Man yells ‘f*** the Jews’ at Orthodox woman in upscale British supermarket chain

An Orthodox Jewish woman was subjected to a torrent of antisemitic abuse in a London Waitrose supermarket last Monday. A man in the checkout queue allegedly began verbally abusing her after becoming impatient, escalating to shouting "F*** the Jews" and "kill Zionist Jews."

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I was in the queue behind him and told him to shut up, or I would call the police, to which he continued abusing the woman and me before the woman left the store highly distressed.

A witness who was behind the victim intervened, telling the man to stop or face police involvement. However, the man continued his tirade before the distressed woman left the store. The witness reported that the store manager and other staff were aware of the incident but "refused" to contact the police.

Waitrose has stated they are "very sorry" for the distressing incident and will cooperate with the police investigation, including sharing CCTV footage. The Metropolitan Police confirmed they received an online report of a religiously aggravated hate crime and are working to identify the victim. Separately, an off-duty officer encountered a disagreement in the store involving a man believed to be connected to the earlier incident, leading to an arrest to confirm his identity before he was released.

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F*** the Jews

Campaign Against Antisemitism criticized Waitrose's response, stating, "It beggars belief that Waitrose did not immediately treat this incident with the urgency that it deserved." The organization urged the supermarket chain to implement clear procedures to address antisemitic hate crime across all its branches.

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kill Zionist Jews

Police are encouraging the victim to come forward and have assured the public that enhanced policing plans are in place to protect vulnerable areas and disrupt offenders. The incident has heightened concerns within Jewish communities, with B'nai Brith Canada calling for increased security measures and dedicated prosecution units for hate crimes.

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I know Waitrose cannot be responsible for who walks into their stores, But staff seem to have a policy of not calling the police or intervening at all when they’re aware of antisemitism.