Anti-Semitic incidents rise by 5 percent in Britain
Anti-Semitic incidents in Britain rose 5 percent over the
previous year, making 2012 the third highest number of incidents on record.
The Community Service Trust, British Jewry's security
unit, reported Thursday that there were 640 reported anti-Semitic incidents,
compared to 608 in 2011.
Some 100 of the incidents were reported as part of a new
joint program with the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force of the
Greater London area. Under the new program, there was a reported 55 percent
rise in anti-Semitic incidents in London. Without the police incidents, the
report would have shown an 11 percent decrease in total incidents.
Sixty of the incidents were classified as "violent
anti-Semitic assaults." The majority of the incidents, however, included
verbal attacks and graffiti. Social media also was a source of many of the incidents.
"While these statistics show more is being done to
share information, they are a stark reminder of the presence of anti-Semitism
in our society," said British lawmaker Eric Pickles, secretary of state
for Communities and Local Government. "Every one of these incidents is an
affront to decency, and we must continue to remain vigilant to these sort of
attacks.
"It is encouraging that the Jewish community are now
more confident in speaking out and reporting anti-Semitic incidents to the
police and the Community Security Trust, as improved reporting of hate crime
makes it easier to assess the scale of the problem and determine what further measures
are needed."
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