Man appears in court charged with attempted murder of two Jewish men — BBC News

[0:00] I'm going to start with that breaking news this morning here that a 45-year-old man has been [0:04] charged with attempted murder after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green in North London [0:10] on Wednesday. It comes after a recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks which has resulted in the [0:16] UK terrorism threat level being raised to severe meaning an attack is highly likely in the next [0:22] six months. The public should be alert and vigilant but quote not alarmed. And just in [0:29] the 30 seconds or so since we've been on air we have seen some footage of a police van heading [0:35] into court which we understand to be the suspect the 45-year-old man attending court. Well let's [0:44] speak now let's get the latest details from Lee Milner. What began as a targeted attack in Golders [0:54] Green has led to a nationwide warning. The UK's terror threat level now raised to severe with an attack [1:01] highly likely in the next six months. The UK has been experiencing a gradual increase in terrorist [1:07] threats for some time driven by a rise in both Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorism. Our [1:16] casework is increasing across a number of ideologies and within that we are seeing an elevated threat [1:22] to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK. The suspected Golders Green attacker is [1:30] 45-year-old SS Suleiman. Born in Somalia he came to the UK legally as a child. He was referred to the [1:38] government's counter-terrorism prevent program six years ago. After two Jewish men were stabbed he [1:44] was tasered and arrested. 76-year-old Moshe Schein was stabbed and is stable. 34-year-old Shlomi Rand [1:52] was also attacked after leaving synagogue. He spoke to us from his hospital bed yesterday and is now back home. [1:59] The statements coming out from Downing Street that they were not tolerated and anti-Semitism is not [2:09] enough. The tone they talk about what's going on has to be changed. The Prime Minister met the [2:18] local Jewish community but faced a mixed reception with some protesters booing outside. He's promised [2:25] tougher action on anti-Semitism including more policing, faster sentencing and new laws targeting [2:31] hate preachers and foreign threats like Iran. To turn our back, to check in the front, it's not a [2:38] comfortable and nice feeling because it can happen and I believe it will happen. It's just got out of [2:44] control and it's got to be dealt with. When we go out, I won't let my husband go out in a kippah. I always [2:51] make him put a cap on, you know, outside Golders Green. He just doesn't feel comfortable. And why do we have to live like this? [2:57] Anti-Semitism is now the biggest national security threat since Covid, according to the Prime Minister's [3:04] independent reviewer of terrorism legislation. With terror threat level at Sevilla, there's growing urgency [3:11] for action. Lee Milner, BBC News. Well, we can speak to the government's independent advisor on anti-Semitism, [3:19] Lord John Mann. Thanks for coming on the programme. Morning. I'm just going to underline, of course, as you will know, and many of [3:26] our viewers will know, that someone has been charged in this in relation to this incident in Golders Green. So we're not going to [3:32] address any of the specifics, particularly of that incident. But more broadly, what do you make of the threat [3:39] level across the UK being raised today? Well, that was inevitable with what's been going on. We've seen these wave of [3:50] attacks on the Jewish community, firebombing and so on over a period of weeks. But that's on the back of a sustained hostility to the [4:00] Jewish community in all aspects of their life. And I don't think the country quite understands what's been going on. You've got, you know, [4:13] school kids go on a bus to school, get abused on the bus. Jewish children play a football match, get abused on the football pitch. [4:22] People at work getting specifically targeted because they're Jewish. People at university who are ostracised [4:35] because of how they identify as being Jewish. And this is cumulative. It builds up and builds up. [4:44] And what's the cause? What's led, in your opinion, to this build up? [4:50] Well, there are different things. The levels of extremism. There is a group of extremists who are very well organised. [5:01] But there's deep-rooted. I'll give you an example of what's so deep-rooted. It's one of the things that I've asked the government [5:07] specifically to fund and address, and I hope they will. We found in an entire county in Hampshire that for a majority of schools [5:17] schools for the last hundred years, for a hundred years, every Easter, the children in most of the primary schools in Hampshire [5:24] have been taught that the Jews killed Jesus. That has an impact over time. And it hasn't been challenged in a hundred years. [5:34] But drawing that links us to that school in Hampshire, I don't have any... [5:38] No, no, no, no. A majority of primary schools in Hampshire for a hundred years, just listen me out, please, [5:45] have been taught every Easter by the Church of England that the Jews killed Jesus. [5:51] And it's only now that that's getting challenging. So, you know, there's some underlying causes that haven't been addressed. [5:58] And then there's very short-term, immediate things in terms of conflict in the Middle East [6:03] that's raised that, of course, to a whole new level in terms of the hostility to the Jewish community. [6:09] And how do you tackle it, specifically with the, you know, incidents in the Middle East? [6:14] Other than underlining and drawing that sharp distinction between the actions of people in a different country [6:20] to people just getting along with their normal lives here, what else can you actually do about that? [6:26] What you can do is you can define how free speech, which I'm a big supporter of, should be used. [6:35] And if people want to have whatever views on the Middle East, then they're entitled to have those views. [6:42] We live in a democracy. But if people then start calling to globalise the Intifada, [6:48] which is seen by some as a call to arms to attack the Jewish community, including in our country, that's not acceptable. [6:58] That's inciting people to violence. And the police and the government have the difficult task [7:04] of differentiating between language, words and actions that are specifically tagged in a community, [7:12] and legitimate debate and free speech. But the balance isn't working at the moment. [7:18] People are going on demonstrations, are going in towns and cities across the country, [7:26] and calling for what some people hear as being, go attack the Jews. That's not acceptable, and that has to be stopped. [7:37] Can I ask you about one of the other striking bits of news this morning? [7:41] We've had this controversy around the leader of the Green Party, Zach Polanski, seeming online to question the actions of the police. [7:51] What's your reaction to that? His comments were rather pathetic. The police have got a very difficult job to do. [7:59] Police officers having to intervene when someone's got a knife trying to murder people, [8:04] who manage to apprehend that person without shooting him dead and arrest him. [8:10] That's good policing, not bad policing. And police officers have an incredibly difficult time in this country, [8:19] dealing with violence and violent people. And I think the way the police are handling this kind of thing has improved dramatically over the last few years. [8:30] I commend the professionalism of the police. And frankly, Polanski is so off the mark with his fancy politics. [8:40] He should apologise to the police, apologise to them, and go tell them and say thank you for keeping our streets safe. [8:49] Lord John Mann, thank you very much for coming on the programme. [8:54] Of course, we will be attempting to reach out to the Green Party for a response for that. Thank you. [8:59] Let's cross live now to our correspondent in Golders Green. [9:02] Lee Milner is standing by for us. Lee, just bring us up to date with what's happening there. [9:06] Yes, we have had that breaking news this morning that the suspected attacker, who is 45-year-old Esa Suleiman, has been charged with attempted murder. [9:21] He was born in Somalia. He came to the UK illegally as a child. He will now appear in court this morning. [9:29] Meanwhile, you can just see behind me, this is Golders Green. The community are waking up to that news this morning. [9:36] They've had a terrible few days, as you can imagine, since that incident on Wednesday. [9:42] The incident happened in broad daylight, just an hour or so away from what it would have been right now, a nice sunny day, half past 11 in the middle of the day. [9:51] And what the community have been telling me is that obviously they were overwhelmed and they were shocked at first, but now they're feeling anger, a lot of anger. [10:00] We saw the Prime Minister come to this community yesterday and he was met with a mixed reaction. He was heckled. He was booed. [10:10] The reason being is that this community is simply frustrated. I've been to Golders Green a couple of times now on similar reports of incidents. [10:22] And this is what people tell me that is happening more and more often. Only a couple of weeks ago, a few ambulances just down the road owned by a Jewish charity was set alight. [10:34] Then a couple of days later, there was a war memorial that was destroyed as well. [10:40] So this isn't the first incident that's happened. This is the third in just a couple of weeks. [10:45] So there is a real sense of frustration here, a real sense of anger because this community don't, this is what they told me, they don't want words, they want action. [10:55] Lee, thank you very much for that. [10:58] Now, just at the top of the hour, I mentioned that we've had the first pictures of what we understand to be there, the police van carrying Esa Suleiman. [11:07] He's the man who's been charged with attempted murder and that is the arrival there into court just in the last 12, 13 minutes or so. [11:17] It happened just as we were coming on air. [11:20] The 45-year-old inside the police van there is accused of attacking two men, two Jewish men who were stabbed in Golders Green on Wednesday. [11:30] Now, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has defended how officers subdued the suspect in Wednesday's attack after the leader of the Green Party, Zach Polanski, reposted a comment on social media condemning their actions. [11:43] Sir Mark Rowley spoke to BBC Breakfast. [11:45] I wrote a forthright letter to him yesterday, which has been out on social media. [11:52] I don't do that lightly. Politics is a matter for politicians, not for me. [11:58] But when somebody who's eminent steps into operational policing and reinforces criticisms that will undermine the confidence of my officers to act in the protection of citizens, [12:15] I need to step forward and say, no, that's not acceptable because I need my officers to be confident in the most dangerous and difficult circumstances. [12:22] I had two unarmed officers confronting a man who they were convinced was a terrorist in their own view in that moment. [12:31] They were convinced of that. And even when he was on the ground, he wasn't cooperating. He wasn't releasing the knife. [12:37] They were concerned because he had a rucksack and a puffer jacket. They were concerned as whether he may have explosive devices or anything else. [12:43] And yet, despite being armed, they were confronting him. The fact they used very extreme force is, in my view, in that situation, completely reasonable. [12:52] And I'm not sure there will be many people on this call who would like to be in their situation. [12:59] And those officers need to know they've got my support. I'm grateful the sort of correspondence I put online last night. [13:06] The amount of public support for the officers that's come out from that, from social media, has been enormous. [13:11] And I really appreciate the public backing them. [13:13] That was the head of the Met Police there. Well, speaking to our colleagues on BBC Breakfast as well, [13:18] was the Victims Minister, Alexandra Davis-Jones, and said, outline what action the government is taking. [13:24] They need action and they deserve action. This is about more than just platitudes, as you've said. [13:30] And the time for warm words has come and gone. The funding that we announced yesterday, [13:35] the extra £25 million for policing in Jewish communities near synagogues and schools, [13:40] is something that we are doing in a direct response to the incident. [13:43] But ultimately, this needs a long-term solution. This is about rooting out antisemitism from our country, [13:49] wherever it is occurring, whether that be in our NHS, in our schools, in our universities, [13:55] on the streets or online. And the government is taking action by carrying out really important reviews here, [14:00] looking at what more we can do. We will be fast-tracking legislation in order to prescribe the IRGC, for example. [14:07] And we are working with criminal agency partners, criminal justice partners, to ensure that we are ensuring [14:13] prosecutions are taking place swiftly, that justice is served, so that we can keep, [14:17] not just the Jewish community in our country safe, but everyone in our country safe. [14:21] Because an attack on the Jewish community is an attack on all of us. [14:24] It is an attack on our British values and our beliefs, and that is unacceptable. [14:29] Let's speak to our political correspondent, Ian Watson. [14:33] Ian, let's start with this issue around Zach Plansky, the leader of the Green Party, [14:37] reposting a comment on social media, questioning the approach of the police in tackling the man on Wednesday. [14:46] Unusually strong words from the Met Police Commissioner there. [14:50] Yes, there was, yes. So what Zach Plansky did, he didn't say this himself, he reposted a social media tweet. [14:56] But what it said was that the police were violently kicking a man who was mentally ill [15:02] and who had been incapacitated by a taser. [15:06] Certainly that reposting did not go down well with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. [15:12] We heard him a little earlier saying he wrote a forthright letter to Zach Plansky. [15:16] I can tell you just how forthright it was, Lewis. [15:19] He said in that letter, this is the kind of inaccurate and misinformed commentary [15:23] that is contributing to rising tensions that we are seeing in society [15:26] and undermines officer confidence to act. [15:29] And then he went even further than that and said that, you know, this may seem shocking to observers [15:35] with little experience of policing in the real world. [15:39] Now, this was a rare foray into party politics from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. [15:45] But it has to be said that even members of Zach Plansky's own party are distanced themselves from what he did. [15:52] So their party leader in Wales, for example, told the BBC this morning that it was inappropriate to have reposted that message. [15:58] And last night on BBC's Question Time programme, the co-deputy leader of the party, Richard Millward, [16:04] didn't criticise Zach Plansky directly but did go out of her way to praise the bravery of the police and the emergency services. [16:12] And she said they had done a brilliant job. [16:16] What the Green Party itself is saying when approached directly about their leader's comments is that... [16:22] Zach had seen the video of the police obviously making the arrests. [16:28] He doesn't know the full picture. [16:30] He knows it was a very difficult situation for the authorities. [16:33] But they do add, we do need to understand more about the response. [16:38] And Ian, more broadly, on the raising of the threat level across the UK today, can you just talk us through that? [16:48] So it's been raised to the second highest level. [16:50] That's now substantial. [16:52] Critical would suggest there's more likelihood of an imminent attack. [16:55] But that substantial attack is highly likely in the next six months. [17:00] What the Home Office is saying is that this, of course, is linked to the attacks we've seen on Jewish communities. [17:09] But there's also a wider backdrop to this as well. [17:12] And that includes Islamophobia, includes far-right activity, as well as anti-Semitic activity. [17:19] Given that that's the case, of course, this has also raised questions about whether demonstrations should go ahead, [17:25] including pro-Palestinian demonstrations. [17:27] It looks like there won't be an outright ban. [17:30] But that Metropolitan Police Commissioner was also saying that there's action he can take, too, [17:34] if people were making, for example, provocative comments such as globalised intifada. [17:39] Right. [17:40] So... [17:42] All right. [17:43] So thank you for your question. [17:51] We haven't even heard as many of these. [17:56] There's a question there. [17:57] We haven't? [17:58] We haven't explained it in particular. [18:00] You may be right.