A new report published on July 30 found that although anti-Semitic incidents have been on the decline in Britain so far in 2020, it remains the third-highest annual tally on record for anti-Semitic incidents.
The Community Security Trust (CST) report states that anti-Semitic incidents declined 13% from 911 during January-June 2019 to 789 over the same timeframe in 2020. The 789 recorded incidents is the third-highest number that the CST has ever recorded.
The number of anti-Semitic assaults and vandalism declined 45% and 28%, respectively, from the six months of 2019 to the first six months of 2020. However, online anti-Semitic incidents increased 4% over this timeframe, from 332 to 344. The 344 incidents are the highest number of online incidents that the CST has ever recorded.
The report stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a strong influence on how anti-Semitic incidents have played out in Britain.
“The lowest monthly totals in the first half of 2020 were April and March, with 98 and 102 anti-Semitic incidents respectively; the lowest figures recorded by CST since December 2017, and a significant fall from 2019’s monthly average of 151 incidents,” the report stated. “They correlate neatly with the timeframe across which lockdown measures were most forcefully communicated and applied: the instruction to close down restaurants, pubs and other venues was issued towards the end of March, while messaging was relaxed in May, from the explicit ‘Stay at Home’ to ‘Stay Alert.’ ”
CST Chief Executive David Delew said in a statement, “Any reduction in anti-Semitism is welcome, but it is worrying that even during a national lockdown anti-Semitic incidents only fell by 13 percent and new anti-Semitic lies have emerged to add to old hatreds. History tells us that anti-Semitism grows at times of great social upheaval and we need to ensure the same is not happening here.”
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, the national policing lead for hate crime, also said in a statement, “The COVID-19 outbreak has understandably created much fear in our society and racists have used this to promote their divisive ideologies. As ever, this includes antisemitic conspiracy theories that are unfounded, but are nonetheless widespread on the Internet. The greater the challenges we face, the more important our partnerships become and none are more important to us than the contribution of the Community Security Trust.”
The American Jewish Committee tweeted that the number of anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred in Britain thus far is “alarming.”
The increase in antisemitic incidents in the UK is alarming.
The watchdog group @CST_UK recorded 789 antisemitic incidents in the first half of this year – the third-highest number of incidents ever recorded by the organization.https://t.co/h9yK1H5Rdy
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) July 30, 2020
