Antisemitic Incidents Reach Record High in the UK: Report

Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters burn an Israeli flag as they demonstrate in suppo
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The number of antisemitic incidents in the UK has “surpassed anything we have seen before”, according to a leading Jewish charity.

The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 351 antisemitic incidents between May 8th and the 31st. This three-week figure is higher than in any month as a whole since records began, the Jewish charity said.

The previous record for antisemitic incidents in Britain was in July of 2014, when 317 were recorded. In both instances, the escalations were linked to increased tension between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism told the Press Association that the incidents recorded in May included physical attacks on Jewish people, antisemitic placards and chants witnessed at political protests, social media posts, and threats against Jewish children at schools.

A spokesman for the organisation said: “None of these should be features of life in Britain in 2021, but they are for Jewish people.

“Ultimately, the blame lies with the racist perpetrators of these cowardly incidents. But some politicians, the media, social media companies and others have done their part in tolerating or even stoking the hate.

“It is vital that the police investigate incidents as they arise and bring offenders to justice.

“In a year defined by solidarity against racism worldwide, it is extraordinary how little support there is out there for Britain’s Jews. Racism against Jews just doesn’t seem to count.”

The CST said that the rise in antisemitic incidents is “utterly predictable and completely disgraceful”.

The British government’s communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, said last week that the escalating antisemitism in the UK is likely a result of radical Islamist cells in the country.

He said that the UK must be “alive” to the growing threat of Islamic antisemitism “because some of the themes we’ve seen in recent weeks are more than just casual antisemitism, or people who don’t understand what antisemitism is, and drift into it by accident”.

The government minister gave the example of a pro-Palestinian car protest in May, which saw members of the motorcade scream out on the streets of London: “F*** the Jews”, “F*** their mothers”, “F*** their daughters”, and “Rape their daughters”.

The Community Security Trust reported that in another case, a group of Jewish secondary school children were threatened by a man who said that he would assault them if they didn’t express support for Palestine.

“Tell your f****** mum and dad they are murderers and killing babies,” the man allegedly yelled at the children.

Last month also saw a resurgence in anti-Israel political rallies, with two major protests being staged in London.

Both rallies were attended by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was suspended from his own party over his alleged failures to meaningfully take on antisemitism within the left-wing party.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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