Religious hate crimes up by 25% in a year following Israel-Hamas conflict
Religious hate crimes in England and Wales have risen by a quarter in the past year – driven by a rise in offences against Jewish people and Muslims, new Home Office figures show.
The increase has been driven by a rise in hate crimes against Jewish people and to a lesser extent Muslims and has occurred since the beginning of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.
Since the conflict began just over a year ago, there has been an outpouring of protesters in cities across Britain, and a number of arrests over Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents.
In the year to March 2024, religious hate crimes recorded by police stood at 10,484 offences, compared to 8,370 the previous year.
This is the highest annual count in these offences since the hate crime collection began in the year ending March 2012.
However, overall, there was a 5% decrease in hate crime offences across the board, including for race, sexual orientation disability and transgender related hate crimes.
Religious hate crimes targeted at Jewish people more than doubled over the course of a year to 3,282 incidents, accounting for a third (33%) of all religious hate crimes, compared to 20% in 2023.
Meanwhile there were 3,866 offences recorded against Muslims, up 13% from the previous year. In the last year, almost two in five (38%) of religious hate crimes were targeted against Muslims.
ITV News UK Editor Paul Brand rides along with the Shomrim neighbourhood watch group in London as antisemitic incidents spike in the capital
Warning: This report contains distressing language
The events of the past year in the Middle East have had a direct impact on Jewish and Muslim communities in Britain, ITV News reporters Sam Holder and Shehab Khan reported on the one-year anniversary of October 7.
“I had someone make comments about how he was essentially telling me he was pro concentration camps in the Holocaust," one young student said.
A woman named Ruby told how she no longer "feels safe" walking down the street, recalling how when she was on her way home from a pro-Palestine protest, a man called her a "cancer on this country".
Meanwhile ITV News UK Editor Paul Brand rode along in London with the Shomrim, a protection service run by Orthodox Jews who said they'd had almost double the report of antisemitic incidents reported to them this year.
"There are incidents where children are bullied in the streets walking home from school - kicked into the road, pushed into traffic," Shaye Fischer said during the patrol.
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