A woman was interviewed under caution after she cut down yellow ribbons that symbolize the hostages taken by Hamas from Israel on October 7. The yellow ribbons are part of the Bring Them Home campaign, which aims to raise awareness about civilians abducted by Hamas and held captive in Gaza for two years.
However, a woman was seen cutting down a number of these ribbons, claiming they were ‘condoning genocide’. Onlookers confronted her as she was removing the ribbons in Muswell Hill, north London, near the Pocket Park in Fortis Green Road—close to Muswell Hill Synagogue.
During the confrontation, when asked for her name, the woman continued to cut down the ribbons and replied, “No, you are not going to do this, because I’m not committing a crime.” When a man off-camera responded with “yes you are,” the ribbon-cutter retorted, “If I am, then call the police and let them know that you have an issue with this.”
Scotland Yard confirmed on Wednesday that a woman had attended a voluntary interview. A Met spokesperson said, “At approximately 4:25pm on Monday, 6 October, officers were made aware of a video circulating online which appears to show a woman removing ribbons from fence poles in Muswell Hill. A 36-year-old woman attended a police station on Tuesday, 7 October, for a voluntary interview in connection with the incident, which is being treated as racially-aggravated criminal damage and a racially-aggravated Section 5 public order offence. Officers are continuing to carry out reassurance patrols in the Muswell Hill area.”
Another woman, who was filming the exchange, expressed disbelief, asking, “What, ribbons for people who have been imprisoned, abducted?”
Since the incident on Monday, the local community has come together to tie more yellow ribbons to the fence in solidarity.
The incident occurred just one day before the second anniversary of October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel. During the attack, 1,195 people were killed, 3,400 were injured, and Hamas took a total of 251 hostages. As of this month, 48 hostages remain in Gaza—only about 20 are believed to still be alive.
Throughout the resulting two-year conflict, the UN estimates more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed and almost 170,000 injured—though these figures are sourced from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health and do not distinguish between civilians and fighters. There have been 466 reported Israel Defence Force (IDF) fatalities, with 2,939 soldiers injured since the ground operation began.
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