Jewish girl in hospital 'after being smashed with glass bottles'

A 16-year-old Jewish girl was pelted with bottles and suffered injuries to her head and face in a 'deliberate and violent' attack in north London, as police say they have launched an investigation into a potential hate crime.

The teenager was with a group of schoolgirls walking to a rehearsal on Monday evening when several glass bottles were allegedly thrown by a man on a balcony at Woodberry Down Estate in Stamford Hill. 

A video posted by Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch group which has described the incident as antisemitic and 'abhorrent', shows an array of glass shards on the ground alongside what appears to be broken plates.

In a statement on X, Shomrim posted a video of the scene, which is close to a girls' school, and said the street had been 'covered in shattered glass following an antisemitic attack on Orthodox Jewish schoolchildren.'

It added: 'The sheer volume of glass scattered across the area resembles the aftermath of a riot. The force and distance of the thrown glass bottles reveal the deliberate and violent nature of this act.

'These young children were targeted simply for their visibly Jewish identity.'

Following the incident, the youngster was rushed to Royal London Hospital by Hatzola Ambulance volunteers, where her injuries were assessed as 'non-life changing'.

Shomrim said she had suffered 'significant haematoma and facial grazes'. 

A Met Police spokesperson said: 'At 7.44pm on Monday, 25 November officers were called to the Woodberry Down Estate in Hackney following reports of an assault.

'A group of schoolgirls had been walking through the estate when a bottle was thrown from the upper floor of a building.

'A 16-year-old girl was struck on the head and was taken to hospital. Her injuries have since been assessed as non-life changing.

'Officers attended the scene to carry out initial enquiries but were unable to locate the suspect. An investigation is ongoing.

'The incident is being treated as a potential antisemitic hate crime.'

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 providing the reference 6966/26NOV.

Antisemitism campaigners told MailOnline tonight the incident was indicative of 'the reality in Britain right now'.

In a statement, Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'This incident did not take place in a vacuum. 

'Over the past year, we have repeatedly warned of the dangerous consequences of Jew-hate going unchecked. 

'This is the reality in Britain right now. Jewish children cannot even walk home without fear of being targeted in violent attacks.'

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The incident occurred after a recent poll by Campaign Against Antisemtism revealed 69 per cent of British Jews are 'less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism in public' in the current climate.

Elsewhere, Community Security Trust (CST) also found there has been a surge in antisemitic incidents in the UK over the last year.

The Jewish charity said 5,583 incidents were recorded between October 7 last year and September 30.

The figure is three times that of the previous 12-month period, which saw 1,830 incidents recorded in total.

CST, which monitors antisemitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, said most incidents took the form of abusive behaviour (4,583), while others involved threats (401) or assault (302). 

One incident of what it described as extreme violence was recorded.

The majority of incidents were recorded in London (3,167), while 729 were recorded in Manchester and 642 in West Yorkshire.

There were 1,400 incidents in October 2023 alone, the charity said, and more than 200 have been recorded every month since then.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to fight the 'resurgence of antisemitism'.

Among antisemitic incidents reported, a public menorah - a candelabra used during the festival of Chanukah - was daubed with red paint alongside the word 'Gaza' in May, while 'Death to Jew Scum' was daubed on a fence in Surrey in June.

Elsewhere, a poster of child hostage Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, was daubed with swastikas.

Earlier this month, police launched a hate crime investigation after red paint was thrown over the offices of the charity Jewish National Fund (JNF) in Hampstead and Hendon, north London.