Three more school contemporaries who claim they witnessed Nigel Farage’s alleged teenage racism have rejected the Reform UK leader’s suggestion it was a “joke”, describing it as targeted, persistent and nasty.
One former student, Stephen Benaroch, claimed that people leaving a Jewish gathering at Dulwich College were in the sights of Farage and others, while another, Cyrus Oshidar, described as “nonsense” the claim that the Reform leader had not acted with intent to hurt.
“Doesn’t it hurt to be called a Paki?” Oshidar asked. A third, Rikard Berg, told the Guardian: “He is now in a position where he should not deny it. He is plain lying.”
The Guardian has spoken to more than 20 people who have alleged racist or anti-Semitic behavior by Farage at the school, including seven who say they remember targeted abuse from Peter Ettedegui, now an Emmy and Bafta-winning director.
The alleged abuse lasted for six years, from the ages of 13 to 18.
On Monday night, almost a week after the Guardian published an investigation into his alleged conduct, Farage broke his silence on allegations that he had targeted fellow pupils with racist and anti-Semitic abuse.
His aides previously said they “categorically reject the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led racist or anti-Semitic behaviour.”
In his broadcast interview, Farage changed his stance and appeared to admit to saying things that might be considered biased today. But he denied any “intention” to hurt people because of their race or religion.
He said: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as playground banter today that you could interpret in some modern way? Yes.”
He acknowledged that he “probably” said things wrong in his “younger days” and that he hoped he had not said anything that could be considered racist, but that his memories were imperfect after more than four decades.
He denied directly abusing anyone, which he defined as “attacking a person based on who they are or what they are.”
He suggested that those who spoke out were politically motivated and “were not telling the truth”.
In another statement on Tuesday, Farage appeared to change his stance again after the Guardian made new allegations against him. “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that were published in the Guardian at the age of 13, almost 50 years ago,” he said.
He claimed that the Guardian “wants to discredit anyone who talks about the immigration issue”.
Writing for the Guardian, Ettedgui, who alleged that as a 13-year-old classmate Farage would say “Hitler was right” or “provoke them”, claimed: “Well, he targeted me directly and I can tell you it hurt. How did he think that would make me feel? How did he think those who were called Pakistanis or told to ‘go home’ would feel?”
Benarroch, who is Jewish and was two years below Faraz in school, said he did not personally target her, but he recalled the alleged abuse Ettedgui faced.
“He was a very gentle man and Farage-Farage made his life a nightmare,” he said.
“They could only recognize us because we had to go to this stupid Jewish service at the science lab school. I mean, none of us were remotely religious. They used to hang out there. Farage used to hang out with his henchmen. And then when we would leave they would taunt us.”
Regarding Farage’s claim that those who spoke out were not telling the truth, he believes “it is the oldest of anti-Semitic platitudes”.
He said he believed this was tantamount to claiming “that there is a global Jewish conspiracy, and to be a conspiracy, you have to lie. That’s what Reform is accusing us of. It couldn’t be more personal than that.”
iceberg, Joe, who was at O-levels in the same year as Farage, said he also recalled Ettedgui’s abuse being direct and designed to hurt.
He said: “He certainly attacked Peter and there were some other people he wanted to get at. I’m foreign, because I’m Swedish, he kind of took issue with me being foreign, but he had no hold on me, because for a start, I stood up to him. Other people didn’t do that. Peter Ettedegui never responded to him. Farage was elected over a scoundrel, elitist, softies who wouldn’t stand up, Used to rise to the bait. That’s the way he worked.
“He was bad, there was no question about it. (The song) Gas ‘Em All, I heard him sing in Étadgui. I didn’t understand it at the time, because Peter didn’t react. In the old days, you thought it was his job to react.”
Oshidar, who was in the same year as Faraz, said he remembered being constantly called names, including the use of anti-Semitic and racial slurs. “It made the same noise every day,” he claimed, adding that he recognized it was “the language of the times.”
He claimed: “He was not the only one to say that. But at Dulwich he was the only one to say that regularly.”
Responding to Farage’s denial that he has directly abused anyone, he claimed: “No, that’s nonsense. I mean, that’s absolute nonsense. There’s no question that it happened… Because of who he is now and where he is, he’ll try to deny it. But he can’t do that. I mean, it’s undeniable.”
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