United Kingdom
(Updated December 2003)
The Jewish population in the United
Kingdom numbers 280,000, two-thirds of whom live in London; other
large communities are located in Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow. The
Muslim population is 500,000, most of whom have an Asian background.
Between 1990 and 2001 an average of 282 anti-Semitic incidents per year
were counted. During the period 1998 to 2001, the average yearly total
rose to 305 incidents. In comparison to the preceding year, in 2000
the UK (total population 58.4 million) witnessed 405 anti-Semitic incidents,
a rise of 50. One third of these occurred in the months of October and
November, “reflecting the upsurge in tensions between Palestinians
and Israelis”. The rise in 2000 was also accompanied by an even
greater increase in racist incidents. The number of incidents decreased
in 2001 to 305, but the Community Security Trust states that “October
2000 proved to be a watershed with regard to incidents. There appears
to have been a genuine change, both qualitative and quantitative after
this point”: there were 22 synagogue desecrations in the 22 months
before October 2000, but 78 in the same time period since, and assaults
on Jews since October 2000 “have often been sustained beating leading
to hospitalisation, compared with the `roughing up` by neo-Nazis that
more typically occurred before.” The data of the CST show that
an increasing number of incidents are “caused by Muslims or Palestinian
sympathisers, whether or not they are Muslims”. This indicates
a change of direction from which anti-Semitism comes, which is closely
connected to the tensions in the Middle East conflict.
1. Physical acts of violence
The climax of the violence was reached in the weeks
between the beginning of April and the start of May 2002. There were
51 incidents nationwide in April, “most of them assaults on individuals”,
compared with 12 in March and seven in February. Some of the assaults
resulted in the hospitalisation of the victims with serious injuries.
Reportedly, the victims were mainly orthodox and Hassidic Jews. In London,
Manchester and Glasgow the windows of synagogues or the Hebrew Congregation
were smashed; in London a further synagogue was desecrated.
On 6 May, following a rally in support of Israel,
a boy wearing a shirt with the Star of David was attacked by three youths.
On 11 July the synagogue in Swansea (Wales) was desecrated
by vandals with graffiti (swastika, and the phrase “T4 Jewish c***
from Hitler”) and Torah rolls were damaged and burned. The attempt
to burn down the building failed.
The CST counted 20 incidents of extreme violence (attacks potentially
causing loss of life) and assaults during the first five months of 2002.
Then perpetrators were described as follows: five white, five Arab,
three Asian, seven unknown.
2. Verbal aggression/hate speech
In Edinburgh an Episcopalian clergyman was forced to defend a mural
showing a crucified Jesus flanked by Roman soldiers - and modern-day
Israeli troops. It was not anti-Semitic, he insisted, but designed to
make his congregation think about current conflicts. The Anti-Defamation
League criticised that Christian clerics are using anti-Jewish rhetoric
in proclaiming the old, destructive ‘replacement theology’
– the notion that Judaism has been replaced as religion”.
Media
Many British Jews are of the opinion that the press
reporting on Israeli policy is spiced with a tone of animosity, “as
to smell of anti-Semitism” as The Economist put it. In their opinion
this is above all the case with the two quality papers, the Guardian
and the Independent. After the attack on the Finsbury Park synagogue
Jeremy Newmark, official spokesman for Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks,
said that “anti-Semitic incidents have been rising over the past
year, but have shown a marked upturn in the past six weeks as the conflict
in the Middle East has reached a furious pitch.” He says that “the
anti-Israeli bias of much media coverage here has made British Jews
more vulnerable” without though naming any examples.
3. Research studies
Between 16 May and 4 June and between 9 and 29 September surveys commissioned
by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New York were conducted on “European
Attitudes towards Jews, Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict”
in ten European countries. Compared to most of the other EU countries
agreement with anti-Semitic statements in the United Kingdom was clearly
lower: from the four stereotypical statements presented, only 9% of
the respondents agreed to at least three (see Table: Report on Belgium).
Only with the statement “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to
this country” did one third of the respondents agree; at the same
time though this number is well below the European average of 51%. A
third of the British respondents feel that anti-Jewish sentiments will
increase in the coming years. To the question “Thinking specifically
of the current conflict (...) – are your sympathies more with the
Israelis or more with the Palestinians?”, 30% of the British respondents
sympathised with the Palestinian side, the second highest rate after
the Danes, while only 16% sympathised with Israel. Here the social contact
with Muslims appears to have played an important role: 32% of the British
in contact with Muslims “fairly often” sympathised with the
Palestinians. In all states surveyed the individual use of media exerted
a certain influence: of those British respondents who followed the news
coverage “a great deal” or “a good amount”, 41%
sympathised with the Palestinian side, while the proportion for Israel
was 11%. A survey already conducted in April, “The plague on both
houses. British attitudes to Israel and Palestine”, had reached
similar conclusions: 14% said that they were more sympathetic to Israel
than to the Palestinians, while 28% sympathised more with the latter.
Both Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian leader Arafat were mainly
disapproved of (50% and 54% respectively); and 38% and 33% respectively
were for sanctions against both sides (cutting off aid and blocking
military exports). The Economist spoke of a “steady shift of sympathy
away from Israel, especially on the left”.
4. Good Practice for reducing prejudice, violence and aggression
After the desecration of the synagogue at Finsbury Park, on 2 May the
Muslim Jewish Forum of North London, a group committed to improving
relations between the two faiths, condemned the attack as “a terrible
violation of a sacred place of worship”. Some days after the attack
on the Finsbury Park synagogue, a petition to “Stop Anti-Semitism
in the UK” was placed on the Internet and to be personally presented
to the Prime Minister Tony Blair.
5. Reactions by politicians and other opinion leaders
In a demonstration of mainstream political solidarity against racism,
two senior Labour and Conservative politicians united on 2 May 2002,
to condemn the desecration of the synagogue of Finsbury Park. The Local
Government Secretary, Stephen Byers, and the opposition home affairs
spokesman, Oliver Letwin, supported the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks,
as volunteers began scraping away spattered paint, repairing broken
seats and replacing vandalised equipment. After surveying the damage,
Mr Byers said he wanted to demonstrate the government’s support
for the Jewish community. “The people of this country will defend
their right to practice their religion.” “In the year 2002
this kind of destruction is not what I had expected to see. Any right-thinking
member of the community will condemn this as barbaric. We have to ensure
that those people who are intolerant, who are prejudiced, don’t
have the opportunity of committing this again.” Mr Letwin regarded
it as particularly important “that every mainstream political party
in Britain shows the solidarity we feel about this attack. It was deliberately
intended to inflame relationships in the local community.” The
Chief Rabbi warned of the upsurge in anti-Semitic attacks, emphasising
though at the same time that the “support from political parties
and local communities has been tremendous. Britain must reject racist
politics and I’m confident it will. There will certainly be greater
vigilance in the community.”
On 4 March 2002, the MP Jim Murphy had submitted a
parliamentary question to the Home Secretary, calling for him to make
a statement on anti-Semitism in the UK and asking what action he has
taken to combat it. In reply the government emphasised that it is “fully
committed to tackling racism and anti-Semitism wherever it occurs. We
have continued to strengthen our anti-discrimination laws and our criminal
law to ensure that it continues to offer some of the most comprehensive
protection against racism and anti-Semitism in Europe. In that regard
we have introduced the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000; we are looking
at ways to implement the European Union directives on race and discrimination
in employment; strengthen the law on incitement to racial hatred by
raising the maximum penalty to seven years’ imprisonment and extending
the scope to hatred directed against racial groups outside the United
Kingdom and introduced religiously aggravated offences to add to the
racially aggravated offences we introduced in 1998. We have asked the
police and the Crown Prosecution Service to work together to pool knowledge
and experience in the investigation and prosecution of race hate material.
We have also made significant changes to our laws countering the threat
of terrorism, including the Terrorism Act 2000 and, in response to the
events of September 11, the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
The Government and the police continue to have a good working relationship
with the Jewish community in Britain.”
On 19 April, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary presented,
together with his colleagues from France, Belgium, Spain and Germany,
a joint declaration on “Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism”
which aims at establishing preventive measures and a European-wide coordination
of the responsible offices and agencies.
In response to a question posed by the MP Dismore
as to the number of anti-Semitic offences in the last weeks and months,
on 14 May 2002 the government declared that the number of anti-Semitic
crimes is not collected separately by the Home Office. “The Government
condemns all acts of anti-Semitism in this country. The Government and
the police are aware of the concerns of the Jewish community and we
have received reports from both the police and community organisations
such as the Community Security Trust. We will continue to monitor the
situation carefully in co-operation with community organisations.”
Sources:
C.R.I.F. - Released by the European Jewish Congress |