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CST report: alarming rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Britain | Israel Today

2022-02-10T10:53:02.477Z


According to data published by the Jewish-British Charitable Organization, there were 2,255 incidents of harassment and 173 physical assaults on Jews in the past year in the kingdom.


A report released by the British-Jewish organization CST, a charity that monitors antisemitic events in Britain, reveals that 2021 was the most difficult year in terms of attacks and harassment of United Kingdom Jews since the organization began documenting information on the subject.

Numerically, there were 2,255 incidents of harassment that included shouting and insults at Jewish citizens, vehicles passing through and harassment within Jewish neighborhoods, with 173 cases of actual violent attacks on Jews.

These figures represent a 34% increase over 2020 so 1,684 such incidents were reported across the UK.

However, this is not just an increase compared to 2020, but a crossing of the previous record recorded in 2019.

The essence of the antisemitic wave in 2021 took place after the Hamas shooting on the marchers on Jerusalem Day in May of that year, after which a confrontation broke out between Israel and Hamas and riots broke out in the cities involved in Israel.

During the wave, about half of the serious incidents against Jews took place that year.

Anti-Semitism on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Two ultra-Orthodox beaten in London // Photo: The Hashomerim organization in London

An example of this can be seen in the cities of Manchester and London, where there were 155 anti-Semitic incidents each year, with half of these incidents taking place in May and June.

A similar reality was also recorded on the various academic campuses where half of the events were around the fighting in Gaza and the riots of Israeli Arabs.

The CST noted that a third of the events last year also included anti-Zionist expressions and alongside antisemitic chants, there were also chants against the State of Israel.

The UK's Special Adviser against Anti-Semitism, Member of the House of Lords Lord John Mann, said in this context that "the government needs to reconsider its efforts against anti-Semitism. Last year was difficult for the Jews in our country. "

Mark Gardner, CEO of CST, added that "hatred against Jews is at a boiling point and people are taking advantage of the conflicts in the Middle East as an excuse to express this hatred in public."

An antisemitic incident on a train in London

The minister added that "last year our Jewish community was subjected to appalling hatred. In addition to my support for the CST work, I continue to support police activities to ensure it has the resources to deal with these heinous incidents so that the perpetrators of the crime will be severely punished."

One of the other reasons for the big eruption in May and June has to do with the fact that in parallel with Israel's confrontation with Hamas, many corona restrictions were lifted in Britain and the public could go out to shops and streets again.

This unleashing, in parallel with the conflict in Israel, was, in the opinion of various British sources, apparently a trigger for a great wave of expressions and acts of anti-Semitism.

Corona is also to blame

Beyond the expressions of hatred following the Israeli war, it turns out that various conspiracy theories linking the Jews to the Corona virus are also responsible for antisemitic events in Britain.

Leaflets distributed in the Yorkshire area called on the public not to trust the "Jewish vaccine," referring to the fact that the Pfizer vaccine company is headed by the Jewish Albert Burla.

Pfizer CEO Albert Burla, Photo: AP

A total of 78 antisemitic incidents related to the virus were reported last year and they included a claim that the Jews intentionally infected others with the virus, that they invented the virus as well as calls for Jews to die from it.

Another method of spreading antisemitic material and harassing Jews that became common in 2021 was the hijacking of zoom sessions and video conferencing.

16 such incidents were reported, in which antisemitic elements hijacked large gatherings of Jews or other organizations and filled them with antisemitic content.

The only good news about anti-Semitism in the UK comes from the internet.

On social media, there was a decline in expressions against Jews, probably due to the fact that the Labor Party worked to come to terms with the Jewish public and the tension that prevailed during the Jeremy Corbain era between the Jews and the left party dissipated.

"Let antisemitic ideas take root in the Labor Party."

Jeremy Corbyn, Photo: AFP

Racheli Baretz Ricks, head of the Department of Combating Anti-Semitism and Community Resilience at the World Zionist Organization, responded: "The publication of this report confirms what we found in the report of the World Zionist Organization, and expresses a difficult global trend."

She added that "many reasons can be given for the rise in anti-Semitism, but we must remember that our enemies do not need a reason for this. Anti-Semitism is not a new term, it was and unfortunately it is constantly renewed. "In their resilience and resilience together as a community in the face of these challenges. The State of Israel will continue to address and be an anchor for every Jewish community in the world that wants and needs it."

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-02-10

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