The Community Security Trust (or CST), which records anti-Semitic acts in the United Kingdom, recorded 4,103 anti-Semitic acts in 2023, almost double the previous record, recorded in 2021, and an increase of 147% compared to 2022.
The community association which provides security to schools and places of worship for the Jewish community in the United Kingdom, believes that this level is “due entirely to the increase in incidents following the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October, and the scale of the increase is unprecedented.”
Two thirds of these events occurred after the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against Israel, which left 1,160 dead, according to a count by Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on official sources. Israel’s retaliatory military operation in the Gaza Strip left 28,576 people dead, according to Hamas.
“British Jews are strong and resilient, but the explosion of hatred against our community is an absolute disgrace,” denounced CST executive director Mark Gardner. “It occurs in schools, universities, workplaces, on the streets, and all over social media,” he added in a statement.
“Our community is being harassed, intimidated, threatened and attacked by extremists,” he continued. This is a challenge for everyone, and we condemn the stony silence of those sections of society who ardently denounce racism in all other cases, except hatred towards Jews. »
Increase in anti-Muslim incidents
Quoted in the press release, James Clervely, the Minister of the Interior, describes the increase in anti-Semitic acts as “truly deplorable”, promising to do “everything in [his] power” on the issue. At the end of October, London Police Chief Mark Rowley reported a 14-fold increase in anti-Semitic acts and a nearly three-fold increase in anti-Muslim acts.
In December, the Tell MAMA association, which records anti-Muslim incidents, reported a seven-fold increase in their number between October 7 and December 13, with 1,432 acts, compared to 195 over the same period the previous year. . This is the largest increase ever recorded by the association in such a period of time.