Vanessa Feltz has revealed a female stranger came to her rescue after a pro-Palestinian protester chased her through the street, abusing her over a loudhailer just because she is Jewish.
The broadcaster said the ‘white man’ tried to whip up fellow protesters after spotting her heading home from work and screamed ‘fascist Zionist scum’ at her over his speaker.
Feltz, 63, feared she was set to become the victim of a mob until the stranger intervened and told her to run for the Tube.
She revealed the frightening recent incident for the first time as she discussed Diane Abbott’s claims that Jewish people don’t suffer the same racism as black people.
The veteran MP was suspended from Labour again last week after defending her previous comments about racism, which had led to a year-long suspension.
She apologised at the time and was readmitted back into the party before the 2024 General Election, but she doubled down on her claim Jewish people experience racism differently to black people in a recent new letter.
Speaking on her LBC show yesterday, Ms Feltz said: ‘I’ll just tell you what happened to me not long ago. Very often when I arrive here at Global, which is in Leicester Square, my arrival coincides with, as I walk along Piccadilly, one of the pro-Palestinian or pro-Gazan marches.
‘But there was no march that week and when I came out of the building at six o’clock when the show was finished, there was a protest going on in Piccadilly.
Vanessa Feltz, 63, has revealed a female stranger came to her rescue after a pro-Palestinian protester chased her through the street, abusing her over a loudhailer just because she is Jewish
Pro-Palestinian supporters marched with placards and umbrellas in the rain in central London on Saturday
Feltz revealed the frightening recent incident for the first time as she discussed Diane Abbott’s claims that Jewish people don’t suffer the same racism as black people
‘I was walking to get to the Tube station when suddenly I heard very, very loudly, ‘Vanessa Feltz, Vanessa Feltz, fascist Zionist scum’.
‘I wheeled round and there was a guy, he looked like a white guy to me, not that I know what his origin was, and he was chasing me, screaming into a megaphone and chasing me shouting ‘fascist, Zionist scum’.
‘I’m a grandma, I’m 63 years old, I’ve never been an athlete, I was wearing wedge shoes and carrying a handbag, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I can’t run and if he catches me what will you do to me, is he going to beat me up?’
‘And also, ‘are other people going to join him, what’s going to happen to me?’
She recalled how at that point a woman came to her aid and stood between Ms Feltz and the man, shouting at her to run.
Ms Feltz told listeners: ‘She said, ‘Go on Vanessa, you run’ – not that I can run. But anyway I sort of waddled off in the other direction. I heard from her afterwards on Instagram – she just DM’ed me, ‘Are you ok?’
Ms Feltz was speaking to Michael Bankole, politics lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, whose research looks at racism and political representation.
She added: ‘I’m only saying it because that’s what I was called in the street.
‘So obviously it wasn’t because of the colour of my skin but it was because I’m known to be Jewish.’
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