A Jewish woman, fleeing an antisemitic pursuer on the tube, was further distressed on discovering that a Transport for London (TfL) employee she approached for help was wearing a Palestine flag badge.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to Transport for London (TfL) following this incident, which occurred on Friday 19 October 2025. The woman, aged 44, was travelling on the Jubilee line from St John’s Wood to Westminster when she noticed a man staring at her “with unblinking fury” after spotting her “Chai” necklace, which featured two Hebrew letters. Fearing for her safety, she exited the train two stops early at Green Park Station — only to be followed and chased up the escalators by the same man.

In panic, she turned to a TfL worker for help but was shocked to see that he was wearing a Palestine flag badge.   The passenger later told UKLFI:

“It made me feel so isolated in this situation and unsafe, and I really questioned whether he would help me due to the nature of the incident taking place. The fact that the TfL worker was wearing this badge caused me even more distress and I felt that he wouldn’t help me since the incident involved the subject of antisemitism.  The man was still pursuing me, and so at that point, I just started running.”

In its letter to TfL’s General Counsel and Board Secretary, Andrea Clarke, UKLFI explained that the display of a Palestine flag symbolises support for the Palestinian cause and usually means opposition to the State of Israel. Allowing such badges to be worn by staff, the letter said, creates “an intimidating, hostile and offensive environment” for Jewish and Israeli passengers.

UKLFI argues that TfL’s apparent tolerance of such political displays breaches the Equality Act 2010, specifically Section 29(3), which prohibits harassment in the provision of services. The letter also cites Sections 110 and 112 of the Act, noting that TfL may be liable for aiding or permitting discriminatory conduct by its employees.

The organisation emphasised that TfL staff are there to serve the public impartially, not to broadcast personal political views:

“We do not believe that TfL staff are there to broadcast their own political views to customers – they are there to serve the customers. Therefore we believe that wearing political symbols is wholly inappropriate, and can have distressing results, as described above.”

UKLFI has requested that TfL confirm whether its staff are permitted to wear political symbols while on duty, and if not, that the policy be properly enforced.

A spokesperson for UKLFI said  “Passengers should be able to rely on TfL staff to act impartially and professionally at all times, and to be there to assist them when needed.  In this case the actions of the TfL staff member caused further suffering to a passenger who was already caught up in a terrifying antisemitic incident.  We hope that TfL will act to prevent this happening in future, by not allowing political symbols to be worn by its staff.”