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London sees 1,350% jump in antisemitic hate crimes since start of Israel-Hamas war
(JTA) — London’s Metropolitan Police Service said that antisemitic offenses are up 1,353% in the city since fighting erupted between Israel and Hamas.
Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, antisemitic crimes surged from 15 to 218 incidents compared with the same period last year, police said on Friday. Islamophobic crimes went from 42 to 101, an increase of 140%. A total of 21 have been arrested for these categories of hate crimes in that period.
Last week, one man was arrested on suspicion of defacing posters in the Camden neighborhood that depicted Israelis taken hostage by Hamas. Another man was arrested in connection with Islamophobic graffiti at bus stops in the southern London neighborhoods of New Malden and Raynes Park.
Other reports include abuse targeted at individuals or groups, both in person and online.
Police prepared for tensions to flare in the capital after Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage through Israeli towns, which was quickly followed by Israel’s pounding of Gaza with airstrikes. But ramped-up patrols, including police visits to 445 faith schools and 1,930 places of worship, have not stopped hate crimes from spiking across London.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan met with Muslim and Jewish faith leaders, police officials and community groups to discuss the crisis on Friday.
“I know how the conflict in Gaza and Israel is having a direct impact on London and Londoners,” Khan said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Increasing cases of abhorrent antisemitism and Islamophobia seen in the capital show how important it is for us to be united against hate.”
A pro-Palestinian rally drew about 100,000 demonstrators to the streets of central London on Saturday. More than 1,000 police officers also attended the protest and made 10 arrests for offenses involving fireworks, disruption of public order and assault of an emergency service worker. Five officers sustained minor injuries.
Police blocked protestors from reaching an area surrounding the Israeli embassy, citing security concerns. They referenced the same reason for preventing a Jewish organization, Campaign Against Antisemitism, from displaying images of children abducted by Hamas on billboard vans near a pro-Palestinian vigil on Oct. 18.
“There will be occasions where we try to avoid groups with strongly opposing views coming into immediate contact with each other,” police said.
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The post London sees 1,350% jump in antisemitic hate crimes since start of Israel-Hamas war appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot
Justin Trudeau condemned for subsequently attending a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.
The post Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut
Illustrative. Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
JNS.org – A massive explosion in a building in Beirut on Saturday killed 11 people and wounded dozens in what Arab media said was a failed Israeli attempt to kill Hezbollah’s head of operations, Muhammad Haydar.
Israel did not immediately claim responsibility specifically for the explosion early on Saturday in the eight-story building in the Lebanese capital’s Basta neighborhood. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said only that Israel struck an unspecified target in Beirut, the fourth strike in the city in a week.
Basta is situated in the city’s center. The bulk of Israel’s strikes in Beirut have been in the Dahiyeh neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold in the city’s south.
Lebanese media reported that at least 63 people were wounded in the strike.
Avihai Edraei, the head of the Arabic-language department of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, posted a tweet on X on Saturday calling on residents of Dahiyeh to evacuate their homes. They are living near Hezbollah installations, he said, against which “the IDF will act in the near future.”
The targets of Saturday’s strikes “were located by Hezbollah in the heart of the civilian population. Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians,” the IDF wrote in a statement. A headquarters, a weapons depot, “and additional Hezbollah terror infrastructures” were attacked, the statement said.
According to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, Israel has killed 2,450 terrorists in Lebanon and Syria. Lebanese health authorities said that 3,365 people have died in strikes by Israel. Those data do not distinguish between terrorists and civilians. On the Israeli side, terrorists have killed 121 people, with 76 of them being soldiers.
The post Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Troubling Details Emerge About Disappearance of Chabad Rabbi, Inaction of UAE Authorities
Zvi Kogan. Photo: LinkedIn via i24 News
i24 News – i24NEWS learned chilling details about the disappearance of Chabad emissary Zvi Kogan, who went missing last week in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Kogan did not show up for scheduled meetings he had during the day. After he failed to make contact, his wife contacted the security officer of the Chabad house, who alerted the local authorities. Information about the incident was also shared with the Israeli authorities.
Kogan disappeared from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai. i24NEWS can report that complaints were made to both the Dubai Police and the Abu Dhabi Police on Thursday, yet no actions were taken by either.
i24NEWS also became privy to the information that although Kogan’s car got a speeding ticket on its way to Oman, in this case too the authorities in the Emirates and Oman did nothing.
i24NEWS can also confirm that there is tremendous anger in Israel at the Emiratis, who did not respond to the suspicious signs and did not act in time. In fact, actions were only taken after the intervention of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The story has troubling echoes of the abduction by Iranians of German-Iranian dissident Jamshid Sharmahd; he was kidnapped from Dubai to Iran via Oman and was eventually executed.
The post Troubling Details Emerge About Disappearance of Chabad Rabbi, Inaction of UAE Authorities first appeared on Algemeiner.com.