London's Metropolitan Police have launched a criminal investigation after a man was filmed shopping in a supermarket while wearing a shirt displaying an explicitly antisemitic and threatening message.
The incident occurred Friday afternoon at a Sainsbury's supermarket on Williamson Street in Haringey, north London, an area with a significant Jewish population. A Jewish shopper who was buying groceries for Shabbat with his children noticed the man, was alarmed by the visible message, photographed him, and immediately contacted police and the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA).
In the image circulated by the organization, the suspect is seen from behind standing at a self-checkout counter. His black shirt features an image of the Al-Aqsa Mosque with text in English letters below reading: "KHAYBAR KHAYBAR YAA YAHUD."
This represents the opening of a notorious Islamist battle chant: "Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud, Jaysh Muhammad sa-ya'ud" (Khaybar Khaybar O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return). The phrase references the Battle of Khaybar in 628 CE, when the Jewish community of the Arabian Peninsula was massacred and expelled by Muhammad's army. Today, this chant is used at extremist demonstrations worldwide as a direct, explicit, and violent threat calling for the elimination of Jews.
Initially, responding officers who interviewed the complainant were unaware of the historical significance and depth of threat contained in these words, despite being provided with a verbal translation. However, after intervention by professionals and experts in antisemitism and hate speech crimes, the incident was officially reclassified. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the case has been recorded as an investigation into suspected public order offenses with aggravating circumstances of racial motivation.
Police stated they remain in regular contact with the citizen who reported the incident and that efforts to identify and locate the suspect are ongoing, though no arrests have been made thus far. The CAA sharply criticized the public conduct, saying such displays are becoming increasingly brazen and open, to the point where symbols of hatred are now exhibited openly in everyday civilian spaces. The organization has called on the public to come forward with any information that could lead to identifying the individual, so that the legal system can hold him accountable.
