A Jewish building inspector has been left too frightened to wear his kippah in public after being punched and subjected to a torrent of antisemitic abuse by a stranger who approached him on a bicycle while he was carrying out work at a property in Slough.
The attack, which took place on a Monday afternoon on Elliman Avenue in Berkshire, was captured on video and has since circulated widely on social media. The footage, lasting approximately one minute, shows a man in a white baseball cap, striped jacket, black jeans and white trainers riding up to the victim — an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man — and immediately beginning to hurl racial abuse at him.
“What are you doing round here, bruv?” the attacker demands, before the language rapidly escalates. The victim, who was standing outside a property in a professional capacity, calmly attempts to explain he is simply doing his job. “Am I bothering you? Have I done something to you?” he asks. The response is a stream of violent threats and antisemitic slurs, including being called a “baby killer” and accused of killing children in Palestine. “I’ll break your jaw, you dirty motherf****** Jew,” the attacker shouts before striking him.
Rabbi Levi Schapiro, who has spoken to a friend of the victim, said the man is now living in fear of a follow-up attack and has begun removing his kippah when working outside his community. “He’s hiding. He’s scared. Can you imagine?” Rabbi Schapiro told the Daily Mail. He called out what he described as a “keyboard warrior government” that responds to antisemitic attacks with statements rather than meaningful action. “People have to know the culprits will be arrested and actually jailed. All that happens is, even if they are arrested, they are out in a couple of hours.”
Rabbi Schapiro, himself a member of the ultra-Orthodox community in north London, said visible Jewish identity had become a source of vulnerability. “When I leave Stamford Hill I am looking over my shoulder. I can’t hide my identity. I’m Jewish. And why should I hide my identity in Britain in 2026?”
The Community Security Trust described the footage as “completely shocking,” adding that the attack was “utterly abhorrent” and that many people who watch the video will likely recognise the perpetrator. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said the incident was “Jew-hatred without its disguise,” warning that the current climate — bred, they argued, by official inaction — had made daily life unsafe for Jewish people across Britain.
Thames Valley Police have confirmed they are investigating the incident. Anyone with information is urged to contact the force quoting crime reference number 43260192511.
