Anti-Semitic attacks in UK rose 44% since 2014 , watchdog finds
A 2016 audit from the Campaign Against Antisemitism NGO finds that just 1.4% of hate crimes against Jews were prosecuted in the last year
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A report published Sunday from the UK’s Campaign Against Antisemitism NGO found that hate crimes against Jews in 2016 have risen by 44% since 2014.
One in 10 of an overall 1,078 anti-Semitic crimes were violent, but only one such attack was prosecuted in the past year.
In addition, police prosecuted just 15 cases — 1.4% — of overall anti-Semitic crime during that period, according to the the group’s 2016 National Antisemitic Crime Audit.
Using crime data gathered from UK police forces through Freedom of Information requests, the group found that the total rate of hate crimes against Jews rose roughly 15% in the past year and nearly three times that since 2014.
The group emphasized that the numbers depicted the “worst year on record,” though the NGO only started collecting data in 2014.
The report highlighted an enforcement failure of UK authorities, calling police conduct a “betrayal” against the country’s Jews.
“There is a very real danger of Jewish citizens emigrating, as has happened elsewhere in Europe unless there is radical change,” the group’s chairman Gideon Falter wrote.
The report made the same recommendations to law enforcement as it did last year, saying their proposals had not been implemented despite promises from UK authorities.
The NGO operates as part of the Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism, an international monitor linked to an Israeli government effort to fight anti-Semitism.
The report’s authors called for specific training on anti-Semitic hate crime for police and prosecutors, in addition to the existing training in overall hate crime. The CAA suggested appointing a senior officer in each police unit to ensure that proper responses to hate crimes against Jews are carried out.
Responding to the findings, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said “we will consider the report’s recommendations carefully as we develop new ways to rid the country of this sickening crime.”
Nearly two-thirds of reported incidents took place in London and Manchester, which are home to the UK’s two largest Jewish populations.
Last month, arsonists targeted two Kosher restaurants in what police referred to as “anti-Semitic hate crimes. “The attacks, which authorities said were linked, took place in the north Manchester neighborhood of Prestwich within five days of each other, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported.
On June 2, a firebomb was thrown at the Taam restaurant in an attack caught on surveillance cameras. The firebomb failed to ignite, leading one of the attackers to throw a stone through the establishment’s front window.
On June 6, unknown attackers forced open a window at the JS restaurant and poured in flammable liquid, which they ignited. The fire was put out after over an hour, causing no serious damage.
JTA contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.