray Donovan – says he watched documentaries and read books. But he also already had a historical understanding from his childhood.

“I grew up with men like Soly; tough, Jewish, working-class men,” he notes. “It’s a very important story to tell, because of the rise of antisemitism in both the left and the right, and I think young people need to know what antisemitism is.

“It’s very insidious, and I know it’s a strange word, but it’s almost a ‘seductive’ racism. It’s sold as egalitarianism. People can make you feel like you’re trying to create an equal world.”

He adds: “I was brought up in Tower Hamlets which is the most multi-racial borough in the country. I’m not religious in any sense – the only value I can pass on to my children are the values of the celebration of diversity that I was blessed to be raised with. And so, it’s very personal for me to do something like this.”

PERSONAL STORY

Playing Soly’s wife Nancy is 55-year-old Oberman. Having grown up in a Jewish family in Stanmore, North London, the former EastEnders and Friday Night Dinner star could also draw on her own experiences for the part.

She says Nancy reminds her of her great grandmothers and great aunts from the East End “who had come off the immigrant boat with nothing and whose sheer determination, grit, toughness, love of fashion got them through it”.

She recalls: “One of my great grandmothers was called Sarah Portugal; she lived in the East End, she smoked a pipe, but she wore a slash of red lipstick no matter what was going on.

“These women were very fashion-conscious, and I like to think Nancy had a bit of that as well. She worked in a fabric emporium, and she marries a man like Soly; she’s his right-hand woman and I love their relationship, the equality. He’s the brawns, and she’s his hands in the back and the brains.”

TIMELY THEMES

Over the past four years, Oberman has been standing up to what she sees as a “huge rise of antisemitism on social media”.

And she hopes that Ridley Road reminds people of the anti-Jewish hatred in British history, which has “been forgotten in the annals of time”.

“When people talk about Jews as if they’re all rich and controlling, they have to remember that the Jewish socialist background came from the East End, from these working-class boys like Eddie represents, like Nancy represents,” she explains.

These working-class people, she says, came over as immigrants around 1905, fleeing the pogroms. “They came to Britain thinking it was a beacon and a haven of tolerance, but were treated like complete outsiders; ‘no blacks, no Jews, no dogs’ was on the list of all boarding houses and hostels.

“Jews have always been othered. And we have very conveniently forgotten this little piece of history that Ridley Road is going to tell so beautifully, and that fascism is there lurking under the surface, and that the Jews had to look after themselves because the authorities weren’t helping them.

“I’m hoping there won’t be a backlash on Twitter to this because this tells the true story.”

Extreme views like racism, homophobia and conspiracy theories are widespread in classrooms across England, a study suggests.

Schools lack the resources and training to teach pupils how to discuss or reject dangerous views, according to academics from the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education.

Their report, published days before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States, suggests schools’ efforts to build resilience to extremism in young people are “highly varied” due to limited space in the curriculum – and in some cases their approach to the issue is “tokenistic”.

Researchers, who spoke to 96 teachers in English schools as part of the study commissioned by education charity Since 9/11, found that staff are concerned about the increase in pupils looking at hateful online content online.

The findings come after the boss of MI5 revealed that agents are investigating teenagers as young as 13 linked to extreme right-wing terrorism.

In July, director-general Ken McCallum said the presence of teenagers is a “rising trend in MI5’s counter-terrorist case work” and is becoming more so in extreme right-wing investigations.

The majority of teachers spoken to by the researchers said they have heard pupils express far-right extremist views in their classroom, as well as “extremist views about women” or Islamophobia.

Nearly nine in 10 teachers have heard conspiracy theories being discussed by students – including the theory that American business magnate Bill Gates “controls people via microchips in Covid vaccines”.

Teachers raised concerns about pupils’ exposure to extremist views online, often claiming that this has been “exacerbated by the pandemic and lockdowns” – and the report suggests that conspiracy theories and online disinformation “is an emerging area that needs consideration”.

The study also found that many teachers do not talk about issues related to extremism in the classroom out of fear that they will get it wrong, “especially on matters related to race”.

Researchers carried out in-depth interviews with English and Religious Education teachers and safeguarding leads in schools, as well as a survey of teachers, and assessed a literature review of research examining how schools build resilience to extremism in students in England as part of the study.

Almost all the teachers surveyed had encountered “hateful extremism” in the form of racist views in the classroom, according to the report.

Dr Becky Taylor, from the UCL Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research, said: “This report shows that some schools fail to move beyond surface-level explorations of violence, extremism and radicalisation; however, it is without doubt that schools can play an important role.”

She added: “Education policies must consider the fact that some schools may need more help than others to build on what they already have in place.

“Engaging well with their local communities and ensuring that schools and teachers are supported and appropriately resourced can help young people to problematise ‘hateful extremism’.”

The study calls for teachers to be given better training to lead open discussions in the classroom about extremism so they can teach pupils how to reject, and respond to, dangerous ideologies.

The report concludes: “Much anti-extremism work is well-meaning but is stymied by overcrowded curricula, a lack of resources, a desire to perform policy for Ofsted, and a mandate to detect and report vulnerability to radicalisation rather than necessarily stamp out its root causes.”

Kamal Hanif, a trustee of Since 9/11 and executive principal of Waverley Education Foundation in Birmingham, called the research “a wake-up call”.

He said: “We urgently need to equip schools with the tools to teach pupils how to reject extremist views. Dangerous ideologies must never be swept under the carpet.

Mr Hanif added: “The findings of this study are particularly pertinent as we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Children in school today were not yet born when the attacks took place.

“Indeed, many of their teachers were themselves only children at the time. It’s vital that we all learn about the attacks themselves and their ongoing impact.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “Schools have an important role to play in educating young people about the false premises and dangers posed by extremist ideologies, but they cannot do this alone and more support is needed.

“The reality is that schools have to juggle multiple demands on their time in the context of packed timetables and severe funding constraints, all at a time when our society has undergone a digital revolution which allows people to spread hateful views at the click of a button.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “As this report shows, schools and teachers are generally confident teaching about issues related to extremism.

“The new Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum requires secondary age pupils to be aware of laws relating to terrorism and hate crime, and the Educate Against Hate website features over 150 free resources to help pupils, teachers and parents tackle radicalisation in all its forms.

“We continue to look at what further support we can provide to schools, and will shortly launch further resources specifically focused on harmful online content.”

The Prince of Wales has paid tribute to former chief rabbi Lord Sacks, describing him as a leader whose “wisdom, scholarship and humanity were without equal”.

Lord Sacks died on Saturday aged 72.

He served as the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, the figurehead of British Jews, for 22 years, stepping down in September 2013.

He was succeeded by the current chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis.

Charles said in a statement: “It was with the most profound personal sorrow that I heard of the death of Rabbi Lord Sacks.

“With his passing, the Jewish community, our nation, and the entire world have lost a leader whose wisdom, scholarship and humanity were without equal.

“His immense learning spanned the sacred and the secular, and his prophetic voice spoke to our greatest challenges with unfailing insight and boundless compassion.

“His wise counsel was sought and appreciated by those of all faiths and none, and he will be missed more than words can say.

“Although Rabbi Lord Sacks’s death is a cause of the greatest possible sadness, we give thanks for the immeasurable contribution which – in the tradition of the most revered teachers of the Jewish people – he made to all our lives.

“I send my deepest condolences to his family.”

A statement on Lord Sacks’ Twitter page said he died on Saturday morning.

It read: “Baruch Dayan Ha’Emet. It is with the deepest sadness that we regret to inform you that Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (HaRav Ya’akov Zvi ben David Arieh z’’l) passed away early this morning, Saturday 7th November 2020 (Shabbat Kodesh 20th MarCheshvan 5781).”

Lord Sacks was an outspoken critic of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn amid the row over anti-Semitism in the party.

Current chief rabbi Mr Mirvis said the world had lost an “intellectual giant who had a transformative global impact”.

He added: “Rabbi Lord Sacks was an extraordinary ambassador for Judaism, helping many to understand and be proud of their heritage.”

Lord Sacks was also a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day.

Controller of BBC Radio 4 Mohit Bakaya said: “Rabbi Lord Sacks was a man of great intellect, humanity and warmth.”

Tributes were also paid to Lord Sacks by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said: “His leadership had a profound impact on our whole country and across the world.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “He was a towering intellect whose eloquence, insights and kindness reached well beyond the Jewish community.”

“I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill all of you Jews — you killed my brothers”  shouted Shazad at a Jewish motorist in Stamford Hill, until he was subsequently arrested and cautioned by the Police.

Over the next two years after his arrest Shaz, as he was known in East London, had earned a reputation for his anti-semitic rhetoric.  Shaz was not considered to be a practising religious individual by the community; he had a girlfriend and dealt drugs to supplement a part time labouring job.

Shaz approached me in Ilford town centre wanting to debate around the subject of Muslims being oppressed. He was 6ft tall and very gaunt resembling a heroine addict. This was the effect of the psychotic ‘skunk cannabis’ that he was addicted to. He wore combat trousers and a white hooded top with a pattern made up of machine guns.  As we walked to the coffee shop, I saw that he received nods of respect from those I knew to be street dealers.

The religious identity based upon an ‘us and them interpretation’, fitted easily into Shaz’s world view. His god was, in his own words; “a god of vengeance”. He was a product of the Jihadi Gangsterism that is now ubiquitous around the UK.

Over the next year and a half I spent a few hours a week not just with Shaz, but also with his parents and siblings. He lived at home and was of Pakistani heritage. His father was a liberal black cab driver and disliked what he saw as the rigid value system of Islam.

I have been dealing the most dangerous Islamist Terrorists within the British Prison system since 2009, often working with individuals and families on a pro-bono basis. Written requests from individuals, some of whom are IS returnees, came via their solicitors post conviction. This was due to individuals becoming aware of the legitimacy of our approach, which is backed by worldwide scholars.

I have watched with growing concern the mutation of Jihadism into a form that is easily adopted by those involved in criminality because it asks nothing of them in terms of discipline, but delivers the validation, recognition and position of belonging to a worldwide gang.

I’m often asked, what it is that changes people and their ideology? When high level ex-Jihadist volunteers counter the message of extremists, what is their message that carries legitimacy and weight? What is that message?

That response is – “It is love”!

The Prophet Muhammed described God’s love for each human being as akin to that of the Mother, hence if you want to know God; love what He loves; He loves all of his creation.

“That’s too idealistic bro!” was Shaz’s response.

“You’re talking about faith and God Shaz.  Why wouldn’t you believe in the greatest ideal?” I replied.

He nodded becoming emotional; his eyes brimming, holding back the tears.

I continued, “ there is no pretence in the approach, no dogmatic nonsense just sincerity because that is what I have experienced from my teacher, Shaykh Aleey Qadri.”

“If you cut your finger you bleed. If you cut down all the trees, you suffocate to death.  So who are you?

You are part of the trees, you are part of the animals and you are part all of humanity. You cannot disconnect. You are one with everyone”.

I scanned the room my eyes moving between Shaz and his father, they were both silent.

My teacher had asked the same question of me fifteen years ago.

Over the many hours that I spent with the family, Shaz and his father represented bi-polar world views with whom the heated discussions allowed me to start challenging the principles that they were both functioning from.

I stressed that everyone starts as innocent children.  It is fear and ignorance that creates hate and violence. This simple demonstration of the essence of people allowed us to move away from the ugliness of exceptionalism to true humanism. When asked the reason for my passionate defence of the Jewish community, I explained I was only defending my own community; humanity.

Contrary to public opinion, the Jihadist deviant sub-culture is less about theological belief systems and more about extrinsic attachment or belonging. This is not to be misunderstood as an ideological vacuum but rather a philosophical or worldview stance that cultivates brotherhood across the fabric of society and a rejection of utilitarian consumerism. This rejection means that the moral relativity that is currently used to diagnose and then impose interventions onto them falls short e.g. psychological, practical and theological interventions. This reductive approach means that the issues that need to be addressed outside of the individuals issues are never addressed and can remain dormant or unaddressed until they are triggered.

The interventions I undertook had to take into account many variables around the needs of the individual whilst re-contextualising reality within a universalist set of values. This was also focussed on addressing those grievances through positive social activism.

If there is one thing that the Covid 19 crisis has made evident, it is that disease does not differentiate. We are all human and we are all reliant upon each other and the environment.

Usman Raja is the CEO of the Unity Initiative and has been involved in counter-radicalisation and deradicalisation work within the Prisons Service. This article reflects his views.