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Pro-Palestinian activists have launched a coordinated door-to-door campaign across several cities in the United Kingdom in recent weeks, targeting neighborhoods with sizable Jewish populations and urging residents to boycott Israeli goods.
The effort, linked to the Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) movement, has unfolded in Hackney, Bristol, Sheffield, and Brighton. In each location, activists knocked on residential doors and delivered their message directly to private homes — including in areas widely known for their Jewish communities.
Hackney in northeast London is home to one of the largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish populations outside Israel and New York. Against that backdrop, an organized door-knocking campaign inside residential Jewish neighborhoods has heightened fears that activists are deliberately focusing on visibly Jewish areas.
Instead of general protest in a public square, residents face political confrontation at their doorsteps.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which safeguards Britain’s Jewish community and monitors antisemitism, condemned the tactic in unequivocal terms. “Turning up uninvited at homes in an area with a large Jewish community to push a political agenda of this nature is intimidating and crosses a serious line,” CST stated.
Moreover, CST warned that coordinated activity of this kind risks creating fear among residents. In addition, the organization emphasized that political advocacy must not intrude into private spaces in a way that singles out Jewish areas.
Meanwhile, tensions escalated in Sheffield following an alleged confrontation connected to the campaign. A woman who counter-protested alongside her partner said an activist associated with AFZ headbutted her.
Police confirmed they were reviewing the incident. However, officers have made no arrests. Consequently, the allegation has intensified scrutiny of the campaign’s methods and increased calls for law enforcement oversight.
Labour MP Peter Kyle referred the activity to local police. He urged authorities to examine whether any offenses, including hate crimes, occurred. “My immediate thought was for the appalling scenario of a vulnerable Jewish resident being door-knocked by a gang of people wanting to harangue them,” Kyle told Sky News.
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