Britain’s antisemitism problem continues to grow. A report from the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors racist attacks and abuse against British Jews, documents 1,978 incidents in the first six months of 2024. That is the highest figure ever recorded for the first half of any year and a 105 per cent increase on the same period in 2023. It is no coincidence that this comes after the October 7 attack, in which Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel, killed 1,200 people, raped women and took 250 hostages. As the CST noted in a previous report, October 7 occasioned an outbreak of antisemitic activity in the UK long before any Israeli military response was under way. This latest report confirms the connection, with 52 per cent of incidents linked to Israel or its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Antisemitic damage and desecration to Jewish-owned property is up 246 per cent
There has been a 41 per cent increase in assaults on Jews. The most common forms were throwing projectiles, punching/kicking, spitting and stripping Jews of their religious garments. In January, four Israelis visiting central London were overheard speaking Hebrew and attacked by three men of Arab or North African extraction. They were pelted with glass bottles and one of the women was punched in the neck while their assailants shouted ‘Fuck Jews, Hamas is the best’. In 37 per cent of cases, the assault involved a Jewish child being attacked by other (non-Jewish) children.
Antisemitic damage and desecration to Jewish-owned property is up 246 per cent. This includes the targeting of Jewish family homes, schools and kosher food aisles in supermarkets, as well as the dumping of treif (non-kosher food) on Jewish-owned properties. The CST documents arson, the smashing of doors and windows, and the destruction of mezuzot, prayer scrolls affixed to the doorways of synagogues and observant Jewish homes. Incidents targeting synagogues are up 148 per cent. Vandalism incidents included a London menorah drenched in red paint and daubed with ‘Gaza’. The report contains photographs of anti-Jewish graffiti found across the country, such as ‘6 million Jews wasn’t enough’ (County Armagh), ‘Gaza a “real” Holocaust’ (Glasgow) and ‘Death to Jew scum’ (Surrey).
Specific threats against British Jews have risen 158 per cent, including in-person intimidation, menacing phone calls and bomb threats. A Holocaust education organisation received an email that opened, ‘I have come back to exterminate the Jews’ and concluded: ‘I don’t want converts from Judaism, or put it this way, you can convert but you still have to die.’ There has been a 119 per cent surge in school-related antisemitism, defined as attacks or abuse towards Jewish schools or pupils and staff going to and from school. These included assaults and threats against Jewish children, as well as abusive behaviour. At a non-Jewish school in Kent, a Jewish girl was taunted with shouts of ‘Heil Hitler’ and ‘dirty Jew’ and was added to a WhatsApp group titled ‘Holocaust’. Meanwhile, university-based antisemitism has risen 465 per cent, which will be a shocking figure to anyone unfamiliar with the average UK university campus.
Two-thirds of these incidents took place offline. We’re not just talking about knuckle-draggers posting their bile on social media. We’re talking about people who hate Jews going out in person and acting on it. If you’ve ever wondered why Jewish schools and places of worship in this country require such an extensive security infrastructure, this is the reason. The ethnicity of offenders was recorded in under a third of cases, of which 44 per cent were white, 30 per cent Arab or North African, 14 per cent South Asian and 12 per cent black. The CST notes that these are higher-than-usual figures for non-whites, a trend it has seen before when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the news.
Although these incidents represent a record high, the actual figures are likely to be higher still. The CST’s rigorous methodology means it excluded from the final figures 1,493 incidents which were reported as antisemitic but where its researchers could not establish sufficient evidence. The charity says many of these reports involved ‘suspicious activity or possible hostile reconnaissance’ outside Jewish properties.
The recurring theme in this report is the link between anti-Israel attitudes and antisemitic actions. In our diligence to distinguish between hostility towards the State of Israel and hostility towards Jews we have allowed this connection to go under-scrutinised. Whether hating Israel leads some to hate Jews, or vice versa, the fact is that this hatred is playing out on our streets are we are not doing nearly enough to combat it. The new government shows even less interest than the old one when it comes to tackling antisemitism directly, candidly and with determination. You can suspend as many export licences and recognise as many Palestinian states as you want, but in turning a blind eye to antisemitism you will ensure British Jews get more of it. As the CST report shows, they already get more than their fair share.
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