Samson is 13 and has had to get used to antisemitic abuse when he leaves his north London Jewish school, but there was one incident a couple of months ago that still scars him. He was walking towards Belsize Park underground and was lagging behind his friends. “Most of my friends had crossed the road but I was on my own when I was targeted by two guys wearing balaclavas. They did a Nazi salute, they spat on the ground and said, ‘dirty Jew’,’’ says Samson.
“Then they grabbed me by my shirt collar and pushed me against a gate and demanded my phone.” The assault only ended when other people approached the attackers. “The whole episode left me feeling quite shaken up,” adds Samson. This wasn’t the first time he’d been attacked on his way home from school — he’d been spat at on the Tube and called names — just the most violent.
