A British soap star has been given a security guard during filming, following a rise in anti-Semitic attacks across the UK.
Veteran actress Dame Maureen Lipman was seen filming scenes for long-running soap Coronation Street this week in Manchester, accompanied by a security guard provided by her employer ITV.
The Sun reports that the decision to assign security to the actress follows her comments criticising other celebrities who had signed a petition by Artists for Palestine UK condemning Israel’s attacks on Gaza, in response to the invasion by Hamas on October 7.
Lipman, who is Jewish, called these signatories “bleeding heartless liberals” and said publicly at an event:
“When babies were garrotted, women dragged by their hair and a family had eyeballs gouged out and fingers chopped off in front of their children — do they really think that Israeli blockades on the border with Gaza justification for such acts of violence?
“Those bigoted signaturists, do they have no soul as well as no judgment?
“Those bleeding heartless liberals who care so deeply for the Palestinians?
“That they espouse their cause at the expense of every other oppressed people of the world . . . shame, shame, shame on every one of you.”
The Sun quotes Lipman expressing surprise at the decision to ramp up her security, but saying, “This is where we are now.”
The Community Security Trust has registered a record 805 anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in the 21 days after October 7, more than the total number for the first six months of this year.
