Anti -Semitic crime has hit an all-time high in the UK, according to a report by the Community Service Trust (CST), a charity set up in 1994 to protect the Jewish community.
CST reported 1168 cases of hate crime against Jews, double the figure for 2013. David Delew, chief executive of the charity, said: ‘the recent increase in recorded incidents shows just how easily anti-Semitic attitudes can erupt.’
Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, co-founded by an Australian-Israeli billionaire, has been the target of bomb threats recently. In nearby Newham, posters advertising Holocaust Memorial Day were defaced.
Mak Chisthy, Commander for Engagement at the Metropolitan Police, said of anti-Semitism: ‘It will not be tolerated and positive action will be taken to investigate all allegations made.’ CST’s David Delew insisted: ‘we will keep working with the community, police and politicians to find ways to reduce anti-Semitic crime, and to prosecute and convict those who carry it out.’ Sian Killean