A Jewish couple spoke last night of their horror after being thrown out of a comedy show and branded “baby killers” for making a joke about Israel.
The couple claimed the treatment they received at Reginald D Hunter’s comedy show in Edinburgh last Sunday amounted to “absolute hatred”.
The wife said the Fringe show’s audience had “hate in their eyes” as they turned on them, leaving the couple fearing they wanted to “attack and beat us up”.
The UK-born couple, who recently made aliyah (the process by which a Jewish person moves to Israel), feel their birth country is no longer a safe place for British Jews amid a recent rise in anti-Jewish sentiment.
The pair, who asked not to be named, found themselves in the crosshairs of both the American comedian and the audience after they “politely” booed the star actor for his joke about Israel, saying it was “not funny”.
Reginald D Hunter’s show in East Renfrewshire has been cancelled following the row
But after the 55-year-old comedian told them: “I’ve been waiting for people like you all summer”, other audience members at the Assembly Studios in George Square began shouting “baby killers” and “genocidal maniacs”.
The wife said: ‘I am normally a very strong person.
“But it was horrible. Worse than horrible. Not a single person in that audience of over 300 people, not a single one, had the courage to stand up and say, ‘Enough of this.'”
“It was supposed to be a lovely holiday and now I feel miserable.”
Her husband, who is disabled, added: “It is not certain whether Jews will always be safe in the UK.
‘No matter how much they love Britain, Jews in this country will always have that mental backpack ready in case they need to flee.’
The wife admitted she had not enjoyed the show from the start, while her husband felt his mobility problems meant they had to stay where they were.
However, about halfway through Hunter’s performance, the comedian told a joke about a Channel 5 documentary on domestic abuse, commenting: “It’s like being married to Israel.”
Despite a wave of laughter, the husband quickly replied: “It’s not funny.”
He explained: ‘It’s a comedy show, where booing is normally allowed.
‘Good comedians should be able to deal with booing without it turning into outright hatred.’
But the atmosphere in the room changed instantly and Hunter replied, “I’ve been waiting for people like you all summer. Where the hell have you been?”
The wife said the looks on the faces of people in the audience made it seem “as if they wanted to attack us and hit us.”
She added: “There was so much hate in their eyes, anger that we dared to be alive.”
Smiling, Hunter, encouraged by the hostility in the room, added: “You can say you don’t find it funny, but if you say it in a room full of people laughing, you look stupid.”
According to the couple, the comedian then raised his fists in a mock fighting stance and told them he would meet them “outside.”
Incredibly, the couple, who walked out of the show because they were disgusted rather than scared by the crowd, had no intention of reporting their ordeal to the police.
But the embarrassing incident was exposed by a newspaper critic who called the show, Fluffy Fluffy Beavers, “the most disgusting comedy show” he had ever attended, awarding it only one star.
This sparked a police investigation, although officers confirmed last night that after reviewing all the information gathered, “no crime” was committed at the comedy concert.
The woman said she was horrified by the harassing behavior of the audience.
Meanwhile, Hunter has said he regrets the “unfortunate incident.”
The remaining shows at the venue – which has apologised to the couple – will go ahead as scheduled.
However, the comedian’s upcoming performance at the Eastwood Theatre in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, has been cancelled in the wake of the scandal.
East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure, which runs the Eastwood Theatre, said it had cancelled the September 28 show because of Hunter’s “controversial comments”.
The couple who suffered abuse in Edinburgh say they now want to use their platform to tackle the rising tide of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel racism in Britain.
The wife added: ‘I have an important message to convey and that is that people must stand up and not allow hate to win.
‘I’ve always spoken out, whether it’s about something Jewish or not.
“I hate bullies and I firmly believe that silence only helps the aggressor.”
