Alarm as 116 antisemitic incidents reported in last 10 days, a 600 percent rise

Britain has seen at least 116 reported incidents of antisemitism over the last 10 days – a 600 percent rise. 

Between 8 and 18 May, the sharp spike in reported hate crime comes as Israel clashes with Gaza militants, and thousands of rockets are fired by Hamas into civilian territory. 

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the violence, leading to protests globally, including instances of antisemitism in London on the weekend, when a convoy of cars drove through parts of London and Manchester with large Jewish populations – shouting expletives and racist abuse. Four have been arrested. 

Of 116 incidents, almost all involved language, imagery or behaviour that linked them to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. The rise in hate comes after 19 incidents in the eleven days prior to 8 May, which is a near six-fold increase. 

Breaking down the antisemitic incidents, the CST outlined that 32 were online, 82 offline, and four of the incidents were reported as violent, including the brutal assault of Rabbi Rafi Goodwin in Chigwell on Sunday, for which two people have been arrested and charged  with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, robbery & religiously aggravated criminal damage.

A spokesperson outlined that the number was likely being under-reported due to time required for processing the incidents. They said: “It is a depressingly familiar pattern that antisemitism rises whenever Israel is at war, but this does not make it any less disgraceful that British Jews are being threatened, harassed and abused. The level of anger and hate that is directed at Israel always spills over into antisemitism at times like this and yet the people stoking this anger, online and on the streets, never take responsibility for this particular consequence.”