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Bus reportedly drove through Stamford Hill with speakers blaring “go home Yiddos” on Jewish Sabbath

It has been reported that a bus drove through Stamford Hill while onboard speakers blared “go home Yiddos”.

The incident reportedly took place on Saturday afternoon, the day of the Jewish Sabbath, whilst Jewish people were leaving the synagogues. 

It was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

In response to the news, the bus company, Ensignbus, tweeted that it hired out the bus to who they believed was a church group, adding: “We had absolutely no idea that this would happen or was planned and we are now investigating the matter and will be speaking to the client. We are happy to assist the Police with any investigation.”

Ensignbus later tweeted: “Our driver unfortunately did not hear anything due to the general amount of noise from the number of people upstairs.  

“If anyone has audio (or video with audio) of what was said, we would like to hear it to help with our own investigation”

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: 4602717/22

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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“Justice denied” as BBC defends its abominable reportage of antisemitic Oxford Street incident, prompting Ofcom to announce its own investigation

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) has responded to complaints by Campaign Against Antisemitism and other Jewish communal groups over its coverage of the antisemitic Oxford Street incident late last year.

On the first night of the Jewish festival of Chanukah, Jewish teenagers who were celebrating on Oxford Street were attacked by a group of men who hurled antisemitic abuse at them, forcing them to retreat to their bus. The men, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern heritage, proceeded to hit the vehicle with their hands and then their shoes, spitting on it, trying to break windows and performing Hitler salutes. The victims filmed part of the attack.

In its coverage of the incident, the BBC reported that the explicit expressions of antisemitism evident in the footage were merely “allegations”, and simultaneously claimed — alone among all media outlets — that “some racial slurs about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus,” an assertion made with no evidence to support it and which was even contradicted in the article by a witness from the bus who said that she heard no such slurs. It was also subsequently contradicted by independent audio analysis.

On its BBC London Evening News, the BBC even suggested that “it’s not clear what role [the supposed slurs] may have had in the incident.” After public fury, the BBC amended the article to refer to an “anti-Muslim slur” in the singular, but failed to show any evidence why a supposed slur that nobody could hear with certainty was described as “clearly heard” and reported as fact — and even implied to have been a cause of the antisemitic harassment — while the harassment itself remained mere “allegation”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism and others submitted complaints to the BBC, and we held a rally outside Broadcasting House in London, attended by hundreds of protestors, to deliver the message: “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” Lord Grade, a former Chairman of the BBC, told Podcast Against Antisemitism that the BBC’s reportage was “shoddy journalism” and called for answers in a video supporting the rally, which was endorsed also by Dame Maureen Lipman.

In its report, the ECU, which is a unit within the BBC but independent of its editors, considered whether the BBC’s coverage lacked impartiality, whether it was reasonable to include an unqualified reference to a supposed anti-Muslim slur (while describing the evident antisemitism as merely “alleged”), and whether the BBC was right to continue to defend its coverage in the face of universal outrage from the Jewish community.

In its four-page report, the ECU expressed satisfaction with the BBC’s correction of the website article’s description of “slurs” to “slur”, but upheld the complaint in respect of the television report, where there was no like correction for the misleading reportage. More significantly, the BBC defended the inclusion of the slur and its portrayal as fact, as well as the minimisation of the antisemitism as merely alleged. Finally, the ECU issued a mild rebuke over the BBC’s slowness in accepting that there was doubt over its coverage, but ultimately stood by the broadcaster’s reporting as a whole.

Over the course of rationalising its conclusions, the ECU effectively and disgracefully threw the CST under the bus. It also explained the fact that BBC staffers heard Jews spouting an anti-Muslim slur as an example of the “Apollonian tendency” whereby people hear what they imagine they are likely to be hearing. In so doing, however, the ECU thereby betrayed the very prejudices at the BBC that the ECU insists were not at play.

The full report by the ECU is reproduced below.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It took the BBC two months and four pages to deliver a whitewash non-apology that stands by its spurious reporting of an anti-Muslim slur and dismisses the monumental offence generated by its coverage.

“It is a travesty that the BBC thinks that it can toss the Jewish community a bone by upholding minor elements of our complaint while defending almost the entirety of its reportage and conduct over the course of this abominable saga. Sadly, this sort of stonewalling is exactly what British Jews have come to expect from our public broadcaster.

“Ironically, the ECU’s claim that its staffers hearing Jews spout an anti-Muslim slur is an example of the ‘Apollonian tendency’ betrays the very prejudices that the ECU insists were not at play.

“The BBC’s insistence that ‘we will always welcome feedback on – and constructive scrutiny of – our reporting’ has always been laughable. Today, it is nothing short of insulting. If the BBC thinks that it has settled this matter and appeased the Jewish community, it is deeply mistaken.

“We welcome Ofcom’s reaction to the ECU’s pitiful report by announcing its own investigation, which will hopefully deliver the justice to the Jewish community that the BBC has once more denied.”

Polling that we conducted last year for our Antisemitism Barometer revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints. These figures reflect years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

Oxford Street: Men filmed spitting at Jewish people on bus,  BBC News Online (England) & BBC London News, BBC One (London), 2 December 2021

Finding by the BBC Executive Complaints Unit

Complaint

On 2 December 2021 the BBC published an article, headlined as above, about an incident in which abuse was directed at a group of Jewish students on a bus in London’s Oxford Street. That evening BBC One (London) broadcast a report on the same story in its main news bulletin at 6.30pm. Subsequent to both, the BBC received representations from a significant number of groups and individuals, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Chief Rabbi critical of the accuracy and impartiality of the BBC’s coverage of the events described, particularly in relation to the claim that an anti-Muslim slur had been heard from inside the bus.  In the light of the deeply-felt concerns expressed by senior leaders in the Jewish community and others, the Director-General in his role as Editor-in Chief instructed the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit to investigate the complaints as a matter of urgency.

Outcome

The ECU, though part of the BBC, is independent of programme-makers, and is tasked with judging complaints about BBC output against the requirements of the BBC’s editorial standards, as expressed in the Editorial Guidelines.  If we conclude that a complaint has identified a breach of those standards, we will uphold it in that respect – or, if it seems to us that the breach had already been recognised and appropriate action taken to remedy it, our finding will be that the complaint has been resolved.  In reaching our finding we have watched and read the relevant output, watched and listened to an enhanced audio version of the disputed recording, examined the editorial processes which led to the inclusion of the claim about an anti-Muslim slur in both the online and broadcast items, and considered the BBC’s subsequent decision to stand by its reporting. We have also considered the two reports commissioned by the Board of Deputies, along with the result of a separate check carried out on behalf of the BBC.  

Three main questions, which emerged from the complaints, provide a focus for our finding. First, did the overall coverage lack impartiality, both in its choice of language and its focus – in effect, as some have suggested, “victim-shaming” the Jewish passengers on the bus, implying they bore a share of responsibility for the incident, or otherwise creating a false equivalence?  Second, was the BBC justified, on the basis of the evidence available to it at the time, to include a line saying an insult of some kind had been heard coming from the bus (in addition to those already reported as having come from the pavement)?  And finally, in the light of new analysis of the recording, was the BBC right to continue to defend all the statements included in its reports as accurate and not requiring amendment? 

Taking these in turn, the first BBC report on this story was published on the afternoon of 2 December. The BBC became aware of the story via social media the previous day but considerable effort had gone in to verifying the footage and establishing the facts. The headline Oxford Street: Men filmed spitting at Jewish people on bus was placed above the following introduction which gave a flavour of the article’s tone and content:

An alleged antisemitic incident involving passengers on a bus in central London is being treated as a hate crime, the Met Police has said. It happened on Monday night in Oxford Street during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the force said. Footage appears to show men spitting at and abusing people on the bus. Boris Johnson said the clip was “disturbing”.

A number of complainants have cited the use of the word “alleged” and phrases like “appears to show” as evidence of a lack of impartiality, in contrast with the lack of qualification in the phrase “some racial slurs about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus” (a form of words to which the finding will return, in a different context). Others also highlighted the reporter’s reference in the television item to any role the words from the bus might have played.  As to “alleged” and the like, the terminology was used on the basis of legal advice taken by the programme-makers, and was by no means unusual in reporting matters under police investigation which may fall to be decided by the courts, and where not all the facts have been established.  We saw no evidence to suggest it was intended to contrast with the treatment of the anti-Muslim slur claim – which was contextualised in the online item in a way the statements about the behaviour of those outside the bus were not, by the inclusion of a quote from one of the students on the bus, in which she denied hearing any such insults from her fellow-passengers.  In relation to the second point, the reporter in the television item said (in connection with the words supposedly spoken from the bus) “It’s not clear at the moment for the person which said that what role this may have played in the incident” .  As is sometimes the case in unscripted broadcasting, it is apparent that the reporter’s intended meaning was not expressed with complete clarity, but what can be said is that he did not assert that the slur had played a role, and that, at that point in time, there were elements of uncertainty about what had happened which it was appropriate for the report to reflect.  In any event, the reference came towards the end of a piece in which the overriding focus had been on the behaviour of those outside the bus, which was hardly conducive to the view that the passengers shared responsibility for the incident.  

For these reasons, and judged against the evidence available at the time, the ECU did not accept that either item lacked impartiality in the senses complained of, or that the charges of victim-blaming or false equivalence are warranted. In two significant respects however both items were inaccurate. The original online copy spoke of “some racial slurs about Muslims” whilst the TV reportexplained “you can hear some racial slurs about Muslim people”.In later versions the online copy was changed to “a slur about Muslims” reflecting thatthe original iterations had mischaracterised the nature of the insult and there was insufficient evidence that it had happened on more than one occasion.  In the ECU’s judgement the original versions did not meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy but, on the basis set out above, the ECU regarded the correction of the online item as resolving the complaint in that respect.  As there was no equivalent correction in the case of the TV report, and as the inaccuracies in it were no less significant than those in the online item, the ECU upheld this aspect of the complaint.

In connection with the second of the questions set out above – about whether reporting that an insult of some kind had been heard coming from the bus was justified on the basis of the evidence available at the time – it is important to note that, at the time the BBC ran the story, the principal primary source material consisted of a mobile phone recording lasting 58”[Other material has since emerged but has no direct relevance to our finding.], which we understand had been provided to the Community Security Trust (CST) when the incident was reported to them and subsequently began to circulate on social media.  The CST became a point of contact about the incident for the media, and it was to the CST that BBC London applied on the morning of 2 December for clearance to use the recording.  In the somewhat unusual circumstances which obtained here, it was inevitable that reporting of the incident would reflect such information as could be gleaned from the recording; and, in the light of the CST’s leading role in relation to antisemitic incidents as well as their involvement in the incident in question, it was natural and appropriate that the BBC should turn primarily to the CST for verification (as many other media outlets did).  The ECU has been shown a detailed timeline of events from the moment the BBC became aware of the story on 1 December, and it shows an unusually high level of consultation among colleagues about the content of the recording.  It was on the afternoon of 1 December that it was first identified as containing an anti-Muslim slur (in the form of “Dirty Muslims”), and the recording was subsequently assessed by at least seven members of BBC London news staff and a senior editor in network news, all of whom agreed that the phrase “Dirty Muslims” could be heard, before a decision to include a statement to that effect in BBC output was made.  Properly, however, the BBC did not rely on its own assessment alone.  The claim was put by the reporter in the television item to the representative of the CST with whom he had been dealing, who replied (in a WhatsApp exchange which the ECU has seen) in terms which the BBC took as confirmation that the phrase in question had been spoken and, in the ECU’s judgement, it was entirely reasonable to take them in that sense.  We should make clear, however, that we do not say the CST’s response determined the BBC’s decision to include the claim in its output – it was only one part of the decision-making process, but it does have some significance for the ECU’s view on the outcome of that process. With hindsight, and in the light of subsequent evidence that the recording was open to another interpretation, it might be argued that even further verification should have been sought, but the situation at the time was that no alternative interpretation had been proposed, and in our view the elements of internal scrutiny taken together with the CST’s response amounted to an editorial process which we would regard as more than sufficient in any but the most extraordinary circumstances.  We therefore do not believe we can fairly find that the decision to broadcast the claim in question constituted a breach of editorial standards, even if it were accepted in the light of later evidence that the claim itself was questionable.  And, in view of allegations of latent or even active antisemitism which have been made, the ECU considers it important to say it was manifest from the evidence we have seen that the decision, whether or not mistaken, was made entirely in good faith.

We now turn to the third question, about whether the BBC has been right to continue to defend the statements in its reports about an anti-Muslim slur as accurate and not requiring amendment.  Since 2 December the matter has been the subject of (to our knowledge) three outside assessments, two commissioned by the Board of Deputies from a Professor of Linguistics and a team of digital forensic and data security specialists, and one commissioned by the BBC from a firm of translators; and in the course of assessing the evidence offered by the Board of Deputies and preparing a response to complaints, the mobile phone recording has been listened to by a number of senior members of BBC News management (and a member of staff with a working knowledge of Hebrew), and discussed with the BBC’s Jerusalem Bureau with input from native Hebrew-speakers there (though with inconclusive results, which led to the commissioning of the firm of translators).  In response to the Director-General’s instruction to the ECU we have viewed and listened to a version of the material with enhanced audio (as set out above), and the Head of the ECU has listened to the material in studio conditions with the help of a BBC sound engineer who was able to apply a number of further enhancements.

In this connection, the ECU notes the suggestion, in a report commissioned by the Board of Deputies from a Professor of Linguistics that BBC staff may have misheard the phrase as a result of the “Apollonian tendency”, which he describes as the mind’s inclination to create order or meaningfulness, especially when encountering unfamiliar information.  Although it might be observed that such a tendency might apply as much to those undertaking investigations on behalf of others as to BBC staff, it corresponded with the experience of members of the ECU, both as investigators of complaints and in their previous roles as programme-makers, in which they had encountered cases where the same audio material can genuinely be construed in entirely different senses by different listeners.  The interpretation arrived at may well depend on cues which the listener is unaware of having received and, once arrived at, may be very difficult to controvert.  In the ECU’s view, the contesting interpretations of the material under consideration were a case in point, and it might not be possible to determine with certainty which of them is correct on the basis of the recording alone.  The question we therefore addressed was whether the BBC’s response should have acknowledged an element of doubt about the anti-Muslim slur claim.  In this connection, we noted that the report commissioned by the BBC did not result in unanimity, with three of the four translators involved construing the phrase as “Dirty Muslims” and one as the Hebrew for “Call someone, it’s urgent”.  While the majority finding gives support to the view that “Dirty Muslims” is a sustainable interpretation, the more significant point for the ECU is that the sole exception indicates that it was not the only possible interpretation.  In the ECU’s judgement this, taken together with the evidence put forward by the Board of Deputies, should have led the BBC to recognise at an earlier stage that there was genuine doubt about the accuracy of what it had reported.  

It follows that the online article as it stands must now be regarded as no longer meeting the BBC’s standards of due accuracy and, to the extent that the anti-Muslim slur claim has itself become controversial, it also lacks due impartiality in failing to reflect alternative views.  The same applies, mutatis mutandis, to the television item, though that could not have been updated as an online item can.  

The complaints were therefore partly upheld in relation to accuracy and impartiality.

Partly upheld

Further action

The online item will be revised in the light of the finding and a posting will be made on the Corrections and Clarifications page about the television item (which will also acknowledge the original element of inaccuracy in the phrase “some racial slurs about Moslems”).

Image credit: Nathan Lilienfeld

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Man who allegedly punched Jewish men to the ground to stand trial in March

A man who was arrested after visibly Jewish men were punched to the ground in North London earlier this week appeared in court today.

On Wednesday, Police in Haringey arrested a man after two visibly Jewish men were viciously punched to the ground in Stamford Hill. CCTV footage shows a man striking blows to the two Jewish men’s faces and bodies.

The victims, Israel Grossman and Erwin Ginsberg, were promptly treated by Hatzola, a volunteer-run emergency medical service, and were hospitalised. It is understood that one victim sustained severe bruising, a broken nose and a fractured wrist, while the other also suffered bruising and injuries to his wrist and eye.

The incident reportedly took place on Cadoxton Avenue and was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

Malaki Thorpe, 18, of Fairview Road N15, appeared in Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court this morning and was charged with two counts of racially aggravated ABH and one count of possession of an offensive weapon.

He was remanded in custody by District judge Michael Oliver until 3rd March when he is due to stand trial at Wood Green Crown Court.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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UK Government to make Holocaust records open to public for first time

The Government is set to make all records related to the Holocaust open to the public for the first time.

Guernsey and Jersey Governments have also agreed to make their records on the Holocaust publicly available.

The announcement came yesterday, on Holocaust Memorial Day, and the move will provide the public with a far greater resource for research and study purposes. The records, which include 787 books in the St. Lambrecht collection, will be transferred to London’s Wiener Holocaust Library by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

The Rt Hon Lord Pickles, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues, said: “I am grateful for the full and friendly cooperation of the governments of Guernsey and Jersey. I also thank the diligence of the FCDO staff for their recent work on the St. Lambrecht historic book collection.”

“There can be no better place to keep the collection than the Wiener Holocaust Library,” he added.

Lord Pickles, an Honorary Patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism, has devoted himself to fighting antisemitism throughout his political career. He has been instrumental in securing the widespread adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism. 

Director of the Wiener Holocaust Library, Dr Toby Simpson, said: “The Wiener Library is proud of its long history of throwing light on the darkest chapters of history, and on the Holocaust in particular. It is crucial to ensure that the past is not ignored or locked away, but confronted and used as a tool for building a better future.

“We applaud the British government’s recent efforts to improve access to vital records, and look forward to future cooperation.”

Image credit: Google

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“Remembrance is not a key for the past, it is a key for the future”: Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on the lessons of the Holocaust

On the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism, Piotr Cywiński, the Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, touched on why the Museum is so important in preserving the memory of the Holocaust and the lessons that we must take away from it.

On the importance of the Museum, Mr Cywiński said: “To see the remains is certainly to understand more, especially for those people who are from the younger generation, even their grandparents were born after the war so it’s not really their own history,” Mr Cywiński said. He also explained how by visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, “to enter in some barracks, to approach the ruins of crematoriums and gas chambers,” one leaves with a “personal, individual experience” that he believes cannot be obtained from films or documentaries.

Speaking on why Mr Cywiński believes it is crucial to have a thorough knowledge of the history of the Auschwitz concentration camp in order to have an understanding of the modern world, the Museum’s Director said that the Nazi’s persecution of Jews was not merely about history but “part of our heritage, part of our identity, part of our understanding of what humans are…what they’re able to do.”

When asked about his thoughts on antisemitism in the post-Holocaust era, the Director said that “It is the same attack with the same arguments…the same words, the same symbols, same cartoons that are published in some newspapers. So, the main difference in antisemitism today, than, let’s say 100 years ago, is that now we know where is the end of this road.” 

Mr Cywiński also spoke on how crucial it is to remember the lessons of the Holocaust and not make the same mistakes. “Remembrance is not a key for the past, it is a key for the future. And we are still full of bystanders…we do not feel concerned by what is in the world. We see a growing impression, maybe also for pandemic reasons, we are more closed in on ourselves now, but we are seeing some growing indifference, passivity all around the world. ‘It’s not my history, it’s Africa. It’s not my history, it’s the Middle East, it’s not my history, it’s…I don’t know…somewhere in the United States.’ It’s very easy to say that…very, very easy. But this was the biggest problem for the victims of all the genocides, that the rest of the world was falling in, more or less, total indifference.”

Mr Cywiński concluded by revealing the damaging impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Museum, acknowledging that it would need to adapt so that hopeful visitors who might not be able to visit in person could still experience the Museum. He also expressed his excitement for planned additions to the Museum. These included online tours with a real guide where visitors could ask questions, the development of virtual reality technology and the creations of new exhibitions.  

He added that the Museum staff’s “most important moral obligation” was to maintain the preservation of the site and the “hundreds and thousands of documents and objects.”

The full podcast with Mr Cywiński can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox. Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, The Sunday Telegraph columnist Zoe Strimpel and actor Eddie Marsan.

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Marcus Rashford condemns Wiley’s antisemitic remarks following photograph together, provoking the rapper into yet another tantrum

Following the online backlash to a recent photograph of Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and the antisemite rapper Wiley spending time at a Dubai club together, which went viral earlier this week, Mr Rashford has distanced himself from the musician and has condemned Wiley’s antisemitic remarks, which provoked Wiley into yet another tantrum

In his tirade in 2020, Wiley likened Jews to the Ku Klux Klan and claimed that Jews had cheated him and were “snakes”, tweeted that Jews should “hold some corn” – a slang expression meaning that they should be shot – and added: “Jewish community you deserve it”. He also called on “black people” to go to “war” with Jews and repeatedly evoked conspiracy theories that Jews were responsible for the slave trade and were imposters who usurped black people — a conspiracy theory that has incited acts of terrorism against Jews in the United States.

In the days that followed, Wiley continued to rail against Jews on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Following discussions with Campaign Against Antisemitism, a major 48-hour boycott of Twitter and Instagram in which we participated, and our projection of antisemitic tweets onto Twitter’s London headquarters, which then went viral, Twitter, Facebook (which owns Instagram), Google (which owns YouTube) and TikTok agreed to remove Wiley from their platforms, depriving him of access to his nearly one million social media followers.

The image of the footballers was reportedly taken at Dubai’s V Hotel where Wiley was performing. 

Mr Rashford released an initial response on Twitter in which he said: “This picture has been brought to my attention which I understand now, given context, could easily be misconstrued. I would like to reinforce that I do not and will not condone discriminative language or behaviour of any kind aimed at the Jewish community or any other community.”

However, after disappointment at the mildness of his statement, he later clarified his comments by adding: “I wasn’t aware of comments that had been made when I got pulled into a photo opportunity. Comments that I absolutely condemn. I apologise for any upset caused. We just all happened to be in the same place at the same time.” 

Mr Linguard also tweeted a response, writing: “I’ve been made aware of a photo circulating currently, that can easily be misconstrued. I want to make it clear that I do not condone any form of racism whatsoever!”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We applaud Marcus Rashford for doing so much to fight racism, hence it was so disappointing to see him and Jesse Lingard hanging out with Wiley, who has called for Jews to ‘hold some corn’, which is a slang expression meaning that they should be shot. Mr Rashford, after an initial disappointing explanation, went on to condemn Wiley’s record of antisemitism, demonstrating his commitment to opposing all racism, for which we commend him.”

Wiley, despite promises of permanent suspensions from Twitter to Campaign Against Antisemitism, has repeatedly been able to create new accounts and spout racist hate towards Jews, even directly attacking Campaign Against Antisemitism. 

One such incident occurred in December when Wiley targeted a senior figure in Campaign Against Antisemitism directly, changing his profile picture to an image of this member of our team and tweeting a further picture of him. He then proceeded to taunt him in a series of tweets, including calling him a “coward” and then posting a video on Instagram taunting him.

The rapper, who recently released an album unsubtly titled “Anti-Systemic”, told our member on Instagram this morning: “Don’t hide” and “come outside”. Wiley has recently been charged with assault and robbery. We are in touch with the police over the taunts and are examining legal options.

In the days that followed, Campaign Against Antisemitism unearthed footage from the rapper’s Instagram Live in which he shouts to his audience: “Why did Hitler hate you? For nothing?”

Wiley’s most recent tirade, and subsequent suspension following action from Campaign Against Antisemitism, unfolded last night when he tweeted a series of YouTube videos that included the titles: “15 Reasons Why JEWISH People Are RICHER”, “Why did Hitler hate the Jews? Dr. Geoff Waddington” and “‘I’m here to separate the ‘good Jews’ from the ‘Satanic Jews’” – Louis Farrakhan”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for tougher regulations on social media sites and that social networks proactively search for and remove hate speech from their platforms. We also continue to make representations to the Government on this matter.

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“Vile scumbags” daub swastika on Melton’s historic St Mary’s Church

A prominent member of Melton’s St Mary’s Church has described vandals who daubed a swastika on the historic church “vile scumbags”.

Parts of the Leicestershire church date back to 1170, with the member writing on social media: “To desecrate a House of G-d seems pretty low. Thank you so much for doing this, you vile scumbags.”

Others were also disgusted, with several members calling the vandalism “absolutely horrendous”, “shocking” and “disgusting”, and another saying that the incident should be treated as a “hate crime”.

It is understood that there are plans to remove the graffiti as soon as possible.

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Laura Pidcock quits Labour’s ruling NEC after motion to restore whip to antisemite Jeremy Corbyn fails

Laura Pidcock, the former Labour MP, has resigned from the Labour Party’s ruling National Executive Committee after a motion calling for the restoration of the whip to the antisemite Jeremy Corbyn failed to pass.

Ms Pidcock, a staunch ally of Mr Corbyn’s who sat on his front bench, previously voted last year against the NEC’s proscription of the antisemitism-denial group, Labour Against the Witchhunt, and later challenged the practice of expelling Party members based on apparent involvement with the group.

The motion to restore the whip to Mr Corbyn – which, even if passed, would not have effected a restoration in itself – was defeated by 23 votes to fourteen, with one abstention. The margin reflects the divide on the NEC between pro-Corbyn elements and those less sympathetic to the former leader.

Mr Corbyn reacted to the vote by tweeting: “Today’s NEC vote and Keir Starmer’s ongoing decision to bar me from sitting as a Labour MP is disappointing. I am grateful for and humbled by the support I’ve received, especially from my Islington North constituents. The struggle for peace, justice and sustainability goes on.”

In her resignation statement, Ms Pidcock said that “I am resigning because of what I see as an irreconcilable difference between the actions of the Labour Party as it stands and the principles that underpin the way I have been taught to treat people and my idea of what a political organisation should be for.” She described Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure as leader so far as leading to “a barrage of top-down changes which is making it hostile territory for socialists, from those of us on the NEC, to those in CLPs [Constituency Labour Parties] across the country.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We welcome the NEC’s decision not to call for a restoration of the whip to the antisemite Jeremy Corbyn. The next step for the Party is to investigate our complaints against him and expel him from the Labour Party, to which he was disgracefully readmitted after an embarrassingly short suspension. The NEC vote reflects a Party that remains divided over what kind of party it wishes to be. It is yet further evidence that the fight to make Labour a safe place for Jews still has a long way to go.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has lodged a complaint against Mr Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day of the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised but has yet to introduce.

The Labour Party was found by the EHRC to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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Blackwell’s removes antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion after implying in the book’s synopsis that it may not be a fiction

The leading booksellers, Blackwell’s, has removed an edition of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion from sale after outrage arising not only from the sale of the antisemitic tract but the synopsis on the website that suggested that the fraudulent work might not be fictional.

The synopsis suggested that the book – which purports to be the minutes of a meeting of Jewish leaders, at which they discussed their plans for global domination – might be genuine, and that the website “neither supports nor denies the message” of the book.

The synopsis questioned whether “the issue has already been settled conclusively — that it is clearly a forgery. Although there may be final evidence to this effect, we have not seen a clear and convincing version of it produced by those making the claim. Others maintain that it was and is absolutely genuine.” It continued: “If The Protocols are a forgery, they still form an interesting book which deserves to be studied. If, however. The Protocols are genuine (which can never be proven conclusively), it might cause some of us to keep a wary eye on world affairs. We neither support nor deny its message, we simply make it available for those who wish a copy.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism reacted to the listing, saying: “It is bad enough that Blackwell’s is selling the notorious fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Worse, the reputable bookseller has demonstrated grotesque ignorance in providing a synopsis that implies that the forgery may in fact be genuine. Blackwell’s must not only remove this antisemitic tract from sale but must apologise for publishing such a dangerous description and explain how on earth it came to appear online.”

After hundreds of complaints online and outrage from Campaign Against Antisemitism and other groups, Blackwell’s published a statement saying: “We have refrained from commenting publicly because we did not wish to give the oxygen of publicity to this title, but given the volume of comments on this situation, we feel that we must now comment.” The statement added that “the description that appeared for this book was an automatic feed from the publisher. It was neither written nor endorsed by us.”

The bookseller explained that it is standard practice in online bookselling to use synopses provided by publishers, and that, given that there are eighteen million books on the website, it is not possible to review each entry manually. “However, as soon as this was brought to our attention, we replaced the description with one which expressed our complete and utter condemnation of the contents.”

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Suspect arrested after visibly Jewish men punched to the ground in North London

Haringey Police has arrested a man after two visibly Jewish men were viciously punched to the ground in Stamford Hill, North London.

CCTV footage shows a man striking blows to the two Jewish men’s faces and bodies.

The victims were promptly treated by Hatzola, a volunteer-run emergency medical service, and were hospitalised. It is understood that one victim sustained severe bruising, a broken nose and a fractured wrist, while the other also suffered bruising and injuries to his wrist and eye.

The incident reportedly took place last night on Cadoxton Avenue and was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD 7284 26/01

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Manchester police arrest total of six so far in connection with Texas synagogue terrorist

Six arrests have been made so far in Manchester in connection with Texas synagogue terrorist, it has been reported.

On 15th January, 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram from Blackburn entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas during Sabbath services, making threats against the congregation and holding them hostage, demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in Texas.

In comments that could be heard on a live stream of the synagogue service that was cut off during the incident, Mr Akram could be heard speaking in a northern English accent and claiming that he had a bomb and that he would not leave the synagogue alive.

In a statement released earlier today, Counter Terrorism Policing North West said: “Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West are continuing with their investigation following the events in Texas, they are working closely with and are supporting US law enforcement.

“As part of the local investigation, two men have been arrested this morning in Manchester. They remain in custody for questioning. We continue to work closely with colleagues from other forces.

“Communities defeat terrorism, and the help and support we get from the public is a vital part of that.”

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“Universities must not only adopt but apply the International Definition of Antisemitism” says CAA in meeting with Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi and other Jewish communal groups and University administrators

Campaign Against Antisemitism joined several Jewish communal organisations and University Vice Chancellors in a meeting today with the Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi.

At the meeting, which comes two days before Holocaust Memorial Day, Mr Zahawi spoke of his experience visiting the Nazi death camps and expressed his horror at recently receiving a letter from a student at the University of Edinburgh relating how she was given a set of striped pyjamas as an anonymous ‘secret Santa’ gift. “It makes my blood boil,” he said. “After all this time, the same vile behaviour is taking place.” He pledged to take up the issue with the University’s administration and his Scottish counterparts.

Gideon Falter, the Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, expressed concern at the meeting about the promotion of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, a wrecking document designed to undermine the International Definition of Antisemitism. He also echoed remarks by Lord Pickles, an honorary patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism, emphasising the need for Universities not only to adopt the Definition but to apply it in cases of antisemitism.

It was agreed at the summit to share case studies and best practice, and universities were urged to engage with Jewish communal groups.

Just in the past week, controversies relating to academics have arisen at the University of Cambridge and the University of Glasgow, and in relation to a student at UCL. All three universities have adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “I would like to thank Nadhim Zahawi for leading this summit and for his steadfast support for Jewish students and our community. It was clear from the contributions of all participants that much more work needs to be done.

“Several Vice Chancellors spoke of the efforts made by their universities to combat antisemitism, but we are aware of antisemitic incidents on some of their own campuses that have remained unresolved for some time now. We continue to work with and support Jewish students and staff who feel that their institutions’ administrations are not living up to their commitments to keep Jewish people on campus safe, and that remains a very serious concern for all of us who are fighting to clean up antisemitism on campuses.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected]. 

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Everton fan banned from games for three years after antisemitic chants at Spurs fans

An Everton fan has been banned from attending football matches for three years after he took part in antisemitic chants that were aimed at Spurs fans.

Michael Campbell, of Aigburth Road, Liverpool, was reported to stewards and police following his actions at the match held at Goodison Park on 7th November. 

This led to an investigation being conducted by Merseyside Police and Everton which then resulted in Mr Campbell’s arrest and subsequent charges. He then received the Football Banning Order for three years at South Sefton Magistrates Court in Bootle and was told to pay a fine and court costs at the hearing on 20th January.

Detective Inspector Steven O’Neill, of Merseyside Police, said: “Hate crime in all its forms simply will not be tolerated and I hope this result sends a clear message that anyone found to commit hate crime offences anywhere on Merseyside will be brought to justice.

“Campbell will now have a criminal record and the consequences of this in the future could prove to be significant. The professional response of Everton Football Club stewards meant that he was quickly identified and arrested.”

He added: “We know that the overwhelming majority of supporters attending matches are well behaved and would share our revulsion at these appalling chants. However, when the behaviour of fans is unacceptable we will always work with clubs to identify those people and put them before the courts.”

An Everton spokesperson added: “Club officials and security staff have worked alongside Merseyside Police in their investigation which has concluded with an arrest and subsequent conviction.

“The Club strongly condemns any form of hate crime and has a zero-tolerance policy on all forms of discrimination. Any such behaviour has no place within our stadiums, our community or our game and we will act swiftly to deal with any reported instances of discrimination.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We commend Everton and Merseyside Police for taking swift action in prosecuting Mr Campbell, a man who reportedly deemed it acceptable to shout antisemitic chants at what ought to be an enjoyable sporting event. Banning fans who engage in anti-Jewish racism demonstrates that this kind of rhetoric will not be tolerated. Other clubs should heed Everton’s example.”

In December 2020, the Premier League adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

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Ken Livingstone declares intention to apply to join Green Party

The controversial former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has declared his intention to apply to join the Green Party.

Mr Livingstone quit the Labour Party after being suspended over comments that he made about Hitler supporting Zionism.

The former mayor has an exceptionally poor record on antisemitism and relations with the Jewish community, which predated his terms as mayor and has endured since. Among many other entries, that record includes welcoming, during his first term as mayor, a radical, antisemitic cleric to City Hall, and during his second term comparing a Jewish journalist to a Nazi concentration camp guard, a comment that got him briefly suspended as mayor before the suspension was overturned.

More recently, Mr Livingstone contended that Adolf Hitler “was supporting Zionism”, an assertion that prompted 107 MPs to sign a statement describing his words as “insidious racism” and eventually led to his resignation from the Labour Party.

Indeed, Mr Livingstone is infamous in the Jewish community for inspiring the so-called ‘Livingstone Formulation’, by which Jews who cite evidence of antisemitism are accused of lying, conspiring or having deceitful motives in doing so.

Last week, Mr Livingstone said: “I genuinely think we’re heading toward extinction before the end of the century because no government anywhere is doing enough to tackle the impact of climate change. At Cop26 they all said the right things but…you’ve got to get people to completely change the way we live and no government around the world seems to have the courage to do that.”

Mr Livingstone has claimed that he made contact with the Green Party in the past about joining, but that “they never got back to me.” He suspected that they “thought that if they brought me in they’d be accused of being antisemitic.”

A member of the London Assembly, Zack Polanski, said: “The rules are very clear that there’s no space in the party for antisemitism, transphobia, racism, sexism or any other form of discrimination and while it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on any individual application, I’d expect any new member – whoever they are – to follow our code of conduct.”

It is understood that membership applications from high-profile political defectors are reviewed by a Green Party regional council for consultation.

A spokesperson for the Green Party said: “We welcome everybody who shares our political aims and values to join the Green party.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has extensively documented alleged antisemitism among officers of the Green Party of England and Wales, including the Party’s former Equalities and Diversity Coordinator who now holds the International Coordinator portfolio, on which the Green Party has failed to act.

Our Antisemitism Barometer survey of British Jews in 2020 found that the Greens were second only to Labour in how many respondents felt that the Party was too tolerant of antisemitism (43%), while our Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far left of British politics has surpassed that of the far right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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Robert Rinder writes about “the tragic reality of being Jewish in London in 2022”

Robert Rinder has written about “the tragic reality of being Jewish in London in 2022” in a new article, published yesterday.

In the article for the Evening Standard, the barrister and television personality has written about how antisemitic insults were hurled at his friend’s children whilst they were at a falafel restaurant in Golders Green, despite them not being Jewish.

Mr Rinder wrote: “But as she told me this awful story, I realised — with a profound sadness — that I was completely unsurprised. Because it’s happening to Jews all the time.”

“It’s completely shattering to think how the grimy tendrils of anti-Jewish hatred have spread over so many aspects of life in the UK, whether it’s being spat at or accosted in the street or any of the countless other acts of abuse,” he continued. “For example, many in the Jewish community send their children to Jewish schools, and I think it’d break your hearts to see the precautions they have to take.”

Mr Rinder went on to state that he believes that the vast majority of the people in the United Kingdom are appalled by anti-Jewish racism, “but this is the tragic reality of being Jewish in London in 2022. Not in some far off time or place, but right now and right here; in the greatest, most cosmopolitan city in the world.”

Mr Rinder called on people to “stand up to every instance of cruelty, big or small, because the descent into human depravity never begins with grand acts of violence, it starts with murmured insults and grows from there,” and added that “It’s the subtle way horror gets going — not with a bang or people screaming hate in broad daylight, with whispered comments everybody else tolerates.”

Robert Rinder has said in the past that he believes that there is an existential threat to Jews in Britain, but that he has “an enduring belief in the British public. That ultimately, for every one loud antisemite, there are hundreds, no, thousands of people that have the courage to stand up to it.”

In 2019, Mr Rinder spoke at the #TogetherAgainstAntisemitism rally in Parliament Square.

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Warwick University society apologises for inviting climate activist who called Holocaust “just another f***ery in human history”

A student society at the University of Warwick has apologised after inviting a climate activist who called the Holocaust “just another f***ery in human history”.

The event with Extinction Rebellion co-founder Roger Hallam, titled “Our Responsibilities at This Time”, was due to take place today, but was cancelled by the University after an outcry from Jewish students, who said that the society failed to “recognise the concerns with inviting Roger Hallam, founder of XR [Extinction Rebellion], who has a history of Holocaust minimisation and trivialisation.”

Mr Hallam made the inflammatory comment in an interview to the German newspaper, Die Zeit. He told the paper, “the extremity of a trauma can create a paralysis in actually learning the lessons from it. The fact of the matter is, millions of people have been killed in vicious circumstances on a regular basis throughout history, ” adding: “They went to the Congo in the late 19th century and decimated it,” before adding that contextually, the Holocaust was “almost a normal event … just another f***ery in human history.”

Mr Hallam claimed that his comments, which appeared to minimise and downplay the Nazis’ systematic murder of six millions Jews, were taken out of context: “I want to fully acknowledge the unimaginable suffering caused by the Nazi Holocaust that led to all of Europe saying ‘never again’. But it is happening again, on a far greater scale and in plain sight. The ‘global north’ is pumping lethal levels of CO2 into the atmosphere and simultaneously erecting ever greater barriers to immigration, turning whole regions of the world into death zones. That is the grim reality. We are allowing our governments to willingly, and in full knowledge of the science, engage in genocide of our young people and those in the ‘global south’ by refusing to take emergency action to reduce carbon emissions.”

Yesterday, Climate Reality Warwick, which organised the event, said: “We have made the decision as a society to cancel the talk tomorrow. When we were approached about the guest speaker, we were not aware who he was until after confirming the event, and of course this is a mistake on our part for not checking. As a society we strongly condemn some of Roger’s statements in the past, especially regarding the Holocaust, and we don’t feel that he represents us as a society. We apologise for any potential harm caused.”

The University of Warwick has a history of incidents in relation to Jewish students and antisemitism. Last year, academic staff passed a motion challenging the International Definition of Antisemitism, which the University had reluctantly adopted. Previously, dubious disciplinary charges against a Jewish student who complained about antisemitism were dropped by the University; the University’s official Twitter account ‘liked’ a tweet endorsing inflammatory comments by the disgraced academic David Miller, with the University subsequently deleting the ‘like’ and blaming “unauthorised access” to the account; and a controversial Warwick lecturer reportedly claimed that the Definition is part of a Conservative plot to “legitimate racist speech and de-legitimate anti-racist and anti-colonial research, teaching and activism”.

In the past, other concerns have been raised over the University’s failure to address a scandal over a group chat which gained national attention, in which antisemitic, misogynistic, abusive and threatening messages, including rape threats, were uncovered.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected]. 

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Evan Rachel Wood accuses musician Marilyn Manson of writing “kill all the Jews” above her side of the bed

Evan Rachel Wood has accused the musician Marilyn Manson of writing “kill all the Jews” above her side of the bed during their relationship.

The actress has claimed that her controversial former boyfriend also compelled her to carve an “M” near her private parts and also sexually assaulted her “on camera” during the filming of a music video when she was nineteen.

The allegations of abuse came in a new documentary, “Phoenix Rising ­– Part 1: Don’t Fall”, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be broadcasted on HBO in March.

According to Ms Wood, in addition to demanding loyalty from her, Brian Warner ­– Marilyn Manson’s real name – decorated their home with Nazi propaganda and told her that Hitler was a “rock star”, knowing that she is Jewish. Mr Warner is accused of bombarding her with antisemitic symbols and messages as part of a campaign of sexual and emotional abuse, which he denies.

The claim is one of numerous allegations of abuse that have recently surfaced against Marilyn Manson by former partners and associates, resulting in his record label dropping him.

Mr Warner’s lawyer responded to the film in November, saying that he “vehemently denies any and all claims of sexual assault or abuse of anyone,” adding: “These lurid claims against my client have three things in common — they are all false, alleged to have taken place more than a decade ago and part of a coordinated attack by former partners and associates of Mr. Warner who have weaponised the otherwise mundane details of his personal life and their consensual relationships into fabricated horror stories.”

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“Game-changing precedent” as defendant in criminal case, resulting from first-of-its-kind litigation by CAA, pleads guilty to antisemitic harassment

The defendant in a criminal case that has resulted from first-of-its-kind litigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism has pleaded guilty at Peterborough Crown Court today.

Nicholas Nelson, 32, was charged with racially aggravated harassment under section 31(1)(b) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and with sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety under 1(1)(a) of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, after repeatedly sending abusive antisemitic e-mails and messages to Oscar-nominated Jewish writer Lee Kern and hateful messages to communications strategist Joanne Bell, and harassing a staff member at a Jewish charity over the telephone.

Mr Kern contacted Campaign Against Antisemitism, which funded a case on his behalf led by Mark Lewis, the esteemed lawyer who is also an Honorary Patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The abusive communications came from accounts that Mr Nelson had worked very hard to make anonymous. Victims of abuse from anonymous accounts usually have nowhere to go, because only rarely will the police track down the sender, and the cost of private action is usually beyond victims’ means.

However, a new legal initiative devised by Campaign Against Antisemitism together with counsel breaks through that barrier. It has enabled us to identify the anonymous troll by obtaining a special kind of court order which has its origins in the pharmaceutical industry and has never before been used to unmask an anonymous abuser sending antisemitic messages. The court order requires an internet service provider to disclose details of the owner of an online account so that legal proceedings can be issued.

We used this legal device to identify Mr Nelson and criminal proceedings were commenced, leading to the plea at today’s hearing, held in Peterborough Cathedral.

Mr Nelson, who lives in Cambridgeshire and is a vigorous supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, also previously sent abusive messages to two Jewish women Labour MPs, branding one a “vile useless c***” and the other a “traitor” who should “end yourself”. At the end of 2018 he pleaded guilty to the same charge and was given a twenty-week suspended sentence for twelve months and ordered to complete 160 hours unpaid work. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to three charges of sending communications of an offensive nature to two other Labour MPs, one of whom is Jewish and the other is an active campaigner against antisemitism. In addition to the charges that Mr Nelson pleaded guilty to today in relation to Mr Kern and Ms Bell, Mr Nelson also pleaded guilty to harassing a member of staff at the Board of Deputies over the telephone.

The new offences to which Mr Nelson today pleaded guilty were committed during the period of the suspended sentence, which accordingly may impact sentencing.

Sentencing is expected on 25th March. The offence carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine.

Mr Kern said: “Nicholas Nelson is a malevolent racist motivated by his love of Jeremy Corbyn, and has engaged in an antisemitic campaign of harassment against me for several years. During this time he called for another Holocaust, called me Shylock, spoke of Jews being used for gun practise, called Jewish women whores, shared perverted sexual fantasies involving Hitler and glorified the antisemitic terror organisation, Hamas. He believed he was able to make these attacks on Jews with anonymity and impunity. He was mistaken.

“Justice will now be served. All those who think they can attack Jews anonymously and get away with it should pay heed. We have the motivation and commitment to come after you hard. And we succeed. I’d like to thank Campaign Against Antisemitism and Mark Lewis, and I doff my cap to all those who fight antisemitism with little reward other than doing the right thing.”

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Our new legal device to unmask internet trolls who hide behind anonymous e-mail addresses in order to abuse Jewish victims has borne fruit with today’s guilty plea. This game-changing precedent is the most significant development in the legal fight against online hate in years. We are grateful for the cooperation of the police and prosecutors in helping us to send a message of deterrence to would-be online abusers. We will continue to devise innovative legal mechanisms to protect the Jewish community and deliver justice to victims of antisemitism, including in ways previously thought impossible.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image credit: JC

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PhD student who defended the phrase “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust” has reportedly been suspended from teaching by Sheffield Hallam University

Sheffield Hallam University has reportedly suspended a PhD student who defended the phrase “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust”.

Shahd Abusalama, who is studying for a PhD in cinema at the University, reportedly shared tweets defending a first-year student who had made a poster that said “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust” and who was accused by a Jewish student of antisemitism.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, which Sheffield Hallam has adopted, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

On social media, Ms Abusalama defended the student by citing Jewish individuals who have made the same analogy, and also wrote: “I understand why a first-year university student used #Holocaust when thinking of Israel’s repeated bombardment of Gaza”, adding: “Maybe she thought she’d garner European sympathy for Palestine by evoking ‘Never Again’ slogan.”

She noted of the term “Holocaust” that she herself would not “use such a politicised word often used to justify the racist state of Israel” because it “distracts attention from the Zionist practices of settler-colonialism and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.” However, she proceeded to use other inflammatory terms and claimed that the suggestion that the University’s Palestine Society should undertake antisemitism training in light of the incident was indicative of a “hierarchy of racisms” asking: “Are Islamophobia & Xenophobia insignificant? Prioritising one form of racism over others is itself racist and divisive.”

This was not the first time that Ms Abusalama has courted controversy. She is active in the BDS movement to boycott Israel, the tactics of which an overwhelming majority of British Jews find intimidating, and in the past she reportedly urged people to watch a video on YouTube called “Truth About Zionist Jews Talmud”, which presented numerous antisemitic myths about the Talmud. The video’s description asked “Why the Zionist don’t want us to know what’s in Talmud? [sic],” adding: “Why they want the teaching of the Talmud to be known only to Jews.”

Ms Abusalama wrote on Twitter: “Must watch this video that tells you the truth about #zionist #Jews. They take their legitimacy from #Talmud.” In another post, she reportedly wrote that the “Zionist lobbies control all this for their interest,” adding: “They buy presidents/slaves.”

The video and tweets have since been deleted.

Last week, Ms Abusalama claimed that “Zionist racist publications/trolls have renewed online #bullying to discredit my academic reputation,” and over the weekend, it was reported that she had been suspended by the University from her teaching duties.

She declared: “Family, friends, and followers, I am under renewed attack by Zionist publications protesting my recent appointment as an Associate Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, where I also recently submitted a PhD dissertation on the historical representation of Palestinian refugees in colonial, humanitarian and Palestinian documentary films, from 1917 and 1993. The Zionist defamation campaign by Jewish News, Campaign Against Antisemitism and Jewish Chronicle joins a historical pattern where the Zionist colonial narrative is consistently privileged over the narratives of the oppressed.”

She added: “I’m shocked that my academic community seems more interested in protecting its reputation than my academic freedom & wellbeing.”

Recently, the University and College Union (UCU) branch at Sheffield Hallam University was condemned for passing a motion of solidarity with the disgraced professor, David Miller.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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Fourteen-year-old from Darlington pleads guilty to terror charges

A fourteen-year-old from Darlington has pleaded guilty to terror charges, making him the youngest person to be convicted on terror offences.

The schoolboy admitted three counts of possessing information useful to a terrorist, specifically manuals for making explosives, last week at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. He was also reportedly active on racist online forums.

The boy, who cannot be named, was arrested last July when he was thirteen in an investigation into extreme right-wing terrorism. He was released on bail until 1st April when he will be sentenced at Newton Aycliffe Youth Court.

Recently, a neo-Nazi who was sentenced by a judge to read classic works of English literature has now been jailed for two years by the Court of Appeal, after his sentence was deemed “unduly lenient”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

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President of UCL Palestine Society leads hundreds in “From the river to the sea” chant and warns of “Zionist plotting” at rally

During an anti-Israel demonstration held on Friday night, the President of the University College London (UCL) Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Society, Saleem Nusseibeh, led the notorious “From the river to the sea” chant and warned the crowd of hundreds about “Zionist plotting”.

The chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — and its replacement with a State of Palestine — and is thus an attempt to deny Jews, uniquely, the right to self-determination, which is a breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Mr Nusseibeh, addressing the crowd, also spoke of “Zionist manoeuvring and plotting” and claimed that “these Zionists will be removed, their presence will be gone.” He then finished his speech by leading the “From the river to the sea” chant that was heard at different points throughout the night.

In addition to this, recent online footage shows the UCL SJP President speaking on a discussion panel in December where, on a video uploaded to the “Palestinian Return Centre” YouTube channel, he said: “If the UN accepts that Zionism is racism and Israel is the manifestation of Zionism, that means Israel is a racist state.” He added: “You have to pick between principle or the law that is enacted by some of the most bloodthirsty powers that existed and still, unfortunately, preside over much of the world.”

Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is antisemitic.

Friday night’s rally was reportedly organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). This is not the first time that a PSC rally has featured antisemitism. An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst supporters of the PSC.

Numerous signs bearing the slogan “Stop Judaisation of Jerusalem” were spotted at last night’s demonstration. One of the banners spotted at the rally was that of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation.

An evidence gathering team from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit was present at the rally held outside the Israeli Embassy in West London. The event featured numerous speakers, including Tony Burke, General Secretary at Unite and Vice President of IndustriALL Europe, Kate Hudson, General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and Former Shadow Chancellor and Labour Party MP John McDonnell.

Other speakers featured were Jo Grady, General Secretary of the University and College Union, PSC Chair Kamel Hawwash and rapper Kareem Dennis, known as Lowkey. 

Mr Dennis has previously described Israel as a “racist endeavour” in direct and deliberate contravention of the Definition, described Zionism as “antisemitic”, spoken of the “Zionist lobby” in the context of global capitalism, has reportedly backed the disgraced former Labour MP Chris Williamson and has repeatedly supported the antisemite Jeremy Corbyn.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Another week, another rally on British streets infested with antisemitic tropes. Yet again, a prominent Labour MP addressed the crowd, and a leading student activist led an antisemitic chant and denounced ‘Zionist plotting’. UCL and its Students’ Union must investigate.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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“Maybe they’ll have compassion for f***ing Jews:” Chilling final audio of Texas synagogue terrorist reveals he wanted to “go down as a martyr”

A chilling excerpt of the final phone call between Malik Faisal Akram, the terrorist who held four Jewish people hostage for eleven hours at a synagogue in Texas, and his brother reveals he wanted to “go down as a martyr”.

On 15th January, 44-year-old Mr Akram from Blackburn in Lancashire, UK entered Congregation Beth Israel during Sabbath services, making threats against the congregation and holding them hostage, demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in Texas.

In comments that could be heard on a live stream of the synagogue service that was cut off during the incident, Mr Akram could be heard speaking in a northern English accent and claiming that he had a bomb and that he would not leave the synagogue alive.

Now, in audio that has been obtained by the JC, Mr Akram can be heard telling his brother, Gulbar, that he has “come to die”, and that he promised his younger brother, who reportedly died three months ago, that he would “go down a martyr.”

“I’m bombed up, I’ve got f***ing every ammunition,” he continued. “I’ve told my kids to man up and don’t f***king cry at my funeral.”

Mr Akram said: “I’ve asked Allah for this death, Allah is with me, I’m not worried in the slightest.” Ignoring his brother’s pleas for Mr Akram to end the siege, he yelled: “Maybe they’ll have compassion for f***ing Jews.”

Shortly after the attack, the “Blackburn Muslim Community” Facebook page reportedly prayed for “the Almighty” to “bless him with the highest ranks of Paradise” in a now-deleted post. It was reported today, however, that Chairman of Blackburn’s Masjid E Sajedeen Mosque, Councillor Salim Sidat, stated that “We, as a community, understand that this shouldn’t happen to any community, whether Jewish, Muslim, or anything else. The atrocities he carried out were disgusting and we also believe there is no room for antisemitism.”

In a statement that sparked fury in Jewish communities around the world, the FBI made a claim, which was blindly repeated by the world’s media, that the incident was “not specifically related to the Jewish community.” However, this claim was refuted by the hostages of the attack. Jeffrey Cohen recounted that Mr Akram had imbibed antisemitic conspiracy theories to the extent that he believed Jews to be so powerful that if he wanted a criminal to be released from prison, all he had to do was to enter a synagogue and demand that local Jews exercise their political might to fulfil his request.

At one point Mr Cohen told how the terrorist, who was killed by the FBI, demanded to speak to the “Chief Rabbi”, however no such office exists in the United States, so they simply called a rabbi from another synagogue. Mr Akram was apparently utterly convinced that Jews and their rabbis wielded such immense power that they could overturn prison sentences by decree.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has since said that “The FBI is and has been treating Saturday’s events as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community,” adding: “It was intentional, it was symbolic, and we’re not going to tolerate antisemitism in this country. We recognise that the Jewish community in particular has suffered violence and faces very real threats from across the hate spectrum.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project. 

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“They would wait for us as we got off the bus”: Love Island’s Eyal Booker opens up about his personal experiences of antisemitism

On the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism, Eyal Booker, a contestant on season four of the hit show Love Island, opened up about his personal experiences of antisemitism growing up.

Mr Booker said: “The start of my secondary school life was when I realised that antisemitism is very real and that because we wore a school uniform that identified us as going to a Jewish school, it sounds dramatic but we had a target on our back. 

“It was very obvious, and…and there were other kids from other schools that didn’t like that we were Jewish, didn’t like that we went to a Jewish school and would try and intimidate us…would, as you said, throw rocks and stones at our school bus.”

He went on to say: “They would wait for us as we got off the bus because we would get off in small groups and intimidate us and chase us home and that’s when…that’s when it got quite real because I can vividly remember, you know, running up that hill like my life depended on it because I didn’t know who was behind me or what was coming for me, and that was at a point that I realised that antisemitism is real and it exists and it is dangerous.”

The Love Island star went on to say that he had trauma from what he had experienced, revealing that it took time to recover: “Slowly but surely I realised that, ‘okay, not everyone wants to attack me and hates me’.”

Mr Booker also disclosed his thoughts on antisemitism today, saying: “I’m shocked that we still live in a world where hatred is fuelled by more hatred, and that, you know, we have to continuously ask people to stand in alliance with us and say ‘please, can you not see that this is wrong?’ We’re people like anyone else, why would you not just call out wrong and hatred behaviour when you see it? 

“Because we know wrong from right, we all do. We’re humans, we have morals, we have values. We can see when somebody is feeling uncomfortable, when there is aggressive body language or behaviour towards them. We can see when there is someone vulnerable, on their own or in a small group of young kids or girls or women that are being attacked, and it makes me feel sick that people would stand by and let that happen because they think, for some unknown reason, that we’re bad people or we’ve done something wrong, because we were born into a religion and a society and we’ve decided to grow up in that way.”

The full podcast with Mr Booker can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox. Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, The Sunday Telegraph columnist Zoe Strimpel and actor Eddie Marsan.

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CAA and others vindicated as neo-Nazi originally ordered to read classic literature is finally jailed after review of “unduly lenient” sentence

A neo-Nazi who was sentenced by a judge to read classic works of English literature has now been jailed for two years by the Court of Appeal, after his sentence was deemed “unduly lenient”.

Ben John, 21, was convicted by a jury at Leicester Crown Court on 11th August 2021 of possessing information likely to be useful for preparing an act of terror — a charge that carries a maximum jail sentence of fifteen years. The prosecution told the court that the former De Montfort University student, who had collated 67,788 documents which contained a large quantity of National Socialist, white supremacist and antisemitic material, as well as information relating to a Satanic organisation, had previously failed to heed warnings by counter-terrorism officers. Lincolnshire Police had also said that Mr John “had become part of the Extreme Right Wing (XRW) online, and was studying Criminology with Psychology in Leicester when he was arrested”.

Nevertheless, Judge Timothy Spencer QC said that he believed that Mr John’s crime was likely to be an isolated incident and “an act of teenage folly”. He labelled Mr John as a “lonely individual with few if any true friends” who was “highly susceptible” to recruitment by others more prone to action. Judge Spencer went on to say that he was “not of the view that harm was likely to have been caused.”

Instead of jail, Judge Spencer instructed Mr John to return to him every four months in order to be tested on his reading of classic literature, urging him to read Dickens, Shakespeare, Austen, Trollope and Hardy. Mr John was also handed a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years plus a further year on licence, monitored by the probation service. Mr John was also given a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order requiring him to stay in touch with the police and let them monitor his online activity and up to 30 days on a Healthy Identity Intervention programme.

Campaign Against Antisemitism and other groups condemned the sentence as a dangerous joke, and the Attorney General asked the Court of Appeal to review the “unduly lenient” sentence.

Earlier this month, Mr John appeared before the same judge to be tested on his reading. This was after an interview with Scout News in December, in which Mr John reportedly indicated that he had not even begun the reading. The Court of Appeal heard that Mr John had resumed his interest in far-right extremism within days of the original sentence last year. The Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC, told the court: “We now know that within a week of giving an apparently sincere promise to the judge, he resumed his interest in the far-right. He began liking Nazi posts online and other extremist activity five days after promising the judge he had put it behind him.” He added that “some of the material accessed as recently as this month is very troubling.”

In handing down judgement today, Lord Justice Holroyde said that the original judge’s intention to avoid having to jail Mr John was “understandable”, but concluded that “we are satisfied there must be a sentence of immediate imprisonment.”

Mr John was today therefore jailed for two years with a one-year extended licence. He will be eligible for release after spending two thirds of his prison sentence.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We know from hard experience that sometimes it takes time to get justice, but Ben John has today finally received an appropriate custodial sentence. The Attorney General was absolutely right to ask the Court of Appeal to review the pathetic original sentence. It was inexplicable that a man who collected nearly 70,000 neo-Nazi and terror-related documents could entirely avoid prison for crimes that carry a maximum jail term of fifteen years. Instead, Ben John left court with a mere suspended sentence and some English homework.

“The British public can sleep safer tonight knowing that the Court of Appeal has shown sense, rectified the alarming joke of a sentence originally handed down to Mr John, and jailed a dangerous individual.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

Image credit: Lincolnshire Police

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Guilty verdict for mosque leader who called for violent Jihad while wearing “Free Palestine, resistance is existence” jumper, and explosive details of family’s Islamist ties can now be published

A mosque leader who called for “Jihad by sword” while making a stabbing gesture and wearing a black top emblazoned with the words “Free Palestine, resistance is existence” has been found guilty of intending to encourage terrorism.

Abu Bakr Deghayes’ twenty-minute sermon a congregation of around 50 at Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre last November was caught on CCTV. The audience reportedly included teenagers and young men in their twenties, as well as older members, and it is understood that several in the audience began to fidget as the speech went on, with some walking out.

The Old Bailey heard that Mr Deghayes, 53, from Saltdean, Sussex and originally from Libya, spoke in English and Arabic, urging the congregation to ignore the British Government and its Prevent programme. He is claimed to have said: “Allah is more powerful than you. You, idiots. You non-believers, idiots. Allah is more powerful than you. The non-believer…is an idiot; he’s stupid. Jihad is compulsory upon you, you, you and you until the Day of Resurrection, whatever the British Government thinks, whatever Prevent thinks, whatever Israel thinks.

“Send to the sea. They can go and drink from the sea, Allah curse their fathers, OK? Jihad, jihad, jihad! Jihad is compulsory. Jihad by fighting by sword that means this jihad is compulsory upon you, not jihad is the word of mouth but jihad will remain compulsory until the Day of Resurrection. And my livelihood is under the shadow of my spear.”

He added that anyone who did not like what he said was an enemy of Allah, declaring: “Go fight Allah! Go Fight Allah!”

Mr Deghayes, who denied wrongdoing, had claimed in his defence that his words referred to self-defence, and that the stabbing gesture was a “dance of the blade”.

Now that the case is over, with Mr Deghayes inexplicably released on continued bail until he is sentenced at the same court on 25th February, details of his family’s ties to Islamists can be published. Two of Mr Deghayes’ sons were killed fighting in Syria (a third died in a stabbing incident in Sussex). Abdul, who was reportedly involved with drugs and was murdered by a dealer in 2019 aged 22, was the twin brother of Abdullah, who was killed in 2016 fighting in Syria. Their brother Jaffar was killed in 2014 aged seventeen while fighting to overthrow the Syrian dictator, Bashas Al-Assad. Both were apparently fighting for the al Qaida-affiliated Al-Nusra Front. Yet another son, Amer, is believed still to be fighting in Syria.

In 2017, a serious case review reportedly identified missed opportunities to prevent the sons from being radicalised, as well as noting failures to understand the role of religion in their lives. The report also alleged that Mr Deghayes would wake the boys up at 04:30 in the morning to study the Koran and would whip them with electrical wire.

The boys’ uncle, Omar Deghayes, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and spent five years in Guantanamo Bay.

The jury was not told about Mr Deghayes’s family background and ties.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2020 showed that over eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.

Image credit: Google and Sussex Police

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Glasgow University academic whose tweets breached International Definition of Antisemitism dismisses Jewish student who challenged him as being part of “the Lobby”

An academic at the University of Glasgow whose tweets breached the International Definition of Antisemitism has dismissed a Jewish student who challenged him as being part of “the Lobby”, according to the JC.

Dr Muir Houston, a senior education lecturer, reportedly claimed that the Jewish former Labour Party MP, Dame Louise Ellman, was “a liar and a fraud – and responsible for vexatious attacks on Corbyn at the behest of a foreign power.”

After he signed a letter of support for the disgraced academic David Miller last year, a Jewish politics student asked Dr Houston why he did so, for an article for a student newspaper.

According to the JC, less than an hour after the student sent the e-mail request, a Twitter account believed to belong to the academic posted “email received from the Lobby” and quoted directly from her message. Later in the day, the account posted: “After signing letter in support of David Miller – a member of the student lobby asked me for statement – given their previous reporting I will decline.”

The student submitted a complaint to the University’s Complaints Resolution Office. In April 2021, the University reportedly upheld the complaint, writing that University officials could “understand why the statements made by Dr Houston have caused offence to you and other members of the Jewish community” and adding: “We are deeply sorry about this. We would like to assure you that, as a result of your complaint, the School is actively pursuing this issue.” However, the letter did not commit to disciplinary action against Dr Houston.

Since then, the student has uncovered multiple social media posts, allegedly from Dr Houston, that breach the International Definition of Antisemitism, and still the University has apparently taken no formal action. The University of Glasgow has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Dr Houston is alleged to have replied to a tweet by European Council President Charles Michel that the lesson of the Holocaust was that “silence is the first step to acceptance”, saying: “#FreePalestine”.

Meanwhile, when another Twitter user asked, “Why have the Scottish government, Nicola Sturgeon, or the SNP not uttered a single word condemning Israeli murder. Have they been captured?” Dr Houston’s handle replied, “Yes”, and posted a link to a public policy document issued by a Scottish Jewish representative group.

The student met with the University of Glasgow Chief Operating Officer David Duncan in October to discuss her concerns. In an e-mail sent later that day, he replied: “the matter was dealt with informally; Dr Houston has not been the subject of formal disciplinary action.” When the student sent further tweets in November, he replied the following week: “Following further investigation of the twitter feed you complained about, I have concluded that some of the contents are problematic.” He said that the matter had been referred to the Head of School.

The student apparently asked Mr Duncan which tweets he considered “problematic”, and Mr Duncan pointed to one that reacted to news that the former Labour MP Mary Creagh had received an MBE, despite attacking Jeremy Corbyn, saying: “She got her 30 pieces of silver then?” He also pointed to another tweet that called “Modern Hebrew” a “synthetic language”.

Mr Duncan mused that some of the tweets “simply take a political perspective on developments in the Middle East – that to my mind is not problematic.” But the student was outraged, citing the claim that Dame Louise operated “at the behest of a foreign power” and writing: “I am in disbelief as to how you cannot see how these are problematic? The impunity granted to Muir is disgusting.”

According to the JC, the e-mail trail suggests numerous delays on the part of the University.

A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow said: “The complaint has been upheld and action is ongoing. We are unable to comment further at this time.” In a separate statement, the University reportedly added: “In no way does the University of Glasgow or Dr Duncan find racism or racial discrimination acceptable.”

Mr Duncan reportedly insisted that he was confident he had handled the complaint “appropriately and fairly”, saying: “I examined all the social media comments made by the subject of the complaint since the previous action by his School. I also drew on informal advice from Jewish colleagues.”

Dr Houston reportedly told the JC: “The Israel lobby is an actually existing phenomenon composed of witting and unwitting assets of a hostile and illegitimate foreign state. That state, Israel, can only continue to exist because of a slow genocide being committed against the Palestinian people. Britons should be deeply concerned that the Jewish Chronicle, whose funders remain secret, is seeking to lead the largest political witch-hunt in British history. We should all ask on whose behalf this onslaught of censorship and intimidation is being conducted.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Several of these social media posts appear to breach the International Definition of Antisemitism, including claiming that antisemitism allegations against Labour were vexatious or at the behest of a foreign power. The posts warrant urgent action by the University, as does Dr Houston’s reported reaction to complaints, which appear to have invoked yet another trope. Universities have a duty of care towards Jewish students and an obligation to students to present lecturers who are grounded in reality rather than conspiracy. If the University continues to fail to take action or obfuscate, we shall be reporting it to the Office for Students.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected]. 

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Cambridge professor accused of conspiratorial attacks by both Jewish society and fellow academic

A professor at the University of Cambridge has been accused of conspiratorial attacks by both the University’s Jewish society and a fellow academic.

Priyamvada Gopal, a professor of Postcolonial Studies at the University, reportedly accused Samuel Rubinstein, a Jewish student at Cambridge who wrote an article criticising her tweets of fellow academic David Abulafia, of being motivated by her stance on the International Definition of Antisemitism, despite Mr Rubinstein’s article not mentioning the Definition.

Ms Gopal stated that she was “the subject of a concocted story eagerly picked up by tabloids and Murdoch press”, adding: “They make the news, they write it up, they target, they assault, they win.” 

She also accused Mr Rubinstein of having “quite powerful familial connections to the liberal media.” 

In response, the University’s Jewish society released a statement in which it said that the society “Stands in solidarity with our members who have been subject to unfounded conspiracy theories and online intimidation.

“In an inflammatory Twitter thread [Ms Gopal] echoes historic tropes about media control, and goes on to insinuate that the Jewish journalists are acting out of fidelity to the IHRA [International] Definition of Antisemitism.”

Mr Rubinstein told the JC: “Prof. Gopal had every right to respond to my piece, and could have done so by taking issue with the substance of my argument, but it is regrettable that her response – a tissue of falsehoods and rancid conspiracy theories, getting progressively unhinged as the day progressed – vindicated every single claim I made in my original article.”

Professor Abulafia, the academic originally criticised by Ms Gopal, said: “I’m not trying to get Gopal sacked but she’s clearly completely out of control. In a series of tweets she claimed that the student newspaper journalist I spoke to was part of a conspiracy. Both he and I are Jewish and we are all familiar with the antisemitic Jewish conspiracy trope — she even referenced guidelines designed to stop hate speech around the Holocaust.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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BBC did record “anti-Zionism” debate even as broadcaster promised it was not planning to air one

It has been revealed that the BBC did record a controversial debate about anti-Zionism even as the broadcaster assured the Jewish community that it was not planning to air one.

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, who was the first religious leader to speak out against Jeremy Corbyn after the 2019 General Election was called, has revealed that BBC Radio 4 recorded an inflammatory debate between him and the controversial blogger Robert Cohen over whether anti-Zionism should be a “protected characteristic”.

The debate was reportedly recorded on 7th January and was due to be broadcasted on 13th January. Although the BBC insisted, after outrage from the Jewish community, that “We are always exploring a range of possible topics but there’s no planned item about anti-Zionism on the Sunday programme,” Rabbi Romain revealed that, after the segment was recorded, producers told him that it would be broadcast as planned. It was later pulled.

Rabbi Romain said: “I was approached by the BBC on Friday morning to do an interview on the move to make anti-Zionism a protected philosophical belief.” He described the debate as “robust” and lasting “between seven and eight minutes,” during which he “forcefully made the point that Zionism originally meant the establishment of a Jewish homeland and ever since 1948 has meant the maintenance of a Jewish homeland, but it does not refer to particular borders. It is perfectly permissible to criticise particular Israeli policies, and half of all Israelis do, but if [Mr Cohen] and others are anti-Zionist, they are denying Israel’s very right to exist. What is more, given that every other people have that right, and he wishes Palestinians to have it too, then denying it just to Jews is exceptionalism and antisemitic.”

Rabbi Romain revealed: “Later that afternoon, I was phoned by the producer and told, very regretfully, that ‘someone higher up the chain’ had decided that as the application to make anti-Zionism protected was only a proposal and had not been initiated yet, the BBC would postpone the item until it was made.”

Prior to asking Mr Cohen to participate, the BBC intended to invite Diana Neslen, a member of the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour.

On Sunday the BBC issued a second statement saying: “We are always exploring a range of possible topics but there was no item about anti-Zionism on the Sunday programme this weekend.”

The BBC has lately been embroiled in a host of controversies relating to antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

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Jeremy Corbyn reportedly considering launching new party while allies seek to restore Labour whip to him

Jeremy Corbyn, the antisemitic former leader of the Labour Party, is reportedly considering launching a new political party.

Mr Corbyn is apparently being urged by his allies to register his organisation, the Peace and Justice Project, as a political party. Mr Corbyn set up the Project following his suspension from the Labour Party in order to coordinate his activism.

However, Mr Corbyn has also recently observed that he could stand as an independent at the next election. He reportedly said: “Let’s not go into too much speculation about this…my wish is to stand as a Labour candidate…I do feel I’ve been very badly treated, but let’s take it one step at a time.”

Although Mr Corbyn was suspended from the Labour Party, he was rapidly and disgracefully readmitted. However, the whip has not been restored to him, so he is in the absurd position of being a member of the Labour Party who sits as an independent MP.

Now, Nadia Jama and Ian Murray, both allies of Mr Corbyn on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), have submitted a motion to the NEC calling for the whip to be restored to the former leader. Even if successful, the motion cannot require the whip to be restored to Mr Corbyn.

Late last year, Ms Jama seconded a motion challenging the practice of expelling Party members based on apparent involvement with groups that were proscribed after the time of alleged involvement, and earlier last year Ms Jama voted against the proscription of Labour Against the Witchhunt by the NEC.

The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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Mosque leader on trial after allegedly calling for “Jihad by sword” while wearing black top emblazoned with words “Free Palestine, resistance is existence”

A mosque leader is on trial after allegedly calling for “Jihad by sword” while wearing a black top emblazoned with the words “Free Palestine, resistance is existence”.

Abu Bakr Deghayes’ twenty-minute sermon at Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre last November was caught on CCTV.

The Old Bailey heard that, while calling for “Jihad by sword”, he gestured with a stabbing motion.

The congregation reportedly included teenagers and young men in their twenties, as well as older members, and it is understood that several in the audience began to fidget as the speech went on, with some walking out.

Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, told the court that the speech on 1st November 2021 “demonstrates the defendant to be an Islamic extremist. He is someone who believes in the use of violence in the cause of Islam, or at the very least, he was reckless as to whether people would be encouraged. It is not a speech given innocently or naively by the defendant.”

He added: “The defendant was quite clear, he said jihad was compulsory or an obligation. He said, ‘jihad by fighting by sword’. The prosecution case is clear and straightforward – by standing up at the front of a busy mosque, and by quite deliberately saying ‘jihad by fighting by sword’, the defendant was encouraging terrorism, encouraging violence in the name of Islam. If the defendant’s own words were not clear enough, he also made a stabbing gesture with his hands.”

Mr Deghayes, from Saltdean, Sussex, is originally from Libya, and spoke in English and Arabic, allegedly urging the congregation to ignore the British Government and its Prevent programme. He is claimed to have said: “Allah is more powerful than you. You, idiots. You non-believers, idiots. Allah is more powerful than you. The non-believer…is an idiot; he’s stupid. Jihad is compulsory upon you, you, you and you until the Day of Resurrection, whatever the British Government thinks, whatever Prevent thinks, whatever Israel thinks.

“Send to the sea. They can go and drink from the sea, Allah curse their fathers, OK? Jihad, jihad, jihad! Jihad is compulsory. Jihad by fighting by sword that means this jihad is compulsory upon you, not jihad is the word of mouth but jihad will remain compulsory until the Day of Resurrection. And my livelihood is under the shadow of my spear.”

He allegedly added that anyone who did not like what he said was an enemy of Allah, declaring: “Go fight Allah! Go Fight Allah!” Mr Deghayes denies encouraging terrorism. The trial continues.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2020 showed that over eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.

Image credit: Google

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Despite media and FBI claims, Texas synagogue hostages confirm attack was absolutely antisemitic as two are arrested in the UK

Despite media and FBI claims that the attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Texas was “not specifically related to the Jewish community,” the hostages taken by terrorist Malik Faisal Akram have confirmed that his motivation was in fact antisemitic.

The FBI’s claim, blindly repeated by the world’s media, had sparked fury in Jewish communities around the world. For example, the BBC led with the headline: “Texas synagogue hostage stand-off not related to Jewish community – FBI”

Speaking to CNN, Beth Israel community member Jeffrey Cohen recounted that 44-year-old Mr Akram, from Blackburn in Lancashire, UK, had imbibed antisemitic conspiracy theories to the extent that he believed Jews to be so powerful that if he wanted a criminal to be released from prison, all he had to do was to enter a synagogue and demand that local Jews exercise their political might to fulfil his request.

At one point Mr Cohen told how the terrorist, who was killed by the FBI, demanded to speak to the “Chief Rabbi”, however no such office exists in the United States, so they simply called a rabbi from another synagogue. Mr Akram was apparently utterly convinced that Jews and their rabbis wielded such immense power that they could overturn prison sentences by decree.

The account has been corroborated by others, forcing the FBI to backtrack and admit that far from being “not specifically related to the Jewish community,” the attack was in fact “a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted”.

Mr Akram entered the synagogue during Sabbath services, making threats against the congregation and holding them hostage, demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in Texas.

In comments that could be heard on a live stream of the synagogue service that was cut off during the incident, Mr Akram could be heard speaking in a northern English accent and claiming that he had a bomb and that he would not leave the synagogue alive.

In additional comments that suggest that the FBI did little of use during the attack, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told CBS Mornings that he and the two other hostages had escaped by hurling a chair at the attacker and running out of the building. Only once the hostages were free did the FBI enter the building and shoot Mr Akram dead. The account was corroborated in Mr Cohen’s CNN interview.

Previous reports had suggested that the FBI freed the hostages.

Two teenagers have now been arrested by the UK’s Counter Terrorism Policing North West.

The person who Mr Akram wanted freed in return for the safety of the hostages was being held in a Texan prison. Dr Siddiqui is convicted of two counts of attempted murder, armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and three counts of assault on US officers and employees. Upon her conviction, raising her middle finger in court she shouted: “This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America. That’s where the anger belongs.” Dr Siddiqui had refused to work with a legal team provided to her by the Pakistani embassy on account of them being Jewish, and she had also demanded that jurors be subject to some sort of genetic testing to assess whether they were Jewish.

In a letter to former US President Obama, Dr Siddiqui wrote: “Study the history of the Jews. They have always back-stabbed everyone who has taken pity on them and made the ‘fatal’ error of giving them shelter…and it is this cruel, ungrateful back-stabbing of the Jews that has caused them to be mercilessly expelled from wherever they gain strength. This why ‘holocausts’ keep happening to them repeatedly! If they would only learn to be grateful and change their behaviour!”

A statement purportedly from Mr Akram’s brother claimed that Mr Akram had in fact released all of the hostages voluntarily before the authorities conducted their raid and killed him.

The statement added: “We would also like to add that any attack on any human being be it a Jew, Christian or Muslim etc is wrong and should always be condemned. It is absolutely inexcusable for a Muslim to attack a Jew or for any Jew to attack a Muslim, Christian, Hindu vice versa etc.”

The statement was published on a Facebook the “Blackburn Muslim Community” Facebook page which had to apologise for a post about Mr Akram’s death praying for “the Almighty” to “bless him with the highest ranks of Paradise”. The apology absurdly claimed that they had not been aware of the circumstances of Mr Akram’s death when posting the message, before the entire Facebook page was taken offline. Campaign Against Antisemitism is investigating who operates the “Blackburn Muslim Community” Facebook page and has alerted the authorities.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We join Jewish communities around the world in relief that Malik Faisal Akram’s attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Texas ended without physical injury to worshippers at the synagogue.

“The FBI’s claim during the attack that it ‘was not specifically related to the Jewish community’ has now been shown to be the opposite of reality. The FBI’s grasp of the nature of the attack and its role, if any, in securing the safety of the hostages will now be under considerable scrutiny. It is appalling how the FBI’s patently absurd analysis was blindly parroted by the world’s media.

“That the perpetrator came from the United Kingdom raises very serious questions for British authorities, including whether Mr Akram was encouraged or supported by local elements who may pose a continuing threat to the Jewish community or the wider public. This would appear to be supported by the fact that two teenagers have already been arrested by Counter Terrorism Policing North West. That a ‘Blackburn Muslim Community’ Facebook page purporting to represent the local Muslim community published a now-deleted post calling for ‘the Almighty’ to ‘bless him with the highest ranks of Paradise’ demands an urgent investigation. We are looking into who operates the page and have alerted local law enforcement.”

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Labour MPs Grahame Morris, Nadia Whittome, John McDonnell and Lucy Powell all under pressure in relation to antisemitism

Four Labour Party MPs – Grahame Morris, Nadia Whittome, John McDonnell and Lucy Powell – are now under pressure in relation to antisemitism.

The Mail on Sunday revealed that the Labour MP Grahame Morris is the director of the controversial “Palestine Deep Dive” company. Research by Labour Against Antisemitism uncovered Mr Morris’ association with the company, of which he is the founding director. The MP reportedly admitted being a director of the purportedly educational organisation and that he had failed to declare this directorship to Parliament.

The company’s website has previously published an article claiming that “Israel’s racism” has “let loose the pogroms so reminiscent of Czarist times and Kristallnacht in Germany, 1938.” According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

The website has also attacked BBC’s Panorama for contributing to a “smear campaign” against Labour, due to its investigation into antisemitism in the Party. The website reportedly apologised for this latter article by the controversial musician and activist, Roger Waters, last month. Mr Waters has made other outrageous claims on the website as well.

The website has interviewed the activist and comedian, Alexei Sayle, who has claimed that allegations of antisemitism “amongst supporters of Jeremy Corbyn are a complete fabrication.” Palestine Deep Dive has also reportedly platformed the controversial figure Tariq Ali, who has previously tried to link Israel to the racist killing of George Floyd – a trope for which Rebecca Long Bailey was fired from the Shadow Cabinet – among other inflammatory claims.

Grahame Morris is believed to be the only sitting MP in the entire House of Commons not to have endorsed the International Definition of Antisemitism. In 2012, he himself apparently tweeted: “World’s richest Jacob Rothschild, John Paulson & George Soros Are All Betting That Financial Disaster is Coming.”

Mr Morris reportedly said that, although he is a director of the company, he has “no involvement in the editorial decisions” of the website, and he issued an apology for failing to register his directorship with the House of Commons.

A spokesperson for the company reportedly said that the website “has not knowingly published material that may be considered antisemitic, nor has it been challenged as such. If this would ever be the case, it would be removed.”

Meanwhile, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP and fellow Socialist Campaign Group member Nadia Whittome MP both reportedly shared a platform with expelled Labour member and outspoken filmmaker Ken Loach. Sir Keir Starmer pledged during his leadership campaign that any Labour member who shares a platform with a member expelled in relation to antisemitism would be disciplined, but he has consistently failed to fulfil this promise.

Reports have also emerged that Lucy Powell MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has been campaigning with Cllr. Majid Dar, a Labour councillor in Manchester who was suspended following allegations of antisemitism. Cllr Dar’s sister, Yasmine Dar, is an ally of Jeremy Corbyn and served as the head of Labour’s disputes panel. She is infamous for claiming that the Party did not have a problem of institutional antisemitism even as her brother was suspended over antisemitism allegations.

Scandals relating to antisemitism continue to rock the Labour Party at other levels as well. For example, a Labour councillor in West Lancashire, Ron Cooper, has tweeted: “If Corbyn was Labour Leader again then hundreds of thousands of members would rejoin the Party. @Keir_Starmer Stands for nothing #Purge of socialists and following commands from Israel.” Cllr. Cooper was swiftly suspended from the Party pending an investigation, and currently sits as an independent councillor, the whip having been withdrawn.

There are also unverified reports that Maureen Madden, the Chair of the North Tyneside Constituency Labour Party, has been expelled from the Labour Party. She has reportedly shared Rothschild conspiracy theories in the past.

Furthermore, Jewish Voice for Labour, the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, has tweeted in response to verified reports of Chinese espionage in Parliament: “Chinese interference in Parliament is unacceptsble [sic] and the security services were correct to draw attention to it. When are they going to turn their attention to the widespread Israeli Parliamentary interference #LFI #CFI #LDFI.” Claims that the Jewish state or lobbyists on its behalf wield excessive power in foreign nations is a common trope.

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Sir Keir Starmer’s failure to fulfil his pledge to discipline MPs and others who share platforms with expelled members continues to haunt him. He tells non-Jewish audiences that he has closed the door on antisemitism in his Party – while whispering to Jewish audiences that there is still more to do – but his own MPs and officeholders continue to push the door wide open. With the new disciplinary system yet to be tested, Labour cannot be said to have gotten to grip with its scandal of institutional racism against Jews.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has lodged a complaint against Jeremy Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the EHRC’s shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day of the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised but has yet to introduce.

The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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“Blackburn Muslim Community” Facebook page reportedly calls for Allah to “bless” dead Texas synagogue attacker “with the highest ranks of Paradise”

Following the confirmation that the dead British man who attacked Congregation Beth Israel in Texas was 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, the “Blackburn Muslim Community” Facebook page has reportedly prayed for “the Almighty” to “bless him with the highest ranks of Paradise” in a now-deleted post.

Mr Akram entered the synagogue during Sabbath services, making threats against the congregation and holding them hostage, demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in Texas.

In comments that could be heard on a live stream of the synagogue service that was cut off during the incident, Mr Akram could be heard speaking in a northern English accent and claiming that he had a bomb and that he would not leave the synagogue alive.

Following a standoff, the authorities raided the synagogue, killing Mr Akram and freeing the hostages.

A statement purportedly from Mr Akram’s brother published by the same Facebook page claimed that Mr Akram had in fact released all of the hostages before the authorities conducted their raid and killed him. The statement added: “We would also like to add that any attack on any human being be it a Jew, Christian or Muslim etc is wrong and should always be condemned. It is absolutely inexcusable for a Muslim to attack a Jew or for any Jew to attack a Muslim, Christian, Hindu vice versa etc.”

Dr Siddiqui is convicted of two counts of attempted murder, armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and three counts of assault on US officers and employees. Upon her conviction, raising her middle finger in court she shouted: “This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America. That’s where the anger belongs.” Dr Siddiqui had refused to work with a legal team provided to her by the Pakistani embassy on account of them being Jewish, and she had also demanded that jurors be subject to some sort of genetic testing to assess whether they were Jewish.

In a letter to former US President Obama, Dr Siddiqui wrote: “Study the history of the Jews. They have always back-stabbed everyone who has taken pity on them and made the ‘fatal’ error of giving them shelter…and it is this cruel, ungrateful back-stabbing of the Jews that has caused them to be mercilessly expelled from wherever they gain strength. This why ‘holocausts’ keep happening to them repeatedly! If they would only learn to be grateful and change their behaviour!”

Campaign Against Antisemitism is investigating who operates the “Blackburn Muslim Community” Facebook page and alerting the authorities.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We join Jewish communities around the world in relief that Malik Faisal Akram’s attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Texas ended without physical injury to worshippers at the synagogue, and in giving thanks to the courageous law enforcement officers who secured their safety.”

“That the perpetrator came from the United Kingdom raises very serious questions for British authorities, including whether Mr Akram was encouraged or supported by local elements who may pose a continuing threat to the Jewish community or the wider public. That a ‘Blackburn Muslim Community’ Facebook page purporting to represent the local Muslim community published a now-deleted post calling for ‘the Almighty’ to ‘bless him with the highest ranks of Paradise’ demands an urgent investigation. We are looking into who operates the page and alerting local law enforcement.”

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Prominent Grenfell Tower volunteer aid worker Tahra Ahmed found guilty of publishing written material in order to stir up racial hatred, after being reported to police by CAA

Tahra Ahmed, a prominent Grenfell Tower volunteer aid worker who was reported to the police by Campaign Against Antisemitism, has today been found guilty of publishing written material in order to stir up racial hatred.

Ms Ahmed, 51, was exposed in The Times as having claimed that the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were “burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice.” After the tragic fire that left 71 dead, Ms Ahmed said that she had been coordinating the work of volunteers, coaching them and running workshops with the aim of empowering them. She reportedly discussed her beliefs with some of the people she has helped.

Ms Ahmed, who described herself during her testimony as “very very bright”, was found guilty of two counts of incitement to racial hatred, following the trial instigated by Campaign Against Antisemitism. The offence carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. She will be sentenced on 11th February.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Tahra Ahmed sought to twist the Grenfell Tower tragedy to fit her venomous world view in which it seems that any evil can be attributed to Jews. She used people’s suffering and anger in the aftermath of the Grenfell tragedy and tried to wield it as a weapon against Jews before an audience of tens of thousands on social media. We are pleased that the jury has convicted her over her wicked fabrications. As we have seen, her hatred has not only enabled her to abuse the Grenfell tragedy, but also to accuse Jews of being responsible for 9/11 and of supposedly exaggerating the Holocaust. As the prosecution observed, she used her position as an aid volunteer in the aftermath of Grenfell to ‘bait the mob’ against Jewish people, making her conduct particularly repulsive.”

In her social media posts, Ms Ahmed had written: “Watch the live footage of people trapped in the inferno with flames behind them. They were burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice. Grenfell is owned by a private Jewish property developer just like the twin towers. I wonder how much Goldman [Goldman Sachs, a bank often targeted by antisemites] is standing to make in the world’s most expensive real estate location [Kensington].”

She has also described the Holocaust as the “holohoax” and posted on Facebook that “Hitler and the Germans were the victims of the Jewish conspiracy to destroy Germany.” She is also a proponent of the antisemitic conspiracy theory that the 9/11 terror attacks were faked by Jews. In one Facebook comment found by Campaign Against Antisemitism after The Times published its article, she wrote: “All the leadership of ISIS is directly recruited by CIA and the leadership are all Arab Jews, trained by Mossad.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism also uncovered posts by Ms Ahmed claiming that “Jews have always been the ones behind ritual torture, crucifixion and murder of children,” a comment redolent of the blood libel. Other posts described the antisemite Gilad Atzmon as her “good friend” and complained about the “hold of Jewish power over our so-called free and democratic society”, claimed that “Zioborg overlords are engineering a civil war”, and referenced a supposed “Zioborg Banking cartel”, among other inflammatory comments. She has also promoted the far-right, antisemitic “Kalergi Plan” conspiracy theory, which claimed that there is a plot to mix white Europeans with other races through immigration.

Following The Times’ exposé and the further research by Campaign Against Antisemitism, we reported Ms Ahmed to the police and called for her to be prosecuted. The five-day trial, held at the Old Bailey after Westminster Magistrates’ Court declined jurisdiction, ended today with a guilty verdict from a jury.

Ms Ahmed, who denied two counts of stirring up racial hatred by publishing written material, was described by prosecutor Hugh French as having “published two posts that were virulently antisemitic and crossed the line as to what is acceptable in a liberal society.”

During the trial, the prosecution read a statement by Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive, Gideon Falter.

Giving evidence, Ms Ahmed said that she campaigns against the arms trade, with her lawyer describing her work as being part of the “social justice movement.”

She claimed to have a problem with “Zionist Jews, not all Jews,” and that when she talks about “Zionist Jews” or “Talmudic Jews” or “Satantic Jews” people know whom she is referring to, conceding that there were times when she wrote something and failed to make a distinction between the particular Jews whom she was talking about and Jews in general. She claimed that she detests publicity and that The Times, by publishing her posts, is guilty of inciting racial hatred, rather than her.

As her evidence turned to Grenfell, she explained that in 2014 she began working as a life coach, confirming, however, that she had no training in this field. She set out to provide support for the volunteers who were supporting the victims. When asked about her description of the Grenfell fire as a “Jewish sacrifice”, she answered that “the Talmud talks about sacrificing children, Satanic ritual abuse, a lot of it coming from the Jewish circles…the Ba’al Jews, Talmudic Jews, Zionist Jews they’re a small number of the Jewish community but they are criminals.” Asked whether the fire was started deliberately, she claimed that many people believe so. Pressed on whether the Jews were to blame, she said that at the time she did think that, “just like they bombed Gaza every couple of years.”

Asked by her lawyer whether she accepts that the post was insulting, she agreed, but she denied that it amounted to racial hatred, saying: “Absolutely not, no way. No racial hatred except to the criminals. I’ll be bold to the criminals and I’m entitled to be.” The prosecution noted, however, that with passions running high in the immediate aftermath of the fire, people would be looking for someone to blame, and Ms Ahmed’s posts were an attempt to “bait the mob”, which she denied.

When Ms Ahmed was asked about her claim that “Jews are always the ones behind ritual murder, especially young boys, to atone and be let back in Palestine,” she insisted that “there are millions of Jewish people who are anti-Zionist and many are Facebook friends, so if any of them were offended they would have pointed it out,” adding that “If it [the comment] stirred up racial hatred, it would have happened by now.”

Regarding her posts about the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Ms Ahmed told the court about “Satanic ritual abuse practiced by secret societies in order to control people…horrific torture of children, raping them, et cetera…Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul, my suggestion was he was not involved in SRA [Satanic Ritual Abuse] or the upper echelons of the cult and was therefore dispensible.”

The defence asked Ms Ahmed who the “Satanic ruling Jews” are, to which she responded that they are “the bankers, owners of media and corporations, they manipulate and control a lot of evil in the world and I want it to end and so I expose who they are. Unfortunately, sometimes I don’t qualify by saying ‘Satanic’ and some racists would comment and I’d delete the comment or tell them off. People would share racist or inflammatory memes and I’d delete them, even though I’m passionate about freedom of speech. My intention is to educate them.” When pressed by the prosecution on whether she could provide any examples of her calling out racism or removing posts as she claimed to have done, she could not.

On the Holocaust, Ms Ahmed told the court, “I’m not a Holocaust denier…unfortunately, six million Jews is a number that has been perpetuated and the actual number has been revised down by experts.” She affirmed using the term “Holohoax”, arguing that “it [the figures] was manipulated and exaggerated at the time” and that, regarding the actual number of deaths in the Holocaust, “The Jewish council [sic] says 3.5 million…the Red Cross says 283,000.” She also baselessly asserted that “Hitler had an agreement with Rothschild to put Jews in concentration camps so Rothschild could transfer Jews to Palestine” and approvingly quoted a known Holocaust denier. She was also pressed on why she described the expulsion of the Jews from England in the Middle Ages as a “final solution to the Jewish problem.”

The judge asked Ms Ahmed about 9/11: “It’s a yes or no question. Do you believe Jews were responsible for 9/11?” Ms Ahmed replied that “It’s not fair to answer that without context,” also variously describing the terrorist attack as a “false flag” operation and a “Mossad” operation. She further claimed that “Before US Presidents are elected, they show their allegiance to Israel to pay homage to say ‘we’re here to serve you’.”

During her testimony, Ms Ahmed also invoked far-right conspiracy theories, for example asserting that “Kabbalistic Jews don’t want Europe to remain white. Personally, I’m multicultural and love diversity. This plan is to bring other people into the land to deliberately destroy cultures,” a claim akin to the replacement theory antisemitic conspiracy theory popular with white nationalists. Her testimony also featured further comments about “Rothschild” control of the banking system; “ZioNazis”; “real Ashkenazis” and “Satanic Ashkenazis”; the “Bilderberg group” (which often features in conspiracy theories); “powerful people behind world governments”; a “cabal” akin to the “deep state” and “the most powerful ones at the top are Jewish”; the Khazar myth, which holds that contemporary Jews are actually a converted Central Asian people with no claim to the Land of Israel, and other conspiracy theories, including about the CIA and the COVID-19 “scamdemic”.

The prosecution accused Ms Ahmed of “using the witness box as a pulpit for your views” and of knowingly and deliberately “whipping up the mob with her social media posts.”

In her defence, over the course of her extended and rambling testimony Ms Ahmed insisted that “I’m not racist or antisemitic but passionate which sometimes looks like anger. They don’t care I write about Muslim terrorist organisations, I’m not accused of being islamophobic or anti-white or anti-British.” She described the trial as a “witchhunt” and claimed that, during case management and her plea hearing last year, she was “unlawfully arrested, incarcerated and tortured for six days” and suffered from “post-traumatic stress disorder” as a result, inhibiting her from mounting a strong defence. At more than one point, she was rebuked by the judge for misleading the jury about the case management process.

Earlier in the case, her defence counsel was the same barrister who defended notorious antisemite Alison Chabloz and the neo-Nazi activist Jeremy Bedford-Turner, both of whom were sent to prison following prosecutions initiated by Campaign Against Antisemitism. Ms Ahmed later replaced her counsel.

Ms Ahmed had supporters at court, one of whom was seen wearing a yellow star, seemingly in an effort to liken vaccinations to the Holocaust, in a form of softcore Holocaust denial that has become widespread amongst conspiracy theorists during the pandemic. The supporters were warned by a clerk to stop attempting to communicate with her during the trial after they were observed trying to signal to her.

Today, Ms Ahmed was found guilty by eleven of the twelve jurors, who agreed on both counts, following the trial before His Honour Judge Mark Dennis QC. We are grateful to the CST for once again providing security for CAA personnel at the trial.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Ridley Road star Agnes O’Casey reveals what it’s like playing a Jewish woman infiltrating a neo-Nazi group in first ever TV role

The actress Agnes O’Casey joins Podcast Against Antisemitism this week, revealing what it is like to play a Jewish woman who infiltrates a neo-Nazi group.

Ms O’Casey tells us about how starring in Ridley Road in her first ever television role gave her the opportunity to learn more about her Jewish roots.

The interview comes after her co-stars, Eddie Marsan and Tracy-Ann Oberman, revealed that they were subjected to online antisemitic abuse.

The episode can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel and actor Eddie Marsan.

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Belgian-Israeli receives undelivered letter to Belgium after several months, with address rendered illegible by swastika and antisemitic insults

A Belgian-Israeli has, after several months, received back an undelivered letter originally sent to Belgium, with the address now rendered illegible by swastika and antisemitic insults.

The letter, addressed to the sender’s notary in Anderlecht in August 2021, arrived in Belgium a few days after being posted in Israel, but has been sent back to Israel almost three-and-a-half months after arriving in Belgium due to an “insufficient/incorrect address”. However, the envelope had clearly been altered with a swastika and the phrase “J F***”.

The sender has reportedly asked the Israeli post office to file a complaint against its counterpart, BPost, and has contacted the Israeli Embassy in Brussels and communal Jewish groups.

A spokesperson for BPost said that an internal investigation was under consideration but that the company “does not have sufficient elements for the moment.” The spokesperson added: “It goes without saying that we will do everything possible to shed light on this matter and that we are ready to take the appropriate measures to defend the values that we hold dear and that make up our identity. This kind of behaviour is not aligned with our values of diversity and inclusion, as well as our work rules, and we strongly condemn it.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Image credit: EJP

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Scottish Labour leader under pressure to discipline Mercedes Villalba MSP who called for Party whip to be returned to antisemitic former leader Jeremy Corbyn

The Leader of Scottish Labour is under pressure to discipline one of his MSPs who called for the Labour Party whip to be returned to the antisemitic former leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

North East Scotland MSP Mercedes Villalba tweeted last week: “Jeremy Corbyn is a Labour Party member and should have the whip restored to him immediately.”

Mr Corbyn was suspended by the Labour Party but shambolically readmitted, but the whip was not restored to him, leaving him in the absurd position of being a member of the Labour Party but an independent MP.

Ms Mercedes has previously spoken out in the support of the disgraced former leader.

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour Leader, tried to distance himself from the Ms Villalba’s remarks but fell short of disciplining her. Asked if Mr Corbyn should apologise for his role in the Party’s antisemitism scandal, Mr Sarwar said: “Yes, I think that’s the least that anyone who has caused pain or hurt should do in that situation. The reality is that that is an internal disciplinary process and we have got to reflect on the impact that the antisemitism row – it was more than a row – had on communities across the country. I have been spending a lot of time speaking to the Jewish community here in Scotland and I have heard directly about the pain and the anguish that that whole episode caused and I am working to rebuild our relationship with all our communities across Scotland, including the Jewish community.

“As someone who has campaigned on Islamophobia and antisemitism and other forms of prejudice and hate, I know we can’t afford to be complacent. I would much prefer that those responsible for the pain apologised directly, reflected on their position. But I want us to focus on the future, not the past. I am not interested in past leaders or past problems or past issues. I am interested in the future and I expect every Labour MP, MSP and councillor to be focused on the future as well.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s absurd status as a Labour member who sits as an independent MP, when in fact he should not be in the Party at all, has left Labour and the public in confusion over Labour\s position on racism against Jews. If Anas Sarwar is serious when he says that the Party cannot be complacent in fighting antisemitism, then he must discipline Mercedes Villalba MSP for supporting the restoration of the whip to Mr Corbyn. Scottish Labour must decide whether it is a party of people who support the antisemite Jeremy Corbyn or not.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has lodged a complaint against Mr Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the EHRC’s shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day of the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs.

The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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Prime Minister calls for “swift” action by BBC over its biased coverage of antisemitic Oxford Street incident

The Prime Minister has called for “swift” action by the BBC over its biased coverage of antisemitic Oxford Street incident.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister confirmed that Boris Johnson agrees with Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries’ letter to BBC Director General Tim Davie urging the BBC urgently to get a grip on the issue.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, the spokesperson said that the Prime Minister “agrees with the Culture Secretary that the BBC should move forward swiftly to set out what action they plan to take. We look forward to that happening in good time.”

Ms Dorries wrote to Mr Davie explaining that the BBC’s outrageous coverage of the Oxford Street incident was “not only distressing for those involved but also the wider Jewish community.” Although she has no control over the BBC’s editorial decisions, she expressed dismay that the row had been allowed to “drag on for so long” and urged the BBC to “resolve the issue” as quickly as possible, otherwise Ofcom, the broadcaster regulator, should intervene.

Her intervention comes after Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to Ms Dorries and the BBC over the Corporation’s coverage of the antisemitic incident on Oxford Street, in which the BBC baselessly defamed the Jewish victims and suggested that they may have brought the attack upon themselves. The coverage prompted condemnation from Campaign Against Antisemitism and other communal groups, a rally outside Broadcasting House held by Campaign Against Antisemitism and attended by hundreds, and the resignation of a rabbi and long-time BBC broadcaster.

Ms Dorries wrote: “Whilst it would obviously be inappropriate for the Government to take a view on the details of the case, as the BBC is editorially and operationally independent, and responsibility for regulation sits with Ofcom, I would like to understand the actions the BBC has taken so far in response to the concerns raised by the Board of Deputies and how you intend to resolve the issue in a suitably timely manner.  You will know my concerns about the speed of the process which I asked officials to communicate to the BBC.

“It is crucial that the BBC can be properly held to account for the fulfilment of its Mission and Public Purposes as set out in the Charter, including through a fair and effective complaints process.  I expect the mid-term Charter to consider whether this is currently the case.”

The interventions come as the BBC has become embroiled in multiple other controversies relating to antisemitism. First, BBC Radio 4 was forced to pull a debate on whether anti-Zionism should be a protected characteristic, which was due to feature a member of the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour.

Meanwhile, on its website, the BBC reported that a Labour Party councillor had been “suspended from the party over an offensive tweet about leader Keir Starmer” but studiously avoided mentioning that the tweet in question claimed that Sir Keir was following “commands from Israel”. After outrage, the BBC article was updated to incorporate the inflammatory language.

Then, yesterday, a presenter claimed on BBC 5 Live Breakfast that there is “absolutely no evidence” that Jeremy Corbyn is antisemitic, and belittled antisemitism in the Labour Party as mere “allegation”. Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to the BBC on this issue.

These are just the latest scandals relating to antisemitism in which the BBC has become embroiled in just the past few weeks, and follow years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community.

Our Antisemitism Barometer last year revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints.

The BBC’s coverage of the Oxford Street incident and our rally, which was endorsed by former BBC Chairman Lord Grade and actress Dame Maureen Lipman, has been discussed on previous episodes of our weekly podcast, Podcast Against Antisemitism. Episodes are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

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CAA to write to BBC after Rachel Burden insists on BBC 5 Live there is “absolutely no evidence” that Jeremy Corbyn is antisemitic

Campaign Against Antisemitism shall be writing to the BBC after a presenter claimed on BBC 5 Live Breakfast this morning that there is “absolutely no evidence” that Jeremy Corbyn is antisemitic.

Rachel Burden said towards the end of the programme, referring to her interview earlier with the businessman John Caudwell, who described the former Labour Party leader as “a Marxist and antisemite”, that she redirected him back to the topic under discussion but “I should have challenged him on the particular allegation of antisemite [sic] because there is absolutely no evidence that the leader of the Labour Party at that time, Jeremy Corbyn, was or is antisemitic. He had to deal with allegations of that within his party but there is nothing to suggest that he himself as an individual was. So I apologise for not challenging more directly, I should have done, and I want to emphasise there is no evidence for that at all.”

It would be understandable for Ms Burden to say that Mr Corbyn would dispute the characterisation, but it is unacceptable for her to editorialise and dismiss publicly-available evidence that has been reported in the national media for years.

Over two years ago, for example, Campaign Against Antisemitism published data, using a peer-reviewed research method, showing that Mr Corbyn was personally responsible for 24 incidents relating to antisemitism, which was equal to fifteen percent of all recorded incidents involving parliamentary candidates and party leaders in the lead-up to the 2019 General Election. That meant that, if Jeremy Corbyn were a political party, the ‘Jeremy Corbyn party’ would be responsible for almost four times more incidents than all the other major parties combined.

For Ms Burden to dismiss this evidence without basis represents both offence and inaccuracy under the BBC’s code.

Moreover, it is remarkable that Ms Burden would refer to the antisemitism in the Labour Party as mere “allegation” even though the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported that the allegations of racism against Jews in the Party were not only made out but were so bad as to have broken the law. Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant in the EHRC’s investigation.

The BBC is currently mired in scandal in connection with having referred to evident antisemitism in an antisemitic incident on Oxford Street also as mere “allegation”. The Culture Secretary has written to the Director General of the BBC over its coverage of the incident and the ensuing controversy, which remains live. Ms Dorries’ intervention came after Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to her and the BBC over the Corporation’s coverage, in which the BBC also baselessly defamed the Jewish victims and suggested that they may have brought the attack upon themselves. The coverage prompted condemnation from Campaign Against Antisemitism and other communal groups, a rally outside Broadcasting House held by Campaign Against Antisemitism and attended by hundreds, and the resignation of a rabbi and long-time BBC broadcaster.

Just in the past week, the BBC has also become embroiled in two further controversies relating to antisemitism. In one case, BBC Radio 4 was forced to pull a debate on whether anti-Zionism should be a protected characteristic, which was due to feature a member of the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour.

Meanwhile, on its website, the BBC reported that a Labour Party councillor had been “suspended from the party over an offensive tweet about leader Keir Starmer” but studiously avoided mentioning that the tweet in question claimed that Sir Keir was following “commands from Israel”. After outrage, the BBC article was updated to incorporate the inflammatory language.

These are just the latest scandals relating to antisemitism in which the BBC has become embroiled in just the past few weeks, and follow years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community.

Our Antisemitism Barometer last year revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints.

The BBC’s coverage of the Oxford Street incident and our rally, which was endorsed by former BBC Chairman Lord Grade and actress Dame Maureen Lipman, has been discussed on previous episodes of our weekly podcast, Podcast Against Antisemitism. Episodes are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Over two years ago, we published data, using a peer-reviewed research method, showing that Jeremy Corbyn was personally responsible for 24 incidents relating to antisemitism. For Rachel Burden to editorialise and dismiss this evidence without basis represents both offence and inaccuracy under the BBC’s code. Moreover, it is obscene for her to belittle Labour’s antisemitism as mere ‘allegation’, even though the EHRC, following an investigation in which we were the complainant, found those allegations to be made out to such an extent that the Party was deemed to have broken the law. This is not the first time in the past few weeks that the BBC has reduced evident antisemitism to mere ‘allegation’, as it has done with the Oxford Street incident. As these controversies relating to antisemitism and the BBC grow in number, it is no wonder that the Jewish community has lost confidence in our public broadcaster.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

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Prince of Wales commissions seven artists to paint portraits of Holocaust survivors

The Prince of Wales has commissioned seven artists to paint portraits of seven Holocaust survivors. The paintings are to be publicly displayed at Buckingham Palace.

“As the number of Holocaust survivors sadly but inevitably declines, my abiding hope is that this special collection will act as a further guiding light,” Prince Charles said.

The portraits of Helen Aronson, 94, who survived the Lodz ghetto, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, 96, a musician who played in an orchestra of inmates at Auschwitz and also survived Bergen-Belsen, and the other survivors, have been painted by Paul Benney, Peter Kuhfeld, Ishbel Myerscough, Clara Drummond, Massimiliano Pironti, Stuart Pearson Wright and Jenny Saville.

The paintings are to be a reminder of “history’s darkest days,” but will also show “humanity’s interconnectedness, as we strive to create a better world for our children, grandchildren and generations as yet unborn ­– one where hope is victorious over despair and love triumphs over hate,” Prince Charles said.

The project will also feature in a BBC Two documentary later this month that will present the survivors’ accounts.

Prince Charles has long been involved in the cause of Holocaust remembrance.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Prince of Wales has made it his mission to amplify the critical cause of Holocaust remembrance in Britain. With this unique project he has made yet another contribution to Holocaust education with his inimitable flair. We are grateful to Prince Charles for everything that he continues to do to make the lives and experiences of Holocaust survivors known to the wider public, particularly at a time when fewer and fewer direct testimonies are available.”

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Charity Commission reportedly launches inquiry into mosque whose manager is said to have compared Israel to the Nazis and praised the Taliban

The Charity Commission has reportedly launched an inquiry into a mosque whose manager is said to have compared Israel to the Nazis and praised the Taliban.

Saddique Hussain, the general manager of Birmingham’s Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif mosque, reportedly shared a clip of Taliban fighters showing off assault rifles whilst reciting quotes from the Quran and wrote: “How beautiful and civilised and no ‘I’. May Allah SWT guide us on to His beautiful religion.” 

It was said that Mr Hussain also shared a post which said that Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian children “for fun”. He allegedly shared a video clip from the news outlet TruNews, which has been described as a “far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website”, and according to the ADL has “increasingly featured antisemitic and anti-Zionist content, and also has a long record of disseminating radical Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ messages”. The clip in question was from Rick Wiles, a pastor who has previously labelled Jews as “deceivers” who “plot” and “lie”, in which Mr Wiles compared Israel to the Nazis.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism. 

Mr Hussain allegedly shared another clip which stated that “Zionist lobbying” could have a Sky News video that reported on Israeli military actions removed if they wanted, while another shared video reportedly contained text that said: “I am Israel – I have the power to control American policy. My American Israel Public Affairs committee can make or break any politician of its choosing.”

According to the Definition, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is an example of antisemitism. 

The group Muslims Against Antisemitism denounced Mr Hussain’s posts, stating: “Promoting views and associations between ‘media control’ and depicting ‘Zionists’ as having ‘control’ shows the conspiratorial mindset of the person in question. Focussing on Israel and blaming Israel for actions that it is not even associated with, shows the frothing and foaming nature of the antipathy that some hold.”

After a police warning, Mr Hussain claimed that he “does not and never has supported the Taliban”.

The Charity Commission, which apparently carried out a compliance visit to the charity last November following concerns over social media activity, has reportedly now announced that a full investigation will take place into Dar ul Uloom Islamia Rizwia (Bralawai), the group that runs Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif, relating to the conduct on social media of staff and trustees, who have apparently also shared inflammatory material online.

The Commission said: “These posts resulted in the charity receiving negative media attention and complaints being raised directly with the Commission.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2020 showed that over eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.

Image credit: Facebook screenshot via the JC

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Culture Secretary writes to BBC over Oxford Street fiasco while Corporation becomes embroiled in two further scandals relating to antisemitism

The Culture Secretary has written to the BBC’s Director General over the broadcaster’s coverage of the antisemitic Oxford Street incident, while the Corporation has become embroiled in two further scandals relating to antisemitism.

Nadine Dorries wrote to Tim Davie explaining that the BBC’s outrageous coverage of the Oxford Street incident was “not only distressing for those involved but also the wider Jewish community.” Although she has no control over the BBC’s editorial decisions, she expressed dismay that the row had been allowed to “drag on for so long” and urged the BBC to “resolve the issue” as quickly as possible, otherwise Ofcom, the broadcaster regulator, should intervene.

Her intervention comes after Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to Ms Dorries and the BBC over the Corporation’s coverage of the antisemitic incident on Oxford Street, in which the BBC baselessly defamed the Jewish victims and suggested that they may have brought the attack upon themselves. The coverage prompted condemnation from Campaign Against Antisemitism and other communal groups, a rally outside Broadcasting House held by Campaign Against Antisemitism and attended by hundreds, and the resignation of a rabbi and long-time BBC broadcaster.

Ms Dorries wrote: “Whilst it would obviously be inappropriate for the Government to take a view on the details of the case, as the BBC is editorially and operationally independent, and responsibility for regulation sits with Ofcom, I would like to understand the actions the BBC has taken so far in response to the concerns raised by the Board of Deputies and how you intend to resolve the issue in a suitably timely manner.  You will know my concerns about the speed of the process which I asked officials to communicate to the BBC.

“It is crucial that the BBC can be properly held to account for the fulfilment of its Mission and Public Purposes as set out in the Charter, including through a fair and effective complaints process.  I expect the mid-term Charter to consider whether this is currently the case.”

However, at the same time, the BBC has become embroiled in two further controversies relating to antisemitism. In one case, BBC Radio 4 was due to hold a debate on whether anti-Zionism should be a protected characteristic. The debate was due to feature Diana Neslen, a member of the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour. After widespread condemnation from the Jewish community, the debate was pulled.

Meanwhile, on its website, the BBC reported that a Labour Party councillor had been “suspended from the party over an offensive tweet about leader Keir Starmer.” The article studiously avoided mentioning that the tweet in question claimed that Sir Keir was following “commands from Israel”. After outrage, the BBC article was updated to incorporate the inflammatory language.

These are just the latest scandals relating to antisemitism in which the BBC has become embroiled in just the past few weeks, and follow years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community.

Our Antisemitism Barometer last year revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints.

The BBC’s coverage of the Oxford Street incident and our rally, which was endorsed by former BBC Chairman Lord Grade and actress Dame Maureen Lipman, has been discussed on previous episodes of our weekly podcast, Podcast Against Antisemitism. Episodes are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

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“I enjoyed Shakespeare more than I did Jane Austen”: neo-Nazi terrorist reports to judge on his reading of classic literature as dangerously lenient sentence plays out

A convicted neo-Nazi terrorist who was spared jail and ordered instead to examine works of classic literature has today reported to a judge on his reading.

Ben John, 21, was convicted by a jury at Leicester Crown Court on 11th August 2021 of possessing information likely to be useful for preparing an act of terror — a charge that carries a maximum jail sentence of fifteen years. The prosecution told the court that the former De Montfort University student, who had collated 67,788 documents which contained a large quantity of National Socialist, white supremacist and antisemitic material, as well as information relating to a Satanic organisation, had previously failed to heed warnings by counter-terrorism officers. Lincolnshire Police had also said that Mr John “had become part of the Extreme Right Wing (XRW) online, and was studying Criminology with Psychology in Leicester when he was arrested”.

Nevertheless, Judge Timothy Spencer QC said that he believed that Mr John’s crime was likely to be an isolated incident and “an act of teenage folly”. He labelled Mr John as a “lonely individual with few if any true friends” who was “highly susceptible” to recruitment by others more prone to action. Judge Spencer went on to say that he was “not of the view that harm was likely to have been caused.”

Instead of jail, Judge Spencer instructed Mr John to return to him every four months in order to be tested on his reading of classic literature, urging him to read Dickens, Shakespeare, Austen, Trollope and Hardy.

At today’s hearing at the same court, Judge Spencer told Mr John to write down the books that he had read since they last spoke. Judge Spencer said: “It is clear that you have tried to sort your life out. I would like to know what you have read of the classic literature you told the jury you were interested in. There is nothing in the report on that and I want you to write down now what literature you have read since we last met.”

Mr John reported that, from his reading, “I enjoyed Shakespeare more than I did Jane Austen but I still enjoyed Jane Austen by a degree.” The judge replied: “Well I find that encouraging. I am encouraged about what you have written out for me and I am encouraged by your efforts to seek employment and I wish you well with that.”

However, in an interview with Scout News last month, Mr John reportedly said that he had not read the books asked of him. “I don’t know how to put it,” he said. “I’ve got them. I’ve not got to grips with any of them,” adding: “I’ve still got a month.” Asked which books by Hardy and Trollope he had purchased, John said that he could not recall but that they were “buried somewhere” in a box at home. He disclosed that he had read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in secondary school, observing that “I was already familiar with that anyways.”

Back in September, in addition to his reading, Mr John was also handed a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years plus a further year on licence, monitored by the probation service. Mr John was also given a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order requiring him to stay in touch with the police and let them monitor his online activity and up to 30 days on a Healthy Identity Intervention programme.

After criticism of the sentence by Campaign Against Antisemitism and other groups, the Attorney General asked the Court of Appeal to review the “unduly lenient” sentence. A hearing is expected later this month.

Commenting on the sentence, Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands Detective Inspector James Manning, who led the investigation, said: “This was a young man who could be anyone’s son, studying at university, and living one life in public, while conducting another in private. He possessed a wealth of National Socialist and antisemitic material which indicated a fascination and belief in a white supremacist ideology along with support for an extreme satanic group which is increasingly of concern for law enforcement agencies.

“The terrorist material he was found in possession of is extremely dangerous, and he acquired this to further his ideology. It indicates the threat that he and other followers of this hateful ideology pose to national security. It was not light reading, or material most would concern themselves with for legitimate reasons. This has been a long and complex investigation over the course of 11 months.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Attorney-General was absolutely right to ask the Court of Appeal to review this pathetic sentence. It is inexplicable that a man who collected nearly 70,000 neo-Nazi and terror-related documents could entirely avoid a custodial sentence for crimes that carry a maximum jail term of fifteen years. Instead, Ben John left court with a mere suspended sentence and some English homework.

“For all the novels that the judge ordered Mr John to peruse as he enjoys his unearned freedom, it was notable that Crime and Punishment was not among them. Perhaps the judge himself ought to review that classic as he reflects on the risk that his dangerous sentence poses to the public.

“We await the result of the Attorney-General’s referral of the sentence to the Court of Appeal.”  

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

Image credit: Lincolnshire Police

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Conservative councillor who claimed America, Israel and Saudi Arabia are a “trilogy of Zionists” and that “Zionism is one of the worst afflictions on the world” is permitted to re-join party after suspension

A Conservative councillor who was suspended last year over social media posts has reportedly been permitted to re-join the Party.

A spokesperson for Peterborough Conservatives reportedly confirmed that Ishfaq Hussain, who represents the city’s Dogsthorpe ward, had re-joined following an investigation.

Cllr Hussain had apologised for sharing antisemitic tropes on Facebook. In one Facebook post, he accused the “Saudi regime” of being “long standing puppets of America and Israel,” and went on to label them “a trilogy of zionists.” He then remarked that “Islam doesn’t breed terrorists the zionist trilogy do.” Mr Hussain also shared a video that was captioned: “The Jews in Israel are not true Jews.”

Cllr Hussain had also captioned his profile picture: “This person does not recognise the State of Israel.” He also reportedly claimed that “Zionism is one of the worst afflictions on the world” and made other inflammatory comments about “Zionists”.

In his apology, Mr Hussain said: “I recognise Israel’s right to exist and wholeheartedly support a two-state solution. I deeply regret that my frustration at events in Israel and Palestine led me to suggest otherwise. Some of my previous language was ill-judged and offensive. It also echoed antisemitic tropes in ways I had not fully understood. However strongly we feel, we should never let our emotions get the better of us. By doing so, I allowed myself to become part of the problem. I am truly sorry.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is right that Cllr Hussain apologised for his inflammatory remarks, but suspensions pending an investigation are not in themselves a sanction. The Party must reveal the results of any investigation and require Cllr Hussain to undertake antisemitism training so that he understands why his comments were so detrimental.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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“I hate the word ‘hate’”: columnist and academic Zoe Strimpel gives her take on contemporary antisemitism

The Sunday Telegraph columnist and academic, Zoe Strimpel, joins Podcast Against Antisemitism this week to discuss her commentary on contemporary antisemitism.

Ms Strimpel tells us why online abuse does not stop her throwing a spotlight on racism towards Jews, and discusses her academic work in the field of dating and relationships.

The podcast can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel and actor Eddie Marsan.

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Comedian Jon Stewart clarifies remarks, insisting that he never accused JK Rowling of antisemitism in her portrayal of goblins in Harry Potter series

The comedian Jon Stewart has clarified remarks he made in his podcast in which he appeared to accuse the author JK Rowling of antisemitism in her portrayal of the goblin bankers in the Harry Potter book series.

Mr Stewart, who is Jewish, mused as to why Ms Rowling chose to “throw Jews in there to run the f***ing underground bank” in a fantasy world where people “can ride dragons and have pet owls.”

After backlash, he later insisted that the remarks were light-hearted.

In an episode of his podcast yesterday, he said: “I do not think J.K. Rowling is antisemitic. I did not accuse her of being antisemitic. I do not think the ‘Harry Potter’ movies are antisemitic. I really love the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, probably too much for a gentleman of my considerable age.”

He told critics to “get a f***ing grip.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The portrayal of the goblins in the Harry Potter series is of a piece with their portrayal in Western literature as a whole. It is the product of centuries of association of Jews with grotesque and malevolent creatures in folklore, as well as money and finance. The mythological associations have become so ingrained in the Western mind that their provenance no longer registers with creators or consumers.

“Those who continue to use such representations are often not thinking of Jews at all, but simply of how readers or viewers will imagine goblins to look, which is a testament more to centuries of Christendom’s antisemitism than it is to malice by contemporary artists. So it is with JK Rowling, who has proven herself over recent years to be a tireless defender of the Jewish community in its fight against antisemitism, for which we are immensely grateful.”

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Rabbi YY Rubinstein resigns as BBC broadcaster over Corporation’s coverage of antisemitic Oxford Street attack

Rabbi YY Rubinstein has resigned from his role as a broadcaster for the BBC over the Corporation’s coverage of the antisemitic Oxford Street attack in November.

Rabbi Rubinstein, who had worked with the Corporation for 30 years, posted his letter of resignation on Facebook yesterday, in which he wrote that “The current crisis over antisemitism at the Corporation and its attempts to turn the victims of the recent antisemitic attack on Jewish children in London and claim that the victims were actually the perpetrators, was and is inexcusable.” He added: “The obfuscation, denial that followed, was and is utterly damning.”

Rabbi Rubinstein described his resignation as “a very sad moment”, before ending the post by writing: “I simply don’t see how I or in fact any Jew who has any pride in that name can be associated with the Corporation anymore.”

In its coverage of the Oxford Street incident, the BBC reported that the explicit expressions of antisemitism evident in footage of the incident were merely “allegations”, and simultaneously claimed — alone among all media outlets — that “some racial slurs about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus,” an assertion made with no evidence to support it and which was even contradicted in the article by a witness from the bus who said that she heard no such slurs. On its BBC London Evening News, the BBC even suggested that “it’s not clear what role [the supposed slurs] may have had in the incident.” After public fury, the BBC amended the article to refer to an “anti-Muslim slur” in the singular, but failed to show any evidence why a supposed slur that nobody could hear with certainty was described as “clearly heard” and reported as fact — and even implied to have been a cause of the antisemitic harassment — while the harassment itself remained mere “allegation”.

Lord Grade, a former Chairman of the BBC, described the BBC’s reportage as “shoddy journalism” and called for answers in a video supporting the protest, while Dame Maureen Lipman encouraged people to attend “Because you care, and you will be demonstrating against my often-times employer asking for parity with other victims of racism, prejudice and abuse.” Lord Grade discussed the matter further on our podcast, Podcast Against Antisemitism.

Last month, in response to the coverage of the incident, hundreds of protestors attended Campaign Against Antisemitism’s “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” rally outside Broadcasting House in London, which was endorsed by Lord Grade and Dame Maureen Lipman.

The rally came after the BBC failed to respond substantively to contact from Campaign Against Antisemitism and other Jewish organisations about its recent coverage, which is not out of the ordinary for the public broadcaster. Polling that we conducted last year for our Antisemitism Barometer revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints. These figures reflect years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community.

We have submitted a complaint to the BBC and have also written to the Chairman and Director-General of the BBC to voice our concerns. In our letter, we called on the BBC to reveal their evidence that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard on the bus and explain why the claim that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard is asserted as fact (despite nobody else being able to discern such a slur) while the evident antisemitism is caveated as mere allegation.

We also reiterated our call for the BBC to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism and once again offered to provide the Corporation with training in how to identify and deal with antisemitism, which will go some way to restoring what little remains of the confidence of the Jewish community in our nation’s public service broadcaster.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Rabbi Rubinstein’s courageous and principled decision to resign as a broadcaster at the BBC is just the latest sign of the collapse in the Jewish community’s confidence in the Corporation. No self-respecting Jewish person wants to be publicly associated with the BBC after it yet again demonstrated its bias against Jews in its recent reportage of an antisemitic incident on Oxford Street in Central London.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

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Three teenagers arrested after Jewish man punched in the face in Stamford Hill

Three teenagers have been arrested after a Jewish man was punched in the face in Stamford Hill.

The incident reportedly took place yesterday at 15:00 on Lordship Park and was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD 3170 03/01/22.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

Image credit: Google

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Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe explains why why she helped to set up the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance

This week’s guest on Podcast Against Antisemitism is the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe.

In today’s episode, Ms Rowe talks about her experiences in the music industry and why she helped to set up the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance.

The episode can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel and actor Eddie Marsan.

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Cricklewood Muslim Youth Trust appears to describe Jews and Christians as “enemies of Allah” and warns followers to stay away from them

Cricklewood Muslim Youth Trust has appeared in a social media post to describe Jews and Christians as “enemies of Allah” and warn its followers to stay away from them.

The organisation, which functions as a bookshop and is promoted by Brent Council, shared a post reading: “Keep away from the enemies of Allaah [sic] the Jews & Christians on their day of gathering during their festivities, for verily the anger (of Allaah) descends upon them  and I fear that you will (also) be afflicted with it.”

The quotation is attributed to Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the second Rashidun Caliph, and is featured in Al-Bayhaqi Fi Shu’ab Al-Emaan, a collection of Hadiths compiled by Imam Al-Bayhaqi.

The image in the tweet was captioned: “Be warned of having any sort of involvement in the celebrations of the unbelievers, let alone Christmas whereby it is claimed that Allaah has begotten a son! Lest you may be afflicted with the anger of Allaah along with them!”

Cricklewood Muslim Youth Trust describes itself as “a charitable trust based in North West London who work for the benefit and enlightenment of the local community.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism shall be writing to Brent Council and the Charity Commission.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “While most of the country was enjoying the season of goodwill, the Cricklewood Muslim Youth Trust was using its Twitter account to implore the Muslim community to stay away from Jews and Christians and regard them as an enemy. The tweet warrants an investigation by the Charity Commission, and Brent Council must also review its association with the group. We are writing to both bodies.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

https://twitter.com/Cmyt_Bookshop/status/1474004574402859010?s=20
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Sheffield Hallam University investigating PhD student who defended the phrase “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust”

Sheffield Hallam University is reportedly investigating a PhD student who defended the phrase “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust”.

Shahd Abusalama, who is studying for a PhD in cinema at the University, reportedly shared tweets defending a first-year student who had made a poster that said “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust” and who was accused by a Jewish student of antisemitism.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, which Sheffield Hallam has adopted, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

On social media, Ms Abusalama defended the student by citing Jewish individuals who have made the same analogy, and also wrote: “I understand why a first-year university student used #Holocaust when thinking of Israel’s repeated bombardment of Gaza”, adding: “Maybe she thought she’d garner European sympathy for Palestine by evoking ‘Never Again’ slogan.”

She noted of the term “Holocaust” that she herself would not “use such a politicised word often used to justify the racist state of Israel” because it “distracts attention from the Zionist practices of settler-colonialism and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.” However, she proceeded to use other inflammatory terms and claimed that the suggestion that the University’s Palestine Society should undertake antisemitism training in light of the incident was indicative of a “hierarchy of racisms” asking: “Are Islamophobia & Xenophobia insignificant? Prioritising one form of racism over others is itself racist and divisive.”

The University reportedly said that its student conduct team is investigating the PhD student’s social media posts.

This is not the first time that Ms Abusalama has courted controversy. She is active in the BDS movement to boycott Israel, the tactics of which an overwhelming majority of British Jews find intimidating, and in the past she reportedly urged people to watch a video on YouTube called “Truth About Zionist Jews Talmud”, which presented numerous antisemitic myths about the Talmud. The video’s description asked “Why the Zionist don’t want us to know what’s in Talmud? [sic],” adding: “Why they want the teaching of the Talmud to be known only to Jews.”

Ms Abusalama wrote on Twitter: “Must watch this video that tells you the truth about #zionist #Jews. They take their legitimacy from #Talmud.” In another post, she reportedly wrote that the “Zionist lobbies control all this for their interest,” adding: “They buy presidents/slaves.”

The video and tweets have since been deleted.

Recently, the University and College Union (UCU) branch at Sheffield Hallam University was condemned for passing a motion of solidarity with the disgraced professor, David Miller.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Woman arrested after allegedly throwing stones at Jewish school in Stamford Hill

A woman has been arrested after allegedly throwing stones at a Jewish school in Stamford Hill.

The incident took place on Belz Terrace at 11:46am on 26th December and was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD2480 26/12/21.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Muslim media analyst who advises BBC on coverage of Islam apologises for sharing extract from antisemite Gilad Atzmon’s book

A Muslim media analyst who advises the BBC on coverage of Islam has reportedly apologised for sharing an extract from a book by the antisemite Gilad Atzmon.

Faisal Hanif, who words at the Centre for Media Monitoring, which is affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain and has advised the BBC on its coverage of Islam, shared an extract from Mr Atzmon’s book, Being in Time, which has been described as “profoundly antisemitic”. The extract itself did not contain antisemitic passages.

Mr Hanif apologised for sharing the post, admitting that it was an error “both professionally and personally to fail to check Mr Atzmon’s wider views.”

He said: “I stand opposed to all forms of racism including antisemitism and Islamophobia. I came across a blog post by Gilad Atzmon which was clearly not antisemitic and was comparing right and left ideology when I was researching the corrosive impact of the far right. While I took the blog post at face value at the time, I was unaware that Gilad Atzmon himself was profoundly antisemitic.”

Mr Atzmon is an antisemite who has reportedly blamed the Grenfell Tower tragedy on “Jerusalemites” as well as reportedly telling university students that “the Jews were expelled from Germany for misbehaving.” He is not shy about his antisemitism, telling a Jewish Twitter user in 2014: “I am not a Jew any more. I indeed despise the Jew in me (whatever is left). I absolutely detest the Jew in you.”

At one stage, Mr Atzmon was forced to make a humiliating apology to Campaign Against Antisemitism following defamation proceedings, and Campaign Against Antisemitism has successfully pressured venues not to feature Mr Atzmon due to his record of antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Bar Standards Board disgracefully rejects CAA complaint against barrister who posted social media comments in breach of International Definition of Antisemitism

The Bar Standards Board, which regulates barristers in England and Wales, has disgracefully rejected a complaint made by Campaign Against Antisemitism against a barrister who posted social media comments in breach of International Definition of Antisemitism.

Franck Magennis is a barrister at Garden Court Chambers in London. In December 2020, he tweeted that “Zionism is a kind of racism. It is essentially colonial. It has manifested in an apartheid regime calling itself ‘the Jewish state’ that dominates non-Jews, and particularly Palestinians. You can’t practice anti-racism at the same time as identifying with, or supporting, Zionism.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is an example of antisemitism.

Mr Magennis was described in his profile on the Chambers’ website as “an expert on the Palestinian struggle for emancipation from Israeli apartheid and occupation.” This has since apparently been changed to: “Franck conducts research on international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the context of the Palestinian struggle for emancipation. In May to August 2019 he was a research fellow in Ramallah, occupied Palestine with the award-winning Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq. He is the co-author of a series of forthcoming reports responding to allegations against the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs of attacks against Palestinian individuals and civil society institutions.”

Mr Mcgennis denied that the tweet was antisemitic, asserting that, while offence may have been taken at the views expressed in the tweet, that was not his purpose and that his speech was protected by Article 10(1) of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

Campaign Against Antisemitism has previously published a briefing debunking the claim that the ECHR protects the right to make statements that breach the definition.

The Bar Standards Board panel considered that, although the tweet may be “offensive”, it was not “seriously offensive”, because it was merely “criticism of Zionism and Israel”, apparently despite what the International Definition of Antisemitism ­­— which the British Government and the Judicial College have adopted ­— says.

The Bar Standards Board panel concluded that Mr Mcgennis did not in this instance “behave in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in you or in the profession,” and therefore did not uphold the complaint.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is reviewing its options.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Regulators in this country are all over the map when it comes to sanctioning professionals for racism against Jews. Another regulator that we have been dealing with similarly dismissed a complaint that we made against one of their regulated professionals, and we took the case to the High Court, which has quashed that regulator’s decision and forced it to reconsider the case.

“We regret that the Bar Standards Board has disgracefully chosen to ignore the International Definition of Antisemitism, even though it has been adopted by the British Government and the Judicial College. Apparently when it comes to antisemitism, barristers and judges have different standards. We are reviewing our options.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Sports broadcaster Abbi Grace Summers confronts West Ham football fan hurling antisemitic abuse at her on train to Tottenham Hotspur game

The sports broadcaster Abbi Grace Summers confronted a West Ham football fan who hurled antisemitic abuse at her on a train to a game between the Hammers and Tottenham Hotspur.

The abuse took place on a London Underground train on 22nd December.

Footage from a video, which went viral online, showed Ms Summers accusing the West Ham fan of shouting antisemitic abuse at her, which was not caught on camera. The man smirks at her as she invites him to “say it to my face.”

Ms Summers tweeted the video to the police, writing: “Hi @metpoliceuk would like to report an incident on the 18:45 train from Liverpool Street to White Hart Lane. This man continuously shouting antisemitic comments and behaviour and clearly not sorry when called up on…[sic].”

Speaking the next day on the radio, Ms Summers said that she is “all for football banter…but it suddenly turned antisemitic.” She said that it is a “line that you don’t have to cross.” She also observed that nobody in the train carriage said anything in reaction to the abuse, noting that “I was the only woman on that carriage and I took a stand against it.” She added: “It’s sad we can’t govern ourselves, it was unfortunate no one else stood up.”

A spokesperson for the British Transport Police said: “British Transport Police received a report of antisemitic behaviour onboard a London Overground train travelling from Liverpool Street to White Hart Lane yesterday evening (22 December). Witnesses or anyone with information can contact us by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 433 of 22/12/21.”

Recently, three West Ham fans were arrested after a video surfaced of West Ham fans allegedly chanting an antisemitic song at a Hasidic passenger on a flight to a match.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Visibly Jewish man punched in the face in Manchester

CCTV footage has shown a visibly Jewish man being punched in the face in Manchester.

Reports state that the suspect was drunk and in the midst of a heated argument with a woman, believed to be his partner, before he ran up to the Jewish man on the street and punched him in the side of the face.

It is understood that while the male suspect fled the scene, the woman was detained by the authorities.

The scene of the incident was attended by members of Salford Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol, and Hatzola, a volunteer-run emergency medical service. 

The incident occurred at 22:59 on 26th December on Leicester Road in Manchester and was reported by Salford Shomrim. If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Salford Shomrim on 0161 740 8000, quoting reference number: CAD 2747 26/12/21.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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CAA applauds Oak Hill College for adding explanatory note to Kittel’s theological dictionary at our request, and calls on other institutions to follow suit

Campaign Against Antisemitism applauds Oak Hill College for adding an explanatory note to its editions of Kittel following a request from us.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited in part by Gerhard Kittel and known colloquially as “Kittel”, is a reference book openly available in Christian seminaries. While we recognise that it is a useful resource, we are also acutely aware that its editor and some early contributors, for example K.G. Kuhn, were supporters and propagators of Nazi ideology. Mr Kittel and Mr Kuhn were particularly engaged with the “Jewish Question” and actively developed and encouraged antisemitic ideology and conduct. The former claimed that Christianity should act “not as a protector of the Jew but as an effective anti-Jewish force”, while the latter, who supported Hitler’s SS, was a member of the Committee for Jewish Atrocity Propaganda, which arranged the 1933 boycott of Jews. There is no shortage of evidence of their worldview.

The particular issue with Kittel is not merely the views of its editors and contributors, but that their views subtly but significantly impact its content, and therefore it behoves educational institutions to make their students aware of this influence when they consult the resource.

As Prof. Maurice Casey warns in his article, Some Antisemitic Assumptions in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (1999): “The frames of reference never lie on the surface of the articles: they are buried in apparently historical statements. It follows that this dictionary should be used only with the utmost care. Students should be warned of this hidden menace, and all readers should consult it only with their critical wits sharpened to the highest degree.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has accordingly written to numerous seminaries to inquire as to whether they make Kittel available to their students and, if so, urge them to include an explanatory note, which will assist both their students’ wider awareness of the historical influences on the resources that they use and also contribute to positive communal relations between Christians and Jews in the next generation.

Oak Hill has confirmed to us that it holds one copy of the multi-volume dictionary in its library and will insert an explanatory note into the volume. The College has advised us that it actively promotes engagement by its students with the more recent New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis by Moises Silva.

The College says that it positively engages the issue of early Jewish and Christian relations and tackles and addresses antisemitic interpretations.

Oak Hill’s welcome addition of the explanatory note follows the same decision by Moorlands College, as part of wider calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism for Christian seminaries to provide students with the full background and context of Kittel’s dictionary.

Binyomin Gilbert, Programme Manager at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We are delighted that Oak Hill College has taken this step, which is a testament to the importance of working towards positive relations between faith communities. At Campaign Against Antisemitism, we try to act by the same principles, and I am indebted to our Christian colleagues for leading on this project. We now call on other seminaries to follow the example set by Moorlands College and Oak Hill College and add similar explanatory notes to their editions of Kittel.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism works to raise awareness of antisemitism among all faith and minority communities.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Major Parliamentary report calls for enhanced measures by social media companies to tackle antisemitism on their platforms

A major Parliamentary report has called on social media companies to introduce enhanced measures to tackle racism against Jewish people on their platforms.

The Joint Committee on the Draft Online Bill, which is studying the Government’s proposed legislation to regulate social media, has recommended changes to ensure rapid response by social media companies to requests from the police for information. The report stopped short of calling for an end to anonymous accounts, as these carry wider benefits, but it did call on companies to prevent abuse by anonymous accounts, for example by enhancing traceability for use by law enforcement.

The 200-page report also recommends that technology companies be required to appoint a “Safety Controller” from senior management who would be personally liable if the company fails to comply with the new rules.

The report insists that “no-one should be abused for their religious faith or identity and tech companies must take steps to prevent the spread of such material and remove it from their platforms.” In particular, the report raises concerns over algorithms that may amplify antisemitic abuse in social media networks.

“Platforms will have a duty to design their systems to identify, limit the spread of, and remove racist abuse quickly following a user report,” the Committee said, and declared that technology companies would “have to address hate crimes such as stirring up racial hatred that may not currently be covered.”

On abuse in football, the report specifies that companies should share information about offenders with clubs to enable abusive fans to be banned from matches.

The report also calls on Ofcom to produce a Code of Practice on platform design.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for tougher regulations on social media sites and that social networks proactively search for and remove hate speech from their platforms.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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“We will punch your face, f***ing Jewish c**t”: Bus driver reportedly ignores visibly Jewish woman being abused by two women

It has been reported that the driver of a London bus ignored two women racially abusing a visibly Jewish woman on the bus.

The driver is understood to have been in close proximity to the incident as it was occurring but allegedly did nothing to help. The Jewish woman was reportedly threatened by two women who told her that “Jewish people are so cheap”, before adding: “We will punch your face, f***ing Jewish c**t.”

The two women reportedly also said to the Jewish woman: “You wear wigs because Jewish women shave their hair. Let’s try to pull it off!” 

The victim is reportedly a visibly Jewish woman, aged twenty. The suspects are believed to be two black women aged between twenty and 25 years.

Campaign Against Antisemitism understands that the incident took place on either a 253 or 254 bus on Wednesday, and the victim would have boarded the bus at some time between 21:54 and 22:06 at the Rosingdale Street, E5 bus stop. Both the victim and the suspects reportedly left the bus at Stamford Hill Broadway.

The incident was reported today at around 12:56 by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol. If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD 6797 23/12/21

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Theatre critic Kate Maltby decries Royal Court Theatre’s “unconscious bias” that led to Herschel Fink scandal

The theatre critic Kate Maltby has blamed the Royal Court Theatre’s “unconscious bias” in her discussion of the Herschel Fink scandal on today’s episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism.

Ms Maltby, whose writing has appeared across national newspapers, also recounted her own family’s fascinating history.

The podcast with Ms Maltby can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel and actor Eddie Marsan.

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Urgent appeal for witnesses after assailant allegedly tells Jewish man he wanted to “kill my first Jew” in violent north London attack

A Jewish man has allegedly been violently attacked by a man carrying what appeared to be a knife in an antisemitic attack in West Hampstead, north London. The alleged assailant fled the scene and is being sought by the Metropolitan Police Service.

Police have today released a CCTV image of a man they need to speak with. The photograph that has been released may not be of the suspect.

Following the attack, police faced criticism for their initial slow response to the attack, which they had said would take an hour to respond to, however the police investigation has been upgraded following intervention by CST.

The incident took place on 2nd December at around 19:20, when the victim was returning from work. He exited West Hampstead Underground Station and walked to the nearby Marks and Spencer supermarket located in West Hampstead Square.

He saw the alleged attacker desecrating a 4-metre high public Chanukiah that was erected on West Hampstead Square to celebrate the Jewish festival of Chanukah, pulling the object down before proceeding to stamp on in and shout antisemitic abuse.

With no prior interaction, the attacker approached the victim and aggressively said: “You look Jewish” and that he was “looking for a Jew to kill” after singling out the victim among other pedestrians, despite there being no visible indication of his Jewish background. 

He allegedly asked threateningly: “Are you Jewish?” The victim, understandably wishing to avoid a confrontation, said “No,” to which the man replied: “Good, I want to find a Jew to kill.”

The victim entered a nearby Marks and Spencer supermarket and the man remained outside. The victim was worried for the safety of other Jews and their families in the neighbourhood where the man was loitering, which has a sizeable Jewish population. The victim approached a supermarket employee, who said that the man had been in the store earlier.

The victim decided to call the police, explaining the situation to them over the course of about eight minutes.

Officers told the victim that they did not consider the case urgent enough for a priority response and would come within an hour, despite the attacker threatening to kill Jews.

After a short period of time, the victim spotted the man again, outside the shop, pulling down the public Chanukiah which someone had put back up in the intervening time. The victim also said that the man was shouting aggressively at a young woman, aged 18-25 who fled the square. He then returned to pulling the Chanukiah to the ground.

Fearing for the young woman, the victim and the supermarket employee confronted the man from a ten-metre distance. The attacker allegedly shouted at him in response: “I knew you were Jewish, you lied to me” and began walking towards his victim while shouting: “You are Jewish. I am going to kill you.” He said something in Arabic before allegedly declaring: “I want to kill my first Jew.” 

The victim ran back into Marks and Spencer and turned to see if the man had followed him, which he had, having put on a facemask in the meantime.

As the assailant walked into the shop, he shouted at the victim again: “You are Jewish.” 

The man reached the victim, allegedly squaring up to him aggressively with barely a metre between them. Within seconds, the man allegedly pushed the victim as hard as he could with both hands on the victim’s chest, forcing the victim to take a step backwards, all the while repeating: “You are Jewish. I am going to kill you.”

The attacker then allegedly punched the victim violently with force towards the head around five times, the victim had to guard himself from the attacks using his forearms and elbows.   

After the first attack, the victim again told the man to back away and pushed the attacker away. The attacker allegedly replied: “I am not leaving until you are dead.” Taking steps backwards with his coat and heavy bag restricting his movement, the victim found himself cornered at the edge of an aisle with nowhere else to move backwards to. 

He turned his head around to see what was blocking him, at which point the attacker took advantage of the victim’s shift in concentration and allegedly threw a strong punch which connected with the victim’s head. The victim tried to move his head backwards in an attempt to limit the impact. Had he not done this, the victim believes that his injuries would have been even more severe and he would have been knocked unconscious onto the floor of the supermarket.

Again, the victim told the man to “back away” to which the attacker repeated “I am not going away until you are dead.”

By this point, the victim began to fear for his life. He had no inclination to fight the man and wanted to defuse the situation. He managed to extricate himself and head towards the self-service checkout machines, with the man following him and allegedly shouting more antisemitic abuse and death threats. He was also heard shouting in Arabic.

The victim dropped his bag and jacket to make it easier to run from the man, but the man kept walking faster and faster, eventually reaching for his right jacket pocket.

He grabbed what was apparently a knife and allegedly said “I will kill you now, you Jew.” The victim ran to the back of the shop before the man had the chance to reveal the weapon fully. He turned to see that the man remained by the checkout machines, still staring at the victim and allegedly performing a slit-throat gesture.

The man then allegedly picked up the victim’s jacket and bag and walked calmly out of the shop. The victim remained where he was, terrified for his life. He did not see the man thereafter. A staff member then approached the victim to tell him that the man had left. The victim called the police for a second time, as did the shop employee, and spoke to operators for an extended period. Another staff member then brought over the victim’s bag, which had been discarded, and he later found his jacket in the shop. None of the contents of the bag or jacket had been taken.

Finally, the police arrived. Despite the duration of the incident and the proximity of a police station only half a mile up the road.

The victim called the CST, which provided support to the victim and pressed the police to upgrade their investigation, which is now progressing. Police mounted extra patrols in the area in subsequent days and CST adapted its operations to take account of the incident.

The assailant is described as being black and possibly of Somali ethnicity, aged between 25 and 30 and between 6’0” and 6’1” in height. He had a slender build and bad teeth, and wore a dark green beanie hat, a dark puffer jacket with large pockets, dark trousers and no gloves. He wore a dark facemask when in the shop. He spoke in English, with a mixed East London and foreign accent, and spoke Arabic.

If you have any information, please contact the police on 101, quoting reference: CAD6588/02Dec, or e-mail [email protected] in confidence. 

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “What this victim has suffered is unspeakable, and it is only thanks to his quick thinking that he survived the ordeal without even worse injury than he endured. The delayed response of the police, despite the close proximity of a police station just up the road, is deeply concerning, and the result is that a man who apparently wants to kill Jews is now at liberty.

“This is the most heinous of a considerable number of antisemitic crimes that we have reported over the course of Chanukah. The sad truth is that our nation’s capital is not nearly as safe as it should be for Jewish people who wish to celebrate a festival or, in this case, simply go about their daily lives. Unless the police and the justice system step up and ensure that antisemitic criminals face the full consequences of their despicable actions, this will not change.

“We are providing the victim with legal and other assistance. We urge the public to assist in the identification of the individual whose description has now been circulated.”

The Metropolitan Police Service said: “Officers have carried out a number of enquiries and have today released a CCTV image of a man they need to speak with. Anyone who recognises the man is asked to call police via 101 or tweet @MetCC quoting reference CAD6588/02Dec.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Swastikas daubed onto Peterborough shopping centre 

Swastikas have been daubed onto a Peterborough shopping centre, it was revealed earlier this week.

The two Nazi symbols, one scrawled in green and the other in blue, were daubed onto the Brotherhood Retail Park. Paul Bristow, Conservative Party MP for Peterborough, tweeted an image of the graffiti, calling it “sickening” and “racist”. He called on Peterborough Police and Peterborough City council to remove the vandalism before adding that “The disgusting people responsible should be ashamed.”

Peterborough Police replied to Mr Bristow and said: “If this has been reported to us, we will look into it and appropriate action will be taken.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Humberside police investigating swastika carving and illustration of a gas chamber near bus stop on busy road

Police in Humberside are investigating the carving of a swastika and an illustration of a gas chamber near a bus stop on a busy road.

The vandalism of a fence on Kingston Road in Willerby, by Hull, is believed to have taken place on 13th and 14th December. One of the city’s synagogues is also in Willerby.

Police are reportedly investigating the vandalism as an antisemitic hate crime.

We are grateful to the member of the public who brought this incident to our attention.

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101, quoting reference number: 16/122195/21.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Teenagers being indoctrinated into neo-Nazism by their peers, new report says

Teenagers are being indoctrinated into neo-Nazism by their peers, a new report says.

The study, produced by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation & Political Violence (ICSR) at Kings College London and the CST, found that in looking at the growth of ten neo-Nazi youth movements, the radicalisation into the racist ideology was being enacted from teenagers to fellow teenagers, as opposed to older members to younger ones, a perception that the study dismissed as largely a myth.

The report states: “With very limited exceptions, all groups in the sample demonstrate antisemitic beliefs, demonising the Jewish community and often depicting them as the root of various problems. This includes promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and occasionally inciting violence against the Jewish community. Islamophobia and xenophobia are also common.”

Discussing what the report, titled “We Are Generation Terror!”, termed “youth-on-youth radicalisation”, the report’s author Hannah Rose said: “Young people are both vulnerable to online grooming through manipulation by seasoned extreme-right extremists and, increasingly they are themselves the groomers, the propagandists, the recruiters and the plotters, and the convicted perpetrators.”

The report also found that social media platforms’ restrictions on racist content, namely Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram, were being easily bypassed.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently produced a series of posts highlighting TikTok’s problem of allowing content that promoted Holocaust denial. 

In July, we reported that according to a new study, antisemitic content on the social media platform TikTok had increased by 912%. According to research from Dr Gabriel Weimann of the University of Haifa and Natalie Masri of IDC Herzliya’s Institute for Counter-Terrorism, antisemitic comments on TikTok grew 912% from 41 in 2020 to 415 in 2021, and the platform saw 61 antisemitic postings so far this year compared to 43 last year. Antisemitic tropes and images that were used in video content included Nazi salutes, diminishing the impact of the Holocaust, and propagating caricatures of Jews with long, hooked noses. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years, continues to urge the Jewish community to remain vigilant and welcomes the seriousness with which the authorities are treating the danger.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Man sentenced to prison for wearing t-shirts in support of banned antisemitic terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad

A man has been sentenced to sixteen weeks in prison after he pleaded guilty last month to wearing t-shirts in support of two banned antisemitic genocidal terrorist groups back in June.

Feras Al Jayoosi, 34 and of Swindon, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 12th November to four counts of wearing an article supporting a proscribed organisation.

One t-shirt reportedly worn by Mr Al Jayoosi supported the Izz al-Din al Qassem Brigades, which is the so-called “military wing” of the Hamas terrorist group. The other t-shirt supported the banned Islamic Jihad group.

In addition to his sixteen-week prison sentence, Mr Al Jayoosi was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service and pay £288 to the magistrate court.

Speaking directly to Mr Al Jayoosi during Friday‘s proceedings, Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said: “You had multiple warnings that the path you were taking – the organisations you sought out to align yourself with – would get you into trouble, but you carried on.”

Last month, the Home Secretary banned the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group Hamas in full, after it emerged that the terrorist who murdered the grandson of a prominent British rabbi yesterday was a member of the group’s supposed “political wing”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Yasmin Alibhai-Brown oversteps yet again, deploying the Livingstone Formulation to belittle allegations of antisemitism

The controversial columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown has once again overstepped the line, arguing in an article that “any criticism of the state [of Israel] is deemed antisemitic by apologists and diehard allies, and suggesting that this is motivating a “purge” of Labour Party members.

In the article titled “The UN is warning of spiralling violence, yet the West has forgotten the Palestinians” for the i newspaper, Ms Alibhai-Brown also wrote that “a report from Jewish Voice for Labour accused Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party of purging Jewish members who call Israel to account.”

This is a fine example of the ‘Livingstone Formulation’, by which allegations of antisemitism are dismissed as malevolent and baseless attempts to silence criticism of Israel. In its report on antisemitism in the Labour Party, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that suggestions of this nature were part of the unlawful victimisation of Jewish people in the Party.

This is not Ms Alibhai-Brown’s first offence of this nature. Last year, she replied to journalist Stephen Bush’s reaction to being appointed to lead a Jewish charity’s review of racial inclusivity in the Jewish community by tweeting:“maybe ask them about the Palestinians.” The review was concerned with British Jews and was unrelated to Israel, a distinction that Ms Alibhai-Brown is apparently incapable of apprehending.

Previously Ms Alibhai-Brown also expressed her opposition to the Labour Party’s adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism, describing the fringe minority of Jewish individuals who agreed with her as “good Jews”.

Newspapers and television broadcasters who host Ms Alibhai-Brown must think again before giving a platform to someone who takes such positions.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

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Aristocrat Piers Portman refused leave to appeal after being sentenced to 4 months in prison and having to pay over £20,000 for calling CAA Chief Executive “Jewish scum” 

The Hon. Piers Portman, the youngest living son of the 9th Viscount Portman and heir to 110 acres of West End real estate, has been refused leave to appeal after he was sentenced in October to four months in prison and ordered to pay over £20,000 after being found guilty of calling Gideon Falter, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive, “Jewish scum” in a confrontation at a courthouse in 2018.

In refusing Mr Portman leave to appeal, the Hon. Mr Justice Hilliard said: “I have considered all the grounds of appeal which have been advanced carefully and thoroughly, and to best advantage. Nonetheless, for the reasons I have given, I am satisfied that there are no arguable grounds of appeal against conviction and the application for leave to appeal must be refused.”

When Mr Portman was originally sentenced at Southwark Crown Court, His Honour Judge Gregory Perrins said that Mr Portman has “strongly-held antisemitic beliefs”, and that he had “deliberately targeted Mr Falter because of his role in prosecuting Alison Chabloz.” Ms Chabloz is an antisemite who has been repeatedly imprisoned following work by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

In scathing sentencing remarks, HHJ Perrins told Mr Portman: “You said you’re an honourable British gentleman. You’re anything but.”

HHJ Perrins then imprisoned him for four months, with the possibility of release on licence after two months, and ordered him to pay a £10,000 fine, make an additional £10,000 compensatory payment to the victim, Mr Falter, and pay court costs. Mr Falter donated the entire £10,000 to Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Mr Portman, 50, was prosecuted after approaching Mr Falter, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 14th June 2018 following the sentencing of Alison Chabloz, a notorious Holocaust denier and antisemite. Campaign Against Antisemitism had brought a private prosecution against Ms Chabloz which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) took over, and which ultimately led to a conviction and landmark legal precedent. Mr Falter had testified against Ms Chabloz, who has since been repeatedly sent to prison over her antisemitic statements, including denying the Holocaust and claiming that Holocaust survivors had invented their suffering for financial gain.

Mr Portman followed Mr Falter out of the courtroom and confronted him in the lobby of the court building, where an enraged Mr Portman came close to Mr Falter and said: “I’m Piers Portman. I have written to you before. Come after me, you Jewish scum. Come and persecute me. Come and get me.”

Mr Portman was referring to a 1,527-word e-mailed screed previously sent to Campaign Against Antisemitism in which he denounced his former wife and her divorce lawyer, Baroness Fiona Shackleton each as a “greedy, grasping and lying manipulator of the system that happens to be Jewish.” He accused his former wife of “playing the Talmud inspired ‘Tyrant posing as a victim.’” Noting in the e-mail that he had a “Harrow Public School education”, Mr Portman defended the term “Holohoax”, writing that “I fail to see how the fabricated word has anything to do with hating anyone. Surely it is merely an expression created by people that believe they have been lied to,” and questioning how the terms “Jew” and “Jewboy” could be antisemitic.

He concluded his e-mail by taunting Campaign Against Antisemitism to “Come and pick on me…come and have a do with me…come and perform your charity on me.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image: Piers Portman, right, leaves Southwark Crown Court with conspiracy theorist Matthew Delooze

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Charity Commission removes Tony Greenstein as a trustee of The Brighton Trust after being declared legally bankrupt following humiliating loss of defamation claim against CAA

Tony Greenstein has been removed as a trustee of The Brighton Trust, formerly known as the “Trust 4 Unpopular Causes”, by the Charity Commission after being declared legally bankrupt in July following his failed defamation claim against Campaign Against Antisemitism earlier this year.

Mr Greenstein had been ordered by judges to pay Campaign Against Antisemitism £81,854 over a libel claim brought by Mr Greenstein after we called him a “notorious antisemite”. In an example of litigation humiliatingly backfiring, the High Court struck out Mr Greenstein’s libel claim against us, ruling that it was permissible for us to call the co-founder of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and expelled Labour Party member a “notorious antisemite” in articles on our website. Mr Greenstein then brought an appeal against aspects of the High Court ruling, which he also lost earlier this month.

Following an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing on 14th July that lasted only a quarter of an hour, Judge Catherine Burton, noting that Mr Greenstein has been properly served and failed to attend or make representations, concluded proceedings by saying: “I make a bankruptcy order this day against Tony Greenstein at 10:46am.”

Consequently, Mr Greenstein met the criteria for automatic disqualification as a charity trustee. We wrote to the Charity Commission to notify them of the bankruptcy order and that he must therefore cease to be a trustee of The Brighton Trust.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Today, the Charity Commission removed Tony Greenstein as a trustee of a charity that purports to challenge racist discrimination but has given grants to causes associated with antisemitism denial during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, including the Chris Williamson Left Legal Fund, The Electronic Intifada and Labour Against the Witchhunt, amongst others. Mr Greenstein’s removal as a trustee will hopefully prove beneficial to the charity.”

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Tory aide reportedly grabbed Jewish journalist’s face to check his nose and “judge his Jewishness” 

An aide working for the Conservative Party reportedly grabbed a Jewish journalist’s face in order to check his nose and “judge his Jewishness”.

Alexander Brown, a Westminster Correspondent based in Parliament who writes for The Scotsman, has shared his account of how whilst out for drinks with colleagues, he was grabbed by a Tory aide so that they could view his nose from the side and, as Mr Brown writes, check his “Jewishness”. 

Mr Brown said: “Going for drinks and desperate to build contacts, a staffer had asked about my background, and I’d shared I studied an MA in Jewish History. Before I’d even finished speaking she had grabbed my jaw, tilted my head to the side to look at my nose and spat out ‘you don’t look Jewish’.”

He adds that he was warned not to report the incident so as not to risk damaging his career. “This was a Tory staffer grabbing me in public to judge my Jewishness, at a time it was supposedly only the Labour Party that had a problem. It took place during the Corbyn years,” Mr Brown writes. “It was a depressing, draining time, with the avalanche of antisemitism on Twitter a constant in my life both personal and professional.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Lord Grade tells Podcast Against Antisemitism BBC’s reportage of Oxford Street incident is “shoddy journalism”

Lord Grade, a former Chairman of the BBC, has described the BBC’s rapportage as “shoddy journalism” in today’s episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism.

In the podcast, Lord Grade described the BBC’s coverage of the recent antisemitic Oxford Street incident, which has come under fire, as a “very poor piece of journalism”.

In response to why he thought that the BBC has been alone among major media outlets in suggesting, without evidence, that the Jewish victims in the incident were also racist and therefore at least partially to blame, Lord Grade described the coverage as “very poor journalism. I wouldn’t put it down to antisemitism. It’s very, very poor journalism on the face of what we know at the moment. It’s just a very, very poor piece of journalism. To describe the antisemitic taunts from the people who launched the attack, which you can see on film, there’s no way you can describe the antisemitism as ‘alleged’, which is what the BBC report says. They then said there were clearly anti-Islamist cries from the bus. There is no evidence for that. It may be true, there may have been, I don’t know, but there is no evidence that anyone’s found so far to support that and the BBC has got to explain two things; why it defended the broadcast without really understanding the nature of the complaint and examining the evidence, and then two, how on earth did they come to make such a pig’s ear of their rapportage.”

Our polling has shown that a majority of British Jews are not satisfied by the BBC’s handling of antisemitism complaints, which is a figure far worse for the BBC than any of the other major broadcasters. Historically, the BBC has handled complaints internally, and only relatively recently has Ofcom been given a role, whereby if the BBC rejects complaints at every stage, a complainant can now escalate the matter to Ofcom. But few members of the public have the patience to get through this uniquely drawn-out process, which they have to do because the BBC so consistently rejects antisemitism complaints. Why, we asked Lord Grade, is the BBC so resistant to acknowledging error, both in this case and over the years?

Lord Grade replied: “Well the first thing to say is that I have found, because I have complained to the BBC even as a former Chairman and as a former Senior Executive in the corporation, I have complained to the BBC and without exception, the first complaint has gone into the programme makers, the editorial people, and without exception they come back, always, they’re never wrong. They always come back, straight away, the default position is ‘we’re not wrong.’ Then when you dig into it and you escalate it to the BBC’s formal complaints procedure, there’s a bit more work done, forensic evidence collecting, and eventually…I don’t think I’ve ever lost a complaint against the BBC at that stage. So the problem lies with the editorial teams who seem incapable of ever admitting quickly that they’re wrong, and I think that’s a very serious failing. What they don’t understand is that admitting you’re wrong and admitting quickly that you’re wrong is a sign of strength, not of weakness, and I think they seem to see it as a sign of weakness, which it isn’t, of course.”

Lord Grade also discussed highlights from his storied career in media and broadcasting, and endorsed Campaign Against Antisemitism’s coming protest outside the BBC.

The podcast with Lord Grade can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel and actor Eddie Marsan.

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Man who wore Nazi armband to trial found guilty of terror offences and stirring up racial hatred

A man who sported a moustache in the style of Adolf Hitler’s and wore a Nazi armband to his trial has been found guilty of terror offences and stirring up racial hatred.

Matthew Henegan, 35, appeared in court last year on seven charges of publishing, distributing and possessing material in March and April 2020 that is likely to stir up racial hatred. It was also claimed that he distributed leaflets in Cambridgeshire, where he resides, and possessed a document titled “How To Make Armour Piercing Bullets”, which apparently contains information likely to be useful in terrorism. In the raid of his home, investigators reportedly found a Nazi armband and leaflets which referred to Hitler as “your saviour”.

In addition, Mr Henegan asserted that Jewish people masterminded the COVID-19 pandemic and created an hour-long film in which he claimed that Jewish people controlled the police, economy and media. He reportedly referred to Jews as “kikes”, adding that they were filthy and sadistic and branded them “creatures”.

The content was published in documents and videos labelled “Corona Virus Hoax Full Edition”, “Corona Virus Hoax Supplement” and “Corona Virus Hoax Update – How You Are Being Controlled” which was then stored on archive.org, a publically accessible online database. 

Jurors watched excerpts from Mr Henegan’s films, one of which included the statement: “One (you) given a standing command upon my death to slaughter the kike, for they will come to slaughter you as they already do and you will enter your children into the same slave stage that you live in today. 

“Colonisation is what the kike is doing here with us, they merely turn film into their perverted dream and our reality. The power of the Aryan far exceeds the kikes and I will lead you to victory over these vile sadistic creatures. Your Fuhrer.”

Mr Henegan reportedly appeared at last year’s preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey wearing dark glasses, a hairband and an armband with a red swastika. According to a report, the judge asked the defendant’s lawyer: “Can you see what he’s wearing?”, and ordered Mr Henegan to leave the courtroom. The defendant asked: “Are we done for the day then?” The judge replied: “We are not.” The defendant replied: “I have a right to freedom of expression, freedom of dress, freedom of religion. They are rights not for debate.” The judge instructed the lawyer to give his client advice and said: “Next time it will not be out in the public corridor.” Mr Henegan returned to the courtroom with a jacket, with the armband no longer visible.

Mr Henegan told the jury on Monday: “You may see me, with my moustache, and think of it as a Hitler moustache, rather than Charlie Chaplin or Oliver Hardy. It is clearly your diseased mind that influences your thoughts.”

When Mr Henegan was asked if he was a National Socialist, he replied: “Yes, “I do not pretend otherwise.”

Judge Nigel Lickley said to him: “You have to understand that because of the convictions now recorded against you, you are facing a custodial sentence. The length of that custodial sentence and whether it is immediate or suspended are matters I will decide on the next occasion. I have no firm view at the moment other than all sentencing options are open and that includes immediate custody.”

Prosecutor Julia Faure-Walker told the jury: “Mr Henegan chose to use the particularly derogatory term ‘kike’. There is no way that Mr Henegan was intending there to be any caveats in relation to the ethnic group he was directing hatred towards, it is absolutely clear that the words ‘kike’ and ‘Jew’ are used interchangeably.

“During the video Mr Henegan complains no one listens to him, they’d much rather go on about f***ing antisemitism. He won’t have it that people are trying to raise this matter. He has no time for complaints about racism towards Jews. There must have been a reason why he used the word ‘kike’ within the material.

“The reason it was used was purposely to communicate his intense dislike for this group of people. The endless highly offensive swear words are an indication that he wasn’t just attempting to relay facts. He was trying to conjure up anger and extreme animosity. He was perfectly able to give evidence without using such extreme profanities. That sort of language is reserved for the groups he looks down on, mostly Jews.

“There will be some who look at leaflets, view the video or listen to the audio and immediately dismiss it as rubbish. Unfortunately, there will be others when faced by such highly emotive and charged language who will have feelings of racial hatred.”

Despite denying all charges, Mr Henegan was convicted at the Old Bailey in central London on Monday for publishing, distributing or possessing material intended to stir racial hatred on six counts and one count of possessing a document useful to a terrorist after approximately eleven hours of jury deliberation. 

Mr Henegan is due to be sentenced on 14th January at the Old Bailey.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “On top of every other misery that this pandemic has inflicted on the world, it has also been treated as a pretext for racists to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories. Among them is Matthew Henegan, who calls himself the Fuhrer, came to court with a Nazi armband and says that Jews control the media and police and are behind a supposed ‘Covid hoax’. We welcome this conviction of this abominable individual, and we call for a sentence that keeps him out of society and keeps the rest of us safe from the danger that he poses.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years, continues to urge the Jewish community to remain vigilant and welcomes the seriousness with which the authorities are treating the danger.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Newcastle bus shelters vandalised with swastikas

Authorities have expressed alarm over swastika graffiti discovered on bus shelters in Newcastle.

The bus shelters on Newcastle’s Great North Road, in addition to being defaced with the antisemitic hate symbol, were also vandalised with claims that the COVID-19 pandemic is “a hoax” was also found.

A spokesperson from Northumbria Police said: “Enquiries are ongoing to identify those responsible. Anybody found to have been involved will be dealt with swiftly and robustly.”

Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination networks have become known as hotbeds of antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes.

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Journalist India Willoughby doubles down on inflammatory Nazi and Holocaust analogies

The journalist India Willoughby has doubled down on inflammatory Nazi and Holocaust analogies.

Ms Willoughby tweeted earlier this month that “If Liz Truss replaces Boris [Johnson], it will be like Hitler coming to power. We’re f*****.”

After receiving criticism for hyperbolically and needlessly invoking the Nazis, she doubled down, tweeting: “Excuse me? I think you’ll find the Nazis hated trans people. They burnt down the world’s leading trans research institute and made us wear pink triangles before being sent to the camps.” Ms Willoughby is transgender. She appears to have since deleted this tweet.

This is not the first time that the commentator and former BBC journalist has made inflammatory analogies to Nazi Germany. In 2020, she tweeted that she “[does not] like invoking the Nazis, but for trans people, this is like being Jewish in Germany at that time.”

Current policies in the UK are not remotely like those of Nazi Germany, which forcibly transferred minority communities to concentration camps and murdered six million Jewish men, women and children. It must be possible to have reasonable political debate in Britain without invoking the Nazis and, in the process, effectively diminishing the Holocaust.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Celtic FC reportedly refuse to state whether antisemitism investigation promised in January has begun

Celtic FC has reportedly refused to state whether the antisemitism investigation that the club promised to undertake in January has begun or not.

The club promised an investigation to Scottish Jewish leaders after Celtic fans unleashed a torrent of abuse at the club’s Israeli midfielder after a loss to rival Rangers.

Nir Bitton was called a “dirty Jew bastard” and a “Zionist rat” on social media after receiving a red card in the match. His wife also revealed that she has been subjected to abuse, including calls for her and her husband to be “hanged”. One post said: “Here you ya cow, you and yer husband deserve tae be hung on the streets. F**k you and yer wains.”

Their two children have also reportedly had abuse directed at them as well.

This is not the first time that Mr Bitton has disclosed the abuse he suffers from some of the club’s fans; in 2016 the police launched an investigation after a Celtic fan said that Mr Bitton should be gassed.

It is also not Celtic’s first brush with controversy over Jews or Israel, having been sanctioned by UEFA in the past over persistent problems. In the Scottish FA Cup final in 2016, for example, fans displayed a banner reading “end Zionism”. A Jewish former director of the club was also subjected to abuse by fans, including “Get this Ashkenazi c*** out of OUR club and take that other fake jew p**** Bitton with him [sic]”, and “He’s a Jew what do you expect”.

At the time, a spokesperson for Celtic FC said that it has passed its fans’ “vile” comments to Police Scotland and called for those responsible to be identified, adding that “all appropriate action should be taken”. The spokesperson added that “those responsible for such vile comments do not represent Celtic or Celtic supporters. They are faceless and nameless.”

However, there have reportedly been no confirmations as to whether such action has been taken yet. 

Jordan Allison, Campaign Manager for Show Racism the Red Card said: “The problem we have in Scottish football is that these incidents are not being documented enough. The victims don’t feel confident enough to report it to police or stewards. In turn, the stewards are not trained in how to record it as a form of racism. There’s far more work to be done.  We are so far behind in Scotland that the authorities are not at the stage yet where they can do something about it.” 

The Premier League has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently produced an Instagram post detailing recent incidents of antisemitism in football. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Tory MP compares NHS COVID Pass to Nazi Germany during BBC Radio 5 interview

Marcus Fysh, the Conservative Party MP for Yeovil, compared the NHS COVID Pass to Nazi Germany during a BBC Radio 5 interview earlier this week.

During the interview, Mr Fysh told interviewer Rachel Burden that if people don’t feel safe and secure going to a pub or a restaurant without COVID restrictions, then they should not go. He said: “You don’t tell other people what they should do with their bodies.”

Ms Burden replied that the point that she was making was that “you’re not telling someone what to do with their body other than to say they’ve taken a test.” Mr Fysh responded: “You are segregating society based on an unacceptable thing. We are not a ‘papers please’ society. This is not Nazi Germany, okay?”

“No, I don’t think it is,” Ms Burden replied, adding: “And I think there’s a long, long way between what people are being asked to do and Nazi Germany.”

In August, Campaign Against Antisemitism created an Instagram post detailing why it is wrong to compare vaccines to the Holocaust.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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BBC interviews YouTuber who filmed himself harassing Jewish community in Golders Green over “child-killing” for antisemitism documentary

In a recent documentary intended to shine a light on British antisemitism, the BBC chose to interview Mohammed Hijab, a YouTuber who proudly filmed himself harassing members of the Jewish community in Golders Green over “child-killing” for a YouTube video.

The premise of the YouTube video in question, released in May, was initially outlined by one of the presenters as them just wanting to “have a dialogue…a discussion…a friendly debate,” but quickly became an excuse for the presenters to accost passing members of the Jewish community, including children.

This involved one of the presenters, Ali Dawah, confronting Jewish passers-by with a microphone and asking: “Do you agree with what’s happening [in Israel]?” Mr Dawah is also seen following and questioning a group of Jewish men and their children who are walking away from him.

When the YouTubers saw that Jews were crossing the street in order to avoid a confrontation, another one of the presenters, known as Smile2Jannah, commented: “The thing is, if somebody is being butchered in this way, the least you should be able to do is have a conversation. Provide your view. I mean, why would you cross the road and not be willing to engage?”

His co-host, Mohammed Hijab, then instructed the cameraperson to film them crossing the road, before Smile2Jannah said: “They should understand, they should realise that people want answers. People want to know your opinion, so go on record. Give your opinions. Discuss, debate.”

The YouTubers also brought with them an LED billboard, upon which they displayed images of Jewish Holocaust victims in a concentration camp. Next to the images were the words: “Did we learn nothing from the Holocaust?” The images were then proceeded by photos from the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

Standing in front of the billboard, Mr Hijab went on to say that “as Muslims”, they “have no problem with Jews, per-se,” before pressuring them to “reveal their viewpoints.” Shouting at a Jewish man who was walking away, Mr Hijab yelled: “Do you condemn the killing of children? Do you condemn it? Do you condemn it? See, look at you. The silence is deafening.”

In an outtake from that video, uploaded to Mr Hijab’s own YouTube channel, Mr Hijab is seen acting aggressively towards another Jewish man off-camera, yelling: “You need to go back to the Torah. That’s what I tell you all. Go back to the Torah, read it from the beginning again.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is astonishing that the BBC has tried to portray this man as some kind of champion of coexistence. During the period of peak racism against Jews in this country in the spring, Mohammed Hijab spent a Shabbat harassing Jews in Golders Green, trying to hold British Jews responsible for the politics of the Middle East and comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, both breaches of the International Definition of Antisemitism. In effect, the BBC has presented a documentary about ‘both sides’ of antisemitism, interviewing not only victims and experts, but also purveyors. It is shameful, but par for the course for an institution that has long ago set its face against the Jewish community.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “The programme was a serious examination of the nature and impact of antisemitism on British Jews and included interviews with a range of people in the UK. We reject any suggestion that it presented anyone as a ‘champion’. The reporter challenged the contributor throughout the interview on his past actions in a robust manner.

“As our editorial guidelines make clear, a serious examination of any issue can mean our output includes people whose views may cause offence to our audiences.”

Recently, the BBC also used footage of a Jewish Chanukiah to illustrate a controversy about a Christmas party at 10 Downing Street.

Last night, hundreds of protestors attended Campaign Against Antisemitism’s “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” rally outside Broadcasting House in London, which was endorsed by Lord Grade and Dame Maureen Lipman.

The rally was prompted by the BBC’s appalling coverage of an antisemitic incident on Oxford Street over Chanukah, when a group of Jewish teenagers celebrating the festival were accosted by racist thugs who forced them back onto their bus and began hitting the vehicle with their hands and then their shoes, spitting on it, trying to break windows and performing Nazi salutes, as well as shouting antisemitic insults and swearing.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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CCTV footage shows North London gang picking up and running off with Jewish child

CCTV footage released last night shows a North London gang picking up and running off with a Jewish child, reported to be a ten-year-old boy who was on his way home from school.

The gang is believed to be associated with the nearby Webb Estate and is accused of harassing Jewish residents for years.

The incident took place in Stamford Hill and was reported at around 23:05 yesterday by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol. If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD 6066 9/12/21.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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CAA’s “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” protest outside Broadcasting House, backed by Lord Grade and Dame Maureen Lipman, draws hundreds, irate at BBC’s coverage of antisemitic incident on Oxford Street

This evening, hundreds of protestors attended our “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” rally outside Broadcasting House in London, which was endorsed by Lord Grade and Dame Maureen Lipman.

The rally was prompted by the BBC’s appalling coverage of an antisemitic incident on Oxford Street over Chanukah, when a group of Jewish teenagers celebrating the festival were accosted by racist thugs who forced them back onto their bus and began hitting the vehicle with their hands and then their shoes, spitting on it, trying to break windows and performing Nazi salutes, as well as shouting antisemitic insults and swearing.

The BBC reported on its website that the explicit expressions of antisemitism evident in the video were merely “allegations”, and simultaneously claimed — alone among all media outlets — that “some racial slurs about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus,” an assertion made with no evidence to support it and which was even contradicted in the article by a witness from the bus who said that she heard no such slurs. On its BBC London Evening News, the BBC even suggested that “it’s not clear what role [the supposed slurs] may have had in the incident.” After public fury, the BBC amended the article to refer to an “anti-Muslim slur” in the singular, but failed to show any evidence why a supposed slur that nobody could hear with certainty was described as “clearly heard” and reported as fact — and even implied to have been a cause of the antisemitic harassment — while the harassment itself remained mere “allegation”.

Lord Grade, a former Chairman of the BBC, described the BBC’s rapportage as “shoddy journalism” and called for answers in a video supporting the protest, while Dame Maureen Lipman encouraged people to attend “Because you care, and you will be demonstrating against my often-times employer asking for parity with other victims of racism, prejudice and abuse.”

At the rally, Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said to the crowd: “We don’t want to be here, but we have to be here, because we have to say: ‘BBC News, stop blaming Jews’.” He added: “We see no evidence for the BBC’s claim, which is a distraction from the real story, which is that Jewish teenagers were prevented by racist thugs from celebrating Chanukah.”

The founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism, Fiyaz Mughal OBE, observed that “It’s sad we have to come out here again, when Jews are blamed by institutions that we think we should have trust in.”

The crowd demanded: “BBC News where’s the proof! BBC News tell the truth!”

The rally came after the BBC failed to respond substantively to contact from Campaign Against Antisemitism and other Jewish organisations about its recent coverage, which is not out of the ordinary for the public broadcaster. Polling that we conducted last year for our Antisemitism Barometer revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints. These figures reflect years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community.

We have submitted a complaint to the BBC and have also written to the Chairman and Director-General of the BBC to voice our concerns. In our letter, we called on the BBC to reveal their evidence that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard on the bus and explain why the claim that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard is asserted as fact (despite nobody else being able to discern such a slur) while the evident antisemitism is caveated as mere allegation.

We also reiterated our call for the BBC to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism and once again offered to provide the Corporation with training in how to identify and deal with antisemitism, which will go some way to restoring what little remains of the confidence of the Jewish community in our nation’s public service broadcaster.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Tonight’s rally sends a message to the BBC that the Jewish community has had enough of years of the BBC victim-blaming Jewish people for antisemitism, downplaying racism towards Jews, platforming antisemites and fuelling antisemitism in Britain. We demand explanations over the BBC’s outrageous coverage of the recent antisemitic incident on Oxford Street, when the BBC’s reports victim-blamed Jewish teenagers for being attacked. We also call on the BBC to finally adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism and accept antisemitism training from us for its staff and reporters.”

We will be discussing the incident and the rally further in our podcast this Thursday, which will also feature a full interview with Lord Grade.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

Image credit: Nathan Lilienfeld

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CAA understands that police have found no evidence of supposedly “clear” anti-Muslim slur from the victims of antisemitic attack, as alleged by BBC

Campaign Against Antisemitism has come to understand that the police who were tasked with investigating the antisemitic attack on Jewish teenagers celebrating Chanukah on Oxford Street have found no evidence of BBC London News’ supposedly “clear” anti-Muslim slur from the victims.

The attack occurred on a bus that travelled down Oxford Street on 30th November carrying a group of visibly Jewish teenagers celebrating the Jewish festival of Chanukah. Videos taken by passengers on the bus appeared to show a group of men hitting the vehicle with their hands and then their shoes, spitting on it, trying to break windows and performing Nazi salutes, as well as shouting antisemitic insults and swearing. Further footage was published showing that the teenage passengers had been dancing in the street before being accosted and forced back onto the private bus.

Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the BBC last week demanding explanations over its outrageous coverage of the antisemitic incident on Oxford Street.

Originally, the BBC reported on its website that the explicit expressions of antisemitism evident in the video were merely “allegations”, but the BBC simultaneously claimed — alone among all media outlets — that “some racial slurs about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus,” an assertion made with no evidence to support it and which was even contradicted in the article by a witness from the bus who said that she heard no such slurs. On its BBC London Evening News, the BBC even suggested that “it’s not clear what role [the supposed slurs] may have had in the incident.” The BBC appears to have fed this unsubstantiated claim to the Met, which assured the Corporation that the incident will be looked at “in its entirety.”

The public reacted to the article with fury, with nobody able to identify any “anti-Muslim slurs” in the audio accompanying the video. Despite justifiable calls for the BBC to release the evidence for its assertion, it has failed to do so, instead merely amending the article to refer to an “anti-Muslim slur” in the singular. A BBC spokesperson stated that: “The audio appears to show that a slur can be heard coming from the bus. We have changed our story to clarify only one such slur can be heard clearly.”

Still, however, nobody is able to discern any slur — let alone being able to hear one “clearly”, as the BBC has insisted — and no evidence has been provided. Moreover, the alleged slur is still reported as fact while the obvious antisemitism remains a mere “allegation”.

In our letter, we also noted polling that we conducted last year, in our Antisemitism Barometer, which revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints. In view of these figures, we trust that you will take these concerns seriously.

We have called on the BBC to reveal its evidence that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard on the bus and explain why the claim that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard is asserted as fact (despite nobody else being able to discern such a slur) while the evident antisemitism is caveated as mere allegation.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We understand that police investigating the antisemitic attack on Jewish teenagers celebrating Chanukah on Oxford Street have found no evidence of the supposed ‘anti-Muslim slur’ from the victims that BBC London has said could be ‘clearly heard’, and now that part of their investigation has been closed down. The BBC must immediately release whatever evidence they have based their reporting on or apologise fulsomely and publicly.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism is holding a “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” protest outside the BBC’s headquarters at Broadcasting House tonight at 18:30. 

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Today, as Labour Party is mandated by law to introduce semi-independent disciplinary process, CAA resubmits complaints against fifteen sitting Labour MPs including Angela Rayner

Today is a key monitoring date and sign-off point in the Labour Party’s Action Plan agreed with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The Action Plan came in the wake of the EHRC’s finding that Labour had unlawfully discriminated against Jewish people following an investigation in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant.

Under the Action Plan, it is required today that “An independent process is up and running and will be used to determine 100% of applicable antisemitism complaints,” save for cases already at the adjudication stage under the existing system.

Last year, on the day that the EHRC published its report, Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted complaints against fifteen sitting MPs, including former Leader Jeremy Corbyn and current Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, as well as Diane Abbott, Tahir Ali, Mike Amesbury, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Barry Gardiner, Kate Hollern, Afzal Khan, Rebecca Long Bailey, Steve Reed, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Barry Sheerman and Zarah Sultana, as well as other officeholders and candidates.

Although Mr Corbyn sits as an independent MP, he nevertheless absurdly remains a member of the Labour Party – after he was rapidly readmitted following his brief suspension – and therefore subject to its disciplinary processes. On 18th November 2020, we submitted a further complaint about Mr Corbyn over his personal responsibility for the Party being found guilty of unlawful acts of antisemitism, for which he must be held to account.

We asked that our complaints not be investigated until an independent process is introduced. At Party conference in September of this year, Labour endorsed a proposed semi-independent disciplinary process, and today the Party is required to have it up and running.

In the year since they were submitted, none of our complaints have been acknowledged, let alone investigated, therefore we resubmit them today with the expectation that a timeframe for their investigation be provided and that an efficient, fair and transparent investigation be conducted.

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Addressing antisemitism in the Labour Party and making it safe for Jews depends on delivering justice for the years of discrimination and pain that the Party continues to cause for the Jewish community in Britain. That must include investigating those MPs who have been culpable in promoting or excusing racism towards Jews or belittling allegations of antisemitism as ‘smears’, which the EHRC recognised was central to the unlawful victimisation of Jews by the Party.

“The Party has not even acknowledged our complaints of one year ago, let alone investigated them. As of today, the Party is required to have introduced a semi-independent disciplinary process to handle antisemitism complaints. We have therefore resubmitted our complaints against fifteen sitting MPs and expect them to be investigated efficiently, fairly and transparently.”

The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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BBC journalist reportedly praised activist who once created video asking “How true is the #Holocaust and how did the Zionists benefit from it?”

A BBC Arabic journalist has reportedly praised an activist who once created and shared a video that asked “How true is the #Holocaust and how did the Zionists benefit from it?”

Activist Muna Hawwa was suspended by Al Jazeera after she created and shared a video that asked, “How true is the #Holocaust and how did the Zionists benefit from it?”

Ms Hawwa was also reportedly suspended from Twitter. Upon her return to the platform, BBC Arabic journalist Layla Bashar al-Kloub allegedly tweeted in May: “My dear Muna…there was a great victory for you, yourself specifically, the victory of the free word, and the victory of exquisite journalism, you have proved everybody you are capable of confronting large institutions by yourself, may Allah strengthen you.”

It was also said that in November 2016, Ms al-Kloub tweeted: “The Zionist entity does not recognize any international law or agreement, their entire [legal] proceedings are infringements of human rights treaties. They are the terrorists, not us.” The tweet has since been deleted.

On Wednesday, Campaign Against Antisemitism announced a “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” protest outside the BBC’s headquarters at Broadcasting House this Monday 13th December.

We are demanding explanations over the BBC’s outrageous coverage of the recent antisemitic incident on Oxford Street during the Jewish festival of Chanukah, when the BBC’s reports victim-blamed Jewish teenagers for being attacked.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

Image credit: The JC via Twitter

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Eddie Marsan tells Podcast Against Antisemitism that antisemitism is often ignored or even indulged in because it’s seen as a “trendy racism”

Today’s guest on Podcast Against Antisemitism is the actor Eddie Marsan, who shared insightful comments on antisemitism within the acting industry and the UK.

Marsan, who is not Jewish, has also received antisemitic abuse for playing a Jewish character in the BBC’s Ridley Road and for speaking out against antisemitism online and in public life.

Mr Marsan said: “There isn’t only a blindspot against antisemitism. In some ways, I think antisemitism is a trendy racism. It’s a trendy racism. I read a thing about a guy called Ferdinand August Bebel, who was a German social democrat in the nineteenth century. And he described antisemitism as the “socialism of fools”, because most racists, when they attack somebody who they consider to be inferior to them, they’re always shooting down, but a lot of antisemites, especially those on the left, believe that they’re shooting up to this kind of all-powerful Jewish cabal that runs the world. And it’s quite often sold as a form of egalitarianism, as anti-capitalism, as anti-imperialism. And so you have lots of very, very experienced left-wing intellectuals who are telling younger people: ‘This isn’t racism, this is anti-capitalism.’ Then morally, it’s okay to do. And so that’s why I say, it’s a very, very seductive and a very trendy racism. And it goes against my culture.”

Mr Marsan went on to say: “It breaks my heart for young, Jewish actors, really. I mean, I’ve got lots of Jewish friends in the profession, and they’re walking into rehearsal rooms and film sets and they have to make a decision about whether they put their head above the parapet or not. And that kind of thing upsets me, and I don’t think that’s right for a profession like ours, which is supposed to encourage empathy and openness and complexity and understanding, to be so bigoted.”

He also observed: “As an actor, when you explore characters, you realise in order to be a good actor, you can never play evil characters or good characters. You can only play human beings. What you have to accept, as an actor, is that all aspects of the human condition are on a spectrum. You have to explore the spectrum and embrace the spectrum, and what I’m beginning to realise now is that because of the binary nature of populism, whether it’s left-wing or right-wing populism, people are not embracing the spectrum, they’re not embracing the complexity. So antisemites on the right or the left will ask someone like you, ‘where do your loyalties lie?’ They will ask you to be binary because they see the world in a binary way. And the reality is, the world isn’t binary. Do you know what I mean? And human beings aren’t binary. I mean, your Jewishness doesn’t define you. It’s an aspect of you and it’s a part of you that informs who you are but there’s loads of other elements that inform who you are.”

On the scapegoating of Jews, Mr Marsan said: “Populism is still powerful, because we live in a very, very complex world and people prefer simple lies to complex truths, and one of the simplest lies that a politician can sell people is to create an ‘other’. If they create an ‘other’, then you unify everybody on your side, and you create a narrative that people can belong to. And one of the easiest ‘others’ for people to hate are Jews, it’s really easy. And the far-right and the far-left can hate Jews to the same degree, they’re a really convenient ‘other’ for them.”

On diversity, he said: “When it comes to the antisemitism, in many ways that kind of broke my heart because the people who were being antisemitic were people who I thought would never be. Do you know what I mean? They were supposed to be the champions of diversity, they were supposed to be standing up against that and they weren’t.”

You can listen to the full podcast here.

Or you can watch the full interview here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism streams every Thursday and can be downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

Last week’s guest was comedian and author David Baddiel.

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CAA to hold “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” protest outside Broadcasting House on Monday 13th December following outrageous coverage of antisemitic incident on Oxford Street

Campaign Against Antisemitism has announced a “BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!” protest outside the BBC’s headquarters at Broadcasting House this Monday 13th December.

We are demanding explanations over the BBC’s outrageous coverage of the recent antisemitic incident on Oxford Street during the Jewish festival of Chanukah, when the BBC’s reports victim-blamed Jewish teenagers for being attacked.

This incident is one of many in which the BBC has victim-blamed Jewish people for antisemitism, downplayed racism towards Jews, platformed antisemites and fuelled antisemitism in Britain.

This bias against Jews has not gone unnoticed. Polling conducted last year for our Antisemitism Barometer revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints.

The BBC must provide explanations for its recent coverage, adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism and finally take up our offers of antisemitism training for its staff and reporters.

Join us on Monday so that the outrage of decent people can be heard.

To attend the protest, please register at antisemitism.org/bbc.

We will also be discussing the Oxford Street incident on tomorrow’s episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism. The episode can be streamed here tomorrow or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Channel 4 appoints figure who defended Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism allegations to its board

Channel 4 has appointed to its board a figure who defended Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism allegations.

Tess Alps, a former chairman of the TV advertising industry body ThinkBox and member of the Labour Party, has been made a non-executive director of the channel.

When the Labour Party under Mr Corbyn was accused of racism towards Jews – allegations that were confirmed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) following an investigation in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant – Ms Alps defended Mr Corbyn.

In 2019, Ms Alps reportedly said, in connection with Labour antisemitism,: “I would be only too happy to change my mind if I saw proper evidence. Being pro-Palestinian rights or anti current Israeli government practice is not the same thing at all. I feel the hurt of my many Jewish friends, some of whom have been subject to shocking abuse, but…”

She then apparently asked her interlocutor on Twitter to send her a direct message so that they could continue the exchange privately.

Her appointment, which is controversial for other comments that she has made as well, comes at a sensitive time for the channel, as the Government considers the possibility of privatising it.

Ms Alps reportedly said in a statement that she always supports the leader of the Labour Party and claimed that Mr Corbyn “didn’t stop some of the terrible things that might have happened, but that is not the same as being the author of them.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Lib Dem candidate apologises for tweets that appeared to compare English Channel migrants to Jewish inmates at Auschwitz

The Liberal Democrat candidate in the coming North Shropshire by-election has apologised after social media posts emerged in which she appeared to compare the experience of migrants crossing the English Channel to Jewish inmates at the Auschwitz death camp.

Helen Morgan, reportedly wrote on Twitter in September 2020 about her son reading The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, a book about the son of a Nazi camp commandant befriending a Jewish boy on the other side of the fence.

Ms Morgan tweeted: “He commented that the Nazis were only able to do such terrible things because they didn’t think their victims were people. He’s 11. On Twitter this morning, there are people talking about cancelling their RNLI [Royal National Lifeboat Institution] donations because they have picked up ‘illegals’. The language used every day in this country – by the Government, press and people with thousands of followers on social media – it’s nothing short of chilling.  We have travelled too far down this road. We urgently need to turn back.”

In the same thread, she apparently ‘liked’ a tweet by another user who claimed: “Having visited Auschwitz concentration camp in the recent past. It really brings home man’s inhumanity to man. Now on a daily basis the language and actions of the Conservative Party make me more and more concerned about the direction they are taking the UK and its people.”

Ms Morgan has also apologised for telling Home Secretary Priti Patel to “tear up your copy of Goebbels’ manual” on Twitter in an exchange on migrants crossing the English Channel. Ms Morgan removed the tweets and said: “I apologise for this insensitive tweet which I have taken down.”

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “Helen Morgan has taken down this tweet and apologises if any offence was caused. She is passionate about standing up against this Conservative Government which is taking people in Shropshire for granted.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Police call for help identifying suspects in last week’s antisemitic incident on Oxford Street

The Metropolitan Police have issued a call for witnesses and assistance in identifying suspects in last week’s antisemitic incident on Oxford Street.

The Met is investigating as a hate crime an attack on a bus that travelled down Oxford Street on 30th November carrying a group of visibly Jewish teenagers celebrating the Jewish festival of Chanukah. Videos taken by passengers on the bus appeared to show a group of men hitting the vehicle with their hands and then their shoes, spitting on it, trying to break windows and performing Nazi salutes, as well as shouting antisemitic insults and swearing. Further footage was published showing that the teenage passengers had been dancing in the street before being accosted and forced back onto the private bus.

Shneor Glitsenstein, Director of the Chabad Israeli Centre Golders Green, who was on the bus with 40 young people, said: “Let me be clear: on Monday evening we were attacked on the streets of London for being Jewish and celebrating Chanukah. While our bus contained no references to Israel, we were clearly a Jewish group. The young men who surrounded us were not engaged in political protest; this was a bigoted antisemitic attack in the heart of London, seen by dozens of others, who stood by silently.”

Police reportedly stopped the bus in Grosvenor Place to check on the welfare of the passengers.

The Met have now released images of three men to whom the force would like to speak.

Detective Inspector Kevin Eade said: “Our investigation into this appalling incident continues and we are now in a position to release three clearer images of the men we would like to speak to. Despite extensive inquiries over the past week, we are yet to make any arrests; however, I am confident that somebody will recognise the people in these images, and I would urge anyone who does to contact us immediately.”

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or the Charing Cross Hate Crime Unit on 07900 608 252, quoting reference number: 6184/29Nov. Alternatively, you can tweet @MetCC or e-mail Campaign Against Antisemitism at [email protected].

Earlier this week, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the BBC demanding explanations over its outrageous coverage of the incident.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said “This was a heinous antisemitic attack on a group of Jewish teenagers celebrating Chanukah at the heart of our nation’s capital. We urge members of the public to help the police identify suspects and persons of interest so that the culprits can be brought to justice. If you recognise these individuals, please contact the police or us on a confidential basis.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

Image credit: Metropolitan Police Service

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Chanukah display in Primrose Hill destroyed in act of vandalism 

It has been reported that a Chanukah display in Primrose Hill has been destroyed.

A photograph uploaded on Twitter this morning showed a Chanukiah smashed in half. Rabbi Yossi Baitz, the Chabad rabbi to Kentish-CamdenTown London, told Campaign Against Antisemitism that he placed sandbags over the base of the Chanukiah to hold it in place, which would have then been removed in order to smash over the display.

Rabbi Baitz wrote on Twitter: “Im the Rabbi who worked so hard to put this Menorah as a symbol of light. it breaks my heart to see it vandalized. I promise to put this Menorah again every Hanukkah ,we will never surrender to darkness.”

Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. If anyone has any information about this incident, please contact us or call the police on 101. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Birmingham man jailed after hurling antisemitic abuse at couple in front of off-duty police

A man from Birmingham has been jailed after hurling antisemitic abuse at a couple in front of two off-duty police officers.

Adam Boyle, 32, was reportedly “visibly intoxicated” when he approached the Jewish couple on 7th October. They were waiting at Victoria Station in Manchester for a train to Bury.

Two off-duty police officers were nearby and, witnessing Mr Boyle’s abuse, arrested him.

Mr Boyle was charged with racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment and was convicted. He was sentenced at Birmingham and Solihull Magistrates’ Court to 26 weeks in prison.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Labour councillor who chanted “From the River to the Sea” has whip removed and Jeremy Corbyn’s former legal head deselected, but elsewhere local Labour group passes motion praising Ken Loach

A Labour Party councillor who chanted “From the River to the Sea” at a rally and called a former Jewish Labour MP a “hideous traitor” has reportedly had the whip removed.

Sam Gorst, a councillor in Liverpool, is reportedly no longer a member of the local Labour Group and will sit as an independent. Cllr Gorst was filmed earlier this year marching alongside Jeremy Corbyn and chanting “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”. The chant only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state – and its replacement with a State of Palestine – and is thus an attempt to deny Jews, uniquely, the right to self-determination, which is a breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism. The rally was addressed by Mr Corbyn and former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, and was endorsed by Labour MPs Paula Barker, and Kim Johnson.

Labour Against Antisemitism has also previously claimed that Cllr Gorst was involved in the now-proscribed Labour fringe groups, Labour Against the Witchhunt and Labour in Exile Network.

Cllr Gorst, who is reported to have been suspended from the Labour Party for twelve months in August 2020, claimed that Mr Corbyn was a victim of a “smear campaign”, described the Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger as a “hideous traitor” when she declared her intention to run for Merseyside Mayor in 2016, and called another Jewish Labour MP, Dame Louise Ellman, a “disgrace” when she quit the Party in 2019 over antisemitism.

Cllr Gorst reportedly said that he is “appealing this injustice.”

In London, the Labour Party’s former Director Governance and Legal under Mr Corbyn’s leadership has been deselected as a candidate by the Party in advance of next year’s local elections.

Thomas Gardiner, a councillor in Camden who was referenced repeatedly in the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s report into Labour antisemitism, which followed an investigation in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, was involved in overseeing the Party’s catastrophic complaints process. He became known for his decision that a meme showing an alien crustacean with a Star of David emblazoned on its back sucking the life out of the Statue of Liberty was somehow not antisemitic.

It is understood that Mr Gardiner launched an appeal against the deselection, but that the decision was upheld.

Elsewhere in London, the Hornsey and Wood Green Constituency Labour Party has come under fire for approving a motion that praises the outspoken filmmaker and expelled Labour member Ken Loach. The motion also called for local public screenings of his films. The motion was reportedly proposed by local member and television actress Margot Leicester.

A second motion claimed that Labour under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer had become a “hostile environment” as a result of the “expulsions of prominent socialists.”

The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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CAA writes to BBC demanding explanations over its outrageous coverage of Oxford Street antisemitic incident

Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to the BBC demanding explanations over its outrageous coverage of the antisemitic incident on Oxford Street last week.

The Metropolitan Police Service is investigating as a hate crime an attack on a bus that travelled down Oxford Street on 30th November carrying a group of visibly Jewish teenagers celebrating the Jewish festival of Chanukah. Videos taken by passengers on the bus appeared to show a group of men hitting the vehicle with their hands and then their shoes, spitting on it, trying to break windows and performing Nazi salutes, as well as shouting antisemitic insults and swearing. Further footage was published showing that the teenage passengers had been dancing in the street before being accosted and forced back onto the private bus.

Originally, the BBC reported on its website that the explicit expressions of antisemitism evident in the video were merely “allegations”, but the BBC simultaneously claimed — alone among all media outlets — that “some racial slurs about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus,” an assertion made with no evidence to support it and which was even contradicted in the article by a witness from the bus who said that she heard no such slurs. On its BBC London Evening News, the BBC even suggested that “it’s not clear what role [the supposed slurs] may have had in the incident.” The BBC appears to have fed this unsubstantiated claim to the Met, which assured the Corporation that the incident will be looked at “in its entirety.”

The public reacted to the article with fury, with nobody able to identify any “anti-Muslim slurs” in the audio accompanying the video. Despite justifiable calls for the BBC to release the evidence for its assertion, it has failed to do so, instead merely amending the article to refer to an “anti-Muslim slur” in the singular. A BBC spokesperson stated that: “The audio appears to show that a slur can be heard coming from the bus. We have changed our story to clarify only one such slur can be heard clearly.”

Still, however, nobody is able to discern any slur — let alone being able to hear one “clearly”, as the BBC has insisted — and no evidence has been provided. Moreover, the alleged slur is still reported as fact while the obvious antisemitism remains a mere “allegation”.

In our letter, we also noted polling that we conducted last year, in our Antisemitism Barometer, which revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints. In view of these figures, we trust that you will take these concerns seriously.

We have called on the BBC to reveal its evidence that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard on the bus and explain why the claim that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard is asserted as fact (despite nobody else being able to discern such a slur) while the evident antisemitism is caveated as mere allegation.

We have also once again called on the BBC to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, and have again offered antisemitism training, as previous offers to the former Director-General, Lord Hall, were repeatedly rebuffed.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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North London gang verbally and physically assault Jewish children in two separate incidents

A North London gang is reported to have verbally and physically assaulted Jewish children in two separate incidents. 

In both instances, the gang is believed to be associated with the nearby Webb Estate and is accused of harassing Jewish residents for years.

In one incident, the gang threw stones at ten-year-old Jewish boys before being stopped by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol. They then went on to vandalise a phone box. 

The incident took place on Craven Park road in Stamford Hill and was reported at around 22:40 yesterday by Stamford Hill Shomrim. If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: 4632764/21.

In a separate incident, the gang allegedly assaulted a twelve-year-old boy and screamed “take off your kippah” at him. 

This incident took place on Oldhill Street in Stamford Hill and was reported this afternoon by Stamford Hill Shomrim. If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD 6959 06/12/21.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Oxford University under fire for inviting defender of David Miller and critic of International Definition of Antisemitism to deliver lecture on “equality and diversity”

The University of Oxford is under fire for inviting a defender of the disgraced academic David Miller and critic of the International Definition of Antisemitism to deliver lecture on “equality and diversity”.

Tariq Modood, the founder and Director of the University of Bristol’s Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, delivered the Oxford Law Faculty’s Annual Equality and Diversity Lecture, titled “Islamophobia and the Struggle for Recognition,” last week.

In March, Prof. Modood defended his then-Bristol colleague, David Miller, reportedly saying: “I think the empirical research that David is doing is not antisemitic and is valuable for hunting down evidence that displays the linkages between various organisations and funders in this country, the U.S. and Israel that are not just promoting their own views. Of course they have a right to do that, but they’re having the effect of making it difficult for people in this country, including academics, to speak up at conferences for the Palestinian cause without incurring the charge of antisemitism and therefore putting one’s career and reputation at risk.”

He also reportedly criticised the International Definition of Antisemitism, asserting that it was “mixing up anti-Zionism and anti-Israel with antisemitism”.

David Miller was fired by the University of Bristol over comments he had made about Jewish students, a month after Campaign Against Antisemitism commenced a lawsuit on behalf of current students against the institution.

The incident came just weeks after Oxford became embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that the University had accepted a donation from the Mosley family trust and was intending to honour the family name.

Binyomin Gilbert, Programme Manager at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “It is extraordinary that a vocal supporter of the disgraced academic David Miller and an opponent of the International Definition of Antisemitism should be invited to lecture on equality and diversity. In the midst of the deep controversy surrounding the acceptance of donations from the Mosley family trust and attempts to honour the name of Britain’s foremost fascist family, one would have expected the University of Oxford to be particularly sensitive to Jewish concerns at this time. Instead, the University has yet again shown contempt towards Jewish students.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected]. 

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New poll reveals majority of Jewish Labour Party members do not find other local members friendly and welcoming

A new poll has revealed that 65% of Jewish members of the Labour Party do not find other local members friendly and welcoming.

In a poll of 2,890 people carried out by the Fabian Society in August, 65% of Jewish respondents disagreed with the claim that other local members are all friendly and welcoming, a new report has found, which was the highest proportion of any group, including LGBT, under-35s, women and other ethnic minority members.

One member told the pollsters:: “I was asked questions [by fellow local members] about my loyalty and affiliations and memberships because I am Jewish. Other candidates were not asked these questions.”

Another worried that their candidacy for office might be blocked because of their membership of the Party’s Jewish affiliate.

The survey was open and promoted through blogs, social media and organisations affiliated to the Labour Party, and its authors noted that those polled were “not designed to be representative of the membership as a whole.”

Since the poll was carried out, the Labour Party has endorsed a new semi-independent disciplinary process, although it has not yet been implemented.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “Keir [Starmer]’s relentless focus since his election as leader has been on positively changing the Labour Party. Thanks to the significant progress made, we are proving to the public that we understand and are acting on their priorities. This progress includes rebuilding our relationship with the Jewish community, and demonstrating wholeheartedly that only Labour is the party of equality and opportunity for our members and the country. We are committed to taking our dedicated membership with us at every step.”

The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

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Prominent far-right streamer with goal of “exposing the filthy Jews” jailed for four years 

A prominent far-right streamer who described his goal as “exposing the filthy Jews” has been jailed for four years after pleading guilty to stirring up racial hatred.

Richard Hesketh, 36 from Greater Manchester, posted 4,000 antisemitic videos that garnered over 5.5 million views under the name Rick Heskey on the platforms Bitchute and Goyim TV, the latter of which is a website affiliated with the “Goyim Defence League”, a group whose membership reportedly contains several neo-Nazis and is understood to be led by Jon Minadeo II, a man who Mr Hesketh had previously appeared in a video with. The group is responsible for stunts such as visiting a Chabad centre to claim that “these Jewish terrorists” were behind 9/11, and hanging a banner on a Los Angeles overpass reading “Honk if you know the Jews want a race war.” Earlier this year, Mr Minadeo II created t-shirts carrying antisemitic slogans such as the Holocaust was “a hoax”. Most recently, they hung a banner from a bridge in Austin, Texas that read “Vax the Jews”.

Mr Hesketh described his goal as “exposing the filthy Jews” and reportedly saw himself as a “Full time Jew Namer”. It is also understood that one of his social media profiles had the title: “Dedicated to Exposing the Jew”.

In one video regarding an antisemitic assault on a Jewish man in Brazil, Mr Hesketh reportedly said: “Hitler should have killed more Jews. Completely agree, I’d say he should have killed about 16 million, that should have finished them off.” Another video was titled “The Filthy Jews of York Castle”, in which Mr Hesketh visited Clifford’s Tower in York, where approximately 150 Jews were murdered in 1190. 

In October 2020, Mr Hesketh reportedly shared a video with the title: “Jews in the News- Halle Synagogue attacker 1 year on”. This came shortly after a 26-year-old Jewish man was attacked outside a synagogue in Hamburg as members of the local community celebrated the Jewish festival of Sukkot. Mr Heskey stated during this video: “If you’re gonna go into a synagogue and scare the s**t out of these rat-faced Jews it’s like, why would you take a shovel? It’s not exactly the best weapon for cleaving people. It’s good for bonging them on the head with, filthy Jew sit down.”

In August 2021, Richard Hesketh was charged with seven counts of distributing a recording of visual images or sounds stirring up racial hatred, contrary to section 21(1) Public Order Act 1986. 

On 7th September 2021, Mr Hesketh pleaded guilty to all charges and on 3rd December 2021, he was sentenced to four years in jail at Manchester Crown Court.

After the sentencing, Detective Superintendent Will Chatterton, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said: “Hesketh shared as well as created hundreds of shockingly offensive videos and content on social media, which undoubtedly incited hatred towards the Jewish community. In police interview [sic] Hesketh showed no remorse and even continued to upload offensive material to his social media channels after he was released under investigation. Hesketh enjoyed viewing videos of serious attacks on Jewish people and even made comments referring to his disappointment that the attacker in one video did not kill the victim, showing just how depraved his beliefs are. Peddling this mind set across the internet is dangerous and at the same time incredibly upsetting to our communities. This case highlights that right wing terrorism will not be tolerated in any shape or form and we will do all we can to bring these offenders to justice. I am pleased that Hesketh will no longer be able to continue his campaign of abuse and I really do hope that his time in prison is spent reflecting upon his appalling behaviour.”

This sentencing comes after investigative research by the Community Security Trust (CST).

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Richard Hesketh was a prolific streamer of antisemitic material who, by his own admission, had dedicated himself to trolling Jews. His guilty plea avoids the indignity of a courtroom platform on which he might further promote his racist views, and this four-year sentence removes him from society, where he has proven that he does not belong. We commend the authorities for pursuing him and the CST for its investigative work that helped bring about this outcome.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

Image credit: Greater Manchester Police

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Co-founder of neo-Nazi National Action terrorist group jailed for ten years

The co-founder of the neo-Nazi National Action terrorist group has today been jailed for ten years.

Ben Raymond, 32, was found guilty of membership of the proscribed group earlier this week at Bristol Crown Court, where he has now been sentenced.

Mr Raymond, from Swindon, helped launch the group in 2013 and reportedly coined the term “white jihad”. He is the seventeenth person to be found guilty of membership in the banned group. He was also convicted of possessing a manifesto written by the far-right terrorist Andrews Breivik, as well as a guide to homemade detonators, but was found not guilty of four counts of possessing other documents.

Mr Raymond remained involved in the group, even after it was banned, producing much of its material and reportedly being likened to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda Minister. He also remained in contact with other leading figures in the group, several of whom have been jailed.

The court how he had also forged links with foreign neo-Nazi groups, including Atomwaffen Division, which the UK has also proscribed.

Sentencing him, Judge Christopher Parker QC said that Mr Raymond was the “principal propagandist” for National Action, both before and after the ban and sat “at the centre of the web” as the group fragmented in an effort to evade the ban. The judge said: “In the shadows of the internet you continued to offer guidance to regional National Action organisations on tactics, security, organisation but most importantly propaganda. From the centre of that web you intended just as much as other associates that National Action should survive following proscription.”

The judge added: “It was intended that the documents produced by you would be used to create instability within society, hatred between white people and other ethnic groups and ultimately create racial violence on which National Action could capitalise. You intended that the material should be used to recruit new members, specifically new young members…those young people were at risk of being groomed by your behaviour into committing acts of extreme racial violence.”

Mr Raymond was sentenced to eight years in prison for membership and two years, to run concurrently, for the two offences relating to possession of terrorist documents. After release, he will be subject to terrorist notification requirements.

National Action was proscribed by the British Government following repeated calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.

Mr Raymond’s alleged co-founder recently pleaded not guilty to a single charge of membership of a proscribed organisation and will stand trial next year.

They are alleged to have founded the group when they were both university students.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Ben Raymond was the co-founder of National Action, the poster child group for neo-Nazis in Britain today. He was also its master propagandist, doing what he could to broadcast its message of racist hate. The ban on National Action, secured after calls from Campaign Against Antisemitism and others, was the first step, and convictions of its members are the second. This sentence, removing someone with grotesque and dangerous views from society, is the third.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

Image credit: Counter Terrorism Policing

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Conviction for man who sent Alan Sugar antisemitic letters

A man has been convicted of religiously-aggravated harassment after sending Alan Sugar a series of abusive and antisemitic letters.

Lord Sugar, the former host of The Apprentice television show, was reluctant to refer the matter to the police, but thanks officers for “helping to shine a light on the fact that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable.”

Patrick Gomes, 70, sent three letters to one of Lord Sugar’s business premises in Loughton between October and December 2018, according to Essex Police.

Each letter was addressed to Lord Sugar and reportedly included abusive, threatening and offensive language that was also derogatory towards the Jewish faith.

Mr Gomes was arrested at his home in Leyton in March 2019, after his DNA and fingerprints were found on one of the letters. Police found additional discriminatory letters, and discovered that the address of the letters to Lord Sugar was in Mr Gomes’ address book.

Mr Gomes denied involvement but was found guilty of religiously-aggravated harassment, putting those targeted in fear of violence, on 1st December at Chelmsford Crown Court.

He did not appear at court and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested on 2nd December and is being remanded in custody to await sentencing, which will take place on 23rd December.

A spokeswoman for Chelmsford Crown Court said a sentencing hearing has been listed for 23rd December.

Lord Sugar said: “I would like to pass on my sincere gratitude to the police for their assistance in this case. I have to be honest, I was reluctant to pass this matter on to the police as they are already stretched and have enough on their plates…I would like to thank them sincerely for helping to shine a light on the fact that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable and that racism or any form of discrimination is simply not acceptable.”

Investigating officer PC Marc Arnold, of Epping Forest’s Community Policing Team, said: “Nobody should ever be subjected to this level of abuse or fear physical violence because of their faith. I’m really pleased that justice has been rightly served. There is simply no excuse for any hate crime and if this happens to you or you witness this type of behaviour, please tell us – we will not tolerate racism or discrimination of any kind and neither should you.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Lord Sugar was right to refer this matter to the police. There must be zero tolerance for antisemitic crime, but that can only happen when victims report incidents. If racism against Jews is allowed to fester, the number of victims will only grow. We commend the police for pursuing the matter, and trust that the sentence will be proportionate to the crime.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Spotify removes nearly 150 hours of antisemitic, racist and white supremacist material from its platform

Spotify has reportedly removed nearly 150 hours of antisemitic, racist and white supremacist material from its platform following a media investigation.

The streaming giant does not allow hateful content on its platform, but a Sky News investigation reportedly found “days’ worth” of listening, promoting “scientific racism, Holocaust denial and far-right antisemitic conspiracy theories”.

Much of it was buried within hours-long episodes, but in some cases there were explicit slurs in titles, descriptions and artwork.

Spotify removed the content after being alerted, but it remains online on other, unmoderated platforms, such as Google Podcasts.

Searching for the phrase “Kalergi Plan”, for example, directs users to a podcast with 76 episodes discussing the far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which imagines that Jewish elites promote mass immigration as part of a deliberate plan to erase the white European race. One of the episodes apparently contains a monologue that ends with an explicit call for violence against Jews.

Another US-based podcast featured racist slurs and white supremacist symbols in its title, descriptions and artwork, with the host promoting various antisemitic theories, Holocaust denial and scientific racism.

Yet another series talks of the “beauty” of white supremacism and features readings of essays and books by Hitler, Goebbels and other Nazi figures.

Spotify allows users to report material that violates the platform’s guidelines, and the company is developing new technology to identify hateful material. But questions remain over what is being done currently to monitor podcast material, the large volume of which requires a mix of algorithmic and human moderation, as well as technology that can detect hate speech in audio.

Hannah Kirk, AI researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute and The Alan Turing Institute, observed numerous technological challenges, including the amount of memory needed to store long audio files, the difficulty of sifting through multiple speakers and fast-paced dialogue, and the complexity of linguistic cues in audio, such as tone, pitch of voice, awkward silences and laughter. The technology to encode these sorts of linguistic signals is not currently available.

Google podcasts, which is more of a directory than a platform, reportedly does not wish to limit what people can find and will only remove content in rare circumstances, according to what a spokesperson has previously told The New York Times.

A Spotify spokesperson told Sky News: “Spotify prohibits content on our platform which expressly and principally advocates or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including, race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability. The content in question has been removed for violating our Hate Content policy.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

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Peloton apologises after instructor quotes Shakespeare’s “liver of a blasphemous Jew” line in live workout

Peloton has apologised after an instructor quoted the phrase “liver of a blasphemous Jew” in a live workout.

The Halloween workout video, in which trainer Christine D’Ercole quotes the line from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has been removed from the company’s library.

A spokesperson for Peloton said: “Peloton’s aim is to strengthen, support and uplift our diverse community and sometimes we fall short of that goal. We apologise that during one of our classes an instructor quoted a Shakespeare passage that included an antisemitic line. This was a mistake and the class has been removed from our library.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

Image credit: Jewish News

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CAA launches Podcast Against Antisemitism, a weekly podcast streaming every Thursday, with David Baddiel as our first special guest

Campaign Against Antisemitism has today launched a new weekly podcast.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, streaming every Thursday, is the first podcast in the world to focus on racism against Jews.

Each week, the podcast gives you the chance to hear from those on the front line in the fight against antisemitism – in politics, media, universities, social media, entertainment and on our streets – with expert analysis from Campaign Against Antisemitism. In this first episode, we discuss the fight against antisemitism in sport.

The podcast also features an in-depth interview with a special guest in each episode, including leading activists, authors, celebrities, columnists, social media influencers and more. In this first episode, we are joined by the comedian and author of Jews Don’t Count. David Baddiel, who talks to us about antisemitism as the forgotten racism and his experiences of it as a football fan and in the arts.

You can stream or download Podcast Against Antisemitism on Amazon, Apple, Buzzsprout, Google, Spotify and Soundcloud or wherever you get your podcasts.

Alternatively, you can listen at antisemitism.org/podcast, where each episode will be available every week and where you can subscribe to receive the latest episodes straight to your inbox.

You can also watch the full interview with our special guests every week on our YouTube channel.

If you have any questions, please e-mail [email protected].

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Scottish NHS staff “scared” after Tory councillor who previously apologised for comments appearing to diminish the Holocaust is appointed to health board

Scottish NHS staff are reportedly “scared” after a Conservative councillor who previously apologised for comments appearing to diminish the Holocaust was appointed to a health board.

In a post on a martial arts forum several years ago, Cllr Ryan Houghton, wrote under the username, Razgriz, that there was “no credible evidence to suggest the Holocaust did not happen” but revealed that “I do find some of the events fabricated, and exegarated [sic] in some cases.” He continued: “As history is written by the victors there is always going to be a bit of re-writing.” He also praised the “interesting” research of the antisemitic Holocaust-denier, David Irving. However, in a later post he said that he was “not defending David’s Irving’s views” and that he does not agree with “some of the stuff he says.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)” is an example of antisemitism.

Cllr Houghton is also accused of having made homophobic and anti-Muslim statements online. In a statement at the time, he said: “I apologise unreservedly for any hurt now caused by these comments and have been in contact with members of the Jewish community in Aberdeen.”

According to The National, a senior figure from NHS Grampian has said that staff had been “astonished and actually scared” in reaction to the appointment of Cllr Houghton, which was effected by a letter sent by Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf in May. Cllr Houghton was appointed “in your capacity as the nominated Local Authority Councillor from Aberdeen City Council”.

Aberdeen Council must appoint an elected member to the NHS Grampian board by law.

Earlier this year, Cllr Houghton withdrew as co-leader of the Council just days after being elected, due to his past comments. It is understood that he remains leader of the Conservative group on the Council.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives said that Cllr Houghton “had fully apologised for his comments, [and] was fully investigated by a committee, who ruled in favour of lifting his suspension. Perhaps most importantly, his appointment on the board was brought forward by Humza Yousaf who said he was looking forward to working with him in addressing challenges and opportunities.” The spokesperson also observed that a former chairman of Aberdeen Synagogue had said that while what Cllr Houghton had said “wasn’t right…it shouldn’t be held against him for the rest of his life.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “There is no place in public life for holocaust denial, racism or any other form of discrimination and prejudice. The Health Secretary has no role in deciding which councillors are chosen by local authorities to sit on health boards – other than issuing a standardised routine letter to them after their appointment. We understand the concerns being raised about this appointment and will be in contact with NHS Grampian to check that all correct processes have been followed and to discuss the serious allegations being made.”

A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said that the health board “takes all matters relating to equality, diversity and human rights very seriously. We have received the concerns and are currently seeking clarity about due process.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a new weekly podcast. New episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism are available every Thursday and can be streamed here or downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel a Creative Communications and Events Officer a Communications and Research Manager an Education and Outreach Intern to join our London office

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Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.