Black Friday march mutates into antisemitic mob action, terrorizing Jewish business amid rising U.K. hostility.
A Black Friday protest in London—marketed as yet another “pro-Palestinian” demonstration—spiraled into a disturbing act of targeted harassment when hundreds of marchers broke from their authorized route and staged an aggressive, unlicensed rally outside an Israeli-owned bakery. Jewish leaders are now warning that Britain is witnessing a dangerous revival of Fascist-style street intimidation.
The protesters descended on Donutelier, a boutique dessert shop owned by Israel’s Roladin chain, turning a busy shopping day into a scene of coordinated mob coercion. Demonstrators shouted boycotts, blocked windows, and attempted to shame customers—an escalation that Jewish security groups say mirrors the tactics of 1930s Europe, when anti-Jewish boycotts preceded outright violence.
Gary Mond, chairman of the National Jewish Assembly, issued a stark warning:
“These Jew-hating thugs are now behaving like the Nazi mobs of pre-war Germany and Austria… Next they will return on working days and form human chains to block Jewish-owned businesses.”
The protest had been licensed to proceed from near Piccadilly Circus to Trafalgar Square. Instead, hundreds splintered off, moving north to Charing Cross Road—deliberately targeting the Israeli shop. The Metropolitan Police offered no immediate explanation for why the mob was allowed to break away and intimidate a clearly Jewish-associated business.
While anti-Israel protests in London have become routine since Hamas’ October 7 massacre ignited a global wave of antisemitism, direct assaults on Israeli-linked commercial establishments remain rare. Mond warned that the incident is a “wake-up call to governments to act against hate before it becomes uncontrollable.” He added, chillingly: “Sadly, they won’t.”
The rally comes amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across Britain. Police recently moved an anti-Israel protest away from St. John’s Wood Synagogue after demonstrators gathered directly outside the building—an intimidation tactic straight out of extremist playbooks.
In October, Israeli academic Professor Michael Ben-Gad had his lecture interrupted when anti-Israel agitators stormed his classroom, screaming threats and accusations.
With mobs now specifically targeting Jewish spaces, Jewish leaders warn that Britain is inching dangerously close to a new era of public antisemitic hostility—fuelled by radicalized anti-Israel networks and emboldened by the West’s failure to confront them.
