Comedian and antisemitism campaigner Marlon Solomon has described being subjected to antisemitic abuse from two men who told him Jews were "the scourge of the earth”.
Mr Solomon, who performs a one-man show about antisemitism and conspiracy theories, shared his first-hand account on Twitter about how the men approached him on Saturday evening in a kebab shop in Manchester and asked “are you a f***ing Jew?"
Mr Solomon, who he filmed the incident, said they approached him and started making “snide remarks” and told him he “was not British and that Jews should be wiped out. They gave me the fash salute.”
He reported the incident to the police after Tariq Butt, a Greater Manchester Police inspector, advised him to.
“They were shouting about Holocaust denial and saying they had proof on their phones that it didn’t happen,” Mr Solomon said.
The abuse lasted for more than 10 minutes. Mr Solomon wrote on Twitter that he “wasn't going to post it because I'd obvs had a few & had embarrassingly lost it by this point but while these people exist, I am proud to be British & Jewish, this country IS better than them and stand up to fascists. Always.”
Speaking to the JC, he said: “I was very upset and tearful afterwards and was thinking about all the things I wish I had said.
“I also felt really angry. When I played the video to my friend they said it was important to share it even if I wasn’t happy with what I said in the moment because it is important for people to see that this happens.”
He said it was the first time that he had directly experienced overt antisemitism.
“The political climate right now is so grim,” Mr Solomon said, “but people like that have had antisemitism engrained in them. When I reported it to the police they were very shocked.”
Mr Solomon, who had been out celebrating a friend's 40th birthday, said he had been encouraged by “thousands of messages of support” he has received.
“It has been heartening to receive messages from all kinds of people, even those who I am politically at odds with. It has been nice to put politics aside, although we know we get all the solidarity we want when the abuse comes from the far right.”
Mr Solomon has performed his award-winning one-man show about antisemitism, Conspiracy Theory: A Lizard’s Tale, at venues around the country.
