Antisemitism in the United Kingdom

Antisemitism in the United Kingdom goes back a long way. Discrimination and hostility against the first British Jewish community since its establishment in 1070 resulted in a series of massacres on several occasions and their expulsion from the country in 1290.

During the second half of the 20th century, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, undisguised, racial hatred of Jews became unacceptable in British society. The Jewish community was largely unaffected by outbursts of antisemitism emanating from far right groups, whose energies were focused on hostility to other minorities. There was an awareness that antisemitism had always existed within some elements of society, but it seemed that decades of progress were set to continue and that antisemitism had finally been pushed into the very margins of the British society.

During the 21st century, antisemitism appeared to be based on racism. Jews were no longer accused of killing Christ, or possessing sinister racial traits. Contemporary antisemitism in Britain has become more subtle while its nature is complex and multifaceted – not one-dimensional. It is perpetrated in different ways by different groups within society and for this reason it is hard to identify. Therefore, antisemitic words and acts can be separated into the following two groups: Acts of violence and abuse against Jews or their personal and communal property; Antisemitism in public and private discourse, for example the language and tone adopted by the media, political groups, organisations and individuals.

Analysis

Sources of contemporary antisemitism

In the early 21st century, the dominant source of contemporary antisemitism in the UK was the far right. Although in the aftermath of the Holocaust far right extremism became marginalised, Holocaust denial and Jewish conspiracy theories remain core elements of far right ideology. Nevertheless, contemporary antisemitism is to be found as well on the left of the political spectrum. Criticism of Israel, especially from the left, has been fuelled further by the second Palestinian Intifada and by the invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, scholars, such as Professor Cesarani, have found it hard to define and contest "because it no longer has any resemblance to classical Nazi-style Jew hatred, because it is masked by or blended inadvertently into anti-Zionism, and because it is often articulated in the language of human rights". Sociologist Dr. David Hirsh sees anti-Zionism as a political discourse that places anti-imperialism at the centre of an absolutist ideology that divides the world into two camps, a discourse that may take on antisemitic form, or merge with an antisemitic discourse, but might not in itself be consciously antisemitic. The major source of contemporary antisemitism is to be found in parts of the British Muslim community. The roots of this kind of antisemitism are complex – from a mixture of historical attitudes, domestic and political tensions between communities to the globalisation of the Middle East conflict. One assumption is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has fuelled a sense of anger and injustice among the British Muslim community and therefore created a climate that is more hospitable to radical Islamist ideology, such as contemporary antisemitism.

In December 2014, the Department of Communities and Local Government of Britain published a report that describes the government action on antisemitism. According to this report, there is a 25% increase in the number of antisemitic incidents occurring on social media. That stands in reverse to the fact that during 2013\14 there was a decline in the whole number of antisemitic incidents in the country comparing to 2013\12. The report also reveals that the majority of reports of antisemitic hate crime are focused in three police force area: Metropolitan, Greater Manchester and Hertfordshire, where the overwhelming majority of Jews live.

Antisemitic Incidents Figures Since 1997

Data

The levels of antisemitic incidents in the UK often rise temporarily, in response to 'trigger events', often but not always related to Israel or the wider Middle East. Such trigger events are: the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and the terrorist shooting at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse, France in 2012; the second Lebanon War in 2006; the Iraq War in 2003; the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001; and the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.

The Community Security Trust published in 2015 a report that indicated a significant increase in antisemitic incidents during 2014 in the United Kingdom. The report said that, the number of antisemitic incidents more than doubled in 2014 compared to the previous year, reaching 1,168 hate-crimes. Antisemitic reactions in Britain to the conflict in Israel and the Gaza Strip is named by CST as the largest contributing factor, with the highest-ever monthly total of 314 antisemitic incidents recorded in July 2014 (the same month of the operation protective edge). Despite these findings, research published in June 2015 by Pew Research Center showed that out of six countries participating, the population of the UK had almost the most favorable views of Jews.

While 78% of Europeans have a favorable opinion of Jewish people (13% did not however), in UK 83% of the population hold positive views, and only 7% hold unfavorable opinions of them. This can be contrasted with Muslims (81% favourable) and Roma (63%).

In July 2015 the Community Security Trust published an antisemitic incidents report for the first six months of the year. The report showed an increase of 53% compared with the previous year's results, with 473 incidents across the UK. Most of the incidents (353) were under the category of "abusive behavior". There were significant increases in the violent categories ("violent assault" and "extreme violence") with 44 incidents, which is double the number for the previous year. In 36% of the total number of incidents there was a political reference: 32 incidents referred to Israel and Zionism, 16 incidents mentioned Islam and 122 incidents included far right discourse.

Annual Incidents Figures by Category 1997–2012

Category	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
1. Extreme violence	4	0	0	2	1	5	0	4	2	4	1	1	3	0	2	2
2. Assault	19	17	33	51	40	42	54	79	80	108	116	87	121	114	93	67
3. Damage and desecration	58	31	25	73	90	55	72	53	48	70	65	76	89	83	64	53
4. Threats	19	16	31	39	37	18	22	93	25	27	24	28	45	32	30	39
5. Abusive behaviour	86	136	127	196	122	216	211	272	273	365	336	317	609	391	412	467
6. Literature	33	36	54	44	20	14	16	31	27	20	19	37	62	25	7	12
TOTAL	219	236	270	405	310	350	375	532	455	594	561	546	929	645	608	640

Antisemitic discourse

Trends in Antisemitic Attitudes in United Kingdom
Percent responding "probably true"
10 20 30 40 50 Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country Jews have too much power in the business world Jews have too much power in international financial markets Jews still talk too much about the Holocaust   2004   2005   2007   2009   2012

According to the Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism, "Antisemitic discourse is, by its nature, harder to identify and define than a physical attack on a person or place." It is not normally targeted at an identifiable victim, but at Jews as a group. It influences and reflects hostile attitudes to Jews and Jewish-related issues, and can fuel antisemitic incidents against Jews and Jewish institutions. It may be found in the media or in more private social interaction and often reflects some of the features of old antisemitism, playing on Jewish stereotypes and myths, and seldom uses expression of contemporary antisemitism.

Antisemitic discourse, in the 21st century in the UK, includes several manifestations:

• Anti-Zionism – Criticism of Zionism is not in itself antisemitic, but some manifestations of anti-Zionism hold antisemitic perceptions, as defined by the EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism.
• Holocaust Denial and Holocaust-related Abuse – In certain circumstances the discourse of Holocaust revisionism may be used in a way that amounts to incitement to racial hatred. However, the act of denying the commonly accepted view of the Holocaust is not a criminal offence as in other European countries.
• Conspiracy Theories – Those theories have been applied to many contemporary issues, accusing Jews and Israel indiscriminately of responsibility for all manner of world disasters.
• Dual Loyalty – Since the creation of the State of Israel, there have often been questions raised by the far-right as to Jews' loyalties to Britain.
• The Blood Libel – There has been a revival of the medieval "blood libel" against the Jews in some Islamist material in the UK.

See also

• Antisemitism in Scotland
• History of the Jews in England
• History of the Jews in Scotland
• History of the Jews in Northern Ireland
• History of the Jews in Wales
• Aaron, Son of the Devil, an antisemitic caricature dated 1277

Further reading

• Antisemitism Summary overview of the situation in the European Union 2001–2011, EUMC
• Legislating against hate: outlawing racism and antisemitism in Britain, Paul Iganski