4 men from Blackburn charged for anti-Semitic abuse in London during Israel-Gaza conflict

British authorities have charged four men for allegedly driving around London – hundreds of miles from their homes in Lancashire – while shouting anti-Semitic abuse from cars adorned with Palestinian flags.

On Monday it was reported that four men from Blackburn, Lancashire had been charged via postal requisition last week and would appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on October 6. 

Mohammed Iftikhar Hanif, 27, and Asif Ali, 25, both of Pringle Street; Jawaad Hussain, 24, of Revidge Road; and Adil Mota, 26, of Leamington Road are accused of incitement to racial hatred as they travelled to London to shout anti-Semitic abuse from their cars on May 16. All of the suspects are in their 20s.

The men were caught on camera, in a number of videos which were widely shared online, driving round parts of the capital known for having sizeable Jewish populations, shouting anti-Semitic abuse from a megaphone. Their cars were draped in Palestinian flags.

Four men were arrested immediately after the events, but were released on May 18. At the time, the Metropolitan Police said the four were released “pending further enquiries.”

Stephen Silverman, director of investigations and enforcement at the Campaign Against Antisemitism, welcomed the charging. “We are pleased that suspects have now been charged, but the convoy should never have been allowed in the first place, and there remain many other unsolved crimes committed against British Jews from that same period of fighting between Hamas and Israel,” he said. 

The anti-Semitic behaviour took place amid the short-lived conflict between Israel and militant organizations in Gaza. A number of protests against Israel took place around the UK and Ireland.

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