Councillors from across parties have come together to support an urgent motion condemning racism at Greenwich, in the wake of a spate of anti-Semitic graffiti attacks around the borough.

Members unanimously voted for the motion to make “a clear statement of support for our Jewish residents at a time of rising anti-Semitism”.

The council also reconfirmed its “collective pledge to challenge racism in all its forms”.

The urgent motion, tabled at Greenwich’s full council meeting on January 29, came after a weekend where anti-Semitic graffiti was spray-painted across businesses and buildings in Blackheath and Charlton.

Council leader Danny Thorpe called the acts of vandalism “disgusting and appalling” in their aftermath, with council acting swiftly to remove them.

Last Wednesday’s meeting saw Catford and Bromley Synagogue chair Gerald Rose invited to address councillors, as well as lighting a commemorative candle with leader Dan Thorpe and Conservative counterpart Matt Hartley. 

It came just two days after the council held Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations at its Woolwich headquarters.

Speaking to members of the council, Mr Rose said he had the privilege of addressing the council when they voted to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism last year.

“On behalf of the Jewish community I thank the whole council for unanimously passing the motion,” he said.

He added that “at that time members stood together to speak against anti-Semitism” and thanked councillors for doing so again.   

“When something horrible happens in your place, you feel it,” Labour’s Dan Thorpe said after. 

“There is no place for anti-Semitism, no place for hatred racism of any kind in the borough of Greenwich,” Cllr Hartley added. 

“The perpetrator must and will be bought to justice …They should not only feel our condemnation, but our pity, because they deserve both in equal measure.”  

“We will not tolerate any racism…We will do things in our borough to make sure incidents like this never, ever happen.”