Woman filmed 'cutting ribbons of support for Israeli hostages' questioned by police in hate crime probe
A woman who was filmed cutting yellow ribbons for Jewish hostages held captive in Gaza has been questioned by police.
Listen to this article
Nadia Yahlom was filmed cutting yellow ribbons with scissors in a street in Muswell Hill, north London, on the eve of the October 7 anniversary.
She was confronted and filmed by passers-by and said: “You’re not going to do this. I’m not committing a crime."
"If I am, call the police and you let them know that you have an issue with this."
Police have confirmed a 36-year-old woman was interviewed in connection with the incident, which they are treating as racially-aggravated criminal damage.
The Met Police said: “A woman has been interviewed under caution following an incident in Muswell Hill. “At approximately 16:25hrs on Monday, 6 October, officers were made aware of a video circulating online which appears to show a woman removing ribbons from fence poles in Muswell Hill.
“A 36-year-old woman attended a police station on Tuesday, 7 October, for a voluntary interview in connection with the incident, which is being treated as racially-aggravated criminal damage and a racially-aggravated Section 5 public order offence.
“Officers are continuing to carry out reassurance patrols in the Muswell Hill area.”
Onlookers called her actions “disgusting,” to which she replied: “I think condoning genocide is disgusting. That's what this is."
The yellow ribbon has become synonymous with the plight of those taken captive and is the symbol of the 'Bring Them Home' campaign.
Miranda Levy, an author and freelance journalist, recorded the woman as she systematically dismantled the tributes on Fortis Green Road, north London.
Ms Levy gathered at the memorial today to replace the ribbons and said: "As a Jewish person I felt that pull to do something. It feels personal.
She told the Daily Mail: "These ribbons are to remember people captured. Put up your own stuff but don’t take ours down."
Read more: 'Think again': Starmer tells students planning 'un-British' October 7 anniversary protests
"These ribbons are to remember all the people who were kidnapped and those who are still there. Frankly what she was doing was anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and anti-humanity."
She earlier told the Telegraph: "I was walking to get a coffee, it was a lovely sunny day, and there was a woman very mechanically snipping away with a pair of scissors.
"I was angry, it is so insensitive."
According to the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM), Ms Yahlom is a "Palestinian-Jewish and British artist and visual anthropologist, looking at hauntedness, supernatural life and the bio/necropolitical between Palestine and the UKs."
"She has worked with Battersea Arts Centre, Rich Mix, ICA, Open City Docs, Tate Britain, Southbank Centre and many others.
"Nadia is the co-founder of Sarha Collective, an artists collective for experimental art forms from Palestine and the broader SWANA region."
