Mick Hartley

From the Times:

The Hamas attacks on Israel and their aftermath drove antisemitism in Britain to its highest levels in over 40 years, new figures reveal, as the home secretary condemned the “utterly deplorable” rise.

James Cleverly decried recent “antisemitic hatred and abuse” after a charity’s report found that UK incidents surged almost 150 per cent to more than 4,000 in 2023.

The home secretary said: “We know the Jewish community need to continue to see that tackling antisemitism is a priority for us. I will do everything in my power to ensure they are safe, and just as importantly feel safe.”.

The Community Security Trust (CST) report found antisemitic incidents had surged to 4,103, by far the highest number recorded since the charity began logging cases in 1984.

Well yes, but that 150% rise doesn't quite capture the real story. The spectacular rise is only since October 7th.

It said that the spike in anti-Jewish incidents had been “inspired” by Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, with almost 2,700 occurring on or after that date. The skyrocketing levels of antisemitism in Britain suggested it was, initially, in “celebration” of the attacks, the report said.

In celebration. 

There were 70 cases of Holocaust denial and 184 involving celebrating the Holocaust.

Some glorified Hamas’s act of terror as a repeat of Holocaust, while others “lamented Hitler’s failure to eliminate world Jewry entirely”. On eight occasions, the perpetrator simultaneously denied and glorified the Holocaust.

The terms Zionism or Zionist were used on 260 occasions. In at least 427 cases, the phrase “Free Palestine” was used….

There was a 203 per cent increase in university-related antisemitic incidents, with 182 reported in 2023. Five were classified as assault, 13 as damage and desecration, 15 as threats, 146 as abusive behaviour and three of antisemitic literature. Seventy-two took place on campus or university property.

One report was made about Holocaust-related antisemitic content on a university reading list.

CST said school and university-related incidents were consistent with a “worrying trend” and a “previous upswing in antisemitism” witnessed in the education sector in 2021.