Anti-Jewish incidents in the United Kingdom rose slightly last year, making 2012 the third worst year on record. The Community Security Trust, which handles security-related matters for the British Jewish community, said in its latest report that there 640 attacks against Jews had been reported in 2012, up from 608 in 2011 and representing an increase of five per cent. There had been 60 violent assaults against Jews in 2012, with two of them being qualified as "extreme violence". One of these was an attack on a Jewish pupil in Northern Ireland who was kicked unconscious following a lesson about the Holocaust.
The CST said around 100 incidents had been reported as part of a new program run together with the Metropolitan Police in London. The more efficient reporting system led to a 55 per cent increase in incidents recorded in the capital. However, a 34 per cent reduction was recorded in Manchester, where the CST and police have been running the exchange program since 2011.
The majority of incidents were registered in the category 'abusive behavior'. This includes verbal attacks, anti-Semitic graffiti and hate mail. Social media sites, the CST said, were the fastest-growing source of anti-Semitism. The organization recorded 80 such incidents last year, compared to 12 in 2011.
Some attacks did not involve Jews at all. An argument over the opening of a window in a train carriage in northern England last June included one passenger suspecting another of being Jewish and shouting: "You Jews need to be got rid of. Why don't you go back to Israel? Go back to Israel where you belong."
Read the full CST Anti-Semitic Incidents Report 2012 here.
