‘Antisemitic Incidents’ at Highest Level Ever Recorded in UK

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 2023/11/26: A protester holds a placard during the demonstration.
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Oliver JJ Lane

Spike in antisemitism has been “inspired” by Hamas, the Community Security Trust has said as they reveal the highest numbers of incidents the body has ever seen.

There were 4,103 antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom last year, the highest number ever recorded by the Community Security Trust (CST) by a considerable margin, and the majority of those came in the final two months of the year after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.

The CST reported the number of incidents seen in the post-Hamas attack era at the end of 2023 was 589 per cent higher than the same period in the previous year. The body has been tracking antisemitic attacks in Britain since 1984, and said in their report that while they have previously seen spikes in incidents while Israel is at war, what made 2023 stand out is the surge came immediately after the Hamas attack, and not after the launch of the counter-attack nearly a month later.

October 11th 2023 was the single worst day for antisemitic incidents in the UK since their record-keeping began, said the CST.

Responding to this phenomenon, the CST said on Thursday: “The speed at which antisemites mobilised in the UK following Hamas’ attack shows that, initially at least, the significant increase in anti-Jewish hate was, if anything, a celebration of Hamas’ massacre by people whose own hatred was emboldened and, in their minds, legitimised by the brutality enacted on civilians in southern Israel… it was the Hamas terror attack, rather than Israel’s military response in Gaza, that sparked most of the antisemitism in this country.”

Several types of incidents qualified to be included in the report, including 266 instances of assault, up 96 per cent in a year, 182 cases of damage to Jewish-owned property, up 146 per cent, and 3,328 incidents of abusive behavior. This includes “verbal and written antisemitic abuse other than direct threats… antisemitic emails, text messages, social media posts, and comments, as well as targeted antisemitic letters”.

Further, the Trust recorded instances of threats, mass-produced antisemitic literature, and hate at schools.

UK Home Secretary James Cleverly, the government minister with responsibility for policing, spoke out on the report and called the surge in antisemitism “beyond contempt” and said the government had increased funding to CST. “We will always support our Jewish communities”, he said.

The issue of antisemitism is continuing to have impacts on politics in the United Kingdom as well. The opposition Labour Party of Sir Keir Starmer, who — based on polling — hopes to become the next Prime Minister later this year has had to suspend three candidates from the party for antisemitic remarks. Starmer suspended two candidates in two days this week, which makes three suspended in all in two weeks.

While antisemitism has been an issue that has plagued the Labour Party in recent years, particularly during and after the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, who was accused of allowing the issue to fester under his tenure, the Conservatives have also been dealing with issues. Atiqul Hoque, the first Muslim mayor of Salisbury, was suspended on Thursday, reports the Daily Telegraph, from the Tories after he was accused of making “offensive” comments on social media.

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