London bus service probes driver’s response to anti-Semitism

The London public transport authority said Wednesday it was investigating a bus driver’s failure to respond to an anti-Semitic attack in mid-September, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

A man had shouted at passengers that he would “burn the bus” and the “Jews,” in the presence of children. However, when complaints were brought to the driver, he said: “There is nothing I can do,” failed to allow the police to board, and permitted the culprit to stay on the bus.

Paul Edwards, correspondence manager for Transport for London, said he was “sorry” the bus driver had acted in this manner, and said the incident was being investigated.

“I can assure you that this matter has been fully investigated by both Arriva, the bus operator, and the Metropolitan Police,” Edwards told the Jewish Chronicle.

“The driver involved has since been identified and interviewed and Arriva will take appropriate action to ensure that any future incident is handled more appropriately.”

Edwards said that there were procedures in place if “any passenger feels threatened or at risk.”

“Using either the code blue or code red schemes, depending on whether the individual is still on board the bus and the incident ongoing, the driver would then be advised on the appropriate response. I am sorry that the driver did not follow the correct procedure in this instance,” he said.

Britain saw a significant spike in anti-Semitic attacks during the summer Gaza campaign, according to a watchdog group.

In July 2014, the Community Security Trust, or CST, recorded 302 incidents — the highest ever monthly total documented by the group since it started monitoring anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom in 1984, CST wrote Thursday on its blog.

The figure constitutes a rise of over 400 percent from the 59 incidents recorded in July 2013 and only slightly fewer than the 304 incidents recorded in the entire first six months of 2014, CST said.

JTA contributed to this report.