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Report: U.K. Anti-Semitic Acts at 30-Year High

British watchdog group’s figures expected to exceed 1,000 incidents

by
Stephanie Butnick
December 30, 2014
Jewish groups protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on August 31, 2014. ( JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Jewish groups protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on August 31, 2014. ( JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Anti-Semitic incidents in Britain occurred at a higher rate in 2014 than during any year in the past three decades, according to a British watchdog organization. The Telegraph reports that the Community Security Trust will release their 2014 figures—which will include reported violent assaults, verbal abuse, and online incidents—in February 2015, with the total number of reported incidents projected to be more than 1,000.

According to the data, there were 302 reported anti-Semitic incidents in July alone—a more than 400 percent increase from the previous July—as tensions fueled by the Israeli operation in Gaza flared across Europe and many anti-Israel protests quickly turned anti-Semitic.

The sharp rise in 2014 incidents in the U.K. seems to be best explained by the ripple effects of anger sparked by this summer’s events in Gaza, given the concentration of incidents during that time. Indeed, the last year that the Community Security Trust’ numbers were similarly high was in 2009—with 931 reported anti-Semitic incidents—during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.