Posters condemning homosexuality have been found found glued to notice boards around Amhurst Park in Stamford Hill this week.
They were first reported by local residents and members of the community group East Bank West Bank Nature Reserve in February last year and have now been seen again.
The posters are titled “Making the World Into a Beautiful Gem.” They list the seven Noahide Laws of Judaism, which lay down the rules by which non-Jews can be seen as righteous according to the Torah.
The fourth Noahide law states: “Respect the family: do not commit immoral sexual acts,” and continues: “Nations which have condoned immorality – adultery, homosexuality, sodomy, incest – have never lasted long. Sexual immorality is the sign of an inner decay which spawns a ruthless society, bringing confusion into G-d’s life plan.”
Stamford Hill, which has a Haredi Jewish community of over 20,000 – the third largest in the world – is on the northern boundary of Hackney.
Official figures for the borough show a 10 per cent reduction in overall hate crime, including racially and religiously motivated incidents, over the past decade, but a rise in homophobic crime.
Residents are keen to see the homophobic posters dealt with by police.
“The posters aren’t attributed to anyone specifically, but they are clearly coming from someone who follows a strict form of Judaism, and it’s important that we don’t allow some of the condemnatory values expressed to find a platform in Stamford Hill just because we have a very strong Orthodox presence here,” says Lorraine Tillett, a member of East Bank West Bank Nature Reserve.
“We live in relative harmony here and it would be considered utterly unacceptable to display anti-Semitic writings; it should be regarded as equally serious when the claims are homophobic.”
Tillett, 62, said she had spoken to police officers after finding the first poster last year.
By Sophie Robinson-Tillett
The person reporting these posters to the police clearly has no regard for freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
I’m outraged how you can blame the Jews especially Hareidi Jews of hanging these posters….. All Jews, especially the Hareidi Community from Stamford Hill believe in the saying “live and let live”, and they would never try to write a poster of this kind to any other people who believe in any other faith (or no faith at all), we believe in living our way according to the Torah, and let other non-Jews do what they like (as long as they are not breaking any UK Laws obviously).
And for Lorraine Tillett, (a member of East Bank West Bank Nature Reserve) to say that “they are clearly coming from someone who follows a strict form of Judaism, and it’s important that we don’t allow some of the condemnatory values expressed to find a platform in Stamford Hill just because we have a very strong Orthodox presence here,” is total and utter rubbish…. If I would be pointing my finger on anyone, it would be of someone trying to inflict hatred towards the Hareidi Jews of Stamford Hill by hanging up this poster.
I’m disgusted and shocked at this article, and I should be pursuing all parties involved in these comments, into legal action…. It is totally unacceptable and a disgrace to blame the Hareidi Jews for these posters, especially after they are victims of Hate Crime every other day.
How can Ms Tillet assume “..they are clearly coming from someone who follows a strict form of Judaism..”. Should we assume youths who draw swastikas on the tube are nazis?
Either a Jew hater, or a mentally challenged person. This is definitely not main stream. Jews do not evangelise, its just not part of their religion.
I’m a little confused by the some of the comments on here. I was forwarded the link to this article by a friend who lives in the area, and neither of us can understand the outrage expressed. Isn’t this article about homophobia, and the rise of homophobic crime in the area? Am I the only one who cares that these posters are grouping homophobia with incest and adultery as an ‘immoral act’, and not incensed because Sophia merely mentioned the size of the Haredi Jewish community in the same article?
@Sabastian I think the part of the article that is causing the outrage are the words “but they are clearly coming from someone who follows a strict form of Judaism” How can she so clearly know who put the posters up? Just because the Noahide Laws have a Jewish origination, this does not mean that the person who posted the signs is Jewish. He might want it to look as though it was a Jewish poster, but he is homophobic in his own rights, or he wants to stir up anti Semitism, etc. the possibilities go on.