Swastika, antisemitic slogans daubed at golf club in Jewish area of London
Police probing vandalism at Hendon Golf Club in northwest London on eve of Yom Kippur as a hate crime; London’s mayor says he’s ‘sickened’ by the incident
UK police have launched an investigation into a “racially aggravated hate crime” at a golf club in a Jewish area of London, after staff found swastikas and antisemitic slogans raked into a sand trap on the course on Friday morning.
The Nazi imagery was found at Hendon Golf Club in the Barnet area of northwest London, which is home to over 50,000 British Jews.
A recording posted to social media showed that antisemitic messages on the golf course included “Fuck the Jews” and the Nazi salute “Heil Hitler,” in addition to a swastika scrawled into the sand.
UK Met Police Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Branch said that the incident was “being investigated as a racially aggravated hate crime.”
Branch said that police were “aware of the shock and distress that this incident has caused, especially coming at a time when the Jewish community is celebrating Yom Kippur.”
Police said they would ensure that Jewish community leaders in the area would be “updated on the progress of the investigation,” and that “local residents will also continue to see a visible police presence in and around key areas across our boroughs.”
Absolutely horrified to receive these images from @HendonGolf this morning. A part of London with a large Jewish population. Absolutely no coverage anywhere, there certainly would be if any other group were targeted in this way, complete with swastika and ‘Heil Hitler’. pic.twitter.com/6Hkz4E9izC
— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) October 11, 2024
London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the incident at the golf course on X, saying he was “sickened by the rise in antisemitism” in London.
The Community Security Trust, a British antisemitism watchdog, called the incident “utterly disgraceful” and urged police to “thoroughly investigate this hate crime” in “the heart of the Jewish community.”
Antisemitism in the UK has skyrocketed over the past year, as CST recorded almost 2,000 antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2024, the highest-ever tally for a six-month period and a 100 percent increase over the same period last year.
The 1,978 incidents recorded by CST are part of a sharp rise in hate and hate crimes against Jews following the Hamas-led October 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza and the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, CST wrote in its semiannual report published in August.
The Times of Israel Community.