Golders Green attacks: A Muslim was also stabbed - not that you'd know

Golders Green attacks: A Muslim was also stabbed - not that you'd know  Submitted by Barry Malone on Mon, 05/04/2026 - 15:26 As it erased Ishmail Hussein from history, the British media again displayed its cowardice, bias and irresponsibility Police officers stand on duty at a rally organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism in response to the Golders Green stabbings, in London on 30 April 2026 (Carlos Jasso/AFP) Off A Muslim man, Ishmail Hussein, was stabbed in London last Wednesday. His alleged assailant has now been apprehended and charged with attempted murder.  But you wouldn’t necessarily know that if you read the headlines, watched the breaking news reports, or listened to the opinions of the commentariat and the political class.  That’s because the accused, Essa Suleiman, was the same man charged with stabbing two Jewish men later that day in the city’s Golders Green area, home to a large Jewish population. It’s not that the British media didn’t report the attack on Hussein at all. They did, a little - but it was buried deep in articles or mentioned as a quick addendum to the story of what happened in Golders Green.  As someone who has spent my entire career in the news business, I can hear the machinery of their minds as they made those calls: it’s overcomplicated. It would ruin the headlines. It would kill the story. And there’s a fear that leads to self-censorship - a fear of Israel supporters in the media and politics. It’s a fear of the pro-Israel lobby and its many powerful groups in Britain; a fear of being on the “wrong” side, of being called an antisemite. This coverage is also the product of a worldview of an elite media class who, whether they admit it or not, believe that what happened in Golders Green is more important than what happened earlier in the day in Southwark. They know that the stabbing of Hussein complicates the story, as does the fact that in 2008, Suleiman stabbed two police officers and a police dog.  Was he radicalised by pro-Palestine “hate marches” then? Muslim erased Since the attack on Wednesday and into this week - because with the continuing bad-faith weaponising of the incident, this story isn’t going away any time soon - I noticed a particularly pernicious sentence construction. The word “also” is the key: “Suleiman also”, “he also faces charges of”, “he is also alleged to”. That’s Hussein they’re talking about. He’s an “also”.  On Friday, as Suleiman was charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing a bladed article in a public place, a roll call of the most prestigious media organisations erased Hussein from history.  It was the fault of those who believe some lives are worth more than others There was this headline from Reuters: “UK man appears in court over stabbing of two Jewish men in London”. AP ran the following: “A 45-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder in the stabbings of two Jewish men in London”. The BBC headline read: “Man charged with attempted murder after two Jewish men stabbed in Golders Green, London”. And in Sky News: “Essa Suleiman, 45, has been remanded in custody having been charged with two counts of attempted murder over the Golders Green stabbings”. They’re all saying the same thing: just two men, just two attempted murders. Selective humanisation London’s Metropolitan Police also got in on the act, posting on X (formerly Twitter) that a man “will appear in court today charged following a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation into two men stabbed in Golders Green”.  Unlike the post, the statement it linked to did mention the attack on Hussein. It was in the third paragraph in a sentence beginning, “Suleiman was also charged”.  Those treated as “alsos” don’t get humanised by western media in the same way that the people whose names make the headlines do. We’ve seen that in Gaza during two and a half years of Israeli genocide. We saw it in Iran after the US aimed its destructive instincts at a school and killed more than 160 people, mostly children. On Thursday, the BBC website ran a story telling its audience who the two stabbing victims in Golders Green were. We learned that 76-year-old Moshe Shine was “originally from the Jewish community in Prestwich, Greater Manchester”.  Shine was described as “a very nice, quiet, honest person” who is “scholarly” and “studies a lot”.  The mother of the other Golders Green victim, 34-year-old Shloime Rand, told the BBC: “As a mother, I’m pretty horrified that these things could happen in the streets of London, in an innocent community where we try our best not to hurt anyone.” Two friends of Rand said he was a “terrific guy” and “a sincere, quiet gentleman”. Weaponised attack Let me be very clear: Shine and Rand deserved that humanising coverage. It was right that we heard their stories and learned more about them.  It was right that the BBC went behind the screaming headlines to tell the story of a terrified mother hoping her son could make it out of hospital in time for Shabbat. It was right that we learned of the quiet and honest Shine, and of the sincere and terrific Rand. That type of coverage shows us the horrible reality of lives - innocent lives - threatened by such attacks. It’s supposed to be a key tenet of journalism.  Met Police chief accused of misinformation over Palestine marches synagogues claim Read More » But where was that coverage of Hussein? I’ve checked. It was non-existent.  The day after the attacks, I mentioned the attempted murder of Hussein to a friend - a typical news consumer, well-informed, always across the stories of the day. She looked at me quizzically.  “You didn’t know that, did you?” I said. The fact that she didn’t, and that many others didn’t either, was the fault of those in the media and in politics who, mere minutes after the stabbings in Golders Green, began to weaponise them against peaceful marchers - against Palestinians and against Muslims. It was the fault of those who believe some lives are worth more than others. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. Islamophobia Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0