Antisemitic crimes up 25% in US; antisemitism up 581% in UK
The FBI’s newly released 2022 hate-crime statistics, which are based on data that some 78% of U.S. law enforcement agencies agreed to provide, reveal that 2,044 incidents—of a total of 11,643—were based on religion, and 1,124 of the religion-based incidents involved hatred of Jews.
“Antisemitic hate crimes rose 25% from 2021 to 2022, and antisemitism accounted for over half of all reported religion-based hate crimes,” U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday, addressing the FBI stats.
“To those Americans worried about violence at home, as a result of the evil acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas in Israel, we see you. We hear you,” Biden said.
The president added that he directed his team, including U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland (both Jewish), to “prioritize the prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm Jewish, Muslim, Arab-American or any other communities during this time.
“My administration will continue to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia,” Biden said.
Across the pond saw a rise in antisemitic hate crimes this year. Following Hamas’s brutal attacks on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 Israelis and injuring and kidnapping many others, antisemitic incidents were up 581% in the United Kingdom, compared to the same dates in 2022.
From Oct. 7 to Oct. 16, there were 320 antisemitic incidents, including 15 assaults; 14 instances of damage to and desecration of Jewish property; 46 direct threats; 244 examples of “abusive behavior,” including “online abuse”; and one example of mass-produced antisemitic literature. These statistics were documented by the Community Security Trust, a nonprofit that protects the Jewish community in the United Kingdom.
“In addition to the 320 anti-Jewish hate incidents recorded so far, CST also logged at least 209 incidents that have not been classified as antisemitic,” it stated. “These include criminal acts affecting Jewish people and property, suspicious behavior near to Jewish locations and anti-Israel activity that is not directed at the Jewish community or does not use antisemitic language.”
Of the 320, CST noted: “This is a provisional total that is almost certain to increase further as we receive more delayed reports of incidents covering this period, and while we continue to verify and log all the reports that we have currently received.”
Some of the incidents, according to CST, are “‘Free Palestine, kill Jews’ shouted at the heart of a Jewish community in London”; “a threat made over the phone to a kosher shop in Liverpool, saying, ‘We are coming to get you’”; and “two Jewish schools were splattered with red paint in London.”
Days ago, when CST data showed a 324% increase in antisemitic incidents from Oct. 7 to Oct. 10, British Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat said he was “very concerned.”
He added that “what the Nazis were doing is exactly what Hamas is doing today. It is preaching a blood libel, preaching a hatred for Jews and preaching a hatred that extends around the world.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Jewish schools in North London on Monday, saying he stands with Israel and the Jewish community in the wake of “the horrific attacks in Israel.”
He is expected to visit Israel this week.
The post Antisemitic crimes up 25% in US; antisemitism up 581% in UK appeared first on Israel365 News.
Israel in the News
