British lawmakers urge action against anti-Semitism

A group of senior British lawmakers warned Monday of a “disturbing” rise of anti-Semitism in the country, Reuters reported.

“Whilst the Jewish community is diverse and multi-faceted there is a palpable concern, insecurity, loneliness and fear following the summer’s rise in incidents and subsequent world events,” the parliamentarians said in a report.

“A more sophisticated understanding of anti-Semitism is needed, together with better defined boundaries of acceptable discourse,” the report said.

Last week, a Jewish group that records anti-Semitic incidents reported that a record number of hate attacks occurred last year, fueled by the conflict in Gaza. The Community Security Trust (CST) said Thursday that 1,168 anti-Semitic incidents were reported over 2014. It was more than double the 535 incidents seen in 2013, and the highest annual total seen since CST began records in 1984.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that the lawmakers’ report was “hugely important,” Reuters reported. “No disagreements over foreign policy or politics can ever be allowed to justify anti-Semitism or any other form of racism, prejudice or extremism,” he was quoted as saying.

The report urged  authorities to take action to “ensure Jewish communities have the necessary protection from the continuous terrorist threat they face,” including providing security at synagogues by means of a dedicated government fund.

Last summer’s conflict in Israel and Gaza caused a spike in incidents that were the biggest factor in the record high, the CST said in its report last week.

The most common type of incident was verbal abuse directed at Jewish people in public. Other incidents included damage and desecration of Jewish property, anti-Semitic graffiti, threats and anti-Semitic abuse by mass-mailed letters or emails.

A recent survey has found that Britons feel more “unfavorable” to Israel than any other country worldwide except North Korea.

In January European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said the bloc faces a “huge challenge” to reassure Jews about their future in Europe after a recent wave of Islamist attacks in Paris.

“Today we see in some of our member states that a majority of the Jewish community is not sure that they have a future in Europe,” he said.

“I think this is a huge challenge to the very foundation of European integration,” he added.

He said the issue was more important than the single European currency or internal markets or other initiatives.

It is a “fundamental value” that everyone has a place in Europe no matter what his or her creed or background is.

Timmermans said Europeans must use education and other tools “to make sure that we don’t lose part of our population to extremism, to fanaticism, to exclusion.”

AFP contributed to this report.