Antisemitism fears grow in UK’s Jewish communities after Paris shootings

[Behind the Aegis]

THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!

The tidy suburbia of Borehamwood doesn’t feel like the frontline in the fight against the murderous antisemitism that saw four shoppers killed in a Paris kosher supermarket this month. But here in south Hertfordshire, the fastest-growing Jewish community outside London, residents are nevertheless braced for the worst.

As elsewhere in Britain’s estimated 291,000-strong Jewish community, schoolchildren in one orthodox enclave have in recent days been put through practice drills to not just to cope with fire but also an armed terrorist assault.

Rabbi Chaim Kanterovitz, who leads the tightly-guarded Borehamwood and Elstree synagogue from an office equipped with a screen showing 16 security camera feeds, said the Paris attacks “created a sense of panic”.

“People were not just disturbed,” he added. “They were alarmed.”

The concern is widespread. At the Kinloss synagogue in Finchley, north London, which serves Golders Green and Hendon, security was beefed up for worship and a planned half-term youth trip to Disneyland Paris has been cancelled. The rabbi, Jeremy Lawrence, cited “family apprehension about taking unnecessary risks”.

“Things are getting worse in Europe in terms of antisemitism and this is being seen in daubings, abuse in the street as well as more sensational attacks like Paris,” he said. “There is a fear of a copycat attack.”

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