'Prejudice comes through a lack of education' Matt Lucas condemns antisemitism after Tube incident
Matt Lucas has condemned antisemitism after he was harassed on the London Underground, and he has called for further education to help avoid "prejudice" in Britain.
Matt Lucas has condemned antisemitism after he was harassed on the London Underground.
The Little Britain star has spoken out about being targeted by a pro-Palestinian activist on the Tube earlier this year.
Matt - who is Jewish - has called for further education to help avoid "prejudice" in Britain.
Speaking at charity 45 Aid Society's 81st anniversary event in London this week, he said: "I still believe innately in the goodness of people in Britain.
"Prejudice comes through a lack of education, and we have a duty to educate people about what happened."
Matt's comments came after he was harassed on the Tube in February by Thomas Abdullah Bourne, who filmed him on an escalator and shouted: "Free Palestine. Free Palestine, Matt Lucas."
Matt then said: "Hi, how are you?"
Thomas - who was wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern, square-shaped cotton scarf - replied: "You don’t like what I’m wearing, do you?"
The Alice in Wonderland star said: "I have no comment about it either way."
When asked twice if he has "a problem with Palestinians", Matt replied: "No."
In 2022, Matt was filming BBC One genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? when he was shocked to discover one of his ancestors lodged with Anne Frank's family and was mentioned in her world-famous diary.
Earlier this month, TV star Rob Rinder - who is also Jewish - accused a "kid on a bike" of shouting "heil Hitler" at him while he was in London's Carnaby Street.
He wrote on Instagram: "On Carnaby Street last night, a kid on a bike cycled up, saw it was me, looked friendly at first then offered up his favourite 'lyric': 'Heil Hitler'.
"I wasn’t sure whether to share this. I hadn’t experienced that personally before.
"The most striking thing: I wasn’t shocked. No threat. No anger. Not a victim. Just: what has he been taught?
"Hatred is learned. We are not defined by it. We answer it by what we teach."
It came just days after two Jewish men were stabbed in London's Golders Green.
Following the attack, the UK's terror threat was raised from "substantial" to "severe".
