8-Year-Old London Hasidic Girl Burned by Fireworks Shot at Jewish Children
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
— A haredi Orthodox girl, 8, suffered burns to her leg after a group of teenagers in London shot fireworks at her and other Jewish children.
Fire from the explosive also damaged the clothes of the girl, a visitor from Canada. The girl’s parents filed a complaint with the police in east London.
Surveillance video footage showed the loitering teens aiming the fireworks at the young Jews.
London Metropolitan Police told the London-based Jewish Chronicle that it was not treating the incident as a hate crime and no arrests had been made. The children were identifiably Jewish.
“It is an offense to throw or let off a firework in a street or public place, and this incident demonstrates the dangers of doing so,” a policeman said in a statement.
A video of the incident was released by the London Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer security organization.
A year ago, the 8-year-old son of a Hasidic rabbi died after he was hit by a car as he fled fireworks being aimed in his direction.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
