A video (here, here, and here) is circulating on social media amid the ongoing Israel-Iran tensions, showing a man punching two individuals on the roadside. It is being shared with the claim that Palestinians are targeting and attacking Jews following Iran’s strike on Israel. Some posts further allege that while Iran is launching attacks, Palestinians are hunting down Jews, and such incidents should concern so-called ‘blind devotees’. In this article, let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: The video shows Palestinians attacking Jews while Iran is simultaneously striking Israel.
Fact: The video dates back to 26 January 2022 and shows an anti-Semitic attack in North London, unrelated to the June 2025 Israel-Iran conflict. According to reports, an 18-year-old named Malachi Thorpe attacked two Orthodox Jewish shop owners, Israel Grossman and Erwin Ginsberg, outside their shop in Stamford Hill, on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day. CCTV footage shows him punching them and shouting anti-Semitic slurs. He was arrested and charged with religiously aggravated assault. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to a news report by The Sun (archived), published on its YouTube channel on 29 January 2022. The video, titled “Jewish men brutally attacked on eve of Holocaust Memorial Day,” features the same visuals, confirming that the footage is old and has no connection to the June 2025 Israel-Iran conflict.
According to the video’s description, detectives had arrested a teenager after two Jewish men were brutally attacked while locking up their shop in North London, on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day. The shocking footage shows the men closing the store when a stranger approaches and punches one of them to the ground. Both victims lost their kippahs during the assault. One man suffered a fractured hand and bruises, while the other sustained heavy bruising and an eye injury.
According to reports (here, here, and here), the attacker was identified as an 18-year-old Malachi Thorpe. He was accused of targeting two Orthodox Jewish shop owners, Israel Grossman and Erwin Ginsberg, in a brutal assault on 26 January 2022 in Stamford Hill, North London. Thorpe reportedly struck them with a bottle, stamped on one of their kippahs, and shouted anti-Semitic slurs during the unprovoked attack.
Some reports also mentioned that his lawyer cited concerns about his mental health. The incident, captured on CCTV, was widely condemned as a hate crime. Thorpe was arrested and charged with religiously aggravated grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon. He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody.
To sum up, a January 2022 video of an anti-Semitic attack in London is falsely shared, linking it to the 2025 Israel-Iran conflict.
