British antisemitism: A look at the facts
In recent months nearly every
national mainstream media outlet has run reports concerning mounting
antisemitism within the UK. Following the massacres in Gaza over
the summer many of these reports warn that a new strain of antisemitism is on the
rise, with leading public figures joining forces to condemn those
responsible for increasingly frequent verbal and physical attacks on British
Jews.
The statistics cited by the press can be traced to the Community Security Trust (CST) - an organisation which has been documenting antisemitic incidents reported to it by the public since 1984. At first glance they are indeed shocking. In July CST recorded 302 antisemitic incidents representing a 400% increase over the 59 incidents recorded in the same month last year. A further 150 cases were reported the following month.
In September David Cameron and Michael Gove both reacted to the news publicly. “Today, across Europe, there has been a revival of antisemitism which the enormity of the Holocaust should have rendered forever unthinkable,” warned Gove, “…The virus is spreading across other European nations. We must all remember where this leads, now more than ever. And we must not think that Britain, gentle, tolerant, civilised Britain, is immune.”
Gove’s strong rhetoric and suggestion that the recent spike is connected to a wider trend across Europe echoes much of the media’s coverage of the issue. Yet while many articles assert that antisemitism has reached record levels in the UK, on closer inspection the matter appears more complex. Long term trends suggest antisemitism in Britain has actually been in decline for several years and, though it is cause for concern, the latest surge in incidents is not unprecedented.
The statistics cited by the press can be traced to the Community Security Trust (CST) - an organisation which has been documenting antisemitic incidents reported to it by the public since 1984. At first glance they are indeed shocking. In July CST recorded 302 antisemitic incidents representing a 400% increase over the 59 incidents recorded in the same month last year. A further 150 cases were reported the following month.
In September David Cameron and Michael Gove both reacted to the news publicly. “Today, across Europe, there has been a revival of antisemitism which the enormity of the Holocaust should have rendered forever unthinkable,” warned Gove, “…The virus is spreading across other European nations. We must all remember where this leads, now more than ever. And we must not think that Britain, gentle, tolerant, civilised Britain, is immune.”
Gove’s strong rhetoric and suggestion that the recent spike is connected to a wider trend across Europe echoes much of the media’s coverage of the issue. Yet while many articles assert that antisemitism has reached record levels in the UK, on closer inspection the matter appears more complex. Long term trends suggest antisemitism in Britain has actually been in decline for several years and, though it is cause for concern, the latest surge in incidents is not unprecedented.
“What happened this summer is something that
has happened in the past,” explains Dave Rich, Deputy Director of
Communications for CST. “When there is a flare up in the conflict in
Gaza as there was this summer we get more incidents taking place…A lot of the
incidents make direct reference to what’s happening in the Middle East. Then
after the fighting over there finishes, the spike in incidents declines so in
that respect it’s short term.
In January 2009, Israel launched
‘Operation Cast Lead’ in Gaza - a conflict lasting 22 days which resulted in
the death of around 1400 Palestinians. That month CST recorded a surge in
antisemitism involving 289 reported incidents – very close to the July 2014
figure (302). In the years since then, however, the number of incidents
reported to CST has dropped steadily, and in its latest annual report for 2013 the
organisation recorded 529 incidents - the lowest number of annual incidents
since 2005.
CST has also noted that
antisemitism trends in Britain appear to be at odds with other parts of Europe
such as France, where reports of violent attacks on Jews have been increasing
in frequency over the past few years and where a synagogue was firebombed in July.
Violent attacks in the UK are by comparison quite rare with the most common
form of antisemitism recorded by CST described as ‘random verbal abuse by
passers-by at visibly Jewish people in the street.’
“In the last two or three years
the trajectory in Britain has been very different to that in France and we had
taken that as a positive sign that things were working,” says Rich, “This
summer has set us back quite considerably but having said that it’s set back
France even worse.”
Rich’s approach to analysing the
state of antisemitism in Britain seems more measured than many of the media
reports which rely on CST’s figures for their stories. But the sensationalism
with which antisemitism tends to be reported – often invoking the Holocaust as a
terrifying reminder of the worst case scenario – has led to criticism by some
Jews who believe that spreading fear is largely counterproductive. Among them
is Antony Lerman, a British writer specialising in the study of antisemitism
and the former director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
One of the publications Lerman
singles out for criticism is the Jewish Chronicle – Britain’s leading Jewish newspaper – which
ran a headline in August titled ‘63% question the future of Jews
in the UK.’ The newspaper conducted a straw poll of merely 150 Jews – a small
sample on which to base such a bold statement.
“To blast a headline like that
across the front page of the main Jewish newspaper in the country...is this a
sensible thing to do? Are you just feeding people’s fears of antisemitism?”
Asks Lerman, “I think there is a lack of responsibility on the part of Jewish
leaders and certain people involved in the business of monitoring antisemitism.”
Lerman extends his criticism to
CST and questions whether the organisation risks conflating political
opposition to Israel with antisemitism in its analysis. In particular, the BDS
(Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement - which calls for economic and
political pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories -
has been the subject of some debate.
As a charitable organisation, CST
is restricted from expressing political opinions and officially the
organisation claims to uphold this requirement. However, in September the
organisation’s Communications Director, Mark Gardner, released a statement published in
several newspapers in which he appeared to criticise the effect that boycotts
of Israeli goods were having on British Jews.
“Anti-Semitic incidents will
subside along with the images on people’s television screens, but the long term
damage to Jews of anti-Israel boycotts will persist...One consequence of this
war will be a lot more boycotts, either through choice or intimidation. Just as
Israel is being singled out for scrutiny and boycott, so many Jews are going to
feel the same way.”
This sentiment was reiterated by
Michael Gove who stated in his speech: “We need to remind people that what
began with a campaign against Jewish goods in the past ended with a campaign
against Jewish lives.”
But Lerman and others see these
comments as highly problematic. “The boycott may be wrong, it may be counter
productive but to label it antisemitic is a big mistake,” he says.
In response, Dave Rich maintains that CST does not
regard boycotts alone as antisemitic. For an incident to be classed as
antisemitic it must be deemed “a malicious act aimed at Jewish people,
organisations or property where there is evidence that the victim or victims
were targeted because they are or are believed to be Jewish.” Boycotts against
Israel do not meet this threshold and are not included in official figures but,
he claims, some polls suggest around two thirds of Jews do think someone who
boycotts Israeli goods is probably antisemitic and CST has a duty to report
their fears.
Despite these disputes all parties are agreed
on one thing. While the recent spikes must be monitored closely and treated
seriously, the trajectory of antisemitism in Britain over the past few decades
has in many respects been positive - a fact seldom mentioned by
the press.
“Yes there is a level of antisemitism and it
hasn’t gone away. But on the whole it’s not at all bad in this country,” says
Lerman, who has been studying the matter since the 1980s.
“There’s a lot of work to be done but there’s
a lot of work that has been done,” concludes Dave Rich. “In terms of policy,
government action and police action we’re in a much better place now than we
were 20 years ago, so when events like this summer happen I think it’s
important not to just write all that off.”
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