A 45-year-old man has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life after a fire at a former synagogue in east London, an attack that police are treating as part of a wider pattern of incidents involving Jewish, Israeli and Iranian dissident targets.
Moses Edwards, from Wanstead in east London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday after the alleged arson at the building on Nelson Street in Whitechapel. The Metropolitan Police said the fire, which was reported shortly after 5am on Tuesday May 5, caused only minor damage to the gates and a front lock. No one was hurt.
The building at the centre of the case is the former East London Central Synagogue, which had been closed since 2020 and is described as vacant. It is in the process of being sold to a Muslim organisation that intends to convert it into a mosque and community centre. The Ashaadibi Centre, a Muslim educational and cultural organisation, has placed a deposit of £230,000 on the site and is aiming to raise £3.5 million to complete the purchase. The property has a guide price of more than £2 million.
A controversial transformation
The planned conversion has stirred deep emotions in Whitechapel, a district that has undergone profound demographic change over the past century. The Nelson Street synagogue was established in 1923 and served as a spiritual hub for Jewish immigrants in the East End for decades. As the Jewish community moved to northwest London, congregations dwindled, leading to the synagogue’s closure in 2020.
Whitechapel is now predominantly Muslim, and the repurposing of former religious buildings is not unusual in London’s history. But critics of the sale have described it as the “final erasure of Jewish history” in the area and have argued the building should be preserved as a Jewish heritage site. The Ashaadibi Centre has unequivocally condemned the arson, saying: “An attack on a house of worship is an attack on all of us.”
Court appearance and investigation
Edwards was arrested on May 10 and later charged with arson with intent to endanger life. The investigation is being led by Counter Terrorism Policing London, which said the nature and location of the incident had prompted its involvement. A 52-year-old woman who was also arrested as part of the inquiry has been released on bail to a date in August.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where Edwards is set to appear, handles a wide range of cases from minor offences to major criminal matters and is often the first stop for defendants in the justice system.
Part of a wider pattern
The attack on the Whitechapel synagogue is not an isolated event. It fits within a series of alleged arsons targeting Jewish sites in London over the past two months. In April, an attempted arson was carried out at Finchley Reform Synagogue, and Kenton United Synagogue was firebombed. A memorial wall for Iranian protesters was also attacked. In March, ambulances operated by the Jewish volunteer group Hatzola were targeted.
Police said the attacks are being investigated as potentially antisemitic, reflecting a broader increase in antisemitic incidents across the UK. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spoken publicly about what he described as a “crisis” of antisemitic violence in London.
Counter-terrorism officers are also examining whether a foreign state may be behind some of the incidents. A group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia – believed to be linked to Iran – has claimed responsibility for recent antisemitic attacks in Britain and other European countries.
Edwards is among 33 people arrested so far in connection with the wave of attacks. Before his charge, eight individuals had already been charged with offences related to the series of incidents targeting Jewish, Israeli and Iranian dissident sites.
