An Israeli Arab convert to Judaism was physically and verbally attacked this week by pro-Palestinians in London’s Hyde Park after waving an Israeli flag.
By World Israel News Staff
Timor-David Aklin, who was born a Muslim in the central coastal city of Jaffa, traveled to London ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day with the aim of making pro-Israel videos for his YouTube channel. He visited Speakers’ Corner, London’s landmark soapbox, to fight “stereotypes against the Jewish religion and antisemitism,” he said.
While there, Aklin, who is visibly Orthodox with a yarmulke on his head, was confronted by a group of British Muslim youth, at least one of whom also spoke Arabic, who began an argument with him that turned violent.
The pro-Palestinians had come to the area after attending an Al-Quds day rally in the vicinity. London’s Al Quds day rally attracted as many as 7,000 marchers this year with the aim of “protesting the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine,” according to the website of its organizers.
Aklin was instructed to “fold up and hide” his Israeli flag by the group, with one member threatening, “I used to be a gang member, we don’t want a terrorist flag here.”
“You’re a Zionist terrorist,” another tells Aklin, who filmed the exchange.
A third posits that “Israel has no right to exist” and that “there will never be peace in the middle east as long as the state of Israel exists.”
At one point, members of the group grabbed his flag and started making off with it, before Aklin pursued them. They then kicked and destroyed Aklin’s camera and one of the youths punched him on the side of his head.
“I was devastated – more mentally than physically,” he told World Israel News. “This is not what I came here for, I came here for dialogue.”
“I did not go in there believing these Arabs are completely bad. I remained respectful during the entire time even when they had attacked me, spat on me and my flag, punched me in the midst of the chaos all in an attempt to intimidate me and scare me away,” he said.
Orthodox Jewish pro-Israel activist, Timor-David Aklin, was born an Arab Muslim in Jaffa, Israel (pic: courtesy)
Despite being a staunch critic of Islam and Arab culture in general, Aklin says he believes in diplomacy and “creating understanding and unity through meaningful dialogue.”
“I would never express them to an Arab person in an uncivil manner. That’s because the person is already suffering from the impact of Arab imperialism, that is, Islam. It’s crucial to be gradual when introducing light into darkness,” he said.
Below is a clip of Aklin accused of being a liar about his origins as a Muslim.