Incidents of blatant antisemitism appear to be gathering apace across the world.

Shocking UK statistics

Within the UK alone, a new report by The Community Security Trust reveals a staggering 589% increase in the number of incidents compared with the same period in 2022. Two-thirds of the 2023 incidents occurred after 7 October – totalling 2,699, compared with 392 over the same time period in 2022. The majority of these occurred in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attack. Revealingly, the week immediately after the Oct 7 massacre saw the highest levels overall, suggesting the spike in antisemitism was prompted by celebrations of Hamas's atrocities rather than Israel's military response in Gaza. Read also.

Such incidents included 266 violent assaults on Jews, exactly half of which occurred in just five boroughs – Barnet (56) and Hackney (41) in London; Bury (17) and Salford (13) near Manchester; and Gateshead (6). Forty cases of assault were perpetrated by children against other children. Unprecedently, antisemitic incidents were recorded by every police force in the UK, with the majority – over 2,400 – in London.

... the week immediately after the Oct 7 massacre saw the highest levels overall, suggesting the spike in anti-Semitism was prompted by celebrations of Hamas's atrocities rather than Israel's military response in Gaza.

A catalogue of racist abuse

Not included in the above figures, the following cases have been reported just in the last week or so:

• Muslim Tory mayor of Salisbury, Atiqul Hoque, was expelled from the Conservative Party after condemning “Zionist paymasters” and referring to an antisemitic trope about Jews being Christ-killers.
• In a truly shocking instance, a little known UK comedian, Paul Currie 'hounded out' a Jewish audience member from his Soho show 'because he refused to applaud a Palestine flag'. The racist comedian is accused of encouraging the crowd to chant 'get …out' and 'free Palestine'. The Jewish man said he feared the comic was going to 'punch' him. Soho Theatre has since banned Currie.
• The Jewish chaplain at the University of Leeds was forced into hiding with his family after receiving numerous death threats over his service as a reservist in the Israel Defence Forces.
• Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali was finally expelled by the Labour Party after claiming that Israel deliberately allowed the Hamas atrocity on October 7 so they could invade Gaza and create ‘genocide’ among its inhabitants. A second Labour parliamentary candidate was also expelled, after referring to 'f**** Israel' during a local Labour meeting.
• Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood had to call in police protection after a 100-strong pro-Palestinian mob surrounded his family home and branded him a 'war criminal' over his backing for Israel.
• Students chanted “Zionists off our campus” and “death to Zionists” during a rally at the University of Birmingham.
• Hillel House – a ‘safe place’ for Jewish students at the University of Leeds – was vandalised with graffiti reading, ‘Free Palestine’. West Yorkshire Police are treating the incident as a hate crime.

To think that all the above incidents, plus others not recorded here, occurred within UK shores within the past ten days – begins to show the scale of the problem.

European incidents

Of course, such incidents are by no means confined to Britain. They are equally common in other European countries, and indeed throughout the world. Typical of continental statistics, it was reported this week that Jew-hatred was ‘far higher’ in Italy in 2023 than 2022, with 454 antisemitic incidents representing the largest ever such statistic in the country. From France it was revealed last week that no fewer than 43 Jewish pupils have left Parisian public high schools since Oct 7th, due to increasing “attacks and threats” against them and the schools’ inability to “ensure their protection”.

... such incidents are by no means confined to Britain. They are equally common in other European countries, and indeed throughout the world.

In neighbouring Switzerland a few days ago, an antisemitic sign, written in Hebrew, was put up at a local ski shop near Davos, barring Jews from renting equipment from the store following several items going missing. Regional police have opened an investigation into possible ‘incitement to hatred’.

Nearer home, Ireland’s women basketball team sought to boycott a match against Israel last week, but were threatened with serious punishments by a ruling body. So they played, but refused to engage in the traditional exchanging of gifts, handshakes before or after the game, or standing to face their opponents during the national anthems. (End result – Israel thrashed Ireland by 87 points to 57!)

American cases

Shockingly, however, over 45 percent of worldwide antisemitic incidents since October 7th have occurred in the United States, home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel. A new national study has found that nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the US than they did a year ago. One in four Jewish Americans say they avoid identifying as Jewish publicly by wearing, carrying or displaying things that identify them as Jewish.

A new national study has found that nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the US than they did a year ago.

In New York, just a few days ago, a lawsuit was filed against Columbia University on behalf of an Orthodox Jewish student, alleging that she was forced out of a University program due to antisemitism. It’s not many weeks since the Presidents of other American universities and colleges – those of Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania even argued before a tribunal that calls for genocide of the Jews by their students did not violate their code of conduct.

It is believed that much of the antisemitism in US universities can be traced to such institutions receiving funding from foreign states such as Qatar, and organisations promoting terror jihad. Read also. Generally, however, though they experience more antisemitism than any other age group, younger American Jews are less likely to worry about discrimination.

Global Jihad agenda

Clearly, and most disturbingly, anti-Semitism is more prevalent than it’s been any time since the beginning of the Nazi movement. We have even witnessed the antisemitic murder of Jews in several nations over the past few months– not least, the US, Tunisia, and Egypt.

We should all be alarmed to think that the Hamas attacks on October 7th were not just against Israel.

And we should not suppose that the Hamas attacks on October 7th were just against Israel. "It's against the Jewish people and also against … the Western civilization," believes Amichai Chikli, the Israeli government minister who handles issues relating to Jews worldwide. “The jihadist, the global jihad agenda, is not just related to Jews and it's not just related to Israel, it's the Western civilization as a whole."

Satan’s plan

Of course, post October 7th, it is quite right and natural to feel profoundly saddened and deeply concerned at the massive loss of life in Gaza, particularly the thousands of children and elderly killed. And it is perfectly legitimate to question the Israeli government’s tactics and plan. Indeed, nowhere is this more debated than in Israel itself.

This is fed by an undercurrent in left-liberal circles of demonising anything that smacks of ‘colonialism’ or ‘privilege’

But antisemitism is something different altogether. As pointed out earlier, there was a massive upsurge following Hamas’s Oct 7th pogrom long before any counter-offensive by Israel. The increase in Islamists, and Islamist sympathisers, in the West have clearly driven this.

But they are encouraged by a lack of resistance from a population and from governments unwilling to oppose them. This is fed by an undercurrent in left-liberal circles of demonising anything that smacks of ‘colonialism’ or ‘privilege’, whilst utterly failing to even try to understand the full context of the conflict.

Deeper than this still, however, is the ancient hatred which is being stirred up again, one fomented to thwart God’s purposes by the adversary, satan. Let us remember this as we pray for our Jewish neighbours near and far – for God’s protection for them from their many enemies, and, not least, from the Enemy of souls.