Jewish or non Jewish, just they are human.
On a Wednesday morning in Golders Green, a sixty-one-year-old man named Ashkan Asadian stepped toward danger rather than away from it, placing himself between a knife and a stranger's life. The stranger was Moshe Shine, a seventy-six-year-old Jewish man whose survival now rests partly on the instincts of a neighbor who did not stop to calculate the cost. In a neighborhood where Iranian and Jewish families have long lived side by side, Asadian's act became something larger than rescue — a quiet testament to the idea that shared humanity can move faster than fear.
- A man with a knife attacked at least three people across two London locations in a single morning, leaving two with serious injuries and one community shaken.
- Security footage captured the moment Moshe Shine was stabbed in the neck at a bus stop, the violence sudden and public in the heart of a residential neighborhood.
- Ashkan Asadian threw himself into the struggle bare-handed, absorbing cuts to his clothing and wrestling for the knife while buying Shine the seconds he needed to flee.
- When the attacker retreated into a nearby shop, Asadian improvised — wedging a shopping trolley in the doorway and holding the exit until the calculus of danger shifted.
- Police arrived, an ambulance followed, and Shine was discharged from hospital within days; the suspect now faces three counts of attempted murder at the Old Bailey.
Ashkan Asadian was standing near a bus stop in Golders Green on a Wednesday morning in May when he watched a man stab another man in the neck. He did not weigh the risk. He moved toward them.
The victim was Moshe Shine, seventy-six, who had been waiting at the stop when the attack began just after eleven. Asadian could see the attacker meant to follow Shine down the street and finish what he had started. So he intervened — the two men ended up on the road together, the knife still in the attacker's hand. Asadian tried repeatedly to disarm him, kicking at his arm, grabbing for the blade. His hoodie was cut in two places. Shine, bleeding heavily from his neck, managed to break away and escape.
Asadian then followed the attacker into a greengrocer's next to the stop, shouted a warning to the woman at the till, and wedged a shopping trolley in the doorway to trap him inside while someone called the police. He held that position until he judged it too dangerous for the shop staff — then stepped aside, and the man walked calmly back onto the street.
When officers arrived, Asadian directed them toward the suspect and stayed with Shine, helping another bystander apply pressure to the wound until the ambulance came. Shine was hospitalized with serious injuries but discharged within days.
Asadian came to Britain from Iran in 1999 and has lived in Golders Green for years, in a neighborhood where Iranian and Jewish families are long-standing neighbors. Asked why he had risked his life for a stranger, he said he had not thought about danger, or religion, or ethnicity. "Jewish or non Jewish, just they are human," he said. "I try to maybe save someone's life."
Essa Suleiman, forty-five, was charged with the attempted murder of Shine, a second victim seriously injured in the same attack, and a third man attacked earlier that morning in Southwark. His case was listed for the Old Bailey on May fifteenth. Asadian said he hoped, one day, to see Shine again and find out he was healing well.
Ashkan Asadian was sixty-one years old when he saw a man stabbing another man in the neck at a bus stop in Golders Green on a Wednesday morning in May. He did not pause to weigh the risk. He moved toward them.
The victim was Moshe Shine, seventy-six, standing at the stop when the attack began shortly after eleven in the morning. Security footage captured the moment—Shine adjusting his kippah, then the sudden lunge, then the chase. Asadian, who happened to be nearby, watched it unfold in front of him. He said later that he saw the attacker was going to follow Shine down the street and thought with certainty that the man meant to kill him. So he did what came to him in that moment: he tried to stop it.
The two men fell onto the main road, lying side by side, the knife still in the attacker's hand. Asadian tried several times to grab it, tried kicking at the man's arm to make him drop it. He found quickly that it was dangerous work. His own hoodie was cut in two places, spotted with blood, though he himself was not seriously hurt. While he kept the attacker occupied, Shine managed to break away, his neck bleeding heavily, and escape down the street.
Asadian followed the attacker as he walked into a greengrocer's shop next to the bus stop, moving as if he were simply another customer. Asadian shouted a warning to the woman behind the till that the man had a knife. Then he grabbed a shopping trolley and wedged it in the doorway, trapping him inside while a bystander called the police. He stood there, blocking the exit, until he realized it was too dangerous to keep the man contained—he might turn on the shop staff. So Asadian stepped aside, and the attacker walked calmly back out onto the road.
When police arrived, Asadian pointed them in the direction the man had gone. He waited with another woman who was trying to stop the bleeding from Shine's neck wound until an ambulance came. Shine had suffered serious injuries but would be discharged from hospital within days.
Asadian was born in Iran and came to Britain in 1999. He now holds British citizenship and lives in Golders Green with his two children, in a neighborhood where Iranian and Jewish families live alongside each other. When asked later why he had intervened—why he had risked his life for a stranger—he said he had not thought about danger at all in those moments. He had not thought about religion or ethnicity or the weight of geopolitics. "Jewish or non Jewish, just they are human," he said. "I try to maybe save someone's life."
Essa Suleiman, forty-five, was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of both Shine and a second victim, Shloime Rand, thirty-four, who was also seriously injured in the same attack. Suleiman was also charged with attempting to murder a third man, Ishmail Hussein, earlier that same day in Southwark, south London, someone he had known for around twenty years. His next court appearance was scheduled for May fifteenth at the Old Bailey. Asadian said he hoped one day to see Shine again and check that he was healing well.
Notable Quotes
I saw him stabbing the old man in the neck. I try to maybe save someone's life.— Ashkan Asadian
Religion, it doesn't matter. Jewish or non Jewish, just they are human.— Ashkan Asadian
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When you saw the knife, did you have any sense of what you were walking into?
No. I saw him stabbing the old man in the neck and I just moved. There was no calculation. If I had thought about it, I probably would not have done it.
You ended up on the road with him, the knife still in his hand. What was that like?
Very dangerous. I tried to kick his arm, tried to grab the knife. My hoodie got cut. But I was focused on one thing—keeping him busy so the old man could get away.
And then he just walked into the shop like nothing had happened?
Yes, like a normal shopper. That is when I knew I had to keep him there. I used the trolley to block him in.
You live in that neighborhood. Do you think about what could have happened to you?
Not then. Only after. But it does not matter to me—Jewish, Iranian, Christian. When someone is dying, you help. That is all.
Do you think Shine understands what you did for him?
I hope so. I want to see him again, to know he is truly okay.