Jim Henderson, a 78-year old army veteran selling poppies, was “punched,” “kicked,” and chased out of an Edinburgh train station by pro-Hamas protestors over the weekend.
“I’ve never known anything like it,” Henderson said afterwards.
The assault comes as UK officials prepare for 70,000 anti-Israel protestors to descend on London this Remembrance Day weekend. On October 7 Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and there has been a war raging in the Middle East ever since. The violence has spread to Western countries, including a number of anti-Israel attacks in the UK.
Henderson, who served in the Royal Corps of Signals, 32 Signal Regiment in Northern Ireland, was fundraising at his poppy stand while protestors staged a sit-in at Waverley station holding signs that read “Freedom for Palestine.”
They were “chanting” and “saying it’s all about the British Government, British people, Jews,” Henderson told the Daily Mail in an article published Monday. “I was getting shoved backwards, in danger of falling, and one of them stood on my foot and split my toe.”
“So I thought I had got to get the money out of here. So I went down, and as I bent down someone punched me in the back. And then I got another punch in my side.”
“You don’t do that and kick someone from behind and that was when I couldn’t get out of the way. That’s when I bent down and...bang.”
British Transport Police (BTP) assistant chief Constable Sean O’Callaghan confirmed detectives “are investigating [the] reported assault and are “working with ScotRail regarding the investigation.”
Poppyscotland, an organization that supports veterans and their families, issued a statement condemning the attack.
“While we respect the rights of people to protest within the law, the safety and welfare of our volunteers is of paramount importance,” a spokesman said. “One of our volunteers was infringed upon when trying to clear his stall to depart at the usual time.”
“Our volunteer is safe and well, and we thank those that took the time to escort him out of the station.”