UK has seen 89 anti-Semitic incidents since Hamas attack on Israel, Jewish charity warns
12 October 2023, 10:37
There have been 89 anti-Semitic incidents across the UK since Hamas attacked Israel, according to a Jewish charity.
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The number of “anti-Jewish” hate incidents has trebled in the UK, with 50 of the incidents taking place in London alone, according to Jewish charity the Community Security Trust (CST).
The CST said the figure represents a 324% rise in anti-Semitic attacks over the same period last year.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat said he was “very concerned” by the soaring number of attacks.
Examples of assault given by CST include a Jewish person being called “a dirty Jew” as they walked into a synagogue.
The stranger continued to shout: “No wonder you’re all getting raped.”
The director of policy at CST, Dave Rich, said: "The rate since Saturday is roughly triple what we would normally expect to see over that period.
“It is likely to increase further as we process more reports."
Other incidents since the weekend include pro-Palestine graffiti being sprayed on a railway bridge on Monday, in Golders Green in north London.
Many Jewish schools in London have now ramped up security measures with one Jewish mixed comprehensive, JFS, allowing its pupils to take off their blazers in public to avoid being identified.
A Deputy Assistant Commissioner for the MET police, Andy Valentine, has pledged the force’s “full support” to London’s Jewish communities, since Hamas’s attack.
DAC Valentine also said the MET would take a “zero approach” to any pro-Palestine protests which “cross the lines into criminality.”
On Monday, thousands of Londoners protested, with some gathering outside of the Israeli embassy, launching fireworks.
The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, then wrote to police chiefs, calling on them to take a tough line against Pro-Palestine protestors.
She added it was unacceptable to “drive through Jewish neighbourhoods” and to “single out Jewish members of the public, to aggressively chant or wave pro-Palestinian symbols at [them].”
