Golf club defaced with antisemitic slogans and swastika in London

The swastikas and antisemitic slogans were raked into a sand trap on the golf course at the Hendon Golf Club in a Jewish area of London on the eve of Yom Kippur.

UK police have launched an investigation into a “racially aggravated hate crime”. The Nazi imagery was found at the Hendon Golf Club in the Barnet area of northwest London, which is home to over 50,000 British Jews, reports The Times of Israel.

A recording posted to social media showed that antisemitic messages on the golf course included “Fuck the Jews” and the Nazi salute “Heil Hitler,” in addition to a swastika scrawled into the sand.

UK Met Police Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Branch said that police were “aware of the shock and distress that this incident has caused, especially coming at a time when the Jewish community is celebrating Yom Kippur.”

Police said they would ensure that Jewish community leaders in the area would be “updated on the progress of the investigation,” and that “local residents will also continue to see a visible police presence in and around key areas across our boroughs.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the incident on X, saying he was “sickened by the rise in antisemitism” in London.

The Community Security Trust, a British antisemitism watchdog, called the incident “utterly disgraceful” and urged police to “thoroughly investigate this hate crime” in “the heart of the Jewish community.”

Antisemitism in the UK has skyrocketed over the past year, as the Community Security Trust, a British antisemitism watchdog recorded almost 2,000 antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2024, the highest-ever tally for a six-month period and a 100 percent increase over the same period last year.

Darren Grimes on X (formerly Twitter): „Absolutely horrified to receive these images from @HendonGolf this morning. A part of London with a large Jewish population. Absolutely no coverage anywhere, there certainly would be if any other group were targeted in this way, complete with swastika and ‘Heil Hitler’. pic.twitter.com/6Hkz4E9izC / X”

Absolutely horrified to receive these images from @HendonGolf this morning. A part of London with a large Jewish population. Absolutely no coverage anywhere, there certainly would be if any other group were targeted in this way, complete with swastika and ‘Heil Hitler’. pic.twitter.com/6Hkz4E9izC

 

Photo credit: Screenshot from @darrengrimes_ on X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law via The Times of Israel