A performer hijacked a Holocaust Memorial Day event to talk about Israel’s “indiscriminate killing” and later crowed over the outburst as “serious Palestine Action”.
Joshua Gold, a volunteer with disability arts group Razed Roof, caused visible distress at the event in Harlow Civic Centre when he referred to “70,000 Palestinians killed by the state of Israel in the Gaza Strip”.
Gold admitted to the JC that he had included the line in defiance of earlier requests by a rabbi to leave it out, and later described the uproar over his actions as a “Zionist scum crackdown”.
Following the event, which left Jewish audience members in tears, and further shocking comments by Gold, Harlow Council reported the charity to the police, the regulator and the Community Security Trust (CST) and barred it from local authority buildings.
Harlow Council leader Dan Swords said the incident had caused “profound, immediate, and widespread distress.
“Jewish attendees were visibly distressed, many left the event in tears, and others reported feeling shocked, intimidated, and unable to remain at what should have been a solemn and respectful act of remembrance.”
The council also referred the matter the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, as well as the Charity Commission, indicating the incidents “raise serious concerns regarding charitable governance, political activity, safeguarding, reputational risk, and whether Razed Roof is operating in accordance with its charitable objectives and legal duties”.
Harlow council leader, Cllr Dan Swords (photo: Local Government Association)[Missing Credit]
Speaking to the JC, Razed Roof said that it had instructed Gold not to include the line on Gaza ahead of the performance and even “physically removed the statement from the script.
“The original reader of the Gaza statement made a personal decision to break his promise and make a statement about Gaza... This was totally unexpected, and specifically against the wishes of the artistic director and the rabbi.”
Harlow Rabbi Irit Shillor, who organised the HMD event, said: “I had a lot of members of my community present – around 20 people – and they were visibly upset.”
A 2024 performance by Razed Roof (photo: YouTube screenshot)[Missing Credit]
Gold wrote after the event in an online post: “We called the piece ‘Threads.’ The genocides we read out were as follows: Holodomor, Holocaust, Cambodian, Rwandan, Bosnian, Darfur, Rohingya, Xinjiang, Gaza.”
He said the line referring to Gaza read: “2023: 85 per cent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip experienced mass, forced displacement, with violence, bombing, blockades and starvation.”
Gold claimed that during a final rehearsal he had been told by the rabbi to revise the wording.
According to Gold, he responded with “a cold, hard no”, adding that his teacher then said he could “fall back on us being an SEN group if I ended up reading it anyway”. He was later informed that the council had asked for the reference to be cut “altogether”.
Although he eventually agreed to remove the passage – which the teacher cut out of the script with scissors – Gold admitted: “I quite confidently misled her and did it anyway.”
After the remark, Rabbi Shillor addressed the audience, stating that the figure was “a statement of opinion, it is not fact”. At that point, video footage shows the rabbi was heckled.
The council also referred the matter to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the Charity Commission, claiming the incidents “raise serious concerns”.
Razed Roof, which supports young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, had previously received funding from Arts Council England and a grant from the BBC, and had been using council buildings for rehearsals.
Asked about Zionist comment, Gold said he stood by it, adding: "And by that, I mean the Council and Chris Vince, NOT anyone who's Jewish. Your article must clearly disambiguate anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel from antisemitism.
On his Palestine Action remark, he said: "It was a pro-Palestinian pun intended to humourously introduce the incident and make light of what happened. It does not express support for a proscribed terrorist organisation.”
He has started a petition for the council to reverse the ban on the drama group claiming the response was “grossly disproportionate”.
Razed Roof said it had been “proud to perform at The Holocaust Memorial Service for almost 20 years. The relationship between the group and the Jewish community has always been a very strong one - hence the annual invitation from Rabbi Irit for the group to perform at such a prestigious ceremony. The performances by Razed Roof at this event have always been carefully thought out, sensitively performed and warmly received by the assembled guests.”
It explained that on Sunday, the first of two performances by the group at the event, included “statements by Razed Roof of past persecutions of minorities, which the Holocaust Memorial Trust itself has specifically referenced in recent years, alongside the horrors of the Holocaust. However one of these statements about the conflict in Gaza, which had been researched from the UN website by the group, was discussed specifically by the artistic director of Razed Roof and Rabbi Irit. A mutual decision was reached that the statement about Gaza would not be read out, and the artistic director physically removed the statement from the script. The reason for this was explained to the member of Razed Roof who was due to read it, and the decision was accepted.
“Unfortunately, despite strong assurances to the contrary, the original reader of the Gaza statement made a personal decision to break his promise and make a statement about Gaza. He no longer had a written script, so he made a statement from his memory of his research. This was totally unexpected, and specifically against the wishes of the Artistic Director and the Rabbi.
“As a politically neutral group Razed Roof has no political affiliations and serves only to enhance the positive life experiences of its neurodivergent members with special educational needs.
“The distress which this incident may have caused to any member of the Jewish community is deeply regretted.
“Rabbi Irit told Razed Roof: ‘There was clearly a grave error of judgement but I do not believe there was any intention on the part of the Razed Roof team to offend or cause distress.’”
The rabbi told the JC: "I hope this will all be resolved. What Razed Roof are doing in Harlow is sterling work. Living with disabilities is not straightforward, but in Harlow because of Razed Roof there is a completely different attitude.”
Essex police said: "Following reports regarding a matter of concern at a Holocaust Memorial Service in Harlow, Essex Police have now thoroughly reviewed the incident.
"All posts and footage have been fully assessed by senior officers, and we can confirm no criminal offences, including support for a proscribed organisation, have been identified.
"We do appreciate and understand that the words used would be upsetting for many people who were at the event itself or read comments online, particularly given the significance of the day upon which this matter took place.
"We are working closely with our partners in the community and faith leaders to ensure that all concerns are considered, understood and thoroughly reviewed.
"This will include monitoring safeguarding concerns to ensure the right agency takes the lead to resolve any ongoing issues.
"We continue to work closely with our Community Safety Partners, the community itself and faith leaders and, where concerns are raised, we will always assess and will act swiftly when criminal offences have taken place or are likely to take place."
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.