Social media influencers have targeted Orthodox Jews with water pistols in a series of cruel ‘pranks’.
Two men recorded themselves driving around Salford and spraying adults and children wearing orthodox clothing with water guns.
They can be heard cruelly laughing as they soak the innocent passersby, who are simply going about their daily business, with an unidentified liquid.
In another clip, one of the so-called ‘pranksters’ held his phone near a Jewish man before playing an Apple Pay sound effect and saying: ‘You are very rich, I just got £60 from you.’
The men have been branded ‘playground bullies’ by campaigners against anti-semitism, who are demanding action and claim one of the men has targeted Jews before.
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Anti-semitism said: ‘These men – who appear to be driving around and targeting Jews with a water gun – are behaving like playground bullies.
‘Harassing Jewish people is not a prank but anti-semitic abuse, and doing so from the comfort of your car is particularly cowardly.
‘We are also aware that this is not the first time that one of these men has targeted Jews for videos on social media.
‘Our legal team is examining the footage and assessing options. Those responsible must be identified and held to account.’
Polish kickboxer Kamil Galanty was identified to be in the video by the Combat Anti-semitism movement alongside a man known as Mati.
The video was eventually removed from Instagram and Tiktok and the account has since uploaded another video, where they are not targeting orthodox views with the water pistol.
Before they were deleted, the clips reached nearly a million likes on Instagram and included anti-semitic comments including rat, pig and nose emojis.
The posts were later edited to include a disclaimer, The Telegraph reported, which read: ‘This video was made purely for humorous purposes.
‘It is just a joke and not hate speech in any way. Please do not take it the wrong way.’
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: ‘We are aware of footage circulating online appearing to show occupants of a vehicle spraying water at members of the Jewish community.
‘A crime has been recorded, with multiple lines of enquiry being actively investigated.
‘We are working closely with partners to provide reassurance to the communities impacted, and we encourage anyone who has been targeted to contact us on 999, 101, or by reporting on our website.’
The video was shared to the TikTok account konsp1ra who has also posted videos at a boxing club and asking people if they want to fight the police.
In 2024, religious hate crime rose by 25 per cent. With crimes targeted at Jewish people more than doubling from the previous year.
In London, the number of anti-semitic hate crimes reported to Met Police corresponded to nearly one per every 1,000 Jews of the 270,000 that live in London, making it eight times higher than the rate per 1,000 Muslims living in London.
Figures from the Community Security Trust’s (CST) Anti-semitic Incidents Report from January to June this year state that 1,978 instances of anti-Jewish hate were recorded across the UK in the first six months of this year, up 105 per cent on the same period last year.
Just over half were linked to, or referenced, the Hamas atrocities of October 7 last year, Israel, the Palestinian territories or the subsequent war, the charity said.
The total included one incident of ‘extreme violence’ – an alleged arson attack on a residential property – during the period, the report said.
Cases of assault jumped 41 per cent period-on-period from 86 to 121.
Teachers also warned last month that anti-semitism is now rife in schools across the UK.
A survey undertaken by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) revealed that more than half (51 per cent) of Jewish teachers have experienced some form of anti-semitism since May 2023.
Of the more than 300,000 members surveyed, 44 per cent also reported witnessing swastika graffiti at their schools, while 39 per cent have been subjected to Nazi-related comments.
One Jewish teacher even reported having students shout ‘free Palestine’ at them ‘on multiple occasions’, while, in another instance, someone shouted ‘f*** the Jews’.
Meanwhile, members of teaching staff recalled instances where they had been told ‘it’s not racist to say Jews are rich – it’s just a fact’, while others said they had been assumed to be Israeli, rather than British.
A number of celebrities have also been condemned for anti-semitic posts on social media.
Gary Lineker was forced to apologise after sharing a pro-Palestine video featuring an anti-Jewish rat slur, insisting he would ‘never knowingly share anything anti-Semitic’.
The BBC Match Of The Day presenter and ex-England captain reposted to his 1.2million Instagram followers a clip featuring an emoji of a rat – prompting condemnation from Jewish groups and calls for him to be axed by the broadcaster.
He claimed ignorance of a notorious anti-Semitic slur about rats when he shared a pro-Palestine video including the smear.
Labour MP Diane Abbott also sparked a new racism row when she doubled down on claims about discrimination faced by Jews that got her suspended by Labour.
The veteran backbencher used a BBC interview to say she had no regrets about her 2023 claim that anti-Semitism and anti-Traveller discrimination was not as bad as prejudice based on skin colour.
And she reiterated the opinions aired in a letter to the Observer two years ago that led to her losing the whip and making a public apology.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme, she said: ‘Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know (what they are).
‘I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.
‘I don’t know why people would say that.’