Pro-Palestine activists have been accused of “intimidating” Jewish residents with a co-ordinated door-knocking campaign calling for a boycott of Israeli goods.
Campaigners in Hackney, Bristol, Sheffield and Brighton have been going door-to-door and asking residents to shun Israeli-produced goods as part of a new Apartheid-Free Zone (AFZ) movement.
On Friday evening, politicians and Jewish groups accused the door-knockers of “crossing a line” and urged police “to take note” of allegations of harassment and violence.
In Sheffield, officers are investigating after a Jewish woman, who was counter-protesting alongside her partner Jean Hatchet, claimed to have been headbutted by a man who allegedly associated with the city’s AFZ movement. Police said no offences had been identified so far.
There were also allegations that activists were recording the addresses of people whose doors they had knocked on, along with whether they were “supportive” or “not interested” in the boycott.
Credit:@JeanHatchet/ X
Peter Kyle, the Labour MP for Brighton, has reported his local branch of the AFZ to police over concerns of “hate crime and incitement”.
He told Sky News: “My immediate thought was for the appalling scenario of a vulnerable Jewish resident being door-knocked by a gang of people wanting to harangue them.”
Despite the controversy, protesters associated with the Bristol and Hackney AFZ were preparing for a fresh round of door-knocking over the weekend.
In Bristol, demonstrators announced a 90-minute “February Big Door-knock”, described as an afternoon of “solidarity and boycott building”. Organisers are offering “training” for newcomers, promising to match new volunteers with more experienced campaigners.
In Hackney, demonstrators planned to go house-to-house and shop-to-shop on Sunday from 10.30am and midday to ensure families and businesses “commit to boycotting Israeli products, in solidarity with Palestine”.
Campaign materials indicate a focus on “fruits, vegetables, Sabra hummus and SodaStream”, as well as any goods labelled as being from Israel.
According to 2021 Census data, 6.7 per cent of Hackney’s population is Jewish. The area is also home to one of the largest Haredi Orthodox Jewish communities outside New York and Israel.
Activists are ‘crossing a line’
Some have expressed concern that Jewish residents would be made to feel “targeted or unsafe” if approached by campaigners.
On Friday evening, the Community Security Trust, a charity that protects British Jews from terrorism and anti-Semitism, told The Telegraph: “Turning up uninvited at homes in an area with a large Jewish community to push a political agenda of this nature is intimidating and crosses a serious line.
“Jewish residents should not be made to feel targeted or unsafe in their own homes and this activity risks heightening fear at a time of increased anti-Semitism.”
Luke Akehurst, a Labour MP, added: “It’s intimidatory that anti-Israel activists are going door-to-door and recording people who don’t support boycotts. This is completely unacceptable and needs to stop.”
Alex Hearn, of Labour Against Antisemitism, said: “It is concerning seeing these activists going door-to-door, harassing private residents in their homes and encouraging them to publicly state their position on the world’s only Jewish state.
“These inquisitions appear to be mapping neighbourhoods for their ideological purity, identifying anyone with sympathy for Israel along the way. They cross a line, and should horrify anyone with even a cursory understanding of 20th-century history.”
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Demanding that residents take [pro-Palestinian activists’] ‘purity test’ by pledging to boycott Israeli products under threat of having their addresses recorded is intimidation masquerading as activism.
“After a woman in Sheffield was allegedly headbutted after confronting those taking part, police forces across the country must take note and do everything in their power to ensure that these people understand that their actions will have consequences.”
The AFZ campaigns have been contacted for comment.
Sussex Police said: “We are aware of recent door-to-door activity in the Brighton and Hove area. We have reviewed all available evidence and, at this time, there is no evidence of a criminal offence.”
Avon and Somerset Police said: “We are aware of an event in Bristol this Sunday (Feb 22) which has been advertised on social media, and we will ensure we have sufficient resources allocated should any policing involvement be needed. Any offences reported to us will be investigated like they normally would be.”
South Yorkshire Police said: “We are aware of recent door-knocking activity in Sheffield and this has been assessed by officers working in the relevant areas. While we appreciate this has caused some local concern, no criminal offences relating specifically to the house-to-house activity have currently been identified.”
The Metropolitan Police was approached for comment.
We must not leave Jewish people to fight anti-Semitism alone
By Jean Hatchet
Last Sunday, I came across a local group called the Sheffield Apartheid Free Zone, who were advertising online for volunteers for “door-knocking in Woodseats”.
Their call for an apartheid-free zone seemed like little more than a smokescreen for intimidating Jewish people in their own homes. A Jew-hunt, in other words.
I am not Jewish, but I couldn’t look the other way and leave the Jews of Sheffield to fight this one alone. Many already avoid the city centre at the weekend because of the regular hate marches, but they cannot escape people coming to their doors to intimidate them.
My partner and I went to challenge these people, to ask why they were doing something so awful, and to show there were members of the Sheffield community who abhorred what they were doing.
What we discovered in our sleepy suburbs was a group of smug middle-aged men wearing hand-knitted watermelon hats and clutching leaflets. They seemed so earnest and industrious as we approached three of them, readying their papers and rapping on doors.
I state loudly that they were ‘Jew-hunting’
After more than two years of marches, it was still hard to comprehend the unavoidably stark image of them asking people whether they supported Israel, and taking down a note of those who did not.
I asked one man what his leaflet was about, and he held them out, so I took a few. My partner approached a second man to confront him about what he was doing. He quickly reacted, and an altercation led to him headbutting her, connecting heavily with her chest then swiping at her with his hand. Fortunately, she was wearing a body camera, which caught the whole thing.
Two of the men then proceeded to drag her into the road as she shouted for the police and tried to move away. I tried to remain calm and de-escalate the situation, though, of course, it’s horrifying to watch this happen to your partner. I interrogated the man who had hurt her.
His response was chilling: he volunteered the information that they were recording the addresses of people who did not agree with their political beliefs. I stated loudly that they were “Jew-hunting”.
All these self-righteous types denied that the first man had headbutted my partner. They claimed that they would back each other in this, until I reminded them she was wearing a camera. We told them we would follow them to doors and alert others to what they were doing. They decided to abandon their nasty search as my partner followed them loudly shouting “Jew-hunt coming!” to shame them.
She was confronted again by one of the men who stole a sign she carried, which said: “No Tolerance For Jew Hatred.” He tore it up as she tried to retrieve it and pinned her by the throat.
These are frightening times
These are frightening times when Jews can be hunted in their homes, women can be attacked in the street as they stand up for them, and neither the police nor the Government will do anything to prevent it.
It is the duty of every reasonable citizen to stand loudly against such men appearing on the doorsteps of our communities. My partner and I are not heroines, or warriors, or brave.
We are just ordinary people who know that you cannot allow a Jew-hunt on UK streets, or we will very soon see more Jews slaughtered in those streets. I am not prepared to look the other way and ask how it happened later on. The time to say “never again” is now.
Jean Hatchet is a writer and feminist activist.
