A highly publicized incident of alleged antisemitic harassment and threats has rocked the community in Scotland after a prominent journalist detailed how her 13-year-old son was targeted at school on the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Scottish journalist and political commentator Leah Benoz took to Instagram on Tuesday to share the "shocking case of attack," stating her son had received explicit death threats over his Jewish identity. The incident comes days after two Jewish men were murdered in Manchester, highlighting the severe spike in anti-Jewish incidents across the UK.
"They Messed with the Wrong Mother"
Benoz recounted the harrowing sequence of events in a video that quickly garnered over 42,000 views and thousands of angry comments, including support from Emmy-winning actress Tara Strong.
The ordeal began the day before, when another student "demanded that he give a position on the Israel-Palestine conflict." When the frightened 13-year-old explained his desire for the war to end but his "deep connection to Israel because he's Jewish," the harassment escalated dramatically on October 7.
"My child called me from his high school in Edinburgh to tell me that another child had threatened to stab him in the classroom," Benoz stated.
She detailed how the aggressor, who she believes has been "radicalised at home," allegedly told her son that "all Israelis are terrorists" and that her child was a "terrorist" himself.
