Anti-Semitic hate crime numbers at record levels last year
A study shows that there were 107 violent anti-Semitic assaults reported in 2016, the highest number in six years.
Thursday 2 February 2017 07:51, UK
A record number of hate crimes against the Jewish community were reported last year, new figures show.
The Community Security Trust, a charity which monitors anti-Semitism, said that there were 1,309 incidents across the UK during 2016.
This was a 36% increase on the previous year and is more than the previous record of 1,182 set in 2014.
The most common type of incident was verbal abuse directed randomly at visibly Jewish people in public.
But the CST could not pinpoint an obvious cause for the rise, saying that previous bad years were caused by "anti-Semitic reactions to sudden, specific 'trigger events' leading to temporary 'spikes' in incidents".
Their report added that the high number of crimes recorded in 2016 was "probably due to the cumulative effects of a series of events and factors that, taken together, have created an atmosphere in which the number of incidents recorded by CST has remained high".
Included in the "series of events and factors" were allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, a perceived increase in racism and xenophobia after June's EU referendum vote and regular public discussion of anti-Semitism, racism and hate crime, the study said.
It added that these were likely to have caused a "greater level of reporting" of incidents to the CST and police.
The study also showed that there were 107 violent anti-Semitic assaults reported, the highest number in six years.
None of these were classed as "extreme violence", however, which would mean grievous bodily harm or a threat to life.
There were 81 reports of damage or desecration to Jewish property, an increase of a quarter since 2015.
David Delew, chief executive of the CST, said: "Whilst Jewish life in this country remains overwhelmingly positive, this heightened level of anti-Semitism is deeply worrying and it appears to be getting worse.
"Worst of all is that, for various reasons, some people clearly feel more confident to express their anti-Semitism publicly than they did in the past."
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: "It is vital we ensure the safety and security of our Jewish community and this Government will continue to do all we can to stamp out these vile attacks and encourage those who experience them to come forward."