Rob Rinder has revealed that he was subjected to antisemitic abuse just days after the Golders Green terror attack in West London, where two Jewish men were stabbed by 45-year-old Essa Suleiman. Suleiman appeared in court on Friday, charged with the attempted murder of Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76. Earlier that same day, he had also attempted to kill a friend of 20 years at an address in Southwark.
Rinder's Encounter with Antisemitism
The barrister and television personality, aged 47, took to social media to describe the incident. According to Rinder, who is Jewish, a youth cycled up to him on Carnaby Street and shouted 'Heil Hitler!' Writing on X, he said: 'On Carnaby Street last night, a kid on a bike cycled up, saw it was me, looked friendly at first then offered up his favourite "lyric": "Heil Hitler." I wasn't sure whether to share this. I hadn't experienced that personally before. The most striking thing: I wasn't shocked. No threat. No anger. Not a victim. Just: what has he been taught? Hatred is learned.' He added: 'We are not defined by it. We answer it by what we teach.'
Condemning the Normalisation of Antisemitism
Earlier in the week, Rinder had spoken out against 'months of poison' and the normalisation of antisemitism. He stated: 'Yesterday I was at Heaton Park Synagogue, remembering Jews murdered by a terrorist. Today, Jews are stabbed on a London street. More terrorism. This does not come out of nowhere. It follows months of poison that downplays antisemitism, treats Jewish fear as suspect and turns public space into a place where that hostility feels normal.' He urged: 'We're told "antisemitism has no place in our society." Then act like it.'
Rinder's Advocacy and Recognition
Rinder has long been an outspoken member of the Jewish community, using his platform to combat antisemitism. Last year, he criticised the decision to block Israeli fans from attending an Aston Villa match in Birmingham after a terror attack on a Manchester synagogue. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described that decision as 'the wrong one.' Sharing a clip from his Good Morning Britain segment, Rinder wrote: 'After the Manchester attacks, Jewish communities were told: "Don't let fear win." Today, Israeli fans are being banned from Aston Villa "for their own safety." What message does that send to every Jewish person in Britain?'
In 2022, Rinder and his mother, Angela Cohen, were awarded MBEs for their services to Holocaust education. Cohen appeared with her son in the 2019 BBC series My Family, The Holocaust And Me, which explored the stories of Jewish families. Rinder called their mission 'to teach the world what happens when we forget history.' He also explored his family's roots on Who Do You Think You Are?, discovering his grandfather, Morris Malenicky, was a survivor of two concentration camps. Collecting the MBE, Cohen said: 'I think that everything that's happening in Ukraine is a lesson that we have to welcome everybody into this country like it happened for my father.' She added that her father would be 'so proud' to see his daughter and grandson receive royal honours together.
