Online users have commended Matt Lucas for his composure during an altercation with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator on the London Tube.
The British comedian, 51, was followed and filmed by Thomas Abdullah Bourne, a convert to Islam who uses the social media handle ‘White British Muslim’.
The clip starts by showing Mr Lucas, sporting a black jacket, red jumper and white cap, riding an escalator in a Tube station.
As he discovers he is being filmed, the Little Britain star tries to block his face with his right hand.
Mr Bourne then yells, ‘Free Palestine. Free Palestine, Matt Lucas’ to the celebrity comic.
After getting off the escalator at the top, Mr Lucas acknowledges his pursuer, asking: ‘Hi, how are you?’
Mr Bourne responds, ‘You don’t like what I’m wearing, do you?’ – a reference to the ‘keffiyeh’, the traditional, black-and-white chequered cotton scarf that has become a sign of Palestinian solidarity for numerous Western activists.
Rather than engage in debate, Lucas merely replies: ‘No, I have no comment about it either way.’
The activist then asks him: ‘You’ve got a problem with Palestinians, Matt?’
Mr Lucas replies just ‘No’ before trying to force the camera out of his face.
Mr Bourne responds, ‘Don’t do that, don’t grab my stuff’ before Mr Lucas walks away, with the protester mumbling ‘Zionist’ to the camera.
The activist’s exact motivation for targeting Mr Lucas is unclear, although many internet users have suggested that it has to do with his Jewish ancestry.
Mr Lucas was a signatory to the ‘No Hostage Left Behind’ open letter in October 2023, marking the release of two American and two Israeli hostages, but has not been a significant verbal presence on the conflict.
The missive also thanked then US President Joe Biden for his ‘unshakable moral conviction, leadership, and support for the Jewish people’ in Israel’s fight against Hamas.
Despite his parents’ Orthodox Jewish heritage, Mr Lucas grew up in a Reform Jewish home.
However, he has described himself as an ‘atheist’ and ‘fairly secular Jew’ in the past.
Several members of the comedian’s mother’s family escaped Nazi Germany just before the Second World War.
Mr Lucas was shocked to discover that one of his relatives was mentioned in Anne Frank’s diary when he participated in the BBC’s genealogy program Who Do You Think You Are?
To find out more about his German-born Jewish ancestry, the comedian, who gained notoriety as George Dawes on the bizarre Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer film Shooting Stars, travelled to Amsterdam.
Since they essentially need to be that radical to establish their belonging to their new group, white Islamic converts appear to be worse, but they love a convert. The shameful thing is that they’re treated as cannon fodder.
These white converts are absolutely fanatical, and quite intimidating, and they appear to be growing in numbers.
They want a vehicle to justify the venom they possess, and the convenient vehicle is the jihadist psyche.
This was indeed harassment, and an arrest should have been made. If the boot had been on the other foot, then someone would have already been in the slammer, but Matt Lucas presumably didn’t want to make a scene; he’s too nice for that.
Just imagine for one second that someone did this to a Palestinian with a headscarf – can you imagine the response, the rioting, the ongoing news articles? The Labour MPs would be falling over each other. These fools have now been encouraged, just as we all expected they would be.
Sadly, it only becomes harassment if the person feels harassed and makes a complaint. Matt Lucas didn’t even look slightly phased, and was certainly not reducing himself to the other person’s ideals. He just went on his way. Good on Matt – he ignored the bell.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 