Overview
- Dame Maureen Lipman said Friday that she has hired private security to protect herself on tour after escalating antisemitic harassment linked to campaigns to cancel her Aberdeen shows.
- Pro-Palestine activists, including the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, circulated a doctored poster depicting Lipman with horns and a pitchfork and promoted a petition to remove her from the production.
- Police Scotland assessed the image and logged it as a recorded non-crime hate incident, meaning the material was kept on file but was not treated as a criminal offence.
- Jewish community leaders such as Timothy Lovat have criticized that classification as insufficient and say it undermines trust in policing and leaves victims feeling unprotected.
- The government points to a record £58 million in protective security funding for Jewish communities, and the dispute over police thresholds could prompt renewed review of how the 2024 hate-crime framework is applied online.