Jewish man told to leave Paul Currie gig says London is scary

Image source, Alamy

Image caption,

The incident took place at a gig by comedian Paul Currie

By James Gregory & Ita Dungan

BBC News in London and Belfast

A Jewish man who was told to “get out” of a comedy gig in London has said the city has been a “scary” place since Hamas’s 7 October attacks.

Liahav Eitan told BBC News it was “not easy” for Israelis or Jews living there and it had become “pretty unwelcoming”.

His comments follow an incident at comedian Paul Currie’s show at the Soho Theatre on Saturday night which made Jewish audience members feel “unsafe”.

Mr Currie has been banned from performing at the theatre.

The comedian has has yet to respond to requests for comment from the BBC.

In a statement, the theatre said Jewish attendees were “subjected to verbal abuse” and the comedian had “aggressively demanded” they leave the show.

The incident occurred about five minutes before the end of Mr Currie’s performance – his final one of a three-night run in Soho – after the comedian had unveiled both a Ukrainian and Palestinian flag.

Mr Eitan told the BBC he found the comparison “pretty upsetting”, adding that he did not “sign up for this political protest” and was unable to enjoy the rest of the show but remained silently in his seat.

He claimed that he and his friend were sworn at by Mr Currie after the comedian had asked whether the pair had enjoyed the performance, as they did not stand to applaud.

He said he had told Mr Currie he had enjoyed his show until he had displayed the Palestinian flag.

“He kind of turned on us,” Mr Eitan said. “He started raising his voice, calling us names and using swear words.

“Unfortunately to get to the exit we had to actually go on the stage – we had to pass right in front of him as he was waving again his Palestine flag at us, calling us names and trying to get the entire crowd to chant with him ‘ceasefire now’, with people shouting ‘shame’ and booing us.”

Mr Eitan, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday on Saturday, said the situation felt like it could get “pretty dangerous, pretty quickly” but he felt even more vulnerable afterwards in the street outside the theatre.

“The rest of the crowd was led out through a different door so actually we met all of these people who obviously recognised me for being on the stage,” he said.

“[We] saw some pretty unfriendly stares there.”

Image caption,

Liahav Eitan said the night out at the Soho Theatre was a “spontaneous” decision before late dinner reservations

Mr Eitan added that since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas he has changed his habits in London – including avoiding walking in the city in the daytime on Saturdays due to pro-Palestinian protests.

“The past four months since the 7 October living in London as a Jewish Israeli, that’s not been an easy thing to do,” he said. “The city is pretty unwelcoming at the moment.”

He said in future, he would do some research about the artist before going to see another comedy show.

‘Overwhelming’

But he said support from the general public since the event had been “pretty overwhelming and completely in contrast to what we felt at the theatre that night”.

“I think that shows a big contrast between what’s happening in London and what might be happening in the rest of the country,” he added.

The BBC has spoken to another Jewish man who was at the performance on Saturday but did not wish to be named. He said he left the theatre after feeling unsafe.

Another audience member who attended Saturday’s show, who also did not wish to be named, told the BBC the incident was “shocking”.

But he said his impression was Mr Currie was making a “political point” about the conflict in Gaza including the “importance of ceasefires”.

He said that to his recollection, Mr Currie did not use the words “Jewish”, “Judaism” or “Zionism”.

The Metropolitan Police said on Monday it was aware of the incident and enquiries were ongoing.

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