Man Charged for Brandishing Knife, Yelling About ‘Palestine’ in London Kosher Grocery Store

By Vicki Belovski

A man arrested for an attempted knifing attack at a kosher supermarket in Golders Green appeared in court Tuesday, after having been arrested on Monday.

The suspect, 34-year-old Gabriel Abdullah, entered Kay’s Local, in Golders Green Monday afternoon, and tried to start a discussion with the staff and customers about the situation “in Palestine.” The staff replied that they did not want to “talk about politics,” at which point he became violent and allegedly brandished a large blue knife. The staff managed to remove him from the shop, using shopping carts, a broom, and a child’s scooter to do so. Meanwhile other staff phoned the police and Shomrim.

Abdullah was charged with disturbing the peace and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

 A spokesman for Shomrim NW London told Hamodia that the suspect was seen running into a nearby house, which has been converted into apartments, and when Shomrim arrived, they monitored the house until the arrival of the police, a few minutes later.  The suspect subsequently emerged from the house, having changed out of the sweatshirt he was wearing previously and donned traditional Muslim clothing. However, he had not changed his distinctive pants, and Shomrim pointed him out to the police, who tackled him to the ground and arrested him on suspicion of possession of a weapon, criminal damage and racially-aggravated disturbing of peace.  The police then searched the apartment and recovered a knife, believed to be the one used in the incident.

The suspect was taken to Colindale police station, where he admitted to having carried out the attack, and was kept in custody. Inspector Scott Barden-Marshall from the local policing team in NW London issued a statement on social media on Monday, saying, “I know this incident will cause concern in the community. Officers responded quickly and made an arrest within 10 minutes. An investigation is now underway to establish the circumstances.”

Chief Superintendent Sara Leach, responsible for policing in north-west London, said on Tuesday, “Yesterday’s incident in Golders Green has understandably caused significant concern and left our Jewish communities shaken. I want to be clear, this matter is being treated as a hate crime and we are dedicating significant resources to the investigation.

“Our officers responded quickly and were on the scene within six minutes and able to arrest the suspect within ten minutes of being called. I want to pay tribute to the members of the public who bravely intervened before police arrived.

“This is being investigated as a hate crime by specialist detectives from our Community Safety Unit. I want to offer my reassurance that officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command have carried out a full assessment of the incident and remain in contact with local officers as the investigation continues. While this is not a terror investigation, that in no way detracts from how seriously we are taking this incident.

“Myself and my senior team spoke with community leaders and other partners over the course of yesterday afternoon to update them on the investigation and keep them informed. This will continue into today and the days ahead. We have been carrying out additional patrols in Golders Green over recent months and these will now increase in light of this incident.”

Following the incident, Hamodia spoke to Yosef Chaim Reitman, an 18-year-old employee who helped chase away the alleged attacker.  He and his father, Evyatar, were in the shop when the drama unfolded.

Yosef Chaim says that when the staff, including himself, told Abdullah that they didn’t want to discuss politics, and asked him to leave, the man became agitated, saying that they “weren’t real Jews.” Yosef Chaim said that Abdullah then took out the large blue knife which he started waving in the air.

“Hashem gave me lots of koach and I grabbed a shopping trolley [cart] and started pushing him away with it,” Yosef Chaim said, adding that he was very concerned for the safety of the customers. He shared that in primary school, he had learned the Israeli martial art krav maga, and had subsequent training in higher grades. He said that he is very strong in his emunah, and the martial arts skills “came back to him.” 

Yosef Chaim said that he was very shaken after the incident and had stayed at home Tuesday to recover.

Evyatar Reitman said “Baruch Hashem, I’m very proud of my son!”