London Antisemitism Attacks at Highest Since 1980s: Report

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 25: Members of the Orthodox Jewish community in Stamford Hill,
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

Reports of antisemitism in London have hit a record high in May, according to a Jewish charity which said that almost all were related to the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas.

The Community Security Trust (CST) said there were 201 antisemitic incidents reported in London, where two-thirds of the UK’s 300,000 Jewish people are said to live, and that there had been a five-fold increase in incidents since the beginning of the Middle East conflict.

In the capital, there were more than 160 incidents of abusive behaviour, 12 assaults, 20 threats, and seven cases of desecration or damage, marking the highest monthly numbers since the security charity started recording the incidents in the 1980s, according to the BBC.

Last month, two Orthodox Jewish men were punched in a racially-motivated attack after leaving a kosher restaurant in Marylebone, in the West End of London. Two men in their twenties believed to be ‘South Asian’ had followed Alex Menashe and Joseph Cohen before screaming antisemitic abuse and unleashing a volley of punches. The suspects fled the scene after a member of the Muslim community confronted the attackers and offered the victims help.

Mr Cohen said, according to the BBC, that the experience was “terrifying” and that in all the years he had walked around London dressed as an Orthodox Jew, he had never encountered any problems.

“Something feels different at the moment, there’s a wave of anti-​Semitism. And it’s not just me. Most Jews that I know feel unsafe in a country we’ve lived in all our lives.

“It’s harrowing,” Mr Cohen said.

In May, police arrested and bailed four men in connection with an antisemitic incident during an anti-Israel protest in the capital, which saw men shout from cars draped in Palestinian flags sexually violent and antisemitic remarks while driving through a Jewish neighbourhood.

In footage that went viral on social media and which attracted the condemnation of British politicians, one man was heard shouting: “F*** the Jews”, “F*** their mothers”, “F*** their daughters”, and “Rape their daughters”.

London police were also searching for a man calling for Jewish “blood” during anti-Israel protests, which were attended by high-profile leftists like former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Earlier this month, the CST released a report revealing that three weeks of May had been a record month for the whole of the UK, with 351 antisemitic incidents reported between May 8th and the 31st.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said that the spike in anti-Jewish hate was likely a result of a rise in radical Islamism, saying the authorities must be “alive” to the threat posed by Islamist antisemitism.

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