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Antisemitic Incidents in UK Shatter Prior Records, Numbering Nearly 2,000 in Six Months
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
JNS.org – The number of antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom from January to June of this year shattered previous records with nearly 2,000 incidents recorded, including more than 120 assaults, according to the CST, Community Security Trust.
The report recorded that while there were 964 incidents of antisemitism recorded in the first six months of 2023, this year that number has more than doubled to 1,978. The previous high number of antisemitic incidents over a six-month period was 1,371, recorded in 2021.
The findings reflect the ongoing high volume of anti-Jewish hate since the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, said CST.
“As documented in CST’s Antisemitic Incidents Report 2023, there was an instant increase in antisemitic incident levels in the UK following Hamas’ attack on Israel, before Israel had coordinated any large-scale military response in Gaza,” the CST report stated. “The subsequent war, and the widespread public focus it has drawn, have continued to impact the scale and content of antisemitism so far this year.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to the CST report on X, writing: “The rise of antisemitic incidents in the U.K. is deeply concerning. Jewish people, and all those from faith communities, deserve to feel safe on our streets. I’d like to thank the CST for their action. We will work together to eradicate discrimination of any kind.”
The rise of antisemitic incidents in the UK is deeply concerning.
Jewish people, and all those from faith communities, deserve to feel safe on our streets.
I’d like to thank the CST for their action. We will work together to eradicate discrimination of any kind. https://t.co/4JzWFqQzLL
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 8, 2024
Joani Reid, a member of the House of Parliament and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, tweeted: “If antisemitism is an indicator of the health of our democracy, this is a worrying sign indeed. These statistics underline not only the shocking and unacceptable level of anti-Jewish racism in the United Kingdom but the scale of the task ahead of us.
“We have a new government and a new parliament, we now need a renewed effort, from every party, to tackle this scourge,” she wrote.
According to the report, “anti-Jewish discourse” accounted for more than 1,000 of all incidents.
Assaults accounted for 121 of the incidents reported in the first half of 2024, a 41% increase from the same time last year. There were also 83 incidents of “damage and desecration” reported from January to June—the highest six-month total to date; it includes 26 incidents targeting homes or vehicles of Jewish individuals.
The report also noted a “significant” increase in hate on campus, with 96 incidents of antisemitism in the first half of 2024 where either the “victims or offenders were students or academics, or which involved student unions, societies or other representative bodies.” It is an increase of 465% over the same six-month period in 2023.
Of the nearly 100 incidents related to institutions of higher education, the report states that 44 took place on campus or university property, and 45 occurred online.
According to CST, the report makes clear that events in the Middle East trigger a surge of antisemitism in the United Kingdom and even when the number of antisemitic incidents slows down after the “initial surge,” they remain at a “higher level than prior to the trigger event.”
The post Antisemitic Incidents in UK Shatter Prior Records, Numbering Nearly 2,000 in Six Months first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.