A man hurled antisemitic abuse at an Orthodox Jewish woman in a London supermarket last Monday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The Jewish Chronicle first reported the incident. A man in the queue for checkout at a Waitrose store in Harrow, London, allegedly became “fed-up” of waiting and began verbally abusing the woman, a witness claimed.
“I was in the queue behind him and told him to shut up, or I would call the police, to which he continued abusing the woman and me before the woman left the store highly distressed.”
The witness told the Chronicle that the man also shouted, “F*** the Jews” and “kill Zionist Jews”.
Apparently, the store manager and another staff member were made aware of the incident but “refused” to contact the police.
Waitrose allegedly avoids intervention during antisemitic attacks
The witness reported the incident to Waitrose.
“I know Waitrose cannot be responsible for who walks into their stores,” he told the Chronicle, “But staff seem to have a policy of not calling the police or intervening at all when they’re aware of antisemitism.
The Metropolitan Police Service confirmed to the Post that police received an online report of a religiously aggravated hate crime at a shop on High Road, Harrow, but that officers are still working to identify the victim in order to continue inquiries.
The Met also said that an off-duty officer entered the same shop on Friday and became aware of a disagreement between staff and a man believed to be involved in the earlier incident.
The man was arrested to prevent his disappearance while officers confirmed his identity. He was subsequently released.
Police encourage the victim to come forward
The police said they are keen to speak with the victim and would encourage them to come forward.
“We understand that concerns remain high within Jewish communities. We continue to have an enhanced policing plan, focusing our resources around vulnerable areas to protect communities, disrupt offenders, and tackle crime.”
“It beggars belief that Waitrose did not immediately treat this incident with the urgency that it deserved,” said Campaign Against Antisemitism.
“The supermarket chain must ensure that this does not happen again going forward, with clear, consistent procedures being implemented across every branch to ensure an appropriate response to antisemitic hate crime.”
A spokesperson for Waitrose told Jewish News that it is “very sorry our customer experienced such a distressing incident in our shop” and that it will “cooperate with [the police] investigation, including sharing CCTV, which has been retained.”
“Our branch management team was not given the full details of the incident at first, and we apologize for the initial delay in reporting it.”
The store did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.