The initiative is aimed at reassuring London’s Jews. The British capital is testing a bus line that connects two neighborhoods with large Jewish communities, so that its members feel “safe when traveling,” the BBC reported in a story Monday.
The line runs between Stamford Hill in Hackney and Golders Green in Barnet, two districts of the British capital. It is intended to reassure London’s Jews, so that they feel “safe when travelling between these two communities”, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told the BBC. The new line will be operated “on an experimental basis” for a year while an evaluation is carried out, it is stated on the city’s public transport website.
A long-standing request
Its implementation had been a long-standing request of the Jewish community, Sadiq Khan explained. He said he was “struck by the conversations (he) had in recent months” with some of its representatives. “They were frightened because of the massive rise in anti-Semitism since October 7 last year,” he said, referring to the Hamas attack on Israel that led to an explosion of anti-Semitic acts around the world.
“I’ve had stories from families that when they changed buses at Finsbury Park to go from Stamford Hill to Golders Green, they were frightened by the abuse they had suffered,” the councillor added. The creation of this line was a promise of his campaign, he also told the British media.
London’s Metropolitan Police recorded 2,065 incidents of anti-Semitic hate crime between October and July, according to the BBC. “We’ve also heard stories of Jewish Londoners who aren’t leaving their homes because they’re worried about their safety,” Khan said. “I don’t want any Londoner to be afraid to leave their home because they’re worried about public transport,” he added, calling for “being good allies to our Jewish friends and neighbours.”