Kosher Cafe Hit By Hate Graffiti
The owner of a kosher café in north west London told the Jewish News yesterday how "shocked" he was to discover his business had been the target of anti-semitic vandalism.
As he arrived for work on Tuesday morning at the Hendon Park Café, Jason Ezekiel was greeted with the slogan 'Dirty Jews' scratched onto the wall, alongside a swastika and a picture of a gun with the word 'kill' scrawled inside it.
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"They did it at night in an area where they wouldn't be seen. It was a cowardly act."
"I've lived in Golders Green all my life and this is the first I've seen of anything like this. Even the police officer I was speaking with said he hasn't seen this kind of vandalism in many years."
Ezekiel added that the disturbing graffiti did not deter business for the day, as the café stayed open. "We painted over it at about 2pm that afternoon," he said, "after the police had come and taken pictures of it. We're a strong people. We can take things like this."
"It's been removed now because we didn't want to encourage the people who did this, we didn't want them to feel powerful."
Barnet Police are now investigating the incident. DI Alison Turner told the Jewish News: "Police take any incidents of racist crime in Barnet very seriously and we would like to issue an urgent appeal for witnesses to this disgusting incident of racist graffiti, or information on who may have been responsible."
A spokesperson for Barnet Council added: "The council strongly condemns any form of racial, religious or ethnic discrimination and is proud of the borough's diverse communities. Although the vandalism occurred on the café premises and therefore would be the owner's responsibility, the council takes a zero tolerance approach to this type of behaviour and removed the offending graffiti immediately.""
Mark Gardner, Head of Communications for CST, said: "This was an ugly incident in a peaceful location that is popular with many families, but we should not allow ourselves to be overly intimidated by it."
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