Rosa Doherty writes in the Jewish Chronicle (h/t Philosémitisme Blog)
When I boarded a packed 102 bus in Golders Green on Tuesday evening, the last thing I expected was to be confronted with a racist free to spout antisemitic abuse with no one prepared to stop him.
On the top deck of my bus, which was full of Jewish school children, sat a grey-haired man screaming “get the Jews off the bus, all they do is f*** us”.
I took my seat and looked around stunned at what I was hearing, desperate to catch the eyes of other outraged passengers.
But all I saw was heads tilted, eyes down or firmly faced forward, as the man continued to shout: “I hate the Jews, burn them, I’m going to burn this bus.”
Rosa called the police.
When he pulled over at the next stop I gave him my phone and insisted he speak to the operator.
“He’s just shouting things. It’s no problem. He is just nuts”, he told her.
Even more disturbing was the emergency operator’s response.
She told me: “If the driver doesn’t stop the bus we can’t send police to you. He said the man was just shouting abuse, which is only anti-social behaviour.”
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