The surge in anti-Semitism in the UK since the October 7 attacks is one of the highest in Europe, survey finds
- In Europe, only France, Switzerland and Bulgaria had a higher percentage increase
Britain has seen the fourth highest rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe since the October 7 Hamas attacks, ‘staggering’ figures show.
Amid growing concerns about US-style pro-Palestine protests at British universities, a worrying international ranking yesterday revealed that the number of hate crimes targeting the Jewish people rose from 1,662 to 4,103 last year – an increase of 146 percent.
In Europe, only France, Switzerland and Bulgaria recorded a higher rate of increase – prompting campaigners to warn that Britain was ‘succumbing to a racist mob’.
Worryingly, Britain also witnessed 58 percent more attacks on Jewish people than the US between October 7 and the end of 2023, despite having only one-twentieth as many Jews.
The alarming figures come as universities have been accused of abandoning Jewish students due to pro-Palestinian protests sweeping the country.
Britain has seen the fourth highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe since Hamas unleashed its terror attack in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
The aftermath of an attack on the Supernova music festival by Palestinian militants on October 7
Students in an encampment on the grounds of Newcastle University protest against the war in Gaza
West Yorkshire Police at the University of Leeds, where protesters set up tents on campus in solidarity with Palestine
On Saturday, Edward Isaacs, president of the Union of Jewish Students, said campus bosses had not been “allies” to his members and did not make them feel “included.”
Figures collected in an annual report on anti-Semitism by Tel Aviv University and the respected Anti-Defamation League show that the number of incidents has increased sharply in a range of countries since October 7 last year.
A subsequent analysis by the Daily Mail found that the percentage increase in Britain was only surpassed by France – home to Europe’s largest Jewish population and where there was a 284 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents – Switzerland and Bulgaria.
Outside Europe, recorded incidents in Australia – home to 118,200 Jews – shot up 737 percent, from 79 in October and November 2022 to 662 in the same period twelve months later.
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said yesterday: ‘These staggering figures are the latest confirmation of the rising antisemitism we are seeing in all areas of British life since the Hamas attack on October 7.
‘As this report shows, this is not a problem unique to Britain, but Britain is not well and every country must take action to protect its Jewish community.
“This is not the tolerant Britain we cherish: it is a Britain succumbing to a racist mob.”
The report’s authors highlighted how incidents had been on the rise worldwide even before October 7, warning that Hamas terror attacks had “helped spread a fire that had already grown out of control.”
Professor Uriya Shavit, head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, warned that “if current trends continue, the curtain will fall on the ability to live Jewish lives in the West.”
“As bomb threats against synagogues become a daily occurrence, Jewish existence in the West is forced to fortify itself, and the more it does so, the more its sense of security and normalcy is undermined,” he added.