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Orthodox Rabbi stabbed on London street; attacker detained, motive unknown

At least one eyewitness was quoted as saying it appeared to have been a hate crime in which the victim was targeted over his religion.

By Algemeiner Staff

An Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed on a northeast London street on Friday morning.

The victim, in his fifties, was said to be in stable condition at the Royal London Hospital following the attack, which took place in the Stoke Newington neighborhood.

Reports indicate that the victim’s name is Rabbi Alter Yaakov Schlesinger from Stamford Hill.

The assailant — an unidentified man in his forties, reportedly of “south Asian descent” — was pinned down by passersby and later arrested by police on suspicion of attempted murder.

At least one eyewitness was quoted as saying it appeared to have been a hate crime in which the victim was targeted over his religion.

Board of Deputies of British Jews President Marie van der Zyl commented, “Our thoughts are with the victim and we pray for his speedy recovery. It has been reported that a man has been arrested and we hope justice will be swiftly served. We are liaising with contacts in the Stamford Hill community to share our concern and solidarity. We would like to thank the members of the public who restrained the attacker, incapacitating him until police arrived.”

The Community Security Trust (CST) tweeted, “We are in full contact with Police and there is no current assessment that this was, or was not, antisemitic.”