According to a new report published on Thursday by the UK’s Community Security Trust (CST), almost 2,000 cases of proven anti-Semitism were recorded in the first half of 2024.

With over 200 incidents per month, the figures for the period January to June were the highest ever recorded and reflect a shocking increase in anti-Jewish sentiment following the brutal Hamas invasion and terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023.

The figures for the same period in 2023 exceeded the 1,978 reported cases The cases reported so far this year include: 1,618 cases of abuse, 142 threats, 121 physical assaults and 83 cases of damage to property and desecration. Of these, a whopping 630 cases of abuse took place online.

70 percent of the 630 online incidents involved discussions about the Middle East. In contrast, such discourses appeared in only 585 (43 percent) of the 1,348 incidents that had nothing to do with the Internet.

“The rise in online anti-Semitism is partly a result of the war in Gaza and the subsequent proliferation of dialogue, debate, information and disinformation on social media platforms, sometimes drifting into anti-Jewish hatred,” the CST said. explained.

Against the backdrop of the current unrest and counter-protests against immigration in the UK, which have included displays of Palestinian flags, the CST has collected demographic data shows an “atypical majority of perpetrators in incidents who are non-white, suggesting that the persistently high levels of anti-Jewish hatred at the beginning of 2024 emanated from segments of the population that do not normally constitute the majority of anti-Semitic perpetrators and that were motivated to act in response to the conflict in the Middle East.”

“The rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK is deeply worrying,” said British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. published on 𝕏. The newly elected president is accelerating the prison sentence for hundreds of rioters he has branded as “far-right”, but not for anti-Semitic crimes.

“Jews and all people of faith have a right to feel safe on our streets,” he added.

After six months in 2023, the CST records recorded 964 anti-Semitic incidents. By the end of the year, this number had risen to Record high of 4,103, with about two-thirds taking place after October 7.

Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Speaking of at the CST’s annual dinner in February: “Don’t let anyone tell you that this is just a reaction to the Israeli government’s response – as unacceptable as that would be.”

“The highest weekly total of anti-Semitic incidents occurred before Israel responded… It is hatred, plain and simple,” Sunak added.

“When Jewish children hide their school uniforms, Jewish students are harassed on campus, Jewish children’s birth certificates are defaced, and Jewish families If many people feel unable to enter the center of our capital at the weekend, the entire fabric of our nation is threatened.”

Cases of anti-Semitism among students and school staff rose by 119%, from 74 incidents in the first half of last year to a record 162 in the first half of 2024.

The most shocking statistic of all is the 465% increase in anti-Jewish hate incidents in higher education, after warnings earlier this year: “significant problems“ at British universities.

96 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in which the victims or perpetrators were students or academics or in which student associations or clubs were involved. In the first half of 2023, however, there were only 17 cases.

Click Here about Paul Calvert’s interview from earlier this year with Danny Stone from the British Antisemitism Policy Trust, who works with universities and politicians.