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Police called after attack on Jewish protester outside pro-Jeremy Corbyn meeting
Sharon Klaff suffered head injuries, according to someone who filmed the encounter
October 17, 2018 08:31
Sharon Klaff suffered head injuries, according to someone who filmed the encounter
October 17, 2018 08:31Police were called after a Jewish protester was attacked outside a pro-Jeremy Corbyn meeting in north London.
Sharon Klaff sustained minor head injuries after trying to attend a ‘Corbyn Antisemitism and Justice for Palestine’ gathering in Islington on Tuesday, one of a series of meetings defending the Labour leader and disputing claims of Jew-hate within the party.
Another protester, Ambrosine Shitrit, filmed the encounter and said she was also attacked but was not as badly injured.
Though the identity of their two female attackers was unclear, Ms Shitrit claimed the women had been heading into the meeting.
Ms Shitrit was initially inside the meeting, filming it with her phone and streaming it live to Facebook, when she was asked to leave.
On the video, she can be heard shouting at the speakers of the event, which included Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Lindsey German, convenor of Stop the War Coalition.
Once outside the meeting, Ms Shitrit and Ms Klaff continued to shout “shame on you” at those attending the meeting.
The footage shows them standing in the doorway to the event when they are attacked by two women.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they were called at approximately 8.20pm to reports of a protest on Mayton Street, N7.
“Officers attended and were advised that one person had been assaulted, sustaining minor injuries," a spokesperson said.
“There have been no arrests and the crowd had dispersed by 9pm.”
“They were late, and they saw that I was filming. One of them women got extremely angry and told me to stop photographing her- but I was filming as I had been all evening," Ms Shitrit said.
“She was trying to grab my phone and it fell to the floor and then she really went for me.
“I went around the car and went back into the fray where my friend was and the other girl went for me.
She added: “My colleague Sharon had been grabbed and pushed to the floor and they were repeatedly kicking her in the head. They took her phone and ran away.
Ms Shitrit, who was waving an Israeli flag outside the meeting, said: “They knew who we were and what we were doing. I have never seen a woman get so angry. It was like she wanted to kill me.”
Ms Shitrit and Ms Klaff are pro-Israel activists who frequently attend pro-Jeremy Corbyn and pro-Palestine events to monitor what is said.
The meeting's promoters said it was to discuss "criticism of Israel being conflated with antisemitism in ways that threaten free speech and the right to protest while silencing Palestinian voices."
"We must vigorously oppose all forms of antisemitism but we cannot allow smears to be used to silence criticism of the Israeli state and undermine solidarity with the Palestinians," the Facebook page promoting the event.
"This meeting will discuss the importance of opposing any attempt at a witch hunt."
In a statement, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign told the JC: "An incident took place outside the building while the meeting was still going on.
"We are not aware of the details of what happened but we understand it is being investigated by police, as is appropriate if there are allegations of assault.”
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