The UK had its second toughest year for antisemitism in 2024, according to a report out last week—despite an 18 percent drop in incidents compared to last year’s record high.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that gives security advice to the Jewish community in Britain, published figures that say it recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents in 2024, which is a drop of 18 percent compared to 4,296 incidents noted in 2023. They were 1,662 antisemitic incidents in 2022, 2,261 in 2021, and 1,684 in 2020.
This, according to the findings of CST, "reflects the ongoing levels of antisemitism documented throughout the UK since the Hamas terror attack in Israel on October 7, 2023." It described the immediate and widespread increase in anti-Jewish hatred that began in the aftermath of that attack and which, crucially, preceded Israel's initiation of any significant military action in Gaza.
Every month of 2024, except for December, saw over 200 incidents of antisemitism, with January setting the pace. Such numbers were not documented by CST prior to 2023 in any year. Until last year, they had only recorded such totals in five months, which also happened to coincide with escalated conflicts in the Middle East. The months with the highest recorded incidents were last year February (446), January (392), and March (321).
After years of studying this data, CST noted an unchanging pattern: after a trigger event like the October 7 attack, there is an immediate spike in antisemitic incidents that hits an all-time high, then slowly tapers off to settle at a level higher than that which existed before the triggering event. While the United Kingdom has remained consistent in its anti-Israel demonstrations, the frequency and number of participants have not been as robust as in 2023. The report noted that anti-Israel comments were included in 52 percent of incidents, up from 43 percent in 2023.
The CST noted that in 73 percent of instances, the perpetrator referred to "one or more political or ideological discourses, motivations, tropes or conspiracy theories." This is up from 64 percent in 2023 and 50 percent in 2022. Incidents involving two or more of these themes now accounted for 10 percent, as opposed to six percent in 2023. As such, the organization commented that this "coexistence of multiple rhetorical strands within a single incident indicates some complexity pertaining to modern antisemitism.' It continued: 'Various stereotypes and myths about Jewish individuals are deeply ingrained in both collective and individual consciousnesses, across extreme ideologies and movements, therefore creating a shared repository of reference points that antisemites from different value systems can draw upon."
The report revealed the types of incidents with 201 assaults, one categorized as "extreme violence" by the CST due to involvement with serious bodily harm or a threat to life, none of which had occurred last year. These were 6 percent of the total incidents. Property damage and hate crimes involving desecration decreased by 19 percent compared to 2023, from 195 incidents to 157. It included 40 home or vehicle targeted incidents against Jewish individuals, 37 vandalism offenses against posters or memorials for the victims of Hamas, 19 threatening Jewish businesses or organizations, synagogues got 19 incidents, and Jewish schools got eight affected.
In 2024, the threats saw a decline by 20 percent with total incidents of 314 making it the second-highest year on record. Other categories of hate included reports of abusive behavior which totaled 2,892 and instances of mass-produced antisemitic literature accounting for 27 reports.
This was a major sector where anti-Jewish hate was reported. It noted 63 antisemitic incidents at Jewish schools, 88 involving Jewish students outside of school (particularly during their morning commutes), and 109 aimed at either students or staff in secular schools. The total number of incidents also saw a decrease from 2023, dropping from 355 to 260.
It documented 145 occurrences of antisemitism in colleges involving students, faculty, student organizations, or other campus entities. There were 164 incidents in which synagoges were specifically targeted and in 59 cases Jews walking to religious services were harassed. Over one-third of the incidents targeting synagogues included hateful or threatening messages by phone or email.
Online antisemitism decreased by nine percent. It went from 1,360 in 2023 to 1,240 in 2024, which is 35 percent of all incidents. Of these, 71 percent were connected to Israel. CST warned that "this total for online incidents is only indicative because the actual amount of antisemitic content generated and spread through online platforms is significantly greater. In some cases, social media has been used as a tool for orchestrated campaigns of antisemitic harassment, threats, and abuse against Jewish public figures and others."
In relation to antisemitic themes within incidents, rhetoric from the Holocaust or Nazi era appeared in 909 reports, which is 26 percent of the overall total. Among these incidents, there were 61 that involved Holocaust denial and 138 others that included celebrations of the Holocaust.
CST noted: "There were eight instances in which offenders both denied and celebrated the Holocaust. This illustrates the distorted reasoning and conflicting thoughts that can occur in the minds of individuals who harbor hatred towards Jews."
