Attacks against British Jews have reached a record high fuelled by an explosion of violence in the Middle East.
Hate crimes of anti-Semitism doubled to 1,168 in a single year for the first time last year, the latest study published by the Community Security Trust (CST) says. The main factor fueling the rise of anti-Jewish attacks was the Israeli military action in Gaza, according to the CST, which monitors anti-Semitism and provides security for the Jewish community.
The figure was the highest annual total ever recorded in the UK. The incidents ranged from violent attacks in the street to vile graffiti and criminal damage against synagogues and homes.
In one of the most serious attacks a victim was verbally abused’ and then hit with a glass and a baseball bat in London. In Manchester, a man was knocked off his bike and kicked while on the ground by a group of youths who called him a ‘Jew’.
A Jewish girl had deodorant sprayed in her face by a 12-year-old fellow pupil who said to her ‘gas the Jews’ at a school in Edinburgh. And in London, two men ran into a kosher restaurant where they intimidated diners before making a Nazi salute and shouting: ‘Heil, Adolf Hitler.’
The CST has recorded anti-Semitic incidents in the UK since 1984, and the previous highest annual total came in 2009 when 931 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded.
David Delew, CST chief executive, said: "The Jewish community should not be defined by anti-Semitism but last year's large increase in recorded incidents shows just how easily anti-Semitic attitudes can erupt into race hate abuse, threats and attacks. Thankfully most of the incidents were not violent but they were still shocking and upsetting for those who suffered them, and for the wider Jewish community.
"CST will keep working with our community, Police and politicians to find ways to reduce anti-Semitic hate crime, and to better prosecute and convict those who carry it out."
Read the full CST report by clicking here.
