Cambridge Rabbi calls for 'zero tolerance approach' after record high in antisemitism reports
More than 4,000 incidents were recorded in the UK last year
Last updated 16th Feb 2024
A Rabbi in Cambridgeshire tells us they hope a record number of anti-Semitic incidents will make more people aware of the issue.
It comes as the Community Security Trust (CST) - which provides protection for British Jews - found more than 4,000 incidents took place in the UK last year and almost double the previous record three years ago.
In its report, the CST said there were a total of 4,103 antisemitic incidents across the country in 2023, including 31 in Cambridgeshire.
"The fact people have been targeted has made me think twice"
Rabbi Ben Baruch's the Jewish Chaplain to Cambridge University:
"The fact I know people who have been targeted for how they look has caused me to think twice, for example after I go cycling, think twice before I take off my helmet or going out looking visibly dressed as I'm concerned I might be targeted.
"The response we've been feeling in the UK has broken a feeling Jewish people had felt like we're a minority that deserved affection; it feels like that feeling's been lost a little."
Hamas' attack spurred on antisemitism in UK, says CST
In its report, the CST said the record total is down to "the sheer volume of antisemitism perpetrated across the UK following Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023.
“Of the 4,103 instances of anti-Jewish hate reported, 2,699 (66%) occurred on or after 7 October.
“The speed at which antisemites mobilised in the UK on and immediately after 7 October suggests that, initially at least, this increase in anti-Jewish hate was a celebration of the Hamas attack on Israel, rather than anger at Israel’s military response in Gaza.”
It's a 589% rise from the 392 antisemitism incidents that the CST reported in 2022 over the same time period.
CST said it had recorded 3,328 incidents of abusive behaviour, 266 of assault, 305 of threats and 182 of damage and desecration.
"There needs to be a zero tolerance approach"
Rabbi Baruch hopes the report will lead to more action against antisemitism:
"I hope it will empower us to be able to feel more confident and ask for more condemnation around antisemitism and more education, and I hope the long-term effect will be a real wake-up call that will lead to us all being able to feel safer and more comfortable," he added.
"There needs to be a zero tolerance approach and I think that's the only way you can tackle it.
"Antisemitism has a very long history; people need to understand where it comes from and be able to identify it and call it out in the same way they'd call out any form of discrimination or racism."
What have politicians said?
Home Secretary James Cleverly MP described the rise in antisemitism in recent months as “utterly deplorable” and said he “will do everything in my power” to ensure the Jewish community is safe and feels safe.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, said the rise was “appalling and intolerable” and a “stain on our society”.
CST chief executive Mark Gardner said: “British Jews are strong and resilient, but the explosion in hatred against our community is an absolute disgrace."