In Great Britain, there were 1,978 recorded incidents of anti-Semitic attacks in the first six months of 2024. This is according to data collected by the Community Security Trust (CST), which attributed a rise in such incidents to the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.
CST said that discourse relating to Israel, Palestine and the Hamas terror attack was “evident in 1,026 incidents, 52% of the total.” There were 836 incidents that showed explicitly anti-Zionist motivation alongside anti-Jewish hate speech or targeting, 208 containing the words “Zionism” or “Zionist”, often as euphemisms for “Jewishness” and “Jew” or alongside other anti-Semitic sentiments, and 186 wherein direct comparisons were drawn between Israel or Jewish people and the Nazis CST found.
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An additional 1,493 potential incidents were reported to CST but excluded from the report’s statistics. Upon further investigation, these incidents lacked evidence of anti-Semitic language, motivation, or targeting. Many involved suspicious activity or potential hostile surveillance of Jewish sites, which remains crucial information for CST’s protective services to the Jewish community.
“The record figure of 1,978 incidents reported between January and June 2024 reflects the high levels of antisemitism recorded since the Hamas terror attack in Israel on 7 October 2023,” said CST. “Although not as high as the surge witnessed in the immediate aftermath of the attack, the ensuing and ongoing war has continued to hold prominence in media, news and public discourse, impacting the scale and content of anti-Jewish hate observed this year.”
Anti-Semitic incidents surged in the first half of 2024. Damage and desecration of Jewish property skyrocketed by 246%, from 24 to 83 cases. Direct anti-Semitic threats soared 158%, from 55 to 142 incidents. Abusive behavior cases reached a record high of 1,618, a 104% increase, comprising 82% of all incidents. This unprecedented figure surpasses any previous six-month total and nearly all annual totals. While mass-produced anti-Semitic literature incidents rose 86%, to 13, only the “Extreme Violence” category did not set a new six-month record.
Community Security Trust (CST) is a charity that protects British Jews from antisemitism and related threats. CST received charitable status in 1994 and is recognized by police and Government as a unique model of best practice. CST has over 90 full and part-time staff based in offices in London, Manchester and Leeds.
CST provides security advice and training for Jewish communal organizations, schools and synagogues. CST secures over 650 Jewish communal buildings and approximately 1,000 communal events every year.
