Man who attacked Jews, including boy, 14, had prayer to protect against ‘enemy’
Abdullah Qureshi’s targets included a child on his way to school and a 64-year-old man, who was knocked out as he made his way to the synagogue.
A man has been found guilty of carrying out antisemitic attacks on three Jews after travelling to north London from West Yorkshire.
Abdullah Qureshi’s targets included a 14-year-old boy on his way to school and a 64-year-old man, who was knocked out as he made his way to the synagogue.
The 30-year-old also hit a teacher in the head with a plastic bottle as he carried out the attacks over a two-hour period last August 18 in the Stamford Hill area, which is known for its orthodox Jew population.
Qureshi claimed “it was just a coincidence” his three victims were all wearing traditional orthodox Jewish clothing and said he lashed out after becoming “angrier and angrier” following a row in a shop.
But prosecutor Varinder Hayre suggested to Qureshi he travelled from his home in Dewsbury to target Jews because “you hate them”.
Following a trial at Stratford Magistrates’ Court in east London, District Judge John Law on Thursday found Qureshi guilty of inflicting religiously aggravated grievous bodily harm and two counts of religiously aggravated assault by beating.
“The three complainants not only were orthodox Jews but were clearly identifiable as such,” said the judge.
“I am drawn to the inescapable conclusion that their selection by this defendant was not a coincidence.”
Mr Law committed the case to Snaresbrook Crown Court for sentencing on December 8, granting Qureshi bail on the condition he does not enter the London borough of Hackney.
Qureshi had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Jacob Lipschitz and assaulting Chaine Greenfeld, without the religiously aggravated element, in pleas initially accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
But prosecutors were allowed to reinstate the charges, including the religiously aggravated element, along with a further charge against then then 14-year-old boy, following complaints from campaigners.
Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Yasmin Lalani said: “We will not tolerate hate crime of any form in London.
“The Met has a zero-tolerance policy for hate crime. We want to build safe and strong communities where people say no to hate crime.”
Qureshi, playing Arabic music on his mobile phone, hit Mr Greenfeld in the head with a bottle as he stood in the street at around 6.40pm, the court was told.
“I felt shocked,” Mr Greenfield said while giving evidence from behind a screen. “When I came home, I was quite traumatised and it traumatised my kids that their father was slapped like that in the road.”
Asked why he thought he was attacked, Mr Greenfeld said: “He wanted to attack me about I’m another religion – that I’m Jewish.
“It shouldn’t be happening another time to our community, to our religion, and it should be everything peaceful as I thought as a young child that London is a peaceful and safe place and as I said, it’s not really.”
Qureshi slapped the 14-year-old, who cannot be identified because of his age, as he walked to an orthodox Jewish school at about 7.45pm.
“The man said nothing to me and just slapped me and walked away,” the teenager said in a statement read in court.
“That’s not good for me or anyone who is Jewish or anyone else. That must not happen to anyone.”
The prosecutor said Mr Lipschitz, then 64, was walking to the synagogue at about 8.30pm when he was punched on the ear with “tremendous power”, causing him to hit his head on the wall of a building with “such force” it left him unconscious.
He was left with broken glasses, facial bruising, a sprained ankle and four breaks in his foot, which twisted as he collapsed.
Mr Lipschitz said he was “traumatised” by the attack and left with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I used to be walking the street tall and strong and confident and now I’m just a cowardly wreck. Any noise, I jump,” he said.
Asked why he believes he was targeted, Mr Lipschitz told the judge: “I imagine he didn’t like me, I will be honest with you, sir, because I’m Jewish.”
Qureshi was arrested after his father recognised him in a police appeal.
Officers found a message on his mobile called: “Dua for protection from your enemy.” A dua is a type of Islamic prayer.
“Oh Allah, we ask You to restrain them by their necks and we seek refuge in You from their evil,” it read.
Ms Hayre suggested Qureshi considers Jewish people to be “evil” and his “enemy”.
“You don’t like Jewish people,” she said. “When you attacked those people they were in vulnerable positions, by themselves. They were standing, facing you in Jewish clothing while they were on their own.”
But Qureshi said he has “nothing against Jewish people” and insisted: “It was just a coincidence. It was nothing to do with what clothing people were wearing. I was just angry.”
He claimed he grew “angrier and angrier” after an argument in a shop, adding: “I just lashed out because I was angry, wound up.”
Qureshi told the court he was in London to visit relatives and was staying overnight in the area because he found a cheap room at a hostel there.
He said he was “shopping for food” and sightseeing, “visiting the cemetery” and monuments on the day of the attacks.
“I didn’t mean any harm,” he said.
“I would like to apologise for any harm caused and the distress caused to Mr Greenfeld and Mr Lipschitz.”
The verdict will be viewed as a significant victory for the Community Security Trust, which organised and hosted a meeting between Mr Lipschitz and the CPS, to persuade the CPS to reinstate the aggravated charges. CST volunteers in the Orthodox community also worked with the youngest victim and encouraged him to come forward and give evidence, which he had initially declined to do.
A CST spokesperson told Jewish News: “This was a shocking series of assaults on ordinary Jewish people that brought home the horrific impact of anti-Jewish violence. Today’s verdict vindicates the determination shown by the victims, with the support of CST and others, that Qureshi’s attacks should be fully prosecuted as religious hate crimes. We are grateful to the CPS for changing their view on this, and we thank the CST volunteers who worked with the victims to ensure they received justice.”
Chaim Hochhauser, chief executive of Shomrim Stamford Hill, told Jewish News: “We have been deeply involved right from the beginning of this saga, to identifying the perpetrator, providing the intelligence to apprehend him , liaising with the police and the CPS in preparing the evidence and the witnesses for the trial, attending the pre-trial to ensure all the evidence would be accepted by the court achieving a historic legal breakthrough. We are very grateful that justice has triumphed.
we would like to extend thanks to DCI Jasmin Lalani and IAG Chair Nicola Babaneau for their valued assistance in bringing this case to trial and the Muslim community in London for their tremendous help in helping locate the suspect and for their constant assistance in this matter.”
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This verdict begins to redress the serious harm caused to his victims and we expect the court to impose a sentence appropriate to the severity of his awful crimes. Today’s verdict also vindicates efforts made by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Shomrim and others to pressure the CPS into reinstating the aggravated charges after they were initially dropped. We are grateful to the CPS for making the case forcefully in court today and bringing about this outcome.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
