‘It is unacceptable that Jews face fear and unrest just trying to access public transportation.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
A bus driver in Manchester, England kicked an Israeli woman off of a bus after she commented on a pro-Palestinian symbol the driver was wearing on his uniform.
Following the incident, the Manchester Jewish Council released a statement condemning the bus driver’s actions.
“As the Jewish community exits its Passover, we are once again frightened by company employees contracted by Manchester City Council who are openly displaying political symbols relating to the current conflict in the Middle East.”
They noted that Jewish passengers are facing increasing problems in public places, including on buses and trains.
The statement said,”It is unacceptable that they face fear and unrest just trying to access public transportation.”
The statement continued, “We appreciate the swift response from the company following this incident, which was raised with their team.”
“The council will formally write to the company’s representatives and CEO to ensure they rigorously enforce a policy of no political statements by staff,” the statement concluded.
Joe Jacobson, one of the few Jewish football players in the UK, reported on disturbing outward displays of antisemitism from football fans online and in public.
The 37-year-old captain of Wycombe Wanderers said football fans who were irate about his speaking out against Hamas following October 7th called for his removal as team captain.
Jacobson continued, “They said if they didn’t, then they might barricade the gates at Adams Park [Wycombe’s home ground].”
He continued,”Then going to a match, there was all these weird things happening, with people wanting to come with me on the journey, and there were phone calls to friends on the journey saying where were we.”
Jacobson said that when he “got out of the car in the car park there were people surrounding me, Wycombe staff saying ‘come on Joe, let’s go into the stadium.’
He noted this was unusual, and found out there were plenty of plainclothes security because there was a legitimate concern that something might have happened to him.
According to Kick It Out, an anti-discrimination charity focused on soccer, there was an increase of more than 400 percent in antisemitic acts during the first half of the present soccer season, with reported instances over that period rising from 11 in the 2022-23 season to 57 in the current campaign.