UK antisemitism – Jewish teen shot in the head with air rifle

Swastikas were also painted on Jewish homes in Bournemouth, leading police to add patrols to protect the community.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Last week, in the British resort town of Bournemouth, a Jewish teen was shot in the head with an air rifle, and swastikas were sprayed in several locations, marking another episode of rising antisemitism in the UK since the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the current war in Gaza.

The youth was walking along the street with a friend on Saturday afternoon when the driver of a passing car shouted abusive comments at them. He then fired an airsoft bullet that struck the teen in the head before fleeing the scene.

The young man was only slightly hurt by the BB pellet and did not require further medical attention.

That same day, the Jewish community found swastikas spray-painted in four locations, including on the home of a local Chabad rabbi, Bentzion Alperowitz. He discovered the large black hate symbol as he left his house to go to synagogue in the morning with his two daughters, ages 7 and 10.

Alperowitz referred to the perpetrators as “cowards,” describing the graffiti as “very upsetting and alarming,” yet he remained unfazed.

“We will continue to live as proud Jews here in Bournemouth … I want to encourage everyone to do exactly the same,” he told The Jewish Chronicle.

“Never allow these forces of darkness and forces of evil to instill fear into our hearts,” he added in an interview with The Daily Mail.

The rabbi also told the paper that he did not believe the attacks typified the residents of the seaside town in which he was born and bred.

“Bournemouth is a kind, beautiful place, and I feel this is still the truth for the vast majority of people here,” he said.

Still, he continued, authorities must crack down on antisemitic acts.

“Jewish people should feel safe to walk around in Bournemouth,” he told the BBC. “We, all together, are responsible to bring back Bournemouth to what it truly is — a place of kindness, a place of unity — and everyone has a part in that.”

Dorset police immediately launched an investigation into the incidents, which they called “hate crimes” that they were taking “extremely seriously.”

They asked anyone with information to come forward and increased patrols in the town’s Jewish neighborhoods.

Members of the 1,600-strong Jewish community helped the Alperowitz family scrub off the swastika after the Sabbath ended.

In February, the Community Security Trust, a charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, reported that in 2024, the UK suffered its second-worst year of antisemitism, with 3,528 reported incidents.

That total was second only to 2023, whose numbers were 18% higher.