Mid-year figures released by the Community Security Trust (CST) have revealed that the total number of antisemitic incidents recorded from January to June 2018 are the second-highest six-monthly total on record.
Today’s statistics revealed a total of 727 antisemitic incidents recorded in the UK, a decrease of 8% compared to the same period of 2017. Last year, 786 incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2017.
Of the 727 incidents, 59 were categorised as assault, 53 as threats, 43 involving damage or desecration and 544 examples of abusive behaviour.
There were 34 incidents which included explicit references to the Labour Party. There were also 28 incidents of mass-produced or mass-mailed literature targeting Jews.
The CST said it recorded 77 antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2018 that showed “anti-Israel motivation alongside antisemitism”, compared to 49 during the same period in 2017. Of the 77 antisemitic incidents of this type in the first half of 2018, 63 occurred in April, May and June but only 14 took place in the first three months of the year, before the violence began on the Gaza border began.
Targets included 36 synagogues, 57 Jewish communal organisations, communal events or commercial premises, and 118 visibly Jewish individuals.
May saw 160 antisemitic incidents, the fourth highest monthly total ever recorded.
Three quarters of the incidents were recorded in Greater London and Greater Manchester, where the UK’s two largest Jewish communities are based.
CST Chief Executive David Delew said: “Any fall in antisemitism is welcome, but these are the second worst figures ever and continue a trend that has now lasted for over two years. This antisemitism is not a random event, it reflects the state of British politics and wider society”.
Click here to read the CST’s report in full.
