By mid-morning on Thursday, word had spread on WhatsApp groups and social media accounts that Keir Starmer would be visiting the headquarters of the Jewish-led Hatzola ambulance service in Golders Green, north London. The organisation’s members had only been informed that a senior cabinet minister was on their way after the stabbings of two Jewish men in the area on Wednesday, so the gathering crowd was a puzzle to those inside. “I didn’t even tell my children,” said one.
The protesters knew. By the time the prime minister arrived at midday there were about 200 people gathered to make their feelings heard, many holding up freshly printed posters bearing the words: “Keir Starmer Jew harmer”. They had been distributed by a direct action group opposed to the continuation of the pro-Palestinian marches, called Stop the Hate.
