Activists who were accused of engaging in a ‘Jew hunt’ as they went door-to-door asking people to boycott Israeli products said they did not intimidate people and only handed out leaflets. 

Member of the Sheffield Apartheid-Free Zone (AFZ) Jon Cowley said: ‘The only people we’re interested in are those who are generally supportive of Palestine but not yet involved and don’t know what they can do to help.

‘If someone isn’t interested in the boycott, we say “sorry to bother you” and move on.’ 

The group said they would never ask someone about their religion and insisted that it was not their aim to persuade people who said they were a Zionist.

Members of AFZ, including Mr Cowley, were intercepted by campaigner Jean Hatchet and her partner last Sunday – who labelled the canvassers ‘Jew hunters’. 

The altercation turned ugly as Ms Hatchet and her partner yelled ‘Jew Hunt’ at the trio of men. One of the men appeared to headbutt Ms Hatchet’s partner. 

Mr Cowley said that they were accused of ‘door knocking to identify Jews, having them on a list and [targeting] them’ by Ms Hatchet.  

He called those accusations a ‘conspiracist fantasy’.  

Pro-Palestine activists got into an altercation with people who accused them of ‘Jew hunting’ in Sheffield last weekend 

Police say they are investigating multiple reports of assault. They are also enquiring whether video footage of the incidents was ‘edited’. 

The Sheffield AFZ is one of a number of grassroots groups that have sprung up seeking to encourage people not to support Israeli businesses amid the country’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. 

But critics say that groups like these may actually encourage antisemitism – or leave Jewish people frightened if they are confronted on their own doorsteps.

Jonny Feldman, a member of Sheffield Jews Against Israeli Apartheid, a different group, told the Sheffield Tribune that he understood Jewish people may feel uncomfortable if campaigners came to their door. 

He said: ‘I accept that that’s what they may feel but they only need to tell us to go away and we will go away.’ 

Activists from AFZ said that they planned to knock on doors in Sheffield and ask residents to sign a pledge to boycott Israeli-grown fruits and vegetables. 

They also had posters to give out that people could display in their windows if they wished. 

A member of AFZ said: ‘We often find people are already boycotting and delighted that people are coming round and asking about it.

‘The online response doesn’t reflect the one we get on the street.’ 

Jean Hatchet’s partner (pictured) carried a sign that read ‘no tolerance for Jew hatred’

Mr Cowley added: ‘We hoped if we kept quiet and did nothing, it would die down. But clearly it won’t.’

Ms Hatchet – who is not Jewish – told the Daily Mail this week that she and her partner went to find the doorknockers after being alerted to their activities on social media. 

She later shared multiple videos of the confrontation online. Some were filmed on her phone, while others were captured on her partner’s body-worn camera, which appeared to be worn underneath a jacket.  

She said at the time: ‘We thought we’d go down there and see what they were doing. 

‘That was the only intention we had, to see if it was as bad as it looked and sounded.

‘We found these guys in the street and as you can see in the video it was a few questions about what they were looking to do.

‘They were handing out leaflets that they were targeting a specific set of people [Jews] even if they weren’t naming them.

‘One of the men stood on the path and he headbutted her. We began shouting what we thought they were doing, which was “Jew hunt”, trying to embarrass them into leaving, which worked.

Ms Hatchet says that she convinced the activists to retreat by loudly accusing them of a ‘Jew hunt’ in the streets

‘They packed up and headed off down the street. We were walking behind them when one of them grabbed the sign from my partner. She reached to grab it and she was assaulted. She has put that to the police.’ 

The AFZ activists say they are advocating for a boycott of Israeli products because Israel ‘thrives on international support’.

A leaflet it makes available online reads: ‘When we choose not to buy Israeli goods, it hits them where it hurts most – their economy. Boycotts have worked before.

‘They were a powerful factor in ending South African apartheid and together we can make them a success again.’

However, Ms Hatchet is convinced that the group deliberately marks out homes that do not show support for the boycott after they visit them. 

‘It makes no real difference what they think they are doing. They are taking addresses of people who don’t agree with their point of view,’ she added.

There is no evidence that the AFZ have a list of people who do not agree with their protest.   

She added: ‘We have GDPR in this country. They are not a political party. They aren’t governed by a private company. They’re overstepping a mark.’

South Yorkshire Police says it is investigating reports that a man was assaulted and that a person was the victim of a religiously motivated assault in Woodseats, Sheffield on Sunday morning.

NPT Inspector Amy Mellor said: ‘I am aware that videos about yesterday’s incident in Woodseats are circulating on social media, and that some of these may have been edited. Our officers are working hard to understand the full circumstances.

‘I know that residents may be concerned, and I would like to reassure you that our officers have been in the area over the weekend and will be back today to provide reassurance to the community. If you have any concerns, please speak them, they are there to support you.’