News
Extremists plan to destroy Israeli flags and burn Talmud at Golders Green rally
June 16, 2015 09:25
By, Marcus Dysch
1 min read
ByMarcus Dysch, Marcus Dysch
Neo-Nazis plan to destroy Israeli flags during a protest at the heart of the Jewish community next month.
Organisers of the July 4 demonstration in Golders Green, north-west London, have also urged supporters to attend a secret burning of the Talmud ahead of the event.
Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a white supremacist activist, wrote on his website on Monday that a “private ceremony” would be held to burn the religious texts “in recognition of its racist anti-white teachings”.
He said his group of nationalist demonstrators would hold further protests against the Jewish community in Finchley, Stamford Hill and other locations later in the summer.
The decision to destroy Israeli flags would be “in solidarity with those oppressed by the illegal state of Israel”, Bonehill-Paine wrote.
“Activists are welcome to bring Israeli flags on July 4 as we will be destroying them in an act of opposition to Israel.
“This will be a show of solidarity by English people who recognise that Israel is a corrupt state which is responsible for horrific war crimes.
“To avoid prosecution we will not be burning flags, we will dismember them by hand.”
Bonehill-Paine also outlined opposition to the Shomrim volunteer security group. He claimed the Jewish group had approached his supporters and urged them to patrol with Shomrim volunteers.
Shomrim representatives categorically denied any contact with him or other organisers of the demonstration.
A Shomrim spokesman said: "We have never made any contact and we do not intend to.
"We are being used as an excuse for people to express their antisemitic views. It's not because of the work of Shomrim. We categorically deny any contact with him or his organisation."
Bonehill-Paine added: “We are an ideological force of opposition, the agenda of this movement is clear and we will not coward away from our objectives or goals.”
He has faced a series of criminal charges for incidents including malicious communications and harassment.
He was described as a "moronic" hoaxer last April after admitting in court that he had published false claims about immigrants.
Jewish community representatives have repeatedly said they are not intimidated by the planned extremist demonstration .
Speaking at a meeting on Sunday attended by the police, Shomrim and delegates from more than 40 local synagogues, Community Security Trust representatives said they were “concerned and repelled” by the plans but not afraid.
CST has previously described Bonehill-Paine as “essentially a provocateur who has not shown the capacity to mobilise large numbers of people to attend far-right events”.
