Surge in anti-Jewish hatred hits all-time high fueled by Middle East conflict

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The conflict in the Middle East has fueled a shocking rise in antisemitic hate crime with the majority of cases in London.

According to a Jewish charity there were more than 4,103 recorded anti-Jewish hate crimes last year in the UK of which 2,410 were in the capital.

Dave Rich from the Community Security Trust said he's seen this kind of extremism before, but his time it "felt different".

"When the Hamas terror attack began in Israel we knew there would be a surge in anti-Jewish hatred in this country because we've seen it so many times before. But I think the scale of it is really shocking," Dave Rich said.

"The size of the increase so much higher than any other previous annual total. The fact that we've seen incidents in every single part of the United Kingdom, I think it feels for a lot of British Jews, like something really changed on the 7th of October.

"Of course, we've seen anti-Semitism before. We've seen this kind of extremism before. But it feels different," he added.

Dave said he had seen a tripling of incidents in schools, a similar increase in universities and complaints from workplaces. "We've seen the highest ever increase in online anti-Semitism," he explained.

Asked if Jewish people had changed their day-to-day behaviour to avoid being targeted, he said: "I think a lot of Jewish people are very worried about what this means for the future in a very practical sense, whether it is safe to leave their home and show that they are visibly Jewish or if they have to change their behavior.

"I think there's an inner strength in the community to get through this as well.

"But there's also a lot of anger that this is even happening in the first place. You know, Britain over the years has become a country where it's been a really good place to be Jewish.

"And this feels like it's not the Britain that we have come to know. When people are asking where this is coming from and where it's heading."

Dave said the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents was in London because the city had the largest Jewish community in the UK. Dave said: "London is a place that prides itself on its diversity. The people of every background and origin can come here and have a great life, and that's part of our values. Since 7th October, the Jewish community in London has felt like we're not part of that, we can't enjoy that anymore.

"And it particularly happens every weekend when we get these massive protests through central London and a lot of Jewish people simply won't go into the center of their own city when these protests are on."


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