Anti-Semitic Hate Incidents Hit Record High Amid Labour Party Row

The charity found 148 anti-semitic incidents over April, August and September last year that were “examples of, or took place in the immediate context of, arguments over alleged anti-semitism in the Labour Party”.

May saw 182 incidents recorded – the highest monthly total since August 2014.

“These were all months in which allegations of anti-semitism in the Labour Party attracted significant media and political attention,” it said.

In May, Labour lost control of Barnet, one of the most one of the most strongly Jewish boroughs in the country, during the local elections.

Worldwide events including violence on the border of Israel and Gaza in April and May, during which several Palestinians were killed, also coincided with a rise in hate incidents, according to CST, which today published its Anti-Semitic Incidents Report.

Verbal abuse was the most commonly recorded type of attack, with visibly Jewish people targeted because of their religious or traditional clothing, school uniform or jewellery bearing Jewish symbols.

Nearly half of all incidents involved extremist language and imagery, with more than 450 instances involving language or imagery relating to Nazism or the far right.

Some 254 incidents involved references to Israel and the Palestinians, alongside anti-semitism, while 84 incidents showed “far right motivation”, and 13 were motivated by Islamist beliefs.

CST said victims may also feel more motivated to report hate incidents.

The charity said: “This pattern of consistently high incident totals suggests an enduring situation in which people with antisemitic attitudes appear to be more confident to express their views; while incident victims and reporters may be more motivated to report the anti-semitism they experience or encounter.”

Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, who last year said his own party had not acted quickly enough to root out anti-semitism, said the statistics make for “hard reading”.

The shadow secretary for communities and local government said: “Much more needs to be done to heal the deepening divides within our society and to challenge the growing confidence of those who preach hate, holocaust denial and inversion, and antisemitism.

“There is no place in British society, and in British politics, left or right, for antisemitic views.”