Tuesday, March 19th | 9 Adar II 5784

Subscribe
December 6, 2022 3:36 pm
0

Antisemitism Rampant in UK Public Discourse, New Study Says

×

avatar by Dion J. Pierre

Tower Bridge in London, UK. Photo Credit: Giuseppe Milo, Flickr.

Antisemitism was a major theme in the United Kingdom’s “national discourse” in 2021, according to a new report by Community Security Trust (CST), an English nonprofit that provides counsel and security services to British Jews.

Released on Monday, the report, titled “Antisemitic Discourse in Britain 2021,” examined dozens of events in British society to demonstrate how discussions of antisemitism in media, politics, and campus activism intentionally and unintentionally affected the Jewish community, from students to political leaders.

“Antisemitic discourse influences and reflects hostile attitudes to Jews and Jewish-related issues. Hostile attitudes can lead to hostile actions and damaging impacts,” CST said. “Physically, antisemitic discourse may contribute to an atmosphere in which antisemitic hate crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions are more likely to occur. Psychologically, it can make Jews feel isolated, vulnerable, and hurt.”

Examples cited include the story of David Miller, a University of Bristol Professor who was fired for harassing Jewish students. During his lectures, Miller would call for the “end of Zionism” and insist that an Islamist terrorist was “an asset of the British state.” At his most paranoid, he accused Jewish university students waging a campaign of censorship on behalf of the Israeli government.

Miller’s behavior coincided with a general rise in antisemitism on UK university campuses, the report continued, a trend that peaked during Israel’s war with Hamas and prompted the government’s education secretary, Gavin Williamson, to urge universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

In politics, 2021 saw MP Sir Keir Starmer working to repair the image of the Labour Party, which was damaged by revelations of former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s associations with known antisemites and his failure to address antisemitism in the party. Antisemitism in Labour thrived under his leadership, with its activists and councillors posting antisemitic slurs on social media and party leadership doing little to bridle them. In 2020, the Labour Party suspended Corbyn’s membership after he refused to accept an investigation’s finding that his office engaged in antisemitic harassment and obstructed processes for filing complaints alleging antisemitism.

Starmer’s overhaul of the party included expelling several Labour affiliated groups found to have promoted antisemitism. In a survey of the party’s Jewish members taken in December 2021 a majority said the new leader’s efforts have increased Labour’s inclusiveness.

On social media, antisemitism proliferated with the help of an “extensive global disinformation network” in Iran, while legacy media outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were accused of promoting antisemitism for reporting that Jewish victims of a hate crime incited it by uttering an anti-Muslim slur, a claim that was later debunked by two forensic reports. Later, Ofcom, a UK media watchdog determined that the BBC failed to be “duly accurate or duly impartial” in its reporting.

“Negative media coverage of, or political comment on, Jewish related events may be entirely legitimate, fair, and in the public interested,” the report added. “Nevertheless, those debates can encourage antisemites or cause concern to Jews. This is more likely if such commentary involves inflammatory language or the use of traditional antisemitic imagery, or appears to single out one particular object or individual for scrutiny due to their being Jewish.”

Antisemitic hate crimes in the UK, particularly in London, have been an ongoing problem in 2022. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has so far recorded 487.

Recently, in November, an antisemitic “hate crimes pandemic” broke out in the Stamford Hill and Hackney sections of London, according to information released by the area’s Jewish community watch group, Shomrim. A  16-year-old, believed to be responsible for six of the eight that occurred, has been arrested.

Not all assailants face criminal charges, however. In February, Dave Rich, Head of Policy at Community Security Trust (CST), argued that “too few cases reach court” despite that nearly a quarter of religiously motivated hate crimes in London target the Jewish community.

‘The wheels of justice of justice seem to be stuck,” he wrote.

Share this Story: Share On Facebook Share On Twitter

Let your voice be heard!

Join the Algemeiner

Algemeiner.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.