UK Jewish Community Target of Fresh Abuse as Number of Incidents Increases

Anti-Semitic hate incidents jumped in the first half of this year as the Jewish community was targeted three times every day, new figures have revealed.

This was an 11 percent increase compared to the same period last year — the results included 41 violent assaults, there were also 32 incidents of damage and desecration of Jewish property. Anti-Semitic graffiti had also appeared, as well as well as abuse via social media and emails. Worse still, at least 43 direct threats and 10 cases of mass-mailed leaflet emails were sent.

Director of Communications for the Community Security Trust (CST) Mark Gardner, said that these attacks are just reflecting the wider issues society faces and they will inevitably lead to further division.

"Anti-Semitism has always reflected wider issues across society. These incidents are mainly racist abuse of Jews, similar to that expressed against other minorities. It suggests a worrying deepening of division and antagonism within society," Mark Gardner told Sputnik.

Antisemitic graffiti, London, January 2016

© Photo : CST

The CST have noted an increase in reports this year compared to last year, and said that at least 70 percent of incidents get reported to nobody, however they are sure that the increase in the number of attacks is not solely down to the fact that people have now started to report the incidents.

CST Incidents Report January — June 2016: get the facts in under 3 minutes #antisemitism2016 https://t.co/LzqR0YTpds pic.twitter.com/CDeZHEboyJ

— CST (@CST_UK) August 4, 2016

​It is not just the Jewish community that has been targeted, over recent months and especially after the Brexit vote several other minority groups have faced abuse.

The polish communities were severely targeted after the UK voted to leave the EU. Now in the wake of these recent attacks, the question is being asked as to whether more could be done by the government to stop the attacks. However, the CST believes more could be done and should be done by social media to curb online abuse.

Interesting assessment in @CST_UK report on correlation between rise in antisemitism and situation in Labour Party pic.twitter.com/E0RFHhMIkF

— Anshel Pfeffer (@AnshelPfeffer) 4 August 2016

"We receive very good practical and moral assistance form Government and police. If anyone is failing to pull their weight, it is certain civil society groups who have repeatedly ignored or sought to excuse away anti-Semitism as it has steadily continued to climb since the year 2000. Also, social media and Internet companies need to do much better, because they are literally facilitating and publishing much of this hatred," Gardner told Sputnik.

Once people report the incident, the issue of prosecution is a pressing one, with many victims often feeling that there will be no justice.

We must never accept a yearly increase of Antisemitism incidents as normal, they hurt everyone, destroying society from within @CST_UK

— Sir Eric Pickles (@EricPickles) August 4, 2016

​"Prosecution sends a vital message, both to perpetrators and victims. It depends upon the willingness and awareness of police and prosecution services, which generally is reasonably high, but with room for improvement. Victims need to be willing to follow everything through the process, which can be difficult when often they just want to try and get back to their normal lives."

The most important thing however is to report all abuse and the CST have urged that if people suffer anti-Semitism, they should contact the CST or police.

In an emergency, 999 should of course be called immediately. If you suffer or witness social media abuse, then screengrab it and alert CST and the relevant provider.