A woman in London was caught on camera defacing posters calling for the return of hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7.
The footage shows a wall of several posters including Sasha Troufanov, 28, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, who were both kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Each poster says: “Bring them home now”.
In footage posted to social media today, the woman can be seen writing “Jews against genocide”, “Violence doesn’t justify violence”, and “Free Palestine” in black marker pen on the posters.
At this very moment, Hamas terrorists are still holding innocent Israelis hostage.
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) September 13, 2024
This woman decided to deface posters of those hostages.
We understand that this incident occurred in Hampstead, north London.
If you have further information, please e-mail… pic.twitter.com/cxlKjSjK8L
“Nakba” can be seen scrawled across the picture of Yahalomi in red writing. It is unclear whether this was the result of previous vandalism.
The man recording the incident on Hampstead High Street in north London approached the woman defacing the posters, asking: “What’s wrong with you? These people are kidnapped. Why are you writing ‘free Palestine’ on posters of kidnapped people?”
As the unidentified woman goes to leave on her bike, the man filming says: “I just saw you painting on kidnapped posters. Those people are innocent people. They were kidnapped.”
The woman responds: “Yeah, and putting up posters of them is propaganda to justify more violence for more innocent people.”
The footage was posted to X/Twitter on Friday morning by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), who called the incident “the lowest of the low”.
A CAA spokesperson said: “This vile behaviour appears to be an attempt to conceal the barbaric abductions and shield the terrorist group behind them from the disgust that the public feels. It is frightening to think that such animus toward Jews exists on the streets of Britain."
On October 7, Hamas terrorists murdered around 1,200 people in southern Israel and took over 250 hostage. 101 remain in captivity, four of whom were abducted before October 7.