The father of a Jewish man who was stabbed in an antisemitic attack in north London said his son was “obviously targeted” because of how he was dressed.
Two Jewish men – 34-year-old Shloime Rand and 76-year-old Moshe Ben Baila, named locally as Moshe Shine – were taken to hospital after being stabbed in a suspected terror attack in Golders Green on Wednesday.
A 45-year-old man, said by police to be a Somali-born British national, was arrested following the incident.
The Metropolitan Police said he was known to the government’s counter-extremism programme Prevent, and that a referral had been made in 2020, which was closed in the same year.
The stabbings are the latest in a series of attacks on the Jewish community in northwest London in recent weeks and have prompted calls for urgent action, as well as accusations that the government has not done enough to tackle antisemitism.
Shloime’s father, who did not wish to give his first name and only wanted to be known as Mr Rand, told The Independent on Wednesday that he wants the prime minister to do more to protect the Jewish community.
He believes his son was targeted because he was “dressed the way he was dressed and because he is a Jew”.
He said, “It's obvious,” adding that the only people targeted in the attack were Jewish.
“So obviously he knew who he was going for and but didn’t know who they are [personally], so it’s just... that’s why he went for those,” Mr Rand said.
Shloime earlier told ITV News from his hospital bed that he had been studying at a local synagogue when a man started running toward him.
“I didn’t suspect anything, and he just stabbed me in the chest. I was taken to the hospital,” he said.
He added: “He looked angry, he looked angry. You could feel it in his facial expressions; it was like he was out to get me.”
The government has said a further £25m will be invested to increase security for Jewish communities after the suspected terror attack.
The funding will be aimed at boosting police patrols and protections around synagogues, schools and community centres, taking the total commitment this year to £58m.
The prime minister was heckled as he arrived at a Jewish community ambulance centre in Golders Green on Thursday.
Asked what the government could do to tackle antisemitism, Mr Rand said: “I think he [Sir Keir Starmer] can help, but I don’t know if he will help because he already spoke quite a lot of times in the last few years and hasn’t done anything.
“So I’m sure he can, yeah, obviously he can. The prime minister, I hope he can. If he will, well, until today, he hasn't shown anything. So it could be this one story will change the matter, it could be, we don’t know.”
Mr Rand described his son as a “good fellow” and said he is a father of six.
About his son’s condition, he said that he has improved today and is now waiting for scans. “Hopefully we'll hear some good news,” Mr Rand added.
