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Most British Jews Hide their Judaism to Avoid Antisemitism, New Data Shows
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
Only a third of British Jews believe that they have a long-term future in the United Kingdom, and a majority hide their Judaism due to antisemitism, according to new data released on Monday.
Coinciding with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a British charity, released new polling revealing the extent of antisemitism experienced by the Jewish community in the United Kingdom.
From a survey of 4,078 British Jews, researchers found that 34 percent of respondents believe that British Jews lack a long-term future in the UK. In the last two years, half of Jews have considered leaving the country due to the increase in antisemitism following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel. For those aged 18-24, that number rose to 67 percent.
According to the poll, 58 percent of British Jews choose to conceal their Judaism to avoid antisemitism, and 43 percent say they do not feel welcome in the UK. That number rises to 47 percent among 18-24 year olds.
“As we reflect today on historic antisemitism, as a society we also have to ask ourselves: why are we doing so little about antisemitism right here, right now?” a CAA spokesperson said in a statement. “The truth is that Britain and the authorities are failing the Jewish community. These figures paint a sobering picture of the lives of British Jews and their future.”
The survey shows that British Jews regard Islamists as the most serious threat (95 percent), followed by the far left (91 percent) and the far-right (67 percent). Large numbers also called for Islamist groups to be proscribed as terrorists by the British government. Ninety-eight percent call for those involved in the Oct. 7 terror attacks to be designated, with 94 percent calling for the same for the Houthis in Yemen, 93 percent for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and 85 percent for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Respondents also expressed skepticism about law enforcement’s ability to counter antisemitism. More than 90 percent do not believe police take proper action to protect Jews from Islamists, and 84 percent said that the authorities are not doing enough to stop antisemitism. Only 16 percent of British Jews expressed confidence that a report of antisemitism would result in a prosecution if there was strong evidence. British Jews also expressed concern with police responses to anti-Israel marches, with 75 percent dissatisfied.
In Scotland, almost 20 percent of Jews said they would not report an antisemitic hate crime to law enforcement, with almost two-thirds doubting that such acts would be prosecuted.
“British Jews have lost trust in the criminal justice system in general, which they do not feel is protecting them, and in the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley in particular, after he has presided over the worst surge in antisemitism in living memory, opting for excuses over action and gaslighting those who call him out. We need more arrests, prosecutions, serious sentences and a ban on the anti-Israel marches,” the CAA spokesperson said.
Only 5 percent of British Jews expressed confidence in Rowley, and 60 percent believe he should leave his position.
This community-wide distrust of police effectiveness extends to political leadership. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they are dissatisfied with London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s response to antisemitism, while a third expressed unhappiness with Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Majorities of British Jews also reported seeing too much tolerance of antisemitism in the Green Party (72 percent) and the Labour Party (71 percent). This is the first time that another party has risen higher than Labour, and these were the only two with more than 50 percent disapproval. In Scotland, 72 percent of Jews said that the Scottish National Party is too tolerant of antisemitism.
Ninety-two percent of those surveyed believe that British media fuels antisemitism, with the same number describing the BBC’s coverage of Jews as unfavorable. The Guardian received the lowest ratings of the UK’s newspapers, as 69 percent of respondents disapproved of its coverage of Jews. Anti-Israel boycotts also came in for criticism, with 84 percent calling such moves “intimidation.”
Britain’s universities received skepticism from those polled, with 3 percent expressing confidence that if a Jewish student reported an antisemitic incident then administrators would respond properly. For younger Jews that number rose to 6 percent, and 90 percent of them blamed students for the increase in reports of campus hate. Eighty-eight percent of British Jews also reported that should their family members consider going to college then reports of antisemitism would influence their decision.
“From politics to the BBC to universities, the Jewish community sees betrayal across our civil and cultural institutions,” the CAA spokesperson said. “The cumulative result is that less than half of British Jews feel welcome in the UK. Antisemitism has become our nation’s great shame, and time is running out.”
The post Most British Jews Hide their Judaism to Avoid Antisemitism, New Data Shows first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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