Mayor of London calls for action after antisemitic attacks
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Version 0 of 1. The mayor of London has urged a zero tolerance attitude to hate crimes in the capital as he met genocide survivors. Sadiq Khan said the city remained inclusive and global, following four antisemitic attacks over the weekend. He made the remarks as he met genocide survivors at City Hall at the first in a series of events in the lead-up to Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said on Sunday that officers were investigating four hate crime allegations aimed towards north London’s Jewish community. Speaking after Monday’s event, Khan said: “I ask all Londoners to report any form of hate crime, no matter how trivial. A brick with a swastika on it thrown through a window of a Jewish home is not a trivial matter and needs to be addressed.” The other incidents being probed by police include a woman having eggs thrown at her by the occupants of a passing car and offensive graffiti, including a swastika. The mayor met several people who survived periods of mass murder, including a second world war Holocaust survivor, Mala Tribich, and Sokpal Din, who lived through the Cambodian genocide. This year’s theme for the memorial is “how can life go on?” aiming to highlight the difficulties faced by survivors. Tribich, who was 12 when the Germans invaded her Polish home town, described how she lost most of her family and suffered a severe illness in the concentration camps. She told the audience: “Living a normal life is the biggest challenge for Holocaust survivors.” Din gave a message of hope, saying: “The only thing we had was hope and that was something I never gave up on.” |