‘It’s like Kristallnacht’ - second ‘anti-semitic’ attack on Roni’s Bagel Bakery, Belsize Park
Alon Kubi, owner of the bakery. Photo: Jessica Frank-Keyes - Credit: Archant
The owner of a Jewish bakery in Belsize Park has described the second attack on the business in the space of a week as “hate crime”.
The smashed window. Photo: Jessica Frank-Keyes - Credit: Archant
Vandals threw a stone through a window of Roni’s Bagel Bakery overnight on Friday, March 16, smashing the glass and damaging a table inside the shop.
The attack, which occurred ahead of the Jewish Sabbath, is a repeat of an almost identical incident which took place last week.
Bakers discovered the damage when they arrived for work at 5am on Friday morning.
Owner Alon Kubi said: “A lot of my Jewish customers are quite concerned.
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“One woman told me that it reminded her of Kristallnacht.”
He added: “It happened once, I can understand.
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“When you’re doing it twice, it doesn’t look like an accident.
“People interpret this as anti-Semitic. Whoever is Jewish will feel vulnerable.
“I can understand the customers’ feeling because I am feeling the same - unprotected.”
Mr Kubi reported the second incident to the police, who did not attend.
He said: “When you have a repeat crime and nobody wants to show up, you feel vulnerable.
“Nobody took any measures to prevent the second one which happened just a week after.
“We are not living in a third world country.
“These kind of things should not happen.”
Mr Kubi said he is installing security cameras and fitting shutters to protect the windows.
He estimated that the total cost of the repairs would be between £15-20,000.
He described a pattern of crime in the area, and said: “There is no CCTV in the street and there have been many other attacks.
“There was a robbery just down this street a couple of months ago; there was a robbery in Heywoods [an estate agents] a month ago; and at Christmas-time there were a few more break-ins.
“Last Christmas maybe 8 out of 10 shops were broken into.”
The Metropolitan Police have yet to confirm they did not attend the second attack.
Following the first incident, officers confirmed they were called out at 4.35am on March 10, and believe a man is responsible.
No one has yet been arrested and enquiries continue.
Anyone with information is asked to call 101.
