A Jewish father from north London has spoken of his outrage after his five-month-old daughter’s birth certificate was returned from the Home Office ripped and the birthplace of Israel scribbled out.
The father-of-three, from Edgware, and his wife Dorin, 29, were stunned when she opened the envelope only to discover baby Ronnie’s papers had been tampered with.
“She found it was ripped half way through and my place of birth - which was Israel - had been scribbled out with a pen,” the father, whose first name is also Israel, said.
“We felt as if we had been taken back to 1930’s Germany where the Nazis would put notes on Jewish people’s documentation.”
“It is completely warped and it hurts my heart that my daughter is not even six-months-old and she has already been discriminated on in the worst way,” the 32-year-old, who did not want to reveal his surname, told MailOnline.
The father has now called for the person responsible for defacing with the paperwork to be disciplined and for the Home Office to apologise.
He added: ‘Unfortunately this birth certificate is not valid any more because it’s been scribbled on. So this person has destroyed my child’s identity, their birth certificate, just because it’s a Jewish person.
“We are terrified because if this is the environment within the Home Office this is not a place we want to live. We are just as British as everyone else.
“Afterwards we need to make sure this person, man or woman, cannot put their hands on other people’s private documents.”
Two weeks ago, a member of the public sent off a passport application to @ukhomeoffice for his six-month-old baby girl.
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) February 19, 2024
Today, the birth certificate was returned ripped with the word “Israel” scribbled out. The parents are understandably very concerned about this incident.
We… pic.twitter.com/30bjZR7Epx
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said the certificate was sent off as part of a passport application two weeks ago and returned on Monday with the father’s place of birth defaced.
The organisation said the incident was “completely unacceptable”.
It posted the image on X, saying: “Two weeks ago, a member of the public sent off a passport application to @ukhomeoffice for his baby girl.
“The birth certificate was returned ripped with the word ‘Israel’ scribbled out. The parents are understandably very concerned about this incident.
“We are asking the Home Office to investigate how this happened. The Home Office has responsibility for law enforcement and the security of the Jewish community.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said he has asked officials to “investigate this urgently and will see that appropriate action is taken”.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat also posted on X confirming the Home Office is investigating the matter.
It comes after campaigners said there had been “explosion in hatred” in the wake of Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7
The Community Security Trust (CST) charity recorded an all-time high of 4,103 incidents of antisemitism, up from 1,662 in 2022. It included 266 violent assaults on Jews, up 96 per cent year-on-year and the highest figure since the CST started gathering data 40 years ago.
For the first time, the CST logged at least one antisemitic incident for every police force in the UK, with the majority - more than 2,400 - in London, including some at vigils for Israelis taken hostage.
Barnet and Hackney were among the top five UK areas for violent incidents carried out since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 and the Israeli response in Gaza.
