CAA looks back on a year of achievements in the fight against antisemitism

While antisemitism remains at stubbornly and unacceptably high levels, as 2022 comes to a close, it is an opportunity to take stock of all that has been achieved in the fight against the world’s oldest hatred.

At Campaign Against Antisemitism, we are proud of the accomplishments that we have secured over the past year, thanks to your support. These include the following:

• The Court of Appeal sent the anonymous antisemitic online troll Nicholas Nelson to eighteen months in prison after he was convicted following a pioneering legal strategy devised by Campaign Against Antisemitism and counsel to unmask and prosecute him. After he received an unduly lenient sentence, we successfully called on the Attorney General to refer him to the Court of Appeal, which agreed with us and sent him directly to prison.
• Grenfell volunteer coordinator Tahra Ahmed, was jailed for eleven months after Campaign Against Antisemitism and CST sought her prosecution over her antisemitic claims that the fire was a Jewish ritual sacrifice on social media. We worked closely with police to secure her prosecution, which was years in the making.
• The Hon. Piers Portman was refused leave to appeal and was jailed for four months and fined in connection with an antisemitic altercation with Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive Officer, Gideon Falter. He was ordered to pay a fine of £10,000 and to pay compensation of £10,000, which Mr Falter has donated to Campaign Against Antisemitism.
• The antisemite Alison Chabloz was sent to over five months in prison after being convicted once again under the Communications Act following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism.
• Abdullah Qureshi was found guilty of an antisemitic hate crime after Campaign Against Antisemitism revealed that his plea deal with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had let him off aggravated hate charges. The CPS was forced to reinstate the charges following pressure from us, Shomrim and CST.
• Neo-Nazi Ben John was sent to prison for two years after Campaign Against Antisemitism and others successfully called for a review of his unduly lenient sentence.
• The co-founder of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Tony Greenstein, humiliatingly capitulated in his failed defamation case against Campaign Against Antisemitism for calling him a “notorious antisemite” as the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal. Over the course of the proceedings, we bankrupted him and accordingly he could also no longer serve as a trustee of the Brighton Trust. Defamation cases are vital in establishing the legal basis for identifying antisemitism and calling it what it is.
• Following appeals by Campaign Against Antisemitism, aided by our Honorary Patron Lord Austin, the French far-right fugitive and Holocaust-denier Vincent Reynouard was finally arrested in Scotland and faces an extradition hearing early next year. We are grateful to our partners in France for collaborating with us for many months to help bring this about.
• Adidas ended its partnership with Kanye West after almost 200,000 people signed Campaign Against Antisemitism’s petition, which was backed by celebrities and influencers including David Schwimmer and Chelsea Handler.
• Within hours of us contacting Google, it corrected an offensive definition of the term “Jew” that was presented to anyone searching for that word as the first result. Campaign Against Antisemitism maintains relationships with major technology companies and social media platforms so that we can seek swift resolution of any problems.
• The Charity Commission launched an investigation into the National Union of Students (NUS) after Campaign Against Antisemitism and Robert Halfon (then the Chair of the Education Select Committee) wrote to the Commission with a dossier detailing the history of NUS’s appalling relations with Jewish students.
• Relatedly, Shaima Dallali was removed as the President of NUS following pressure by numerous Jewish groups, including UJS and Campaign Against Antisemitism, and former NUS Presidents.
• Campaign Against Antisemitism worked with the Daily Mail to reveal a scandal at the American School in London, over the course of which the headmistress resigned.
• Ofcom rebuked the BBC over its coverage of the antisemitic Oxford Street incident last year, which followed outrage from Campaign Against Antisemitism and many others in the Jewish community. We have helped give voice to the community’s anger at the BBC, including with a rally one year ago and by projecting examples of antisemitic coverage onto the BBC headquarters.
• Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to help victims in cases that do not generate headlines but make a big difference in the lives of ordinary Jews facing discrimination, including in the workplace, for example in the case of a young Jewish employee at a pub whose manager was removed following antisemitic abuse, and a Jewish civil servant who received an apology over a problem at work.
• Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis challenged Sir Keir Starmer’s claim that the local election result in Barnet indicated that the Labour Party had overcome its antisemitism scandal and, along with others, we challenged the Conservatives in Bury over a pattern of concerning incidents.
• We launched a first-of-its-kind study surveying in real-time the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities across the UK. It is the only such resource, and complements our existing resource covering universities.
• Together with the Church of England’s Diocese of Manchester, we launched our Love Thy Neighbour teachers’ guides, which are also featured on BBC Teach.
• Our podcast, Podcast Against Antisemitism, recently celebrated one year on the airwaves. It is the world’s only podcast dedicated to antisemitism and is in the top five percent most shared podcasts globally on streaming giant Spotify, and is in the top ten percent most followed podcasts. Guests have included David Baddiel, Eddie Marsan, Robert Rinder, Simon Brodkin, Nicole Lampert, Elon Gold, Dr Dara Horn, Modi Rosenfeld, Eve Barlow, Natan Levy and numerous other celebrities, influencers, rabbis, academics, activists and authors.
• We were excited to launch our first-ever internship programme for university students, which was a great success, building lasting relationships with rising young figures seeking to combat racism against Jews.

These are just a selection of what our volunteers, who work day in and day out, have achieved, with the support of our staff and lawyers, who are paid for by donors who give what they can to make this work possible.

To keep up to date with our work, please subscribe or follow @antisemitism on all major social media platforms.

From all of us at Campaign Against Antisemitism, we wish all of our supporters a happy and peaceful 2023!