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Twitter troll fined only £450 for sustained racist abuse against Jews and Muslims

A Twitter troll in Scotland has been fined only £450 for tweeting racist abuse against Jews, Muslims, black people and homosexuals, including: “I hate Jews, homos, blacks (slaves) and am all against Islam. I say kick the f****** out”.

Robert Rankin, 52, was convicted of sending abusive or threatening communications at Paisley Sheriff Court, but in spite of a previous conviction for racially abusing a neighbour, he received a comparatively small fine. However, Sheriff Simon Fraser warned: “This is pretty unpleasant stuff and if you repeat this, you are going to find yourself going to prison.”

We regret that such sustained and vitriolic abuse from a man with an existing criminal record has been so lightly punished. Zero tolerance only works if the courts play their part.

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Former Labour MP links antisemitism to “brutal” Israelis

Former Labour MP for Derby North, Chris Williamson, has reacted to the exposure of rampant antisemitism at the Oxford University Labour Club by tweeting, “I hope they won’t find any such evidence. Did you see this [Channel 4] News item; brutal”. Williamson appears to both suggest that antisemitism had not been taking place at Oxford University Labour Club, despite numerous reports, not least from the Co-Chair who resigned in disgust at it, and that it is somehow linked to perceived “brutal” actions by Israel.

The most widely-accepted definition of antisemitism states that “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” is antisemitic.

We have asked the Labour Party to investigate Chris Williamson over his tweet.

Labour Students and the University of Oxford are now understood to be investigating the Oxford University Labour Club.

Thanks to Sussex Friends of Israel for alerting us to this.

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Rampant antisemitism exposed at Oxford University Labour Club

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends the Co-Chair of the Oxford University Labour Club, Alex Chalmers, for his principled decision to stand up against antisemitism amongst his fellow students. If only there were more people prepared to recognise antisemitism when they see it, and refuse to ignore it.

Chalmers decided to resign after the club voted to embrace “Israel Apartheid Week”. Chalmers wrote about his resignation in a hard-hitting Facebook post, saying: “Whether it be members of the Executive throwing around the term ‘Zio’ (a term for Jews usually confined to websites run by the Ku Klux Klan) with casual abandon, senior members of the club expressing their ‘solidarity’ with Hamas and explicitly defending their tactics of indiscriminately murdering civilians, or a former Co-Chair claiming that ‘most accusations of antisemitism are just the Zionists crying wolf’, a large proportion of both OULC and the student left in Oxford more generally have some kind of problem with Jews. The decision of the club to endorse a movement with a history of targeting and harassing Jewish students and inviting antisemitic speakers to campuses, despite the concerns of Jewish students, illustrates how uneven and insincere much of the active membership is when it comes to liberation.”

Oxford University Labour Club is a member organisation of Labour Students, which said that they were “deeply troubled” and that they “unequivocally condemn any form of antisemitism”. Without offering any specifics, Labour Students promised to investigate and take action.

Since Chalmers announced his resignation, Oxford Jewish Society has published further allegations in a Facebook post of their own, shedding further light on the rampant antisemitism at the heart of the Labour Club.

According to Oxford Jewish Society:

  • Members of the Labour Club’s committee have been known to sing the song “Rockets over Tel Aviv” and have specifically expressed support for Hamas’ tactic of launching indiscriminate attacks against Israel’s Jewish citizens.
  • One Labour Club member stated specifically that it was “not antisemitic” to allege the existence of a “New York – Tel Aviv axis” that rigs elections, and said that “we should be aware of the influence wielded over elections by high net-worth Jewish individuals”. He also stated that it was “not antisemitic” to allege the existence of an international Jewish conspiracy, even though he did not endorse the idea himself.
  • One Labour Club committee member stated that all Jews should be expected to publicly denounce Zionism and the State of Israel, and that nobody should associate with any Jew who fails to do so.
  • Several individuals, some who have been on the Labour Club committee, repeatedly used the word “Zio” (a word normally only found on neo-Nazi websites) to refer to Jewish students.
  • Several Labour Club members have alleged that US foreign policy is under the control of the “Zionist Lobby” and when asked if by “Zionist” they simply meant “Jewish” they did not answer.
  • One member of the Labour Club was formally disciplined by their College for organising a group of students to harass a Jewish student and to shout “filthy Zionist” whenever they saw her.
  • In a public discussion on the Labour Club’s Facebook group, one member argued that Hamas was justified in its policy of killing Jewish civilians and claimed that all Jews were legitimate targets. Several other members, including two former Labour Club co-chairs and one then on committee, defended the member as making “a legitimate point clumsily expressed”.
  • Two Labour Club members argued that Jenny Tonge, a peer expelled from the Liberal Democrats over antisemitism, should be encouraged to join the Labour Party.

Jewish people should feel comfortable in any political party. Many of the pivotal figures in Labour have been Jewish, but we have also received increasing reports from Jewish Labour supporters who no longer feel welcome in their party.

It has been more than three months since Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded to an antisemitic outburst by Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman by voicing “deep concern” and assuring us that he was “implacably opposed to racism” before deciding to take no disciplinary action whatsoever against the MP.

We call for the Labour Party and Oxford University to investigate this matter fully and take the strongest possible action to demonstrate to Jewish students that antisemitism will not continue to be tolerated. Where the law has been broken, this matter must be referred to the police; these students are supposed to be amongst our nation’s brightest and cannot be excused.

https://twitter.com/JoeMiles94/status/699727568988196865

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Jewish man and girlfriend called “F***ing Jews” and murderers on London Underground

A 23-year-old Jewish man and his girlfriend have reportedly been subjected to antisemitic abuse from a fellow passenger on the London Underground. The victims were allegedly called “F***ing Jews” by the aggressor, who was described as Muslim, and told that they and their “people” were killing “my people”. Other passengers in the carriage apparently studiously ignored the incident, which is now being investigated by the police.

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Police must act against antisemitic speaker in London’s Hyde Park

We have heard reports of antisemitic ranting at Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park on a number of occasions, but none matched the brazen ferocity of the speaker captured in a video circulating online.

Claiming to be against all religion, on the two occasions caught on video, the speaker issued a non-stop tirade against Jews, shouting at any identifiably-Jewish person who passed.

To one orthodox Jewish man he said: “You’re a very f***ing dirty Jew. Don’t take it personally, take it to hell,” continuing to passersby, “His cock has been brutalised by a rabbi paedophile who cut his foreskin off. That’s how f***ed up the Jews are.”

He told another orthodox Jewish male who was passing: “Look at the Nazi Jew and see him for what he is…Your time is coming as it did in my father’s country, Deutschland…Why do you think our ancestors kicked you out of Deutschland? You learn nothing, you smug, fat Jew. Smug, fat, bearded Jew! Scum!”

The speaker referred to Jews as “Twelve tribes of head-banging schizophrenics praying to a wailing wall.” He also repeatedly claimed that Jews were Nazis as well as being their victims, for example: “They started Nazi Germany, and they got it back, Adolf Hitler style.”

As Joseph Cohen recorded him, the speaker shouted: “The day the Jew becomes a human being will be the day the Jew becomes free of the s*** of Judaism! Simple. Record it and tell your f***ing rabbi to stop molesting boys.”

No police action appears to have been taken and we are helping one victim to make a criminal complaint.

Most disturbing was that the video showed not a single member of the public remonstrating with the speaker. On the contrary, one man approached him and shook him by the hand, and a woman was recorded defending the speaker, saying: “What the Jews are doing to Gaza, to the Arabs, I think it’s a nightmare…This does not mean I don’t have friends that are Jews.”

Contrary to common perception, Speakers’ Corner is covered by no special laws and incitement to racial and religious hatred by a bigot standing on a ladder at Speakers’ Corner is just as illegal as it would be  anywhere else.

Speakers’ Corner is famous for freedom of speech, but that threatening and illegal hate speech is not permitted anywhere in our country. While we are for freedom of speech we do not believe that anyone has the absolute right to abuse freedom of speech to threaten and intimidate minorities. The law agrees with us.

We are keen to identify the speaker in the video. If you can help, please contact [email protected].

Darren Mark Lumb, who has pleaded guilty to directing antisemitic abuse at Jon Trickett MP. Image source: EDL News
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Ex-BNP thug pleads guilty to directing antisemitic abuse at MP

A former BNP regional organiser has reportedly pleaded guilty to making an antisemitic verbal attack against his MP, Labour’s Shadow Communities Secretary, Jon Trickett.

Darren Mark Lumb, who has previous links to the English Defence League and National Front, was accused of accosting the MP for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire in the street on 23rd January 2015 and launching into an antisemitic rant.

During the trial last Thursday at Leeds Crown Court, Lumb, who is 47 and lives in South Elmsall, changed his plea to guilty to one count of religiously aggravated harassment and stalking with fear of violence, and one count of breaching an Antisocial Behaviour Order.

A friend of Trickett’s said the MP had been left shocked and shaken by the incident and that “he hasn’t experienced rage like it in his life”.

Lumb has previous convictions for assault and disorder, and in 2011 was found guilty of using racially aggravated threatening or insulting words and behaviour after he reportedly called a petrol station worker “a black bastard”. He stood as a BNP candidate for South Elmsall and South Kirkby in the Wakefield Metropolitan district council election in 2011.

Lumb was bailed on the condition that he did not approach the MP or his staff, and will return to court on 3rd March for sentencing. We await the verdict with interest.

Mr Trickett, who has been MP for Hemsworth since 1996, was former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s parliamentary private secretary for two years and was then promoted to the shadow cabinet by Ed Miliband. He was one of 36 MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership election.
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Labour Party Middle East group cancels event to have been chaired by “Jewish lobby” journalist

Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East has reportedly cancelled an event due to be chaired by Abdel Bari Atwan, who has allegedly made antisemitic comments in the past about Israel and “the Jewish lobby”.

Joan Ryan MP, who had campaigned to stop the event told Jewish News: “We welcome LFPME’s recognition of the legitimate concerns about Mr Atwan’s inclusion in this event.”

In 2007, Atwan is reported to have said: “If Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight.” In 2010, it is claimed that Atwan told an audience at the London School of Economics that “the Jewish lobby… [is] endangering the whole world”.

We congratulate Joan Ryan MP on her successful campaign, but the fact that it was necessary in the first place is utterly shameful.

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Ha’aretz correspondent allegedly tells Kent students “Elders of Zion” planned “colonisation”

Israeli journalist Amira Hass has reportedly told students at the University of Kent that the “Elders of Zion” planned “colonial” hegemony over Palestinians. Blogger David Collier attended a conference entitled “Israel and the Palestinians: Colonialism and Prospects for Justice” which was a joint event by University of Kent and the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

Writing in his blog, Collier recalled: “I tried to make sense of what I was hearing. Hass was discussing a hidden agenda, a secret group of Jews, plotting and planning beyond the reach of Israeli democracy – by extension, this secret group were to blame for the ‘war crimes’, for the death of innocent Palestinian children. Hass was spinning tales of a Jewish cabal, of shady secretive control, of unworldly plots and sinister deeds. A road that leads to dead children. Hass was resurrecting a classic historic antisemitic blood libel in a British university.”

He then quotes Hass as saying: “And I ask myself did the Elders of Zion really sit together at the beginning of the seventies and then during the nineties, and plan, and have all these military orders, all these changes?”

The “Elders of Zion” refers to a fictitious Jewish cabal that supposedly controls world affairs to the detriment of mankind and forms the basis for most antisemitic conspiracy myths.

We have asked the University of Kent to make clear its position and take action to prevent the use of antisemitic rhetoric under the guise of political discourse about Israel.

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Magistrate quits as Judicial Conduct Investigations Office rules he should be removed for antisemitic comments

Abul “Abz” Hussain has resigned from the magistracy before he could be removed from office by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice, following proceedings instigated by Campaign Against Antisemitism. In December 2014, the Sunday Telegraph published an exposé revealing that Hussain, was a serving magistrate, despite having published antisemitic comments on Facebook.

Campaign Against Antisemitism immediately contacted the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office which agreed with Hussain that he could not continue to serve as a magistrate until their investigation concluded. The investigation has taken more than a year, but the result is the right one, even though Hussain resigned from office before he could be removed by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice.

The comments were first brought to light by Ted Jeory, who blogs about politics in the East End of London. Jeory’s revelation in 2010 of Hussain’s antisemitic views led to him being expelled from his senior position in George Galloway’s Respect Party, but it was not until the Sunday Telegraph exposé that we found out that he was still passing sentence as a Justice of the Peace.

The Facebook comments related to Abul Hussain’s facial hair and degenerated into slurs against Jews, including “u know the worlds coming to an end when a jew accuses another of being his kind!” and “jews like u are boring so find everything lame, here’s a penny go put it in the bank and u just might get a pound after ten years interest!”

We commend the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office for its ruling that antisemitism must be treated with zero tolerance, our only regret being the protracted nature of this investigation.

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “Mr Abul Hussain, a magistrate appointed to the North East London Area, has resigned from judicial office following an investigation into an allegation that he had posted racist and antisemitic comments on social media. A Disciplinary Panel recommended that Mr Hussain be removed from the judiciary, but he resigned before the disciplinary process had been formally concluded. His resignation took effect from 26 August 2015. Had he not resigned, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would have removed him from judicial office.”

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Graffiti in London says “Holocaust is a lie” and attempts to blame bankers

A Jewish man from London sent in the following report to our Everyday Antisemitism service:

I was walking home the usual way through from grotty Acton to peaceful Turnham Green and its station, when I saw graffiti on a wall of the alleyway — the main walking route between the two areas. It reads: “Goyim, the Holocaust is a lie. Google bankers the fact”.

Goyim means non-Jew or gentile in Yiddish, but it has been usurped by neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers as a means of demonstrating Jewish ‘otherness’, and is frequently used to suggest that Jews have a derogatory view of non-Jews.

The reference to bankers appears to be a badly written attempt to exhort passersby to search for “Bankers: the facts” on the internet. Jews are often accused by antisemites and neo-Nazis of exercising supposed financial dominance to hide ‘evidence’ of a Jewish conspiracy, such as a conspiracy to exaggerate or invent the Holocaust.

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14-year-old detained by Shomrim and arrested by police for attacking Jews with fireworks

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in Hackney after a group of youths attempted to place lit fireworks in the pockets of Jewish pedestrians. Volunteers from Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, arrived almost immediately and witnessed the boy chasing one victim and hurling a lit firework towards him. The Shomrim volunteer chased and detained the boy, then called the police who arrested him.

The Metropolitan Police Service said: “A 14-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault and possession of a firework in the street. He was taken to a north London police station and subsequently released on police bail to a date in early March. No one was injured during the incident.”

We commend Shomrim and the Metropolitan Police Service for their swift and effective response to this incident.

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Three months after Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic speech, Labour continues to ignore calls for disciplinary action

On 27th October 2015, Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman, Father of the House of Commons, delivered an antisemitic speech on parliamentary premises to the Shadow Minister for Justice and other MPs.

He claimed that British Jews use “Jewish money” to subvert the British government so that Israeli Jews can “execute Arab-looking people”.

One month later:

  • The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has told us she will not investigate because the speech “did not bring Parliament or MPs into disrepute”
  • Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have expressed “deep concern” but have taken no action.
  • The Opposition Chief Whip continues to ignore our calls to take disciplinary action.

Today is three months since Sir Gerald Kaufman’s speech. Jeremy Corbyn has told us that he is “implacably opposed” to racism, and today he has delivered further words about the importance of fighting antisemitism, including signing the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s Book of Commitment, but it is all meaningless unless the words are backed by action.

Racism must be fought by all political parties, but the Labour Party and Parliament as a whole have taken no action to address Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitism in the three months since his speech.

  1. Please remind your MP that three months after Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic speech, we still demand justice.
  2. Please write to the Opposition Chief Whip, Rosie Winterton MP at [email protected].
  3. Please tweet @jeremycorbyn and @uklabour, tagging @antisemitism.
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Man and child on London bus call Jewish passengers “F***ing Jews…Disgusting Jews” whilst making throat-slitting gesture

A group of young Jewish people have told Jewish News that they were confronted by a man with a child, on a bus travelling through Golders Green, London. A female victim told the paper: “We were at the back on the top deck not showing any signs of disruptive behaviour. When we arrived at our stop, we walked down the stairs when I heard a man mutter ‘These f***ing Jews’. I asked him why he thought what he was saying was necessary. He looked directly at me with no response but told his son that we are ‘disgusting Jews’. At this point the rest of the group I was traveling with got off the bus but three of us remained.”

The witness added that the man and the boy later “placed their fingers across their throats while smiling at us” as she and her companions walked away from the bus.

A Police spokesperson told Jewish News: “Detectives in Barnet are investigating an allegation of antisemitic abuse. The incident is said to have taken place on a route 102 bus near Golders Green station. At about 22.30, a man who was with a young child, subjected three victims, in their early 20s to anti-Semitic abuse. The investigation is ongoing and officers are working with Transport for London to obtain any CCTV that is available. The suspect is described as a man of Middle Eastern appearance, approximately 5 foot 8 with slight stubble. Anyone with information is asked to call the police on 101, or to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

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Just before Holocaust Memorial Day, Nazis parade “Hitler was right” banner in centre of Newcastle

A group of neo-Nazis from “National Action” paraded in the centre of Newcastle at the foot of Grey’s Monument with a “Hitler was right” banner on Saturday. Members of the group performed Nazi salutes in the centre of the square. Some local people remonstrated with them but at least one onlooker returned their Nazi salute (see photo below). When a musician in the square attempted to play saxophone music, one of the neo-Nazis violently attacked him. In addition to the assault, the use of the banner and Nazi salutes constitute offences of racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm and distress under section 4A of the Public Order Act, as well as other possible offences.

The group previously attempted to demonstrate in Liverpool in August and September 2015, causing widespread public disorder and the cancellation of their demonstrations, with the group humiliated in August when they were unable to leave Liverpool Central train station. They then returned unannounced in November 2015 and delivered short speeches outside various public buildings and monuments in Liverpool, including speeches against Jews saying that: “Jews don’t care about me. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about any of us. All they care about is money and power.” Their video of the event contained additional antisemitic graphics and quoted from Adolf Hitler’s antisemitic diatribe, Mein Kampf. There have been no arrests.

In June 2015, “National Action” filmed themselves desecrating a menorah in Birmingham’s Cannon Hill Park by spraying graffiti and hanging a Nazi flag from it. There have been no arrests.

National Action’s blog contains 282 references to the word “Jew”, including accusations that Jews:

  • Use the blood of non-Jews in rituals
  • Usurp power through financial and political conspiracies
  • “Terrorise” the non-Jewish population through usury
  • Dilute Aryan races by operating the slave trade, then campaigning for civil rights in order to weaken Aryan races

It is very clear that “National Action” is an antisemitic neo-Nazi organisation which is trying to propagate fascist ideology and sees as its role models some of the most hideous figures in history. The group’s purpose is incitement to racial and religious hatred and its activities range from vandalism to violence. Unfurling a banner proclaiming “Hitler was right” and performing Nazi salutes for less than ten minutes in a public square is cowardly and a deliberate effort to provoke disorder.

This group is not a dying vestige of British neo-Nazism but a new, young movement and we are pleased that Northumbria Police are taking this incident so seriously. Enough is enough and this brazenly criminal group must be brought to justice.

That young British people are openly idolising Adolf Hitler in Britain in the days before Holocaust Memorial Day is a reminder that for us to say “Never again” with any confidence, we must be vigilant and fight antisemitic racism ruthlessly.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “Northumbria Police is carrying out enquiries into the protest that was held at Monument in Newcastle City centre at 1:55pm on Saturday, January 23. We had no prior warning that the protest was due to take place and city centre officers attended immediately after receiving information that it was happening. Upon officers’ arrival the demonstration had ended and we believe it lasted less than 10 minutes. We have received one report of assault and we are in the process of investigating this along with looking into whether any other offences may have taken place. Detectives are checking CCTV footage from the city centre area and material posted on social media and enquiries are ongoing.”

We would like to thank the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, Vera Baird QC, and Northumbria Police for their efforts to ensure that these criminals are brought to justice. We are following this case with interest.

National Action attack busker in Newcastle, January 2016

National Action corralled in train station in Liverpool, August 2015

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Police open investigation into swastikas found in residential London neighbourhood

The Metropolitan Police Service has opened an investigation after two swastikas were daubed on a wall in Kentish Town, London. Police went to the scene before the swastikas were cleaned off. A police spokesperson told Jewish News: “Attending officers found offensive graffiti drawn onto a wall of the building and informed the local authority who removed it. No arrests have been made. Enquiries are ongoing.”

Conservative councillor for Housing and Community Safety, Oliver Cooper, reported the graffiti to the police. He said: “This appalling incident is only the latest in a sad escalation of hate crimes and hate speech: whether it’s graffiti swastikas, or hatred on social media. It’s important that everyone tackles this head-on. I will be asking Camden Council what’s being done to reverse this rising tide of hate locally, and make sure we keep the community safe.”

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Journalist forces antisemite to disembark from train for claiming “ISIS was created by the Jews”

British journalist James Bloodworth has posted on Facebook that he forced a man to disembark from a train after he made antisemitic comments.

Bloodworth said that he had an altercation with the man after he refused to remove his bags from Bloodworth’s seat at the start of the journey. After he had eventually agreed to remove the bags, Bloodworth took his seat and settled down to read is book, ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror.

His fellow passenger asked what Bloodworth was reading, to which he replied that it is a book about ISIS. The man replied: “You mean the Israeli intelligence services.” Bloodworth said he ignored the comment until the man pressed: “You do know that ISIS was created by the Jews? Who is the book by?” When Bloodworth told him that the book was by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, the man allegedly responded “Weiss is a Jewish name.” Bloodworth says he then asked the man to stop talking to him, but the man insisted, claiming that “No Jews died in the Holocaust. It’s a hoax. The gas chambers and all that. You’re just uninformed.” Bloodworth said he kept repeating the point and when he used the word “Sheeple,” Bloodworth lost his temper, telling the man that he would forcibly eject him at the next stop.

According to Bloodworth’s account, he allowed the man to gather his belongings before marching him to the door, saying: “You’re getting off this f***ing train” to a small round of applause from fellow passengers.

Bloodworth ended his Facebook post saying: “I’m a nice guy who’s kind to animals, children and my grandmother. But don’t slander the Jews in the quiet coach.”

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Facebook COO shirks fight against online hate

Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday and delivered an astonishing message: fight hate on Facebook by ‘liking’ hate pages and posting positive messages on them.

For a company with an extremely poor track record in fighting online hatred, we expected that the company’s next announcement might be for technology that detects and removes common content that incites and intimidates, such as Islamist or neo-Nazi links, memes and hashtags.

Instead, Sandberg’s ridiculous suggestion places the burden once again on Facebook’s users.

Already the company requires users to report “hate speech” such as antisemitic content, but then Facebook invariably tells users that the content they reported did not breach “community standards”. We continue to see everything from modern day antisemitic conspiracy myths that Jews are funding ISIS, to mediaeval blood libels, spread like wildfire on the social network, with Facebook’s reporting system failing abysmally to have any effect.

Sandberg’s new idea that users should spend their time ‘liking’ pages that incite hatred and trying to post positive content on them is the most ludicrous non-solution imaginable. ‘Liking’ and commenting on pages increases their visibility on users’ news feeds, and thereby exposes more people to the page’s message. The idea that positive comments would have any effect is also nonsensical as comments can be deleted faster than they can be written, which is why antisemitic comments posted on our own Facebook page rarely stay there longer than a few minutes.

The sole evidence Sandberg offered in support of her idea was a story about the ‘successful’ targeting of the German National Democratic Party’s page on Facebook. Extolling the benefits of what she called a “like attack”, Sandberg took Facebook users for fools, patronisingly saying: “Rather than scream and protest, they got 100,000 people to like the page, who did not like the page and put messages of tolerance on the page, so when you got to the page, it changed the content and what was a page filled with hatred and intolerance was then tolerance and messages of hope. The best antidote to bad speech is good speech and the best antidote to hate is tolerance.” Except that what really happened is 100,000 people wasted their time because not long after the “like attack”, NPD’s Facebook page was back to normal, except that now it had a lot more ‘likes’ and appeared more often on Facebook users’ news feeds and higher in search results.

Instead of coming up with increasingly pointless ways of distracting users from Facebook’s failure to robustly tackle incitement and intimidation on its platform, it is time for Facebook to innovate. Facebook must develop means of detecting and removing hatred in exactly the same way that it proactively removes child pornography and copyright music and video from the platform.

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Thug who threatened to “kill all the Jews” convicted by Crown Court

Rashal Miah was convicted today by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court despite pleading “not guilty” to telling a Jewish man: “Shut the f*** up, you f***ing Jew. I will slit your throat.”

The incident took place on 29th September 2014 in Stamford Hill in London. An orthodox Jewish man who was recognisably Jewish from his clothes was driving a school van full of children through traffic. Miah was driving a black Mercedes towards the school van on the wrong side of the road, which caused traffic to build up and block the road.

The driver of the school van asked Miah to reverse his car to let traffic pass, at which point Miah exited his car, “aggressively” approached the van and said: “Shut the f*** up, you f***ing Jew. I will slit your throat.” He went on to refer to the school van driver as “Yehudi” (Jew) and said: “I’m going to kill all the Jews.”

Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol provided support to the victim through the lengthy court process.

We commend the victim, Shomrim and the Metropolitan Police Service for working together to ensure that this antisemitic individual was brought to justice. We await news of the sentence with interest.

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Arrested! Three suspects in custody after Jewish shoppers allegedly pelted with gas canisters by neo-Nazis

Yesterday evening, the Metropolitan Police Service arrested three men, aged 18, 22 and 24, each on suspicion of a religiously aggravated public order offence.

The arrests follow an incident on Wednesday evening in which three Jewish shoppers were allegedly subjected to antisemitic abuse in Tottenham Hale by three white men in a pickup truck.

The three men reportedly shouted “Hitler is on the way to you, Heil Hitler, Heil Hitler, Heil Hitler” and threw small gas refill canisters towards the victims, two men and a woman. None of the victims were injured, but they were badly shaken by the experience.

Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, was called by the victims and liaised with the police.

Cowardly attacks on Jews are becoming too frequent. Following reports of three men throwing small gas canisters at Jews and shouting neo-Nazi abuse, we are pleased that the police have acted quickly and made three arrests, thanks in part to the help of the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, Shomrim, which has assisted the police and supported the victims.

Our call for zero tolerance of antisemitism under the law is being heard. We look forward to all police forces acting this effectively and quickly when antisemitic crimes are reported to them, and hope that such protection will happen without the need for insistent appeals for action by the Jewish community. Jewish British citizens have the right to be protected.

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Football fans banned for three years for Nazi salutes and mimicking escaping gas

Two Southampton FC supporters who yelled abuse, mimicked the sound of hissing gas and made Nazi salutes at Tottenham Hotspur fans have been banned from attending matches for three years.

Thomas Flynn and Michael Haydon committed the offences at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium during a match on 19th December 2015.

Flynn, 22, of Yeovil Chase, Harefield, Southampton and Haydon, 23, of White Hart Lane, Cadnam, admitted a charge each of using threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour in what was deemed a religiously aggravated public order offence.

They were barred from attending games in Britain and abroad for three years after being convicted at Southampton Magistrates’ Court, where prosecutor Charles Nightingale had described how Flynn, Haydon and another man were seen shouting antisemitic abuse including “gas the Jews”.

Mr Nightingale said one of the Spurs fans reported: “There was a white male raising his right hand and finger below his nose and making hissing sounds imitating gas escaping.”

After a steward notified police, Haydon was arrested at the ground, while Flynn was detained nearby. The court heard that the third man was never identified.

Haydon had been drinking since that morning, said his lawyer Jane Hiatt, and admitted making hissing sounds but denied saluting and shouting abuse.

In mitigation she said of the season ticket holder, who had attended games since he was aged five: “This is very out of character and a blip. He’s horrified and ashamed.”

Nicola Attwood, for Flynn, said her client — who was sober — also admitted hissing but denied making salutes. She said: “He is disgusted with himself and that he deserves a ban and that the people would be gravely offended by his behaviour.”

Magistrate Victoria Parker sentenced them to a three-year banning order preventing them from attending games in Britain and requiring them to hand passports to police before major games abroad.

They were also handed a 12-week community order and curfew, banned from going within a mile of St Mary’s Stadium four hours before and after kick-off on matchdays, and ordered to pay £145 in costs.

She said: “This was a very serious matter and watching you during these court proceedings I think you know that and are very ashamed of what you did.”

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BBC includes gratuitous antisemitism in Christmas and New Year dramas

Whilst there are legitimate artistic reasons to use antisemitism as part of a drama, if antisemitism is gratuitous and irrelevant to the story or art it should not be included. This is supposed to be elementary, but we are very concerned by the BBC’s unjustifiable references to Jews in some of its broadcasts.

The first example is a serialisation of Agatha Christie’s mystery thriller, And then there were none, episode two of which was aired on 27th December 2015 at 21:00. In one scene, the characters discuss the identity of the mysterious “Isaac morris”. During the discussion, one character says: “Jews. Whenever there’s a problem, there’s Jews at the bottom of it.”

While this totally gratuitous antisemitism is conserved in the BBC’s adaptation of the book, the title of the adaptation was changed to remove a racist term for black people, and since the antisemitism is irrelevant to the plot and characters, it is totally unclear why the BBC included it in the adaptation.

The second example is from popular soap opera Eastenders. In the episode that aired on 6th January 2016 at 18:00, one character tells another that Herod was “King of the Jews” before reciting his villainous acts.

There is nothing new about nativity stories in which the villains are all explicitly described as Jews, while the fact that Jesus was Jewish is forgotten. The Church however has rejected this antisemitic telling of the nativity story, but the tradition seems to be alive and well at the BBC.

The BBC has a complaints hotline (03700 100 222) but it seems to specialise in telling Jews why they were wrong to be offended. Ofcom (0300 123 3333) has jurisdiction over the BBC in matters of racism and this year MPs (www.writetothem.com) will vote on renewing the BBC’s charter.

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London petrol station cashier reportedly tells Jewish customer “I hate you guys”

Campaign Against Antisemitism received a report that on 9th December 2015, a Jewish man was subjected to antisemitic abuse at a petrol station in Stamford Hill, London, when he went to pay for his petrol. According to the report, as he finished paying for his petrol, the cashier said, “I hate you guys,” to which the victim responded, “What do you mean?” The cashier then allegedly answered: “I hate you and all you Jewish people.”

We have discussed the matter with the Metropolitan Police Service, which has confirmed that they attended the incident and treated it as a racially or religiously aggravated incident intended to cause harassment, alarm or distress, which is an offence under the Public Order Act. However, the victim declined to give police a statement and no evidence was found to substantiate the allegation, so the police were left with no option other than to have a discussion with the alleged offender and close the case.

Shomrim, the volunteer Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, was introduced to the victim and helped him to make a statement to the police, but due to the absence of a corroborating second witness statement, police action was still not possible.

The police can only act when allegations are supported by evidence, including evidence from victims themselves wherever possible. Anybody who experiences antisemitism in person should first call the police, and then if it is safe to do so, they should try to capture video evidence using a smartphone and take the contact details of anyone else who witnessed the incident.

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Twitter toughens its rules against hatred and incitement, but will it make a difference?

Twitter has announced tougher rules against hatred and incitement on the platform. In a statement, the company wrote: “We believe that protection from abuse and harassment is a vital part of empowering people to freely express themselves on Twitter.”

Whereas the old rules would often require that a user threaten or promote violence before Twitter took action, the new rules state that users “may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or disease”. The rules also prohibit the promotion of terrorism, targeted abuse of harassment, posting another user’s private information or creating multiple accounts with which to abuse others.

We welcome these changes, as well as the investment in enforcement that the company says it has made. In particular, we hope to see much firmer action against users who promote antisemitic conspiracy myths using the word “Zionists” instead of “Jews”, and the removal of terrorist sympathisers from the platform.

Much more importantly though, we hope that Twitter will become more proactively helpful in removing antisemitism from its platform. Removing antisemitic content should not fall to the victims of antisemitic Twitter trolls; there is no reason why Twitter cannot proactively seek out antisemitic content and remove it, as we have called for repeatedly.

Twitter should also be working more proactively with British police forces. Police forces often require data from social networks for use in evidence, but obtaining it can dramatically slow down or even thwart police investigations. In the worst cases, Twitter should be proactively reporting users to the police for investigation.

Ultimately, removing Twitter accounts only hampers antisemites as they can create a new account moments after having their account removed, even though they must rebuild their Twitter following. That is why, when we find that an antisemitic Twitter user is based in the UK, we will always seek prosecution, as criminal sanctions are harder to ignore than sanctions Twitter can enforce, and arrest sends a stronger message to other antisemites on Twitter than the disappearance of an account.

Though we encourage Twitter users to report to Twitter antisemitic accounts which appear to be based overseas, we believe that UK-based accounts should be reported to the police, and our volunteer team will continue to work with our supporters and the police to ensure that British antisemites on Twitter are brought to justice.

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BBC radio show presenter allows caller to opine for 13 minutes about Jewish world domination

Last week on BBC London Radio, during a phone-in, a BBC presenter and a caller discussed Jews.

The caller was given over thirteen minutes of airtime, spewing vile antisemitism, with many of his arguments left unchecked. Though it was clear from the outset that the caller was an unrepentant antisemite, the presenter allowed him to opine at length on the subject of Jewish world domination, even telling his caller: “I’m giving you more than I have done anyone.”

In addition to providing the full recording, we have produced the following excerpts for inclusion in any complaints that our supporters might wish to make to the BBC. Complaints can be made online at or by telephone on 03700 100 222. The comments were made during the Simon Lederman talkshow on BBC London Radio on Tuesday 22nd December at 5:07am.

Excerpts

BBC presenter:

“There is a debate, listen I’m not saying there is no debate, clearly there is a debate about whether Israel in its current form should be where it is.”

Caller:

“They are trying to control us more and more and more. They want to put a chip up our backsides, a ring through our noses, and a vizor for our horizons… the elite… the Rothschilds”

“It’s not just about old money, it’a about the Zionists”

“Most of the Jews of the world come from eastern Europe, from a place called originally, an empire called Khazaria… The Rothschilds, the people who own the Bank of England, the people who own the Federal Reserve, they’re all Zionist Jews. The people who own corporate America, the media, you’ll find if you just do a little bit of research, they’re all Zionist Jews. We are ruled by Zionist Jews.”

“The history of Jews from Palestine, that area of Judaism, it’s a long long history of thousands of years, has nothing to do with Zionism.”

“True Judaism… they’re against Zionism, those guys with the hats and the curly hair.”

“They control the money, the money, finance… 80% of corporate America, of the media, is owned by Jews. And they’re Zionist Jews.”

“We are dominated by the Jews’ system, the financial Jewish system.”

“We keep going on about the Jews… mainstream media, they keep banging on about the Jews and the Holocaust… we keep going on about six million Jews.”

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Two months after Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic speech, we still demand justice

On 27th October 2015, Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman, Father of the House of Commons, delivered an antisemitic speech on parliamentary premises to the Shadow Minister for Justice and other MPs.

He claimed that British Jews use “Jewish money” to subvert the British government so that Israeli Jews can “execute Arab-looking people”.

One month later:

  • The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has told us she will not investigate because the speech “did not bring Parliament or MPs into disrepute”
  • Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have expressed “deep concern” but have taken no action.
  • The Opposition Chief Whip continues to ignore our calls to take disciplinary action.

Racism must be fought by all political parties, but the Labour Party and Parliament as a whole have taken no action to address Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitism in the two months since his speech.

  1. Please remind your MP that two months after Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic speech, we still demand justice.
  2. Please write to the Opposition Chief Whip, Rosie Winterton MP at [email protected].
  3. Please tweet @uklabour, tagging @antisemitism.
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Charity Commission opens statutory inquiry into charity which claimed “f***ing Jews” are tracking smartphones, following evidence from CAA

The Charity Commission for England and Wales has announced that it is launching a statutory inquiry into alleged misconduct and mismanagement by the Ghulam Mustafa Trust.

The decision follows a complaint by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Full statutory inquiries into charities are relatively rare. In 2012-13 there were just fifteen inquiries.

Campaign Against Antisemitism originally reported the Ghulam Mustafa Trust to the Charity Commission in September after a video was posted on the charity’s official Facebook page. The video was made by a trustee of the charity and showed viewers how to remove a supposed tracking device planted by “the f***ing Jews” in Samsung smartphones. The video urged viewers to check their smartphones for the tracking device, which is in fact the circuit that handles near-field communication. A young child was present during the filming of the video and can be heard speaking off camera.

Following an investigation by the Charity Commission, the video was removed and the charity was instructed to put in place a social media policy and code of conduct for trustees, but the trustee was left in his post, no apology was issued and the video had already been online for months, during which the charity had ignored complaints by Facebook users that it was antisemitic.

Campaign Against Antisemitism supplied detailed documentation to the Charity Commission in support of a statutory inquiry, and following this, the Charity Commission has decided that a statutory inquiry is warranted.

The Charity Commission can only use its powers to remove and permanently disqualify a trustee if recommended to do so by a statutory inquiry.

We commend the Charity Commission for taking the decision to launch a statutory inquiry into this serious misconduct and mismanagement by a trustee of the Ghulam Mustafa Trust. This step allows the Charity Commission to use the full extent of its powers, including removing and disqualifying the trustee, and that is what we hope the inquiry will decide is the appropriate measure in this matter.

When charities engage in inciting hatred, it is vital that the firmest regulatory action is taken and we are very pleased to note the Charity Commission’s decision to use powers reserved for the most serious concerns in dealing with this vile antisemitic incident. We await the outcome of the inquiry with interest.

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Recognising the Muslim Brotherhood’s terrorist connections whilst failing to ban it shows that the red lines on extremism are blurred beyond all useful purpose

In April last year, the Government commissioned a review of the Muslim Brotherhood. Whilst the full review is classified, the major findings were published last Thursday.

The review found that the Muslim Brotherhood:

  • Is linked to Hamas, which is the “Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Muslim Brotherhood treat them as such”;
  • Conducted terrorist attacks against “both British and Jewish interests”;
    Is the origin of ideology which “has inspired many terrorist organisations, including…Al Qaida and its offshoots”;
  • Leaders “routinely use virulent, antisemitic language”;
  • “Played an important role in establishing and then running the Muslim Council of Britain” with which the Government severed ties “after an office holder signed a public document which appeared to condone violence against any country supporting an arms blockade against Gaza”;
  • Requires its members to keep their membership “a secret”;
  • Has built “a complex network of charities…linked to Hamas”;
  • “Held out the prospect and ambition of an Islamic state in this country as elsewhere”;
  • “Applauded suicide bombing by Hamas”; and
  • “Selectively used violence and sometimes terror in pursuit of their institutional goals.”

The review is a portrait of an insidious, clandestine, centralised network which has used front organisations, especially charities, to encourage and finance extremism, antisemitism and terrorism.

The conclusion of the review is that “aspects of Muslim Brotherhood ideology and tactics, in this country and overseas, are contrary to our values and have been contrary to our national interests and our national security,” however the Prime Minister has astonishingly decided not to ban the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK.

In recent months the Prime Minister has clearly stated that the Government’s Counter Extremism Strategy must involve not only fighting those who commit extremist acts, but also those who support and encourage extremism. In July the Prime Minister explained: “When you look in detail at the backgrounds of those convicted of terrorist offences, it is clear that many of them were first influenced by what some would call non-violent extremists.”

It is clear from the review that while “the Muslim Brotherhood has not been linked to terrorist-related activity in and against the UK”, it promotes extremism. In his response to the review, the Prime Minister said that “membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism…Parts of the Muslim Brotherhood have a highly ambiguous relationship with violent extremism.”

In October the Government published its Counter-Extremism Strategy, promising to counter extremist ideology, build partnerships with all those opposed to extremism, disrupt extremists, and build more cohesive communities. At the time, we warned that “success will be measured by action.” We welcome the Prime Minister’s promise to consider action under the Counter-Extremism Strategy.

The Muslim Brotherhood in the UK should be banned under the Terrorism Act.

The review of the Muslim Brotherhood details its longstanding record of antisemitism, intolerance and support for terrorism, not least by Hamas which is part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Recognising this but failing to ban the Brotherhood shows that the Government’s red lines on extremism are blurred beyond all useful purpose.

The full review can be downloaded. You can also download our full response including the most relevant excerpts from the review.

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Hope Not Hate condemns those who fight Islamist extremism

A report by the left-wing anti-racism campaigning organisation Hope Not Hate has caused consternation for listing prominent critics of Islamic extremism and decrying them as anti-Muslim.

Entitled “The Counter-Jihad Movement: Anti-Muslim hatred from the margins to the mainstream”, the 180-page report listed over 900 people and organisations which Hope Not Hate considers to be “dedicated to anti-Muslim hatred and prejudice,” claiming that they represented the “new face of the far-right.”

Some of those included in the report are not “anti-Muslim” at all, but are in fact simply critics of Islamic extremism. For example, Melanie Phillips, a prominent Jewish journalist, has apparently been listed due to her continued calls for a firmer stance against Islamists. Raquel Saraswati, a headscarf-wearing, devout female Muslim was even included, because she campaigns against so-called honour-based violence within her religion.

Last summer, as neo-Nazis announced their plan to demonstrate against the presence of Jews in Golders Green, we decided to firmly oppose them, simultaneously preparing a demonstration which gained the support of thousands of you who planned to attend, whilst also negotiating with the police. Our counter-demonstration strengthened our hand in negotiations with the police, and the police took the action we called for and excluded the neo-Nazis from Golders Green on pain of arrest. There have been no neo-Nazi demonstrations against Jews since. By contrast, Hope Not Hate had called for the neo-Nazis to be left alone to hold an anti-Jewish rally with dangerous and potentially violent members of far-right groups in an area full of Jewish people, on Shabbat.

As campaigners against antisemitism, we know all too well that some “anti-racist” organisations have in fact allowed themselves to become facilitators for extremism. They advocate ignoring extremists to avoid “drawing attention” to them, and they berate critics of religious extremism as racists.

It is necessary to confront Islamism and Hope Not Hate discredit themselves by standing against those who take a firm stand, lumping them together with those who may indeed have anti-Muslim views. Hatred of Muslims has no place in our society and we will always stand against it, but fierce opposition to Islamism, violent extremism, and the pathways towards that violence are necessary for the survival of our society.

We commend the Jewish Chronicle for its reaction to Hope not Hate’s report, and hope that other Jewish organisations who previously partnered with Hope Not Hate will follow suit.

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Bonehill-Paine sentenced to three years and four months for “anti-Jewification” incitement

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison for his antisemitic incitement. In a sentencing hearing this morning at Southwark Crown Court, His Honour Judge Leonard QC sentenced Bonehill-Paine to three years and four months in prison, taking into account his past offences and track record of incitement, however under sentencing rules Bonehill-Paine might be released on licence after serving half of his sentence if he is deemed to have behaved well in prison. The six months he has so far spent in custody awaiting trial will also be deducted from his overall sentence.

Remarking on the case, Judge Leonard called materials produced by Bonehill-Paine “about the most inflammatory documents I will ever see,” adding, “With time I hope you can mature and see the harm you are doing.”

The race hate internet troll, was unanimously convicted by a jury yesterday of incitement to racial hatred for calling for “anti-Jewification” demonstrations in neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations this summer.

Bonehill-Paine has been in police custody since June, when he was arrested in a dawn raid. At a hearing in July, he pleaded “absolutely not guilty” and he has now been convicted at a trial which made for an uncomfortable spectacle for our volunteers.

The trial centred on advertisements Bonehill-Paine produced for the “anti-Jewification” demonstrations and though calm, articulate and confident, Bonehill-Paine’s testimony was simply not credible.

In one exchange with prosecutor Mark Weekes, Weekes said: “You describe yourself as a facist,” to which Bonehill-Paine replied: “I am a freedom fighter. If that means I’m a facist, then yes.” Weekes sought to clarify: “You accept the description of yourself as a facist, yes?” Bonehill-Paine replied: “No.”

At one point, Bonehill-Paine claimed that he was not an antisemite when asked about a ‘joke’ on his website in which he asked “How do you fit six million Jews in a car? In the ashtray.”

The trigger for Bonehill-Paine’s arrest and prosecution was his production of two advertisements for the “anti-Jewification” demonstration in Golders Green in July. One advertisement featured Adolf Hitler rendered as a smiley face captioned “#SummerOfHate”, with text claiming that the demonstration would be “an absolute gas”. The other advertisement featured an antisemitic caricature of a Jew being sprayed with weedkiller behind the entrance to Auschwitz, with a caption declaring: “We’ve become complacent and allowed for weeds to grow in the cracks of London. It’s time to clear them up with Round-Up and Liberate Golders Green for future generations of White People.”

Giving evidence, about the advertisements, Bonehill-Paine was asked by Weekes about the comment in the ads that the demonstrations would be “an absolute gas”. Bonehill-Paine claimed that the comment was a joke “for a younger generation”. Weekes asked why it was funny, to which Bonehill-Paine remarked simply: “I have a dark sense of humour.” He went on to claim that every single antisemitic element of the ads was an example of “dark humour” aimed at “younger generations”, including the imagery suggesting that Jews were weeds which should be eliminated with weedkiller.

Weekes was impressively dogged, painstakingly taking Bonehill-Paine through the evidence. When he came to the smiley face rendered as Adolf Hitler, Weekes said: “You used a smiley face with a Hitler face.” Bonehill-Paine gave his stock response: “I think it’s absolutely funny.” Weekes retorted: “You think people in Golders Green would think this is funny?” When Bonehill-Paine replied “Yes I do”, Weekes sharply enquired: “Even with the ‘Summer of Hate’ written underneath?” Bonehill-Paine weakly responded: “That was the theme.”

At one point Weekes asked incredulously about the demonstration: “This is supposed to benefit Golders Green?” Bonehill-Paine replied that he “wanted to cooperate with the community.”

Bonehill-Paine’s defence was utterly shredded as private correspondence recovered from his computer by police data forensics officers came to light.

In one e-mail, Bonehill-Paine had written: “Perhaps a civil war is looming or a world war. If we don’t take action we can say goodbye to independence. Pointing the finger at the Jew has proven to be suicide for many aspiring nationalists but I must take a stand as I see Jews taking dominion over white folk.”

In a Skype conversation, Bonehill-Paine wrote: “Apparently Israel has condemned the marches. We are shaking them to the very core…The Jews are absolutely outraged.”

Whilst Bonehill-Paine has no significant far right following, it was his online activity that started the “anti-Jewification” demonstrations and prompted Campaign Against Antisemitism and others to repeatedly bring his activity to the attention of the police.

Although Bonehill-Paine did not successfully organise any demonstrations due to police bail conditions banning him from London, another neo-Nazi, Eddie Stampton, picked up the idea and organised demonstrations, but dropped “anti-Jewification”, instead claiming to be demonstrating against the Shomrim Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol which works with the police. This change of theme may have caused Bonehill-Paine and Stampton to fall out. In an argument in the comments section of the Daily Stormer neo-Nazi website, a user purporting to be Stampton angrily wrote to Bonehill-Paine: “An [sic] demo in Stamford Hill billed as ‘anti-Jewification’ will be banned by the Home Office as ‘likely to stir up racial hatred’. That is why we have done the next best thing. Use your brain.”

Bonehill-Paine attempted to blame Stampton for incriminating comments made in a video in which Bonehill-Paine says: “Jews are a foreign enemy.” Bonehill-Paine claimed Stampton had sent him text to read out and even though Bonehill-Paine said he “didn’t agree with it” he claimed “it was a favour for a friend and I never agreed to have it published.” The idea was openly mocked by Weekes during his summing up, asking: “Why would he read a text that he disagrees with for 31 minutes?…It is clearly racial hatred.”

The defence was left arguing that Bonehill-Paine was an aspiring comedian and even quoted jokes by Jimmy Carr, claiming that Bonehill-Paine’s comments were “for publicity, attention, self-advertisement”. The defence also tried to argue that the legal threshold for incitement had not been met because Bonehill-Paine had issued no “call for blood”.

As Bonehill-Paine awaited the verdict, his demeanour changed and he started to fidget nervously, grasping a wooden crucifix that he had been wearing around his neck earlier. Finally the jury emerged from its deliberations and delivered its unanimous verdict: guilty.

During today’s sentencing hearing Bonehill-Paine seemed cold and detached.

Commenting on the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Barnes, who led the investigation, said: “As this case demonstrates, there is no place for people inciting racial hatred under the guise of protest and those that do this will be investigated and brought before the courts to answer for this crime.”

The anti-Jewification demonstrations were firmly put to a stop after a demonstration planned for 4th July was forcefully opposed by Campaign Against Antisemitism. We prepared to bring thousands of counter-demonstrators out to oppose the neo-Nazis in Golders Green whilst simultaneously negotiating with the police. It was our counter-demonstration and firm negotiating position which the Metropolitan Police Service said prompted the use of powers under the Public Order Act to exclude the neo-Nazis from Golders Green, instead kettling them in Westminster and limiting their demonstration to an hour spent surrounded by police. No further demonstrations have taken place.

We are pleased that Bonehill-Paine has been convicted of this serious crime and is no longer at liberty to incite racial hatred. We are also very pleased that the severity of his sentence reflects the severity of his actions and sends a strong message to others like him.

We would like to thank our volunteer team which worked tirelessly to successfully oppose the antisemitic demonstrations, and the volunteers who have attended court proceedings so that Bonehill-Paine’s pathetic reality can be brought to light.

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Guilty! Joshua Bonehill-Paine, instigator of “anti-Jewification” demonstrations guilty of incitement to racial hatred

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, the race hate internet troll, has been convicted of incitement to racial hatred by Southwark Crown Court for calling for “anti-Jewification” demonstrations in neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations this summer.

Bonehill-Paine has been in police custody since June, when he was arrested in a dawn raid. At a hearing in July, he pleaded “absolutely not guilty” and he has now been convicted at a trial which made for an uncomfortable spectacle for our volunteers.

The trial centred on advertisements Bonehill-Paine produced for the “anti-Jewification” demonstrations and though calm, articulate and confident, Bonehill-Paine’s testimony was simply not credible.

In one exchange with prosecutor Mark Weekes, Weekes said: “You describe yourself as a facist,” to which Bonehill-Paine replied: “I am a freedom fighter. If that means I’m a facist, then yes.” Weekes sought to clarify: “You accept the description of yourself as a facist, yes?” Bonehill-Paine replied: “No.”

At one point, Bonehill-Paine claimed that he was not an antisemite when asked about a ‘joke’ on his website in which he asked “How do you fit six million Jews in a car? In the ashtray.”

The trigger for Bonehill-Paine’s arrest and prosecution was his production of two advertisements for the “anti-Jewification” demonstration in Golders Green in July. One advertisement featured Adolf Hitler rendered as a smiley face captioned “#SummerOfHate”, with text claiming that the demonstration would be “an absolute gas”. The other advertisement featured an antisemitic caricature of a Jew being sprayed with weedkiller behind the entrance to Auschwitz, with a caption declaring: “We’ve become complacent and allowed for weeds to grow in the cracks of London. It’s time to clear them up with Round-Up and Liberate Golders Green for future generations of White People.”

Giving evidence, about the advertisements, Bonehill-Paine was asked by Weekes about the comment in the ads that the demonstrations would be “an absolute gas”. Bonehill-Paine claimed that the comment was a joke “for a younger generation”. Weekes asked why it was funny, to which Bonehill-Paine remarked simply: “I have a dark sense of humour.” He went on to claim that every single antisemitic element of the ads was an example of “dark humour” aimed at “younger generations”, including the imagery suggesting that Jews were weeds which should be eliminated with weedkiller.

Weekes was impressively dogged, painstakingly taking Bonehill-Paine through the evidence. When he came to the smiley face rendered as Adolf Hitler, Weekes said: “You used a smiley face with a Hitler face.” Bonehill-Paine gave his stock response: “I think it’s absolutely funny.” Weekes retorted: “You think people in Golders Green would think this is funny?” When Bonehill-Paine replied “Yes I do”, Weekes sharply enquired: “Even with the ‘Summer of Hate’ written underneath?” Bonehill-Paine weakly responded: “That was the theme.”

At one point Weekes asked incredulously about the demonstration: “This is supposed to benefit Golders Green?” Bonehill-Paine replied that he “wanted to cooperate with the community.”

Bonehill-Paine’s defence was utterly shredded as private correspondence recovered from his computer by police data forensics officers came to light.

In one e-mail, Bonehill-Paine had written: “Perhaps a civil war is looming or a world war. If we don’t take action we can say goodbye to independence. Pointing the finger at the Jew has proven to be suicide for many aspiring nationalists but I must take a stand as I see Jews taking dominion over white folk.”

In a Skype conversation, Bonehill-Paine wrote: “Apparently Israel has condemned the marches. We are shaking them to the very core…The Jews are absolutely outraged.”

Whilst Bonehill-Paine has no significant far right following, it was his online activity that started the “anti-Jewification” demonstrations and prompted Campaign Against Antisemitism and others to repeatedly bring his activity to the attention of the police.

Although Bonehill-Paine did not successfully organise any demonstrations due to police bail conditions banning him from London, another neo-Nazi, Eddie Stampton, picked up the idea and organised demonstrations, but dropped “anti-Jewification”, instead claiming to be demonstrating against the Shomrim Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol which works with the police. This change of theme may have caused Bonehill-Paine and Stampton to fall out. In an argument in the comments section of the Daily Stormer neo-Nazi website, a user purporting to be Stampton angrily wrote to Bonehill-Paine: “An [sic] demo in Stamford Hill billed as ‘anti-Jewification’ will be banned by the Home Office as ‘likely to stir up racial hatred’. That is why we have done the next best thing. Use your brain.”

Bonehill-Paine attempted to blame Stampton for incriminating comments made in a video in which Bonehill-Paine says: “Jews are a foreign enemy.” Bonehill-Paine claimed Stampton had sent him text to read out and even though Bonehill-Paine said he “didn’t agree with it” he claimed “it was a favour for a friend and I never agreed to have it published.” The idea was openly mocked by Weekes during his summing up, asking: “Why would he read a text that he disagrees with for 31 minutes?…It is clearly racial hatred.”

The defence was left arguing that Bonehill-Paine was an aspiring comedian and even quoted jokes by Jimmy Carr, claiming that Bonehill-Paine’s comments were “for publicity, attention, self-advertisement”. The defence also tried to argue that the legal threshold for incitement had not been met because Bonehill-Paine had issued no “call for blood”.

As Bonehill-Paine awaited the verdict, his demeanour changed and he started to fidget nervously, grasping a wooden crucifix that he had been wearing around his neck earlier. Finally the jury emerged from its deliberations and delivered its unanimous verdict: guilty.

His Honour Judge Leonard QC ordered that Bonehill-Paine will remain in custody and return to Southwark Crown Court tomorrow for sentencing.

Commenting on the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Barnes, who led the investigation, said: “As this case demonstrates, there is no place for people inciting racial hatred under the guise of protest and those that do this will be investigated and brought before the courts to answer for this crime.”

The anti-Jewification demonstrations were firmly put to a stop after a demonstration planned for 4th July was forcefully opposed by Campaign Against Antisemitism. We prepared to bring thousands of counter-demonstrators out to oppose the neo-Nazis in Golders Green whilst simultaneously negotiating with the police. It was our counter-demonstration and firm negotiating position which the Metropolitan Police Service said prompted the use of powers under the Public Order Act to exclude the neo-Nazis from Golders Green, instead kettling them in Westminster and limiting their demonstration to an hour spent surrounded by police. No further demonstrations have taken place.

We are pleased that Bonehill-Paine has been convicted of this serious crime and is no longer at liberty to incite racial hatred.

We would like to thank our volunteer team which worked tirelessly to successfully oppose the antisemitic demonstrations, and the volunteers who have attended court proceedings so that Bonehill-Paine’s pathetic reality can be brought to light.

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WH Smith removes Mein Kampf from branch in Jordan and promises franchise policy review in letter to CAA

Following the shocking revelation that a WH Smith branch was stocking Adolf Hitler’s antisemitic diatribe, Mein Kampf, on its “Bestselling Books” shelf, WH Smith’s CEO has written to Campaign Against Antisemitism promising swift action.

We were contacted by supporters who had read an article in The Jerusalem Post which showed photographs of an Arabic translation of Mein Kampf for sale at WH Smith at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan. That Mein Kampf is a bestseller in many Arab countries is a sad reminder of the deep-rooted antisemitism across the Middle East, but we were nonetheless shocked to find WH Smith apparently catering to demand.

We immediately contacted the retailer and received a swift and unequivocal apology from CEO Steve Clarke.

WH Smith’s branch in the airport is operated by a franchised affiliate, and WH Smith can take no punitive action against the staff involved. The book has however been removed from the shelves and WH Smith has confirmed that stocking Mein Kampf is already banned under the company’s ranging policy which franchisees must obey. The company’s international management team are now reviewing their franchise policies following the incident to ensure that they are sufficiently robust should this reoccur.

We regret that the person who decided to stock Mein Kampf will almost certainly go without sanction or education, but we accept that is not within WH Smith’s power. We welcome WH Smith’s speedy and appropriate response.

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Hertfordshire Constabulary appeals for witnesses to antisemitic singing at local football match reported by CAA

Following a report by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Hertfordshire Constabulary has launched an appeal for witnesses to antisemitic singing by hooligans at Hertford Town FC’s home ground, Hertingfordbury Park.

CAA became aware of the incident after a contributor to Everyday Antisemitism posted a local newspaper’s match report on Everyday Antisemitism. Everyday Antisemitism is run by Campaign Against Antisemitism and allows anyone to register to post about their experiences of antisemitism.

According to the report, at a match on Tuesday, 1st December between Hertford Town and Welwyn Garden City, antisemitic singing broke out amongst Hertford Town fans, which they directed towards their opponent’s fans. According to the report, a “mindless minority” started the antisemitic singing, repeating the song twice.

After CAA brought the incident to the attention of Hertfordshire Constabulary, the force has opened an investigation and police are working to trace those responsible.

PC Sam Bailey, Hate Crime Officer for East Hertfordshire, said: “Hertfordshire Constabulary does not tolerate racism. We will take every report of such behaviour seriously and will seek to take action against those who are responsible. I am appealing for anyone with information about this incident to contact me.”

Anyone with information should contact PC Bailey on 01992 533 651, quoting crime reference A1/15/3507. Alternatively, information can be anonymously passed to Crimestoppers, the independent crime-fighting charity, on 0800 555 111 or through www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

We commend Hertfordshire Constabulary for opening an investigation as soon as we reported the incident to them, and for taking a firm zero tolerance approach to this antisemitic hooliganism.

Hertford Town FC’s Code of Conduct stipulates that supporters and their guests must “Promote ethical and non-racist, non-sexist principles” and “Show due respect to the players, coaches and supporters of all teams.” We are enquiring what action Hertford Town FC took in relation to this incident.

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A week after condemning antisemitic campus exhibition, LSE publishes then removes antisemitic blog post

A week after condemning a campus exhibition celebrating Palestinians who had stabbed Jews, the London School of Economics has published and then removed an antisemitic blog post.

The blog was published on the LSE website and claimed that, as a matter of religious belief, Jews consider non-Jews to be inferior to the extent that Jews are permitted to “exterminate” non-Jews.

One extract read:

Notions of ‘racial’ superiority are contained in Jewish scriptures and Rabbinical pronouncements have the effect of relegating ‘the other’ to a standard which is sub-human and, therefore, not deserving of the same considerations that are reserved for one’s ‘own kind’.

The blog post entitled “Delegitimising through Dehumanisation: Palestinian ‘human’ rights denied”, was written by Australian academic Dr Sandra Nasr and caused outrage on social media. Jonathan Hoffman contributed a post about the blog on Everyday Antisemitism which encouraged Everyday Antisemitism’s social media followers to write to the LSE’s Director.

Everyday Antisemitism is run by Campaign Against Antisemitism and allows anyone to register to post about their experiences of antisemitism.

LSE has now removed the offensive blog post but has not apologised, saying simply that “editorial guidelines were not followed” in the racist post they have now removed.

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Police investigating academic who allegedly said “Jews have become the Nazis” after CAA complaint

Cambridgeshire Constabulary is investigating after Campaign Against Antisemitism filed a complaint against a retired University of Cambridge academic who allegedly told an Israeli schoolgirl that she will not answer her question about horses until “there is peace and justice for Palestinians”. Asked about her motivation, she reportedly said that the “Jews have become the Nazis”. The case caused uproar on social media and in the national press, but no police investigation was opened until Campaign Against Antisemitism took action.

Dr Marsha Levine, an expert on the domestication and history of horses, was reportedly approached by 13-year-old Shachar Rabinovitch by e-mail. Shachar was undertaking a school project and sent Levine an e-mail in her best, most polite English. Levine allegedly responded coldly that “You might be a child, but if you are old enough to write to me, you are old enough to learn about Israeli history and how it has impacted on the lives of Palestinian people. Maybe your family has the same views as I do, but I doubt it.”

Interviewed by the JC after the alleged e-mail exchange was posted on Facebook, Levine reportedly said: “Jews have turned themselves into monsters. I want this girl not to worry about horses…I don’t see any obligation to further her ego or make her feel better about herself. I don’t think it’s about her – I think it’s about her parents. I gave her useful information which might help her for the rest of her life. I have to stand up for what I believe in…The Jews have become the Nazis. Jews are behaving just like the people who treated them. It’s not all Israelis or all Jews.”

Speaking to the Telegraph, Shamir Rabinovitch, Shachar’s father, said he was “shocked” by the reply. He said: “You have to ask yourself: what is there to gain from not talking to a 13-year-old girl? How does that solve anything? She asked a very polite question about horses, something she is interested in. Why do you reply with such anger? It really crossed the boundary. I think it’s ok to have different opinions about Israel…But it’s not OK to involve children in this stuff.”

We will now leave the case in the hands of the police and follow its progress with interest.

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One month after Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic speech, we still demand justice

On 27th October 2015, Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman, Father of the House of Commons, delivered an antisemitic speech on parliamentary premises to the Shadow Minister for Justice and other MPs.

He claimed that British Jews use “Jewish money” to subvert the British government so that Israeli Jews can “execute Arab-looking people”.

One month later:

  • The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has told us she will not investigate because the speech “did not bring Parliament or MPs into disrepute”
  • Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have expressed “deep concern” but have taken no action.
  • The Opposition Chief Whip continues to ignore our calls to take disciplinary action.

Racism must be fought by all political parties, but the Labour Party and Parliament as a whole have taken no action to address Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitism in the month since his speech. Please remind your MP that one month after Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic speech, we still demand justice.

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Jewish students in Scotland “feeling compelled to deny or hide their Jewish identity”

A report in today’s Herald reveals the fears of Jewish students at Scottish universities. Students have reportedly said that they were “hounded” for failing to attend lectures during Shabbat, and one student even told the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (ScoJeC): “I was told by my university that either I sit exams on Shabbat or I fail.” In another case, a Jewish student said that she no longer went to the business school or library and was worried about attending classes “due to fear of being harassed or attacked.”

In a letter voicing concerns about a new definition of academic freedom, which ScoJeC worried could make it even harder to protect Jewish students’ rights, ScoJeC wrote: “It is troubling that when the Jewish Student Chaplaincy Scotland has intervened with the support of ScoJeC to assist Jewish students who find themselves subject to abuse, our concerns have been dismissed by senior university staff who appear not to recognise that there have been failures.”

ScoJeC blamed much of the intimidation of Jewish students on the tenor of political discourse about Israel, writing: “We have evidence that the manner in which some academic and research staff have expressed views about the situation in the Middle East has contributed to both Jewish and Israeli students feeling compelled to deny or hide their Jewish identity at the very time in their lives when they should have the freedom to explore it. The issue is not that some academic and research staff hold views about the situation in the Middle East — that is their right. Nor is it simply that they have expressed those views in public — what concerns us greatly is the manner in which some staff have done so.”

Universities are supposed to be places of tolerance and respect, but for Jewish students across the UK university is often not the broadening experience that it should be. Any Jewish student who voices support for Israel, where half of the world’s Jews live, is liable to face a wall of extreme, unabating hatred, which is the opposite of what university should be. The victimisation of Jewish students in this way appears to allow more traditional forms of discrimination to flourish.

We encourage students to make use of laws against hate crime. Please contact us if you are unsatisfied with the way that a university or the police has handled your complaint. Victims of antisemitism can also raise awareness of the problem by posting their experiences on Everyday Antisemitism.

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Green Party spokesman remains in post after voicing antisemitic conspiracy theory

According to the Guido Fawkes political blog, the Green Party’s spokesman, former Labour MP Tony Clarke, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “There are British oil companies such as Genel Energy, run by Nathaniel Rothschild, one of George Osborne’s friends, who are making money, who are buying oil from ISIS, who are putting money into the pot, allowing ISIS therefore to fuel their evil across the world.”

It is worryingly common to hear antisemitic conspiracy theorists claim that ISIS is funded by the Rothschild Jewish banking family, a shorthand reference to nefarious Jewish financial influence.

City AM has reported that the Green Party has retracted their spokesman’s statement: “The Green Party and Tony Clarke apologise to Genel Energy for this false statement, which they have withdrawn and have undertaken not to repeat. The Green Party and Tony Clarke wish to publicly retract this statement and accept it to be untrue and without foundation. Genel Energy…is not, and never has been, a purchaser of oil from anyone.”

The Green Party has disgraced itself. It is clear that this apology was wrung from the Party by the possibility of action for defamation by Genel Energy.

In the run-up to this year’s general election, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett showed that she had no idea how to combat antisemitism when asked what she would do to protect British Jews. The Party has long been criticised for its failure to tackle antisemitism within its own ranks.

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Charity trustee who made a video claiming “f***ing Jews” track Samsung smartphones and posted it on charity’s Facebook page allowed to stay on

A trustee of the Ghulam Mustafa Trust has been allowed to continue to run the charity by the Charity Commission, despite having made a home video with instructions to stop the “f***ing Jews” from “tracking every photo” on Samsung smartphones, which he posted on the charity’s Facebook page.

Following Campaign Against Antisemitism’s complaint to the Charity Commission, the Commission visited the Ghulam Mustafa Trust and established that it was indeed a trustee who had made and posted the video. In spite of the vile antisemitic myth proposed in the video, that Jews use secret microchips in Samsung smartphones to track users’ photographs, the Charity Commission merely demanded that the video be removed from Facebook and that the charity improve its bureaucracy by:

  • Adopting a social media policy;
  • Reviewing and removing any other offensive social media postings; and
  • Adopting a code of conduct for the charity’s trustees.

In an e-mail to Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chairman, the Charity Commission, said: “The Commission did establish that the video had been made by one of the trustees of the Charity… The Commission assessed the content of the video as ‘wholly unacceptable’”. Yet the Commission did not remove the trustee from his position on the charity, instead opting only to impose “remedial regulatory action”.

The Charity Commission will be amongst the beneficiaries of tough new counter-extremism powers proposed by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary. But these new powers will be of no use whatsoever unless the bodies responsible for enforcing the law use the powers they are granted.

David Cameron has spoken about how “ideas based on conspiracy that Jews exercise malevolent power” contribute towards dangerous extremism, yet here we see the Charity Commission leaving a trustee in place running a charity, when he has personally made and spread exactly such a conspiracy theory via online video and social media. We also know that more and more extremists are influenced by social media videos and other content. Regulatory bodies like the Charity Commission have to use the powers they have to show this behaviour is totally unacceptable, rather than feebly giving actively antisemitic trustees a free pass.

We are referring the Charity Commission’s decision on this matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which has jurisdiction in this matter.

We also understand that the Charity Commission was advised by the police that the video did not constitute a crime, which is contrary to advice that we have received. We will be discussing this further with the police.

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Jeremy Corbyn’s condemnation of Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic comments falls far short of what is warranted

Following a meeting between the Opposition Chief Whip, Rosie Winterton, and Sir Gerald Kaufman, Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn has condemned Sir Gerald Kaufman’s comments.

One week after Sir Gerald Kaufman accused British Jews of subverting the government with ‘Jewish money’ so that Israeli Jews could shoot ‘innocent’ people, Jeremy Corbyn has spoken out and the Opposition Chief Whip has expressed ‘deep concern’. That’s positive, but it’s a week late and falls far short of what is warranted. We have been calling for a week for the Labour Party to take formal, firm disciplinary action against Sir Gerald Kaufman. Nothing less will do if Jewish people are to have any faith that the Labour Party’s ‘implacable opposition’ to racism is anything more than a soundbite.

Corbyn’s condemnation comes as the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Hudson, told Campaign Against Antisemitism that she would not investigate the matter because Kaufman’s comments did not draw the House of Commons or its members into disrepute. Kaufman is formally known as “Father of the House” because he is the longest serving and oldest MP, and he was speaking on Parliamentary premises to a group which included MPs such as Andy Slaughter, the Shadow Minister for Justice.

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Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards: I will not investigate Sir Gerald Kaufman

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Hudson, has written to Campaign Against Antisemitism to say that she will not investigate the antisemitic comments made by Sir Gerald Kaufman in a speech because she does not believe that they bring the House of Commons or its members into disrepute.

Campaign Against Antisemitism had sent a complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards under clause 16 of the Parliamentary Rules of Conduct for MPs which states: “Members shall never undertake any action which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its Members generally.”

At a meeting last week at 1 Parliament Street, David Collier, a blogger who attended a meeting of the Palestine Return Centre, said that Kaufman claimed that “Jewish money, Jewish donations” dictate government policy on Israel. Kaufman reportedly began his speech by claiming that the wave of antisemitic stabbings in Israel which has seen Jews stabbed, axed, run over and shot in the streets for being Jews, was “fabricated”.

Kaufman’s claim that British Jews use “Jewish money” to subvert the government so that Israeli Jews may shoot innocent people combines antisemitic conspiracy theory with antisemitic blood libel. The fact that Kaufman, who is known as the Father of the House as the longest standing MP, made such comments and the fact that other MPs sat in taciturn acceptance of those comments patently brings the House into disrepute. How are Jewish people supposed to have faith in an institution whose members engage in such conduct?

We are appalled that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has examined the evidence put before her and found that the offence is not sufficiently grave to merit action.

All eyes must now return to the Labour Party itself, which we and others have asked to take disciplinary action. We remain in contact with the Labour Party which has so far only confirmed that the Opposition Chief Whip has met Kaufman today to “discuss” his comments, but not that disciplinary action is being taken.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’ Letter

Dear Mr Falter,

Mrs Harrison has forwarded to me her email exchanges with you.  I have reviewed them very carefully and can confirm that she is correct. Generally, I may not look into complaints about the expression of a Member’s views and opinions and the bar for bringing such complaints into my remit is a high one.

I understand the distinction you seek to draw between the expression of views and opinions on the Middle East conflict and the words used by Sir Gerald to explain the position of the UK government. However, I agree with Mrs Harrison that this was an expression of his views and opinions – reflecting his interpretation of events – and so your allegation is caught by the general bar on my investigating complaints about the expression of views and opinions.

While many will disagree profoundly with Sir Gerald’s words, I do not consider that that in itself means they reflect either on the House as a whole or on its Members generally.

Yours sincerely,

Kathryn Hudson
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Extracts from Sir Gerald Kaufman’s Speech

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Gerald Kaufman’s “Jewish money” slur: responses from the Opposition Chief Whip and Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to our letters

Following Campaign Against Antisemitism’s letter to the Opposition Chief Whip, which has now been supplemented by letters from other Jewish charities, the Opposition Chief Whip has agreed to meet with Sir Gerald Kaufman, but is refusing to confirm when, or whether this is part of a formal disciplinary process. Sir Gerald made an antisemitic speech a week ago in the presence of other MPs in which he claimed that British Jews were using “Jewish money” to subvert the British government so that Israeli Jews could shoot innocent people. So far the Labour Party has limited its response to a single sentence: “The views as reported, do not reflect the views of The Labour Party.”

We have also received a response from office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, suggesting that the views of Sir Gerald Kaufman are views on “the situation in the Middle East” and do not bring the reputation of the House of Commons into disrepute.

We have responded that: “Sir Gerald claimed that British Jews were using “Jewish money” to subvert the government so that Israeli Jews may shoot innocent people. This combines antisemitic conspiracy theory with antisemitic blood libel. The fact that the Father of the House made such comments and the fact that other MPs sat in taciturn acceptance of those comments patently brings the House into disrepute. How are Jewish people supposed to have faith in an institution whose members engage in such conduct? The Parliamentary Commissioner must exercise the powers of her office to investigate and take action against this conduct.”

The full response from the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was:

Dear Mr Falter

Thank you for your email addressed to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Hudson. I have been asked to reply.

I know that the situation in the Middle East continues to cause great concern and much debate across groups of widely varying opinions and I can see that you feel strongly about the particular view expressed by Sir Gerald on this occasion. However, the remit of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is specifically to investigate alleged breaches of the rules of conduct, set out in part V of the House of Commons Code of Conduct. There are some matters that she cannot look at and, as you will see from this leaflet, she may not generally look into complaints about an MP’s views or opinions, wherever they are expressed.

The only exception to this is where an MP’s conduct has caused significant damage to the reputation of the House of Commons as a whole or to Members of the House generally which is, as you have set out, contained in paragraph 16 of the Code of Conduct. This would be a high bar to reach since opinions are usually linked to the individual expressing them rather than to the House or other Members. The Committee on Standards has also made clear that it considers the test to be one that will be met only in extreme and extremely limited circumstances.

I do not think that the Commissioner would be likely to begin an inquiry based on the evidence you have provided; I do not think she would be likely to consider Sir Gerald’s comments to have caused significant damage to the House of Commons as a whole, or to MPs generally. Similarly, I do not think that the Commissioner would be likely to consider the silence of other MPs present at the meeting to have put them in breach of paragraph 16 of the Code of Conduct.

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Harrison

Our full response to Ms Harrison’s letter was:

Dear Ms Harrison,

You appear to have misunderstood my complaint. Sir Gerald Kaufman did not express a “view” on the Middle East, he made an antisemitic statement. Sir Gerald claimed that British Jews were using “Jewish money” to subvert the government so that Israeli Jews may shoot innocent people. This combines antisemitic conspiracy theory with antisemitic blood libel.

The fact that the Father of the House made such comments and the fact that other MPs sat in taciturn acceptance of those comments patently brings the House into disrepute. How are Jewish people supposed to have faith in an institution whose members engage in such conduct?

 The Parliamentary Commissioner must exercise the powers of her office to investigate and take action against this conduct.

Yours sincerely,

Gideon Falter
Chairman
Campaign Against Antisemitism

Ms Harrison then replied:

Dear Mr Falter

I understand the point you make but I think Sir Gerald’s words are still caught by the bar on the Commissioner investigating complaints about a Member’s views and opinions.

The test set out in paragraph 16 is, as I have explained, one which the Committee on Standards considers likely to be met only in extreme and extremely limited circumstances; it requires that the Member’s conduct causes significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House as a whole or of its Members generally. I can see that you feel very strongly but, as I explained earlier, I do not think the Commissioner would be likely to begin an inquiry into this matter.

Yours sincerely

Gwen Harrison

Our final response was:

Dear Ms Harrison,

Thank you for your e-mail. Please clarify whether you are stating your opinion or the opinion of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. If the Commissioner has not yet made a decision, I would be grateful if you would put this matter before her.

Yours sincerely,

Gideon Falter
Chairman
Campaign Against Antisemitism

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Successful letter-writing campaign resoundingly rebuts suggestion that Jewish culture should be boycotted

Last week, local paper Ham & High published a letter by John McPartlin demanding that the UK Jewish Film Festival not be permitted in the borough. Campaign Against Antisemitism joined a call by North London Friends of Israel to write letters to the paper which was inundated with so many that almost a page of this week’s edition is devoted to letters rebutting the bigoted notion that Jewish cultural events should be boycotted. Congratulations to everyone who wrote in, and to North London Friends of Israel!

Hat tip: Mandy Blumenthal

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Popular London nightclub ordered to close after antisemitic brawl, but assailants escape further action

Boujis, a popular nightclub in Kensington has been ordered to close for two weeks following a brawl which erupted into the street after customers were subjected to antisemitic abuse.

Video footage showed between fifteen and twenty people engaged in a fight during which one person was thrown across the bonnet of a taxi with such force that it was dented, whilst an assailant shouted “f***ing Jews”. The club has reportedly told journalists that the fight began after a customer made an antisemitic remark towards a group of Jewish people and was asked to leave.

When the club reopens, it will be required to exclude anybody younger than 21 and must close by 2am every night. Six men and a woman, all aged between 18 and 21, were arrested and issued with fixed penalty notices.

Media accounts of the incident seem to indicate that racially-aggravated offences occurred, making the use of fixed penalty notices by the police inexplicably lenient.

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Pope reaffirms that calls for the destruction of Israel are antisemitic

On the fiftieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican declaration which put an end to the centuries-old official antisemitic theology of the Catholic church, the Pope has condemned antisemitism, including that which masquerades as political discourse about Israel.

Pope Francis said: “To attack Jews is antisemitism, but an outright attack on the State of Israel is also antisemitism. There may be political disagreements between governments and on political issues, but the State of Israel has every right to exist in safety and prosperity.”

The statement echoes the globally-recognised EUMC definition of antisemitism which states that “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.

Our Antisemitism Barometer survey earlier this year found that 77% of British Jews “have witnessed antisemitism that was disguised as a political comment about Israel”.

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Labour Party fails to confirm whether it will initiate disciplinary proceedings over Sir Gerald Kaufman’s antisemitic speech

Following the antisemitic speech reportedly made by Sir Gerald Kaufman, Campaign Against Antisemitism has contacted the Opposition Chief Whip and the Labour Party Press Office. Additionally our Chairman has made a formal complaint (which must be made in a personal capacity under Parliamentary rules) to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

In its response to CAA, the Labour Party has so far failed to provide any assurance that it considers Sir Gerald Kaufman’s comments to be a disciplinary matter, or whether it will initiate disciplinary proceedings, which we believe to be the only acceptable response to racist comments of this nature.

We encourage you to make your own complaints to the bodies below, and encourage other organisations concerned with antisemitism to also make complaints, to show the breadth of concern that this speech had generated.

Opposition Chief Whip: Rosie Winterton MP, [email protected]
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards: Kathryn Hudson, [email protected]

Opposition Chief Whip

Dear Ms Winterton,

I am writing to you in your capacity as Opposition Chief Whip with respect to statements reportedly made by Sir Gerald Kaufman MP yesterday at 1 Parliament Street.

David Collier, a blogger who attended a meeting of the Palestine Return Centre, said that Sir Gerald claimed that “Jewish money, Jewish donations” dictate government policy on Israel.

Speaking after Martin Linton MP, Sir Gerald is reported to have said: “Martin wonders why this governments policy has gone farther and farther and more and more pro-Israeli, but I’ll tell you because I can tell you in a way which perhaps nobody else in this room can tell you. It’s Jewish money, Jewish donations, to the conservative party as in the general election in May, support from the Jewish Chronicle, all of those things, bias the conservatives. There is now a big group of conservative members of Parliament, who are pro-Israel whatever government does and they are not interested in what Israel, in what the Israeli government does. They’re not interested in the fact that Palestinians are living a repressed life, and are liable to be shot at any time.”

Sir Gerald reportedly began his speech by claiming that the wave of antisemitic stabbings in Israel which has seen Jews stabbed, axed, run over and shot in the streets for being Jews, was “fabricated”.

The globally-recognised EUMC definition of antisemitism clearly states that it is antisemitic to make “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.”

The speech delivered by Sir Gerald Kaufman, as reported by David Collier here (http://david-collier.com/?p=1336), is antisemitic and the Labour Party must take action immediately.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Yours sincerely,

Gideon Falter
Chairman

So far, the Office of the Opposition Chief Whip has responded only to say: “The views as reported, do not reflect the views of The Labour Party.”

We have responded as follows:

Dear Mr Sullivan,

I am grateful for your swift reply, however I look forward to your urgent confirmation that the Party is investigating this as a disciplinary matter due to the serious nature of these racist comments.

Yours sincerely,

Gideon Falter
Chairman

Labour Party Press Office

The press officer has said: “We will get back to you” but has not yet responded to our requests for confirmation that disciplinary action will be taken.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Dear Ms Hudson,

I am writing to you in a personal capacity with respect to statements reportedly made by Sir Gerald Kaufman MP on Tuesday 27th October at 1 Parliament Street.

David Collier, a blogger who attended a meeting of the Palestine Return Centre, said that Sir Gerald claimed that “Jewish money, Jewish donations” dictate government policy on Israel.

Speaking after Martin Linton MP, Sir Gerald is reported to have said: “Martin wonders why this governments policy has gone farther and farther and more and more pro-Israeli, but I’ll tell you because I can tell you in a way which perhaps nobody else in this room can tell you. It’s Jewish money, Jewish donations, to the conservative party as in the general election in May, support from the Jewish Chronicle, all of those things, bias the conservatives. There is now a big group of conservative members of Parliament, who are pro-Israel whatever government does and they are not interested in what Israel, in what the Israeli government does. They’re not interested in the fact that Palestinians are living a repressed life, and are liable to be shot at any time.”

Sir Gerald reportedly began his speech by claiming that the wave of antisemitic stabbings in Israel which has seen Jews stabbed, axed, run over and shot in the streets for being Jews, was “fabricated”.

An audio recording can be provided for your reference.

The globally-recognised EUMC definition of antisemitism clearly states that it is antisemitic to make “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.”

The speech delivered by Sir Gerald Kaufman, as reported by David Collier here (http://david-collier.com/?p=1336), is antisemitic and was delivered to an event at which several other MPs are understood to have been present, none of whom spoke out.

Given the rise in antisemitism which has recently reached heights not seen since records began to be kept thirty years ago, action must be seen to be taken to safeguard the reputation of the House of Commons.

My complaint is that (1) Sir Gerald’s speech and (2) the failure of other MPs in attendance to speak out constitutes a breach of clause 16 of the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Yours sincerely,

Gideon Falter
Chairman

We will await the Commissioner’s response.

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Antisemitic “Hitler was right” posters at Birmingham university under investigation by police forensics team

Police in Birmingham are treating as a hate crime the discovery of “a number of antisemitic posters” including one of Adolf Hitler captioned “Hitler was right” at the University of Birmingham.

The posters were discovered by Students’ Guild Education Officer Izzy Lenga who tweeted: “For those who don’t think antisemitism is a serious issue, these were plastered over campus on Tues”.

We immediately contacted the police who have confirmed that they have now removed a number of antisemitic posters found on campus at the University of Birmingham. This is a worrying and disturbing thing to see at a British university at a time when the number of recorded antisemitic incidents is rising, and when Jewish people are actively being targeted and killed in Europe and beyond. We have heard from a Jewish student organisation that they’ve had students express their discomfort and alarm at seeing a poster of Hitler suggesting support for Nazism. The reaction of the police and university must be serious and tough in order to reassure Jews and non-Jews alike that this will not be tolerated. The perpetrators of his hate crime must be found and brought to justice with zero tolerance.

West Midlands Police told Campaign Against Antisemitism that the posters have now been removed and will be forensically examined to try and identify who was responsible. Officers will also be trawling CCTV and speaking to students and staff from the university as part of their investigation.

Sergeant David Cotter from West Midlands Police told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “We take reports of hate crime extremely seriously and are working closely with the university to make it a safe place for everyone who works and studies there. This kind of behaviour is offensive and completely unacceptable and our investigation to identify those responsible is already progressing.”

Deborah Walker, Head of Communications at the University of Birmingham told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “We unreservedly condemn racist graffiti on campus. We have reported the matter to West Midlands Police and are working with them to identify those involved. Our University is a community of 150 nations and we are proud to be situated in a vibrant multi-cultural city. Discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. We are therefore actively working with a range of groups to bring people together and ensure that our university is a place where diversity is celebrated and everyone plays their part in creating a vibrant and welcoming community.”

If anyone has any information about who is responsible for the posters they should call Sergeant Cotter from Birmingham South Police on 101.

https://twitter.com/izzyjengalenga/status/659670049897230336

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Sir Gerald Kaufman MP reportedly claims that “Jewish money, Jewish donations” dictate government policy on Israel

Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman has reportedly claimed that “Jewish money, Jewish donations” dictate government policy on Israel. Kaufman was speaking at a meeting of the “Palestine Return Council” which was attended by other MPs, as well as by the blogger David Collier, who has posted an account of Kaufman’s speech.

Speaking after former MP Martin Linton, Kaufman is reported to have said: “It’s Jewish money, Jewish donations, to the Conservative Party as in the general election in May, support from the Jewish Chronicle, all of those things, bias the Conservatives. There is now a big group of conservative members of Parliament, who are pro-Israel whatever government does and they are not interested in what Israel, in what the Israeli government does.”

Kaufman had reportedly begun his speech by claiming that half of the antisemitic stabbings in Israel (which has recently seen Jews stabbed, axed, run over and shot in the streets), were “fabricated”.

The globally-recognised EUMC definition of antisemitism clearly states that it is antisemitic to make “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.”

The speech delivered by Sir Gerald Kaufman, as reported by David Collier, is antisemitic and the Labour Party must investigate immediately.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is in contact with the Opposition Chief Whip.

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Local paper publishes letter from man demanding that UK Jewish Film Festival be banned in his borough

Local paper Ham & High has published a letter by John McPartlin demanding that the UK Jewish Film Festival not be permitted in the borough. Writing in response to an article in the paper about the UK Jewish Film Festival, McPartlin refers to the festival as the “Israeli Film Festival” possibly because he is confused, or perhaps because he wants to make the bigoted suggestion of banning a Jewish cultural event seem more acceptable. If you would like to respond with your own letter, please send it to [email protected].

Hat tip: North London Friends of Israel and Mandy Blumenthal

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Our reaction to new government counter-extremism strategy: enforcement and definition are key

On Monday, the government unveiled its new counter-extremism strategy. The strategy is the reflection of visions set out by the Home Secretary in March and the Prime Minister in July.

The strategy is primarily designed to address Islamic extremism, but also other extreme ideologies, including neo-Nazi extremism. Both, especially the former, are on the rise in Britain, and both target Jews for racist abuse or terrorist violence. As antisemitism soars to the highest levels since records began, the future safety of British Jews rests to a large extent on the success of this strategy.

Under the new strategy, the government plans to counter extremist ideology, build partnerships with all those opposed to extremism, disrupt extremists and build more cohesive communities.

Much of the strategy relies upon British society itself to fight extremism, and so it should. Extremism is born of ideology, and deleterious ideologies are better countered by societies than by governments. We are therefore pleased to see the promised initiatives to harness forces in British society which oppose extremism.

However, as many other countries have learned to their cost, social forces alone are insufficient to defeat determined and well-organised extremists, which is where the state must lead. It is here that we see the greatest threat to the counter-extremism strategy.

The strategy calls for new powers and measures to be made available to the police, and civil enforcement bodies such as Ofcom and the Charity Commission. We welcome this. But experience has shown that where extremist antisemitism is concerned, there is a dangerous gap between the powers available to the authorities, and authorities’ exercise of those powers.

CAA has witnessed firsthand the struggles that take place between the government and its agencies. Enforcement agencies, such as the police or Ofcom, are often reluctant to use their powers to enforce the law. This takes two forms: sometimes agencies recognise that the law has been broken, but decide not to enforce it, and sometimes agencies distort the definition of the law or mischaracterise the offence and thereby deny that there is any enforcement to be done.

The new government strategy will succeed or die on those two points above all others: enforcement and definition. We know about this; a large part of CAA’s work focuses on ensuring that the law is enforced with zero tolerance, and ensuring that definitions of antisemitism are understood and properly used.

Success will be measured by action. Next time Hezbollah flags are flown outside Downing Street, will it take intervention by CAA for criminal charges to be brought, or will the police be proactive? Next time neo-Nazis plan to march through a Jewish community, will CAA still have to negotiate before the police take action? When a BBC newsreader next opines about nefarious “Jewish faces” and “Jewish hands”, will CAA once again complain to Ofcom only to have our complaints dismissed or will Ofcom investigate this time, and hold the BBC to account? When a teacher is convicted for praising the Holocaust, will CAA need to bring proceedings for him to be banned from teaching, or will it happen automatically next time? When a charity posts a video claiming that “the Jews” are tracking everyone’s smartphones, will they receive more than just rapped knuckles?

We are fully prepared to maintain and expand our campaign for the firmest possible action against antisemites under the law, but we also hope that this counter-extremism strategy marks a turning point in the way that the authorities exercise the powers, old and new, that the government grants them.

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Man convicted and fined for performing Nazi salute at Jewish people on London’s Oxford Street

Issa Khazaal was today found guilty at City of London Magistrates’ Court of executing a Nazi salute directed at a group of Jewish people outside Selfridges on Oxford Street, London. The incident took place in September 2014 at a demonstration.

City of London Magistrates’ Court imposed financial penalties totalling £1,587, comprising a £660 fine (including £220 due to the racially-aggravated nature of the crime), £150 in compensation and £777 costs to the CPS.

This conviction sends the message that antisemitism will not be tolerated in the UK. Jewish people feel threatened and intimidated by such acts, and it is vital that all of society stands up against this sort of hatred. Over six million Jews were murdered in the Nazi holocaust, and it is telling that Khazaal, chose to taunt Jewish people with a Nazi salute during an anti-Israel demonstration; too often antisemites feel they can dress-up their hatred of Jews as debate relating to Israel. This must not be allowed to happen, and today’s verdict shows that antisemitism can and will be pursued with the full force of the law.

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Police charge demonstrators allegedly flying Hizballah flags after discussions with Campaign Against Antisemitism and MP

Following Campaign Against Antisemitism and MP’s discussions with Metropolitan Police Service and Home Office, demonstrators allegedly flying Hizballah flags have been charged. The Metropolitan Police Service has acted to arrest anti-Israel demonstrators who allegedly flew Hizballah flags outside Downing Street on 9th September, following discussions with Campaign Against Antisemitism and also Matthew Offord MP.

On 9th September, anti-Israel protesters and pro-Israel protesters confronted each other outside Downing Street. Several antisemitic incidents took place which CAA is continuing to discuss with the police.

Of major concern, was the failure of the police to take any action against anti-Israel demonstrators flying Hizballah flags. Section 13(1)(b) of the Terrorism Act says that “A person in a public place commits an offence if he wears, carries or displays an article, in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a member or supporter of a proscribed [terrorist] organisation.”

Protesters from the Zionist Federation, Sussex Friends of Israel and Israel Advocacy Movement, were told however that the Hizballah flags were not exactly faithful to the design of the original Hizballah flag and therefore action would not be taken.

CAA raised this with senior police officers, submitted a Freedom of Information request seeking clarity on the Metropolitan Police Service’s stance on flying terrorist flags and also circulated a video. We also raised this with the Home Office whose official guidance confirms the interpretation of section 13 of the Terrorism Act.

We have long been concerned by policing policy on the flying of terrorist flags, with police having failed to take action on other occasions, such as a man parading an ISIS flag outside Parliament and a vehicle emblazoned with the Hizballah logo and a Syrian flag. In both cases the Metropolitan Police Service is quoted as saying: “Wearing, carrying or displaying of an emblem or flag, by itself, is not an offence unless; the way in which, or the circumstance in which, the emblem is worn, carried or displayed is such as to cause reasonable suspicion that the person is a supporter or member of a proscribed organisation.”

We are therefore pleased to confirm that following our discussions and those of Matthew Offord MP, the Metropolitan Police Service has decided to charge two individuals under section 13 of the Terrorism Act.

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Campaign Against Antisemitism is now a charity

We are very pleased to announce that Campaign Against Antisemitism is now registered as a charity. The Charity Commission has granted CAA charitable status in recognition of our mission to expose and counter antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law.

Our transition to operating as a charity firmly establishes CAA as an ongoing and serious force in the arena of combatting antisemitism. Thanks to the work of our volunteers, in just one year we have grown into a well-organised high-profile grassroots campaign with a rapidly-growing team of volunteers, both Jewish and non-Jewish.

At our rally at the Royal Courts of Justice we called for ‘zero tolerance law enforcement’ and these words now feature in every politician’s speech on antisemitism. Our Antisemitism Barometer survey showed how British Jews were feeling and highlighted antisemitism as a national challenge in the wake of the Paris attacks.

We are now working closely with the police, CPS and government after launching our five-point plan to strengthen enforcement against antisemites at a meeting with the Home Secretary, Director of Public Prosecutions and Chief Executive of the College of Policing. We have intervened in numerous matters, without seeking publicity, to ensure that justice is done.

All this is being achieved without a single paid employee and comparatively little funding. We are empowering individual members of the community to contribute their considerable talents to the fight against antisemitism.

We have exciting projects that cover education, outreach, awareness, training and public affairs. Our goal is to tackle antisemitism through education and enforcement, with the agility of a start-up, the expertise of established professionals in various fields and where needed, a dash of chutzpah. Our newly-confirmed charitable status will help people to support our work.

As a charity, we are staying true to our grassroots mission. Our work is powered by our committed and talented team of volunteers, and donations by ordinary people like you. Please do volunteer and offer your skills, or donate to help cover our costs. By completing a Gift Aid declaration, your donations will now go even further towards the fight against racist Jew-hatred.

We would particularly like to take this opportunity to thank Adam Levin and James Stonehill, our lawyers from Dechert LLP, who have worked pro-bono for several months to expertly steward us through the complex charity application process.

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Nazi-sympathising teacher banned from teaching for life by Secretary of State following proceedings instigated by Campaign Against Antisemitism

On 6th February this year, IT teacher Mahmudul Choudhury was convicted of racially aggravated harassment alarm or distress for using his Facebook page to praise Hitler for murdering Jews.

Former students including Jewish students were among his Facebook friends and reported him to the Police. The image of Hitler (see below) was posted on 11th July 2014 and bore the caption “I could have killed all the Jews, but I left some of them to let you know why I was killing them… YES MAN, YOU WERE RIGHT… Share this picture to the the truth a whole world.” Choudhury added an additional caption saying: “Yes now we could see why.” Choudhury was convicted and fined by South East London Magistrates’ Court.

Following Choudhury’s conviction, Campaign Against Antisemitism, was astonished that Choudhury remained free to return to the classroom and teach children. We therefore initiated formal proceedings with the Department for Education’s National College for Teaching and Leadership, and applied to the Secretary of State for Education for a Prohibition Order.

A professional conduct hearing was convened on 5th October at our behest, which Choudhury failed to attend. Following the hearing, the Secretary of State has now issued a Prohibition Order banning Choudhury from teaching, for life, with immediate effect.

The professional conduct hearing found that “prohibition is both proportionate and appropriate,” noting that “Mr Choudhury not only re-posted an image supporting the holocaust; he added a comment in support of that message. This was a significant factor in the panel forming the opinion that prohibition is proportionate and appropriate. Accordingly, the panel makes a recommendation to the Secretary of State that a prohibition order should be imposed with immediate effect.” The panel also said it had “seen little evidence that Mr Choudhury has any insight into or remorse for his actions.”

On behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, Paul Heathcote of the National College of Teaching and Leadership wrote: ”Mr Mahmudul Choudhury is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegation found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Mahmudul Choudhury shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.”

Teachers have a special responsibility in society to educate and nurture our children. Mahmudul Choudhury specifically shared a post on Facebook which tried to justify the mass murder of over six million Jewish people by the Nazis. He did this knowing that others would see it, including former students. Someone with these views should never be allowed to teach Britain’s children, or be in any position where they could potentially shape and influence young minds. At a time when Jews are being specifically targeted and murdered by extremist killers in Europe and beyond, this is even more distressing. In all of our discussions with the government we have called for zero tolerance of antisemitism under the law. We therefore commend the Secretary of State for Education for this decision.

British Transport Police officers
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One arrested, four awaiting questioning after public identify West Ham antisemitic chant suspects

A 44-year-old man from Northampton has been arrested and four others are awaiting interrogation after five West Ham fans were reported to British Transport Police for antisemitic chanting on a train. After Campaign Against Antisemitism and others disseminated CCTV images of the suspects, British Transport Police have said they have identified the men. The man who was arrested has been bailed until Monday 26th October and the other four men will be spoken to “in due course” according to the police statement.

PC Michael Botterill, who had issued the appeal for the public to help identify the men said: “I would like to thank the public and the media for their help with this appeal.”

According to an earlier police statement, five West Ham fans were began to sing antisemitic songs on the train following a match and were asked to stop by another passenger, but they refused to stop and continued changing antisemitic slurs. British Transport Police promised firm action, saying “We will not tolerate your mobbish behaviour.” They have been as good as their word and we commend them for their extremely swift and firm response to this incident. We will follow the case with interest.

Thank you to everyone who helped by sharing the CCTV images we posted.

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Four incidents in a day as north London Jews are subjected to antisemitic abuse and criminal damage

The incidents began when a group described as “young Asian men” in a car shouted antisemitic abuse at the driver of a school bus whilst children were on board. Shortly afterwards, a black male shouted “We need to kill all the Jews” at a Jewish man leaving a synagogue in a London neighbourhood with a large Jewish population. He then broke the man’s car window. Later, two women were subjected to antisemitic abuse and threats in the street, possibly by the same man, who may also be linked to additional incidents in the area. In the late evening, an Eastern European man shouted “You f***ing Jewish c***s” at Jewish passersby and was followed by volunteers from Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol until police arrested him. Shomrim responded to the three incidents earlier in the day as well and police are now understood to be investigating.

Due to the work of Shomrim, in close coordination with the local police, the area of north London affected has a relatively good rate of detection for antisemitic hate crime. If you witnessed any of these incidents, please contact the Metropolitan Police Service on 101 or Shomrim North East at [email protected].

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Police seek the public’s help in identifying five men following antisemitic chanting on train

British Transport Police have issued CCTV images showing five men sought for questioning following antisemitic chanting on a train travelling between Watford Junction and Milton Keynes.

PC Michael Botterill said in a statement: “A man, who boarded the train at Watford Junction, took his seat in the first class carriage. A group of West Ham fans were already seated and, as the train pulled away, they began to sing antisemitic songs. The man, quite rightly, took offence to these vile songs and challenged the group over their language. However, they refused to stop and continued with their chanting.”

Police received reports from several other witnesses to the behaviour of the men, who are believed to have left the train at Northampton. The train was the 19:03 service from Watford Junction to Birmingham New Street on Saturday 15th August, the day West Ham played Leicester City at Upton Park.

PC Botterill continued: “This sort of casual racism has gone unchallenged for too long. We know the vast majority of football fans are decent people, but for those who continue to make life unpleasant for the travelling public, our message is clear: we will not tolerate your yobbish behaviour. I think the men in the pictures we are issuing today, have information about this incident. Please let us know who they are.”

Do you recognise these men? If so, please contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40, or text 61016, quoting reference MSUB/B4 of 12/10/2015. Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

We commend British Transport Police for their firm, proactive response to this all too common incident of antisemitism amongst football fans.

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Police fail to act as demonstrators protesting Conservative Party Conference tell Jews to “get back to Auschwitz”

Jewish delegates to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester have reportedly been subjected to antisemitic abuse by anti-Conservative protesters. Stephen Woods, Chairman of the Conservative Sale East and Wythenshawe Association, told the Jewish News: “The abuse we had to endure was despicable, with a number of protestors screaming ‘Jewish Tory scum, get back to Auschwitz.’ I have never heard such vile language. The whole incident left us all shaken up.” Woods told the Times: “This was definitely in the earshot of the police but they did nothing. It was disgusting.”

In response, Greater Manchester Police told the Jewish News that it has “not received any reports in relation to this matter…If anyone has been a victim of any such incident, they are encouraged to please report this to the police and we will investigate.” This is akin to the police saying that they witnessed someone being assaulted but did not intervene because nobody came and reported the assault to them.

We continue to see government ministers including the Prime Minister issue strong calls for firm action against antisemitism, but we are increasingly concerned that the expected firm police stance is not materialising.

Another example of antisemitism amongst protesters outside the conference was an antisemitic banner made by a 13-year-old boy. It seems that no action was taken by the police in that case either.

The Prime Minister has publicly identified antisemitism as a major societal problem and a gateway to extremism. Antisemites must be shown no quarter by the police; the law must be enforced.

https://twitter.com/helenpidd/status/650631944292704256

Thanks to Sussex Friends of Israel for pointing out Helen Pidd’s tweet to us.

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David Cameron announces new powers to investigate and shut down British Madrasas teaching antisemitic conspiracy theories

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister announced new powers to inspect “intensive” religious schools and to shut down any that teach antisemitic views.

The Prime Minister said: “In some madrasas we’ve got children being taught that they shouldn’t mix with people of other religions; being beaten; swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people…So I can announce this today: if an institution is teaching children intensively, then whatever its religion, we will, like any other school, make it register so it can be inspected. And be in no doubt: if you are teaching intolerance, we will shut you down.”

Mr Cameron continued: “For too long, we’ve been so frightened of causing offence that we haven’t looked hard enough at what is going on in our communities…This passive tolerance has turned us into a less integrated country; it’s put our children in danger. It is unforgivable. So let me say it right here: no more passive tolerance in Britain. We’ve passed the laws – now I want them enforced.”

The announcement follows a major speech delivered by David Cameron in July in which he identified antisemitic conspiracy theories as a gateway to Islamic extremist ideology.

We welcome the Prime Minister’s call for firm enforcement of the law. We have found that in many cases we have had to press far too hard for the police to investigate, and been dismayed by the outcomes in a number of cases.

We will continue to work with the authorities to improve the way that they handle antisemitic crime. If you would like to help with this work, please volunteer with us, or donate to support our work.

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Manchester boys’ attackers sentenced

Two 17-year-olds have been convicted of an attack on four Jewish boys in Manchester on 5th September. Joseph Kelly and Zach Birch pleaded guilty after being arrested by Greater Manchester Police which launched an extensive forensic operation in the wake of the incident.

Moshe Fuerst, aged 17, was the most seriously injured. He was knocked unconscious with a blow to the head and continued to be assaulted as he lay helpless on the ground. He suffered a fractured skull and had to be placed in a medically-induced coma.

The boys, from Prestwich and Whitefield, pleaded guilty to multiple offences. One pleaded guilty to one count of section 18 assault, one count of section 47 assault and two counts of section 39 assault and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The other pleaded guilty to one count of section 47 assault and two counts of section 39 assault and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

The incident began at 23:25 on Saturday 5th September as the four Jewish boys waited for a tram at Bowker Vale Metrolink stop in Manchester. They were engaged in conversation by a group of three youths on the opposite platform which turned aggressive. The three youths crossed to the other platform in order to confront the four Jewish boys.

The group of Jewish boys said that they did not want to fight but were subjected to a sustained assault which began with punches and kicks to the head and upper body of one of the victims. As the other Jewish boys stepped in to try and stop the attack, they too came under attack. They were able to flee into a nearby road but were chased by their assailants who punched Moshe Fuerst in the face, knocking him unconscious. They then kicked him as he lay prone on the pavement, before the attackers ran away. Moshe was left fighting for his life in hospital. He has since returned home, where he is recovering from his injuries.

We understand that the police logged the incident as a hate crime but it was not prosecuted as such, and the judge made clear that the conviction was not affected by allegations that the attack was motivated by antisemitism. Chief Superintendent Wasim Chaudhry of North Manchester division said: “This was a vicious and unprovoked attack which has left a young man with a serious head injury and with on-going psychological issues…At the start of this investigation Greater Manchester Police recorded this as a hate crime and investigated it as such. Greater Manchester Police take any such allegation extremely seriously. However, after our experienced detectives and senior figures within the Crown Prosecution Service examined the evidence closely, it was decided that this assault did not meet the threshold to be treated as a racially aggravated crime.”

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Scottish Jews bearing the brunt of hate crime as Police Scotland cracks down on online antisemitism

Despite the fact that there are only 5,887 Jewish people in Scotland, comprising a mere 0.1% of the population, they bear the brunt of 4% of racist crimes.

As in the rest of the UK, a growing proportion of racist crime takes place online, so we welcome Police Scotland’s use of its new cybercrime hub announced in May, to track down and arrest the operators of antisemitic social media accounts based in Scotland.

Other UK police forces could learn a great deal from this approach.

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BBC uses antisemitic caricature in Proms programme

The official programme for the BBC’s flagship Proms summer music festival contained an antisemitic caricature.

Leopold Auer was a famous Hungarian Jewish violinist to who numerous pieces of music were dedicated, including a piece by Tchaikovsky. The BBC Proms programme included Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and to illustrate it, the BBC used a caricature of Auer — Tchaikovsky dedicated his Violin Concerto to Auer but changed it to Brodsky after Auer suggested revisions. The caricature featured Auer as a ghoulish figure with an enormous hooked nose.

The caricature used may well have been licensed from the Lebrecht Library, which lists the drawing as an “antisemitic caricature”. If the BBC did indeed purchase the rights to use the image from the Lebrecht collection, it is hard to imagine that they could have missed the description of the caricature.

In response to Twitter users who demanded answers, the BBC said: “We use a range of caricatures and illustrations in our concert programmes and wanted one of Leopold Auer. We’re sorry to anyone who was offended by the image choice — this was never our intention.”

This is a mealy-mouthed half apology which does not acknowledge that the caricature is antisemitic in nature and should never have been used. The BBC has not explained how this happened or how they will discipline those involved.

Please make a complaint to the BBC and write to the press asking the BBC explain how this happened, who was responsible and how they will ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The Guardian: [email protected]
The Independent: [email protected]
The Times: [email protected]
The Daily Telegraph: [email protected]
The Observer: [email protected]
Daily Mail: [email protected]
Daily Express: [email protected]
Financial Times: [email protected]
The Sun: [email protected]
The Mirror: [email protected]

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Manchester attack: two plead guilty to violent assault on four Jewish boys which left one with a brain injury

Moshe Fuerst suffered a fractured skull and a brain injury in a violent attack in Manchester on Saturday 5th September. He and three friends (two teenagers and a 20-year-old) were wounded when they were assaulted by thugs whilst waiting at the Bowker Vale tram stop.

Forensics experts from Greater Manchester Police scoured the scene of the crime, followed by dawn arrests.

We can now confirm that two teenagers from Bury, both aged 17, pleaded guilty to assault charges at Manchester Youth Court yesterday.

One defendant pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of assault by beating, whilst the other pleaded guilty to wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating. According to Manchester Evening News, each defendant spoke only to confirm his name, address, date of birth and plea.

The court heard that the attackers shouted insults at the Jewish boys while they pursued them before the attack. Moshe was trapped in a corner and knocked out with a punch to the head. His assailant continued to kick him in the head and body while he lay defenceless on the floor. The defendants reportedly told the police that they were drunk at the time of the attack.

No further action will be taken against a third boy, also 17, who was arrested in connection with the attack and then released.

We commend Greater Manchester Police for its firm and swift response to this vile attack. We will be following the case with interest. The defendants will next be in court on 20th October.

Following intensive treatment, which included a medically-induced coma, Moshe has now been released from hospital. We wish Moshe a shana tova (happy Jewish new year) and a refuah shlema (complete recovery).

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Moshe Fuerst, Jewish teenager attacked in Manchester, out of hospital, as police arrest third suspect

Moshe Fuerst suffered a fractured skull and a brain injury in a violent attack in Manchester on Saturday. He and three friends (two teenagers and a 20-year-old) were wounded when they were assaulted by three thugs whilst waiting at the Bowker Vale tram stop.

Following intensive treatment, which included a medically-induced coma, Moshe has now been released from hospital. We wish Moshe a shana tova (happy Jewish new year) and a refuah shlema (complete recovery).

Police swooped this morning on addresses in Whitefield and Derbyshire, arresting two 17-year-olds on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.

This afternoon, Greater Manchester Police arrested a third suspect.

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Police hunting thugs who brutally attacked Jewish boys in Manchester make dawn arrests, issue urgent appeal for witnesses

Police swooped this morning on addresses in Whitefield and Derbyshire, arresting two 17-year-olds on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.

Moshe Fuerst suffered a fractured skull and a brain injury in a violent attack in Manchester on Saturday. He and three friends (two teenagers and a 20-year-old) were wounded when they were assaulted whilst waiting at the Bowker Vale tram stop.

Following this morning’s dawn arrests, Greater Manchester Police issued a call for witnesses to come forward. It is hoped that passersby may have witnessed the verbal abuse on the platform at Bowker Vale or on Middleton Road which is where the boys fled to and where the violent assault took place. Police hope that drivers on the busy road may have seen the incident.

Detective Inspector Liam Boden said: “We have had a team of officers working closely with our partners to recover and examine evidence since the offence took place, which has revealed a sustained and unprovoked attack on the victims who were waiting for a tram on the opposite platform. Detectives investigating this case will be interviewing two suspects later today, but we are still appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

“There are two distinct scenes, as we believe the victims were chased from the platform to Middleton Road and that is where the most serious assault took place.

“We would therefore like to ask anyone who may have been travelling along Middleton Road at around 11.25pm on Saturday, or anyone who believes they may have witnessed the attack, to come forward.

“Similarly, we believe the offenders then alighted the Metrolink towards Bury at around 11.35pm, travelling between Bowker Vale and Radcliffe. We know there were people on this tram and that they would have noticed these offenders travelling between carriages, as it would have been obvious that at least one of them had been involved in an assault.

“I know this crime has caused upset and anxiety in the Jewish community, particularly as this has happened just prior to the start of the Jewish High Holy Days, and I want to offer reassurance that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will do everything we can to stop it.”

Moshe Fuerst’s father Michael said: “Moshe is just your average kid who went out with his friends to enjoy a movie at the cinema. These fellows had no reason or justification for what they did. He also wants to thank everyone one for their positive words and prayers that he should get better. And he also wants to thank the GMP who are working hard to bring the attackers to justice.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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Photograph shows shocking injuries sustained by Jewish teenager beaten unconscious by antisemitic thugs

Moshe Fuerst, the 17-year-old Jewish boy knocked unconscious and beaten whilst lying helpless on the ground awoke from a coma yesterday. Fuerst suffered a fractured skull and a brain injury on Saturday in a violent antisemitic attack in Manchester. He and three friends (two teenagers and a 20-year-old) were wounded when they were assaulted whilst waiting at the Bowker Vale tram stop.

A photograph released by his father, Rabbi Michael Fuerst, shows the extent of his potentially life-changing injuries.

Greater Manchester Police forensics teams have scoured the site of the attack for clues and the force is now hunting three suspects whose descriptions have not been released.

Moshe-Fuerst-Newspaper

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Anti-Israel protesters arrested for antisemitic abuse but no action over Hizballah flags

An anti-Israel demonstration outside Downing Street today predictably degenerated as antisemitic slurs were hurled at a mostly Jewish crowd gathered to honour the Israeli Prime Minister’s visit. Police made at least one arrest and took away a man who reportedly made antisemitic comments about Jews “loving money”.

In an increasingly common sight, anti-Israel demonstrators flew the flag of proscribed terrorist group Hizballah. Hizballah is a genocidal terrorist organisation which calls for the murder of Jews everywhere. Inviting support for a proscribed terrorist group is illegal under section 13(1)(b) of the Terrorism Act. The Home Office has made it completely clear that flying terrorist flags is illegal, but no action seems to have been taken by the police.

It does not appear that the law has been enforced with zero tolerance in this case and we will be making enquiries as to the Metropolitan Police Service’s stance on the flying of terrorist flags.

This week the Metropolitan Police Service released figures showing that antisemitic incidents in London have surged by 93% in the past 12 months.

Photo: Mandy Blumenthal

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Antisemitism in London surges by 93% in 12 months as UK Business Secretary issues stark warning

Figures released by the Metropolitan Police Service showed that antisemitic incidents in London surged by 93% over the past 12 months. The figures are also broken down by borough.

Meanwhile Greater Manchester Police continues to hunt three suspects after four Jewish boys were brutally attacked at a tram station by three men. A 17-year-old boy was knocked unconscious in the attack and remains in hospital with suspected bleeding to the brain. He came out of a coma this morning. The three other boys with him, aged 18, 18 and 20, were also injured.

The new figures came as Business Secretary Sajid Javid MP delivered a speech entitled: “It can happen again: the danger of rising antisemitism”. Javid used the speech to issue a stark warning over social indifference and complacency as levels of antisemitism continue to climb year after year, saying:

“But we also need to tackle the root of the problem, the often violent extremism that is on the rise around the world. And I’m not just talking about the butchers of ISIL or Al Qaeda, thousands of miles away in foreign lands. There’s plenty of intolerance much closer to home, intolerance that is disproportionately directed at the Jewish community. Some is explicit. The hate preachers, the extremist mosques, the far-Right groups.
Some is more oblique. A search on Google produces more than half a million hits for ‘Holocaust Hoax’. Thousands more pages will tell you that a greedy Otto Frank forged his daughter’s diary in a cunning scheme to make money. Then there are the ‘dinner party anti-Semites’. Respectable, middle-class people who would recoil in horror if you accused them of racism, but are quite happy to repeat modern takes on age-old myths and slanders about Jews. Who can’t condemn the murder of Jewish children in France without a caveat criticising the Israeli government. Who demand that a Jewish American artist sign a declaration of support for Palestine if he wants to perform at a festival in Spain.

I can’t remember the last time I spoke to a Jewish friend or colleague who hasn’t, at some point, found themselves sitting awkwardly at a dinner party while a fellow guest railed against the international ‘Kosher Conspiracy’.

Together, these attitudes create a climate in which anti-Semitism is seen as ‘less bad’ than other forms of discrimination. And in that climate, the most violent extremism can take root and it can thrive. It happened, therefore it can happen again.”

Separately, figures released by football anti-racism campaign Kick It Out revealed that most of the racist incidents they recorded were antisemitic in nature. According to the figures, antisemitic incidents in football rose 14% over the past year.

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Four Jewish boys badly beaten in antisemitic attack in Manchester, teenager knocked unconscious

Four Jewish boys aged 17, 18, 18 and 20 have reportedly been badly beaten in an antisemitic attack at a tram stop in Manchester. The four Jewish boys were approached by three thugs who started verbally and physically assaulting them on Saturday night at around 23:30. The worst affected was the youngest boy, who was knocked unconscious and has been hospitalised with suspected bleeding to his brain.

Greater Manchester Police are treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime and seeking suspects for grievous bodily harm with intent. Forensics teams remained at the site until Monday morning.

Anyone with information should contact Greater Manchester Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

UPDATE 08/09/15 11:30: Moshe Fuerst is still unwell following suspected bleeding to the brain. He awoke from an induced coma this morning. His family have asked that well-wishers pray for the speedy recovery of “Moshe Ben Sharon” by reciting Psalm 121.

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Success: Antisemitic Nazi sympathiser removed from Big Brother

Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen, better known as “Tila Tequila”, has been removed from Celebrity Big Brother. Nguyen has described herself as “Hitler reborn” and has a history of antisemitic and pro-Nazi rants.

As soon as the channel announced her participation during the launch of the series, we contacted Channel 5 and asked them to explain their decision. We briefed the media and set up an online petition which hundreds of you signed in the first couple of hours. Channel 5 opened an investigation and the media shone its spotlight on the issue.

The same day, Channel 5 contacted us to explain that they hadn’t known about Nguyen’s past, and they then removed her from the programme with minimal fuss, as we and you had demanded in the petition, without her $175,000 payout.

Thanks to everyone who signed our petition, and to our media network, a woman with well-documented, nasty antisemitic views has been removed from prime time television.

Questions remain. When searching for “Tila Tequila”, the top search results include her antisemitic and pro-Nazi rants. It is hard to believe that Channel 5 and Endemol’s team of researchers, bookers, producers and commissioning editors missed this well known part of Nguyen’s background. Even her Wikipedia entry mentioned her Nazi sympathies. However, we commend Channel 5 for removing her from the programme once we brought her views to their attention.

British values demand zero tolerance for antisemitism and that is why we sought and achieved this result.

We hope that Nguyen will now be shunned by the media and look forward to her swift return from whence she came.

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UPDATE: Channel 5 “investigating” Nazi sympathies of Big Brother contestant – sign the petition

In response to Campaign Against Antisemitism’s questions, Channel 5 claims that it did not know about the Nazi views of contestant “Tila Tequila”.

“Tila Tequila”, whose real name is Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen, has a history of antisemitism. She has described herself as “Hitler reborn”, and also posted a picture (see above) on Facebook showing her dressed in hot pants holding a gun, wearing a swastika armband and Nazi uniform hat, standing in front of Auschwitz concentration camp.

In a statement, Channel 5 told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “These comments did not come to the attention of either or Channel 5 or Endemol prior to the entry of the celebrity into the Big Brother house. We are currently investigating these comments.”

We are pleased to have brought this issue to the attention of the channel and alerted them to the problem. We hope that the channel and the programme makers will now take the correct action, swiftly, and remove “Tila” from the show with minimum attention being given to her and her repulsive views. We deeply regret that things went this far. We hope that they will commit to better research of future participants, especially those with well documented antisemitic and pro-Nazi views, easily found through basic online searches.

While we wait for Channel 5 and Endemol to “investigate”, please click here to add your name to our petition demanding that this Nazi sympathiser be removed from the programme.

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Demand Channel 5 removes Nazi sympathiser housemate who claims to be “Hitler reborn” from Big Brother

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Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a petition to have an antisemitic Nazi sympathiser removed from the popular television show “Big Brother”.

The latest series of Big Brother on Channel 5 includes the participation of Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen, better known by her stage name “Tila Tequila”.

Nguyen has previously expressed her admiration for Adolf Hitler, and also posted a picture (see above) on Facebook showing her holding a gun, wearing a swastika armband and Nazi uniform hat, standing in front of Auschwitz concentration camp, where an estimate 1.1 million people were killed. Approximately 1 in 6 of the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust died at the camp.

Nguyen has written on social media that Hitler was a “special and sweet kid” who was rejected by art schools and later “bullied”. She said she similarly felt “mocked” and “rejected” when she tried to convert to Judaism in 2012. She claimed that “Hitler was NOT as bad as he was painted out to be”. Her blog entry “Why I Sympathize With Hitler Part 1: True History Unveiled” has been removed, but is still available through Internet cache sites. Nguyen has also written on Facebook that she considers herself to be “Hitler reborn” which she followed with a smiley face emoji.

Facebook has blocked Nguyen’s profile in the past as a result of her extremist  and anti-Semitic posts. She complained that she had been banned “a total of 8 times! For nothing except for maybe the fact that they are owned by the ZIONISTS!” She went on to say: “I find it quite absurd that jewbook bans me for yet another 30 days then warns me that they will delete my page totally if I do not ‘FOLLOW THEIR RULES AND BE A GOOD GOYIM!’ – Jewbook bans me constantly for nothing… the second I write a blog about how I sympathize with Hitler, I immediately get banned for 30 days AND they have removed majority of my posts. So now their jewbook shills and other mainstream media news outlets, which has now spread like wildfire, are saying that I deleted my posts!!!! I smell something fishy and it’s coming from jewbook shills!… I understand the Jewish people went through some shit too, but hey guess what?? SO DID THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO SUFFERED IN EVERY SINGLE WAR THST TOOK PLACE! You were NOT the only ones!  So please, if the rest of us can forgive and forget maybe it’s time you do also!!!”

The British public has little time for attention seeking Nazi sympathisers like ‘Tila Tequila’. Channel 5 and Endemol Shine UK ought to be ashamed of themselves for promoting such a deeply offensive and nasty person on prime time television. Her repulsive writings on Hitler, the Holocaust and on Jewish people make her a totally unacceptable participant for this programme. Channel 5 must remove her immediately from the programme, and apologise fully for their enormous error of judgement. She should then be given the exact amount of public attention she deserves: none.

Add your name to the petition to remove Nguyen from Big Brother.

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Help raise awareness of everyday antisemitism

Since last summer, #EverydayAntisemitism has been sharing the increasing number of antisemitic attacks against Jews around the world, many of which go unreported. Campaign Against Antisemitism has given the site a new design and we’d like your help keeping it up to date.

If you learn of an antisemitic attack, instead of suffering in silence and allowing some to question whether antisemitism is a real problem, you can post the details on everyday.antisemitism.org. Posts are automatically shared across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and e-mail once they have been approved.

You can get involved by sharing your experiences of antisemitism or helping to run the site.

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Performer at Edinburgh Festival reported to police for antisemitic ‘quenelle’ gesture

Alison Chabloz, a performer at the Edinburgh Festival, has been reported to the police by a concerned member of the public, after she tweeted a photo of her performing the neo-Nazi ‘quenelle’ salute outside Edinburgh Castle (see below). In a blog post, she also praised ‘research’ by Robert Faurisson disputing the use of gas chambers by the Nazis and referred readers to Ernst Zündel’s paper entitled “Did six million really die?”

Shocked festival-goers were astounded when Chabloz claimed that the backlash from those offended by her action constitutes a “smear campaign” because of her views regarding Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The quenelle is an inverted Nazi salute, a gesture involving one outstretched hand pointing to the ground with the other touching the same arm. It is widely accepted as being aimed at Jewish people. The quenelle was made popular by the controversial French performer Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala who said he would like to put a quenelle up the backside of Zionists, and believes Jews control the world to their own advantage. Last year Diedonné was banned by the Home Office from entering Britain and several of his shows have been cancelled in France amid fears that his stereotypical portrayal of Jews and mocking of the Holocaust were a risk to public order.

In 2013, French President François Hollande said of Diedonné “We will fight against the sarcasm of those who purport to be humourists but are actually professional antisemites.” The International League Against Racism and Antisemitism has called the quenelle: “an inverted Nazi salute representing the sodomy of the victims of the Holocaust”.

West Bromwich Albion striker Nicolas Anelka was banned for five matches and fined £80,000 by the Football Association for his quenelle gesture last year.

Over the weekend, Matisyahu, a Jewish American reggae artist was booted from Spain’s Rototom Sunsplash music festival after refusing to issue a statement endorsing a Palestinian state; There is no reason that a Jewish performer should be forced to make political statements before being permitted to perform at a festival. Last year the Tricycle Theatre in London refused to host the UK Jewish Film Festival, and Israeli performers withdrew from The Edinburgh Festival after threats to their safety.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has declared that the levels of Scottish antisemitism are “unacceptable” as the number of antisemitic attacks in Scotland doubled last year. In May, the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities voiced fears that some Scottish Jews were considering leaving the country.

The Edinburgh Festival has told members of the public: “The Fringe Society do not select or programme the Festival Fringe, nor do we curate or censor the behaviour or actions of performers. It is not within our remit or our open access ethos to allow or refuse performers a platform for their work that is within the law.”

The quenelle is a neo-Nazi symbol of Jew-hatred used by antisemites who claim that they oppose ‘Zionists’ but openly espouse Holocaust denial and other antisemitic views. Alison Chabloz routinely ends her tweets with ‘#quenelle’ and this latest photograph of her, along with her defence of papers questioning the scale of the Holocaust, should be of grave concern to any venue hosting her at the Festival and to Nicola Sturgeon who has rightly promised zero tolerance of antisemitism.

When asked for comment, Police Scotland said: “We would urge anyone with concerns about online content to contact Police Scotland on 101 where your report will be treated with the utmost seriousness.”

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Critics of Jeremy Corbyn dismissed as “extreme Zionists”, Labour Party to “investigate”

Critics of Jeremy Corbyn, who is frontrunner to lead the Labour Party, are being smeared as extremists who are trying to stifle criticism of Israel. Mainstream Jewry’s concerns are neither “extreme” nor anything to do with Israel. As we have written before, we are concerned both by Corbyn’s associations and his many supporters’ apparent indifference to them.

Writing in yesterday’s Independent, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown implored readers to ignore the concerns raised by “extreme Zionists” and “the forces of darkness”, writing that “the overreactions of some extreme Zionists these days is tantamount to an attempt to censor all criticism of Israel’s political and military tactics”.

Labour MP John Mann, who Chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, has complained to the Labour Party after his criticism of Corbyn resulted in a volley of abuse from Corbyn’s supporters, who called him “utter filth” and a “Zionist stooge”. Speaking to the Sunday Express, Mann said: “I have been described as a servant of the Israeli Prime Minister, a Nazi Zionist, a Zionist scumbag. This is all because I chair the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism.”

The concerns are numerous and well-founded. Hamas and Hezbollah call for a worldwide genocide of Jews but Corbyn called them “friends” and invited them to Parliament. Ra’ed Salah promoted the antisemitic blood libel but Corbyn said “Salah is a voice that must be heard” and invited him to tea at Parliament. Rev Stephen Sizer was censured by the Church for posting a “clearly antisemitic” conspiracy myth about 9/11 on Facebook, but Corbyn protested that he had been “victimised” because he “dares to speak out against Zionism”. Paul Eisen is a self-professed Holocaust denier but we still have no explanation for the photographs of Corbyn at Eisen’s events – Eisen claims that Corbyn has attended “every single one” and even donated.

In response to our previous post on the subject, we received a number of comments on Facebook and Twitter. Some were civil but dismissive, such as the response from Luke Cresswell, a Labour Councillor on Sudbury Town Council who tweeted “He’s anti State of Israel, not anti Jew”. Other comments were vulgar and antisemitic, such as the contribution from Paul Norrison in Kingston upon Hull who commented on our Facebook page: “Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister…no one gives a s*** about the Jews, just get on with your lives and stop playing the victims all of the time. Go make something beautiful, contribute to a better tomorrow instead of feeding of the guilt and horror of the past like morose Golem vampires.” We have reported Norrison’s comment to the police.

The grave concern, expressed with rare unanimity by mainstream British Jewry about Jeremy Corbyn’s associations is well-founded and must be addressed. Partisan attempts to smear and whitewash should be seen for what they are. Britain’s Jews have good reason to be worried.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism will always be apolitical and non-partisan. However, we also must not fear to call out antisemitism wherever we see it. Jeremy Corbyn hails from the far-left, and whereas far-right antisemitism is anathema to the far-left, Jewish conspiracy myths and Islamist antisemitism are often accommodated.

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Neo-Nazis cancel “White Man March” in Liverpool today after being blockaded in the left luggage room in Lime Street Station

A neo-Nazi march organised by fascist group National Action was cancelled today. The neo-Nazis had planned to march through Liverpool but in the end the 20 neo-Nazis who turned up were unable to leave the train station.

Liverpudlians turned out in force to protest the neo-Nazis’ presence, holding their own anti-Nazi marches through the city. When the National Action contingent arrived at Lime Street Station they were pelted with bananas by a crowd chanting “Master race? You’re having a laugh!” Police moved the neo-Nazis to the left luggage room for their own safety. National Action cancelled the march after the crowds in the station laid siege to the room.

A letter bearing the National Action logo addressed to the Mayor of Liverpool had previously threatened that “your city will go up in flames”, but National Action blamed the letter on an “agent provocateur”.

In June National Action vandalised the menorah in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, posting the video on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and WordPress. Despite our requests, none of these companies have removed National Action’s accounts. We understand that there have been no arrests by West Midlands Police, which is investigating.

National Action has reportedly been viewed by Scotland Yard as a potential threat to National Security. Its ‘official strategy’ documents feature photos of a smiling Adolf Hitler and masked activists performing Nazi salutes. The group has previously described itself as “the fascists your nan warned you about.” An investigation by the Daily Mirror reported that National Action was sending its members to paramilitary bootcamps, featuring knife fighting lessons. Earlier in the week, Terence Miles, who runs National Action’s training, reportedly posted a photo on Instagram of his “not entirely legal” pocket knife.

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Man arrested for antisemitic abuse and assaulting an officer, another arrested for antisemitic abuse for the third time

Last night at 1am a Shomrim patrol in Lordship Park spotted a man acting suspiciously and looking into homes. Shomrim, which has an impressive record in reducing burglary, alerted the local police. When a police officer arrived the man hurled antisemitic abuse at a Jewish man nearby. When more police officers arrived, the man grabbed at their taser gun and was arrested for racially-aggravated harassment and assaulting a police officer.

In a separate incident at 1am the previous day, a man was arrested for antisemitic abuse. The man had been spotted by Shomrim who already knew him: he has a previous conviction for antisemitic abuse and this latest incident was a breach of his bail conditions for yet another antisemitic incident. In each case, the man had been reported to the police by Shomrim, whose volunteers also testified against him in court.

Meanwhile in Scotland, the Daily Record has reported that Nicholas Goodwin of Troon was convicted of racially aggravated harassment and sentenced to six months in prison for sending a Jewish woman a photograph of a Nazi flag. Goodwin sent the photo of himself and a friend with the flag emblazoned with a swastika.

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Jeremy Corbyn and antisemites

The Campaign Against Antisemitism will always be apolitical and non-partisan. However, we also must not fear to call out antisemitism wherever we see it. Jeremy Corbyn hails from the far-left, and whereas far-right antisemitism is anathema to the far-left, Jewish conspiracy myths and Islamist antisemitism are often accommodated.

In the past week we have been approached by the Daily Mail to comment on two separate stories revealing Corbyn’s association with antisemites. We wonder why Corbyn has failed to distance himself from antisemites and in some cases has even praised them. For a prospective Labour Party leader, we would have thought that any proximity to antisemites would be toxic. Left unaddressed, it would surely prove fatal to their candidacy; not so for Jeremy Corbyn, frontrunner to become Leader of the Opposition according to recent polls.

Paul Eisen, a self-professed Holocaust denier, claims close association with Corbyn over several years and even that Corbyn has donated to his work. When confronted by the Daily Mail last week, Corbyn’s spokesman condemned Eisen’s views, but declined to comment on Eisen’s claims that Corbyn has attended “every single” one of his events and donated towards his work.

In February, the reverend Stephen Sizer, was ordered by the Church of England to stop using social media after posting an antisemitic conspiracy myth that Israel planned 9/11. While the Church said the material Sizer posted was “clearly antisemitic”, on Sunday the Mail revealed that Corbyn wrote to the Church defending Sizer, saying that he was being victimised because he “dared to speak out against Zionism”.

In April 2012, Corbyn warmly praised Ra’ed Salah, a prolific antisemite who claims that Israel planned 9/11 and who has, according to the Court of Appeal, even promoted the antisemitic blood libel that Jews bake bread using the blood of non-Jewish children. Yet Corbyn has said “Salah’s is a voice that must be heard” and publicly told Salah: “I look forward to giving you tea on the terrace because you deserve it!”

In July, the Telegraph revealed that Corbyn has accepted thousands of pounds in gifts from organisations closely-related to Hamas. This was particularly concerning following Corbyn’s 2009 speech to a conference at the House of Commons in which he said: “And I’ve also invited friends from Hamas to come and speak as well. Unfortunately the Israelis would not allow them to travel here. The idea that [Hamas] should be labelled as a terrorist organisation by the British government is really a big, big historical mistake and I would invite the government to reconsider its position on this matter and start talking directly to Hamas and Hezbollah.”

In its charter, Hamas openly calls for the genocide of all Jews: “our fight with the Jews is very extensive and very grave, and it requires all the sincere efforts… The hour of judgment shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.” The Hamas charter also rejects any form of negotiation intended to lead to a peace deal: “[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement,” it states. Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah has been quoted by the New York Times saying: “If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”

Perhaps more worrying than Corbyn’s association with antisemites is that this appears not to bother his supporters.

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Nobody attended the neo-Nazi demonstration against Jews in Finchley today

We have been watching for a month as the two dozen neo-Nazis we stopped from demonstrating in Golders Green in July tried to organise another demonstration against Jews in Finchley.

We have been in contact with the police throughout, but this time we did not have to take action to stop the neo-Nazis. They were defeated by lack of support from other neo-Nazis.

After the last demonstration, the neo-Nazis complained about “massive, negative and wholly untrue publicity” and the way that their “truthful opposition” had been “stifled”. Instead of looking like heroes, they looked like fools.

By standing firm instead of heeding calls to ignore the neo-Nazis we showed them that we are not an easy target, and we also showed the police that we will accept nothing less than zero tolerance.

It is possible that the neo-Nazis will try again. We are working with lawyers on means of crippling future attempts and also pursuing police complaints against two of their leaders.

Meanwhile, we continue our work against Islamist and far-left antisemitism as well as far-right antisemitism.

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Hertfordshire Constabulary seek man following antisemitic incident outside pub

Police are looking for a man in connection with an antisemitic incident outside the Alfred Arms on Shenley Road in Borehamwood on Friday 12th June at 11:15pm.

Two families (four adults and five children) were passing the pub when a man began rubbing his fingers together in a money gesture and made derogatory comments about “filthy rich Jews”. As each member of the families passed, he made exaggerated sneezing gestures and said “Ah Jew”.

Hertfordshire Constabulary would like to identify and speak with the man pictured as he may have information which could prove useful to the investigation. If you know the man pictured please contact PC Golding Egbuniwe by calling 101 and quoting crime reference number J1/15/2125.

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Our first birthday

It’s our first birthday. We don’t get too excited about birthdays, but to mark the occasion we have put together an updated website and also improved the way we keep in touch with you. Facebook and Twitter charge us to reach our supporters, and some of our supporters don’t have Facebook or Twitter, so now we can e-mail our updates to you. Please just click here and let us know which kinds of update you’re interested in, and how often you would like to hear from us. For those who have ‘liked’ our Facebook page, please go to our page, click on the arrow next to “Liked” and choose “Get Notifications” to make sure that we don’t have to pay Facebook to show you our posts.

In our first year, we have gone from a spontaneous protest outside the Tricycle to becoming a well-organised high-profile grassroots campaign with a rapidly-growing team of volunteers, both Jewish and non-Jewish.

At our rally at the Royal Courts of Justice we called for ‘zero tolerance law enforcement’ and these words now feature in every politician’s speech on antisemitism. Our Antisemitism Barometer survey showed how British Jews were feeling and highlighted antisemitism as a national challenge in the wake of the Paris attacks.

After launching our five-point plan to strengthen enforcement against antisemites at a meeting with the Home Secretary, Director of Public Prosecutions and Chief Executive of the College of Policing, we are now working closely with the police, CPS and the Government. We have intervened in numerous matters, without seeking publicity, to ensure that justice is done.

We have developed close links with senior journalists, helping them to better understand antisemitism in the UK and beyond through interviews, research and introductions to experts and victims. If you are a journalist or a victim willing to speak about your experiences, please do get in touch.

All this is being achieved without a single paid employee and practically no funding. We are providing a way for individuals to contribute their considerable talents to the fight against antisemitism.

We have exciting projects that cover education, outreach, awareness, training and public affairs. Our goal is to tackle antisemitism through education and enforcement, with the agility of a start-up, the expertise of established professionals in various fields and where needed, a dash of chutzpah.

Our success has been due to people like you who volunteer with us, donate to help cover our costs and respond when we ask the community to take action. Campaign Against Antisemitism was founded by members of the public who believe in the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Together we can turn the tide against antisemitism in Britain.

Thank you for being part of it.

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Teenager ordered to pay £185 for sending antisemitic tweet to Lord Sugar

A 17-year-old from Preston, Lancashire has been ordered by Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court to pay £100 in compensations, £85 in costs and complete an eight-month referral to a youth offender panel.

The antisemitic tweet called Lord Sugar an “Old Jewish c***”. Lord Sugar thanked Essex Police for “tracking him down”.

In the first six months of this year, 20% of the antisemitic incidents reported in the UK were online. It is time for the social networks to proactively seek out Jew hatred on their platforms.

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Man arrested after antisemitic attack outside Stamford Hill synagogue

Last night at 22:45 a Jewish man leaving synagogue was violently shoved by a man who shouted racist abuse at him. A Shomrim patrol followed the attacker to Amhurst Park while the police were called. The attacker was arrested for racially-aggravated common assault.

Once again, Shomrim has shown an antisemite that his actions have consequences. Shomrim groups are immensely successful at reducing crime including antisemitic crime. Shomrim patrols are manned by volunteers and work closely with the police. Nobody should ever accept racism as a part of normal life and Shomrim are a case study in how vigilance and a policy of zero tolerance can have a powerful effect.

Shomrim Stamford Hill coordinator Barry Bard said: “This behaviour is totally unacceptable. Unfortunately antisemitic incidents are happening too often. Shomrim have recently facilitated many arrests, charges and successful prosecutions in relation to antisemitic hate crime incidents, I would like to thank the Police and the Courts for taking these incidents seriously and bringing offenders to justice.”

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Violent antisemitic assaults double as antisemitic incidents increase by 53% in first half of 2015

Reported violent antisemitic assaults, including attacks using “extreme violence”, have doubled in the first six months of 2015.

The rise in antisemitic violence is part of a 53% increase in overall antisemitic incidents across the UK. The 53% rise is against the first six months of 2014, which in turn saw a 38% increase against the first six months of 2013. 2014 was the worst year on record for antisemitic incidents, although these latest CST figures suggest that 2015 could be worse still.

In London, the latest Metropolitan Police figures showed a 134% rise in antisemitic crime in the last 12 months (almost 200% in Barnet, which has the most concentrated Jewish population in the UK).

72% of antisemitic incidents go unreported, according to a study by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.

It was not possible to ascertain the ideology of the perpetrators in all cases, but more than 1 in 4 incidents (26%) referenced neo-Nazism. 7% referenced Israel, 3% referenced Islamism and another 3% referenced more than one motivation. In his speech against extremism last week, the Prime Minister identified extremism as a gateway to antisemitism.

Almost a fifth of the antisemitic incidents reported now take place online and Campaign Against Antisemitism has called on social networks to take proactive steps against antisemitic abuse. Our talks with Twitter broke down however when Twitter’s Director of Public Policy for Europe wrote in an e-mail: “Your emphasis on proactive monitoring and reporting is not compatible with our basic structure and policies as a platform. I therefore think it is not possible to take this any further.”

Social networks say it is too difficult to proactively target antisemitic abuse online, but manage to proactively target advertising audiences, proactively removing child pornography and proactively blocking copyright content. We reject those excuses and in his speech, the Prime Minister said: “Well I’m sorry – I just don’t buy that.”

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Neo-Nazis Banned from Golders Green after Campaign Against Antisemitism Rallies Thousands

Over a month ago, neo-Nazis announced their intention to hold a demonstrate against Jews in Golders Green on 4th July. It is no coincidence that they chose to demonstrate on the Jewish sabbath in the neighbourhood with the highest Jewish population in the country.

On April 18th, they demonstrated in Stamford Hill and were ignored. They identified the Jewish community as a ‘soft’ target and announced plans to demonstrate in Golders Green and elsewhere. Ignoring them made them bolder.

In response, Campaign Against Antisemitism rallied thousands of Jews and non-Jews to stand opposite the neo-Nazis in dignified defiance, unity and pride.

The neo-Nazi demonstration in Golders Green has now been cancelled following our discussions with the police and prospect of us countering in our thousands. We are therefore calling off our counter-protest.

The Metropolitan Police Service confirmed that it was our counter-protest which resulted in this success: “After carefully considering all the facts surrounding this protest and counter protest activity, including the impact on the Jewish and wider community of Golders Green, it is the assessment of the Metropolitan Police Service that the presence of these groups in the same area at the same time is likely to result in serious disorder, serious disruption to the life of the community and intimidation of others.”

The Metropolitan Police Service has therefore imposed conditions on the neo-Nazis under s.14 of the Public Order Act that require them to present themselves on a given central London pavement on Saturday where they will be kettled for 60 minutes, before dispersing on pain of arrest.

We have always said that we expected the authorities to exercise their full powers to cripple this threat to our community. The neo-Nazi demonstration has been crippled and as such we will now not be holding a counter-demonstration.

The issue was that of neo-Nazis being free to intimidate Jewish people in the heart of our community and they are no longer able to do so. The neo-Nazis have threatened to hold “flash mob” demonstrations in Golders Green in the future and we are now discussing the use of injunctions to prevent that with the Council and the Metropolitan Police Service.

Since neo-Nazis announced their plans to demonstrate in Golders Green this Saturday, Campaign Against Antisemitism pursued the twin tracks of intensive discussions with the Metropolitan Police Service and rallying thousands of people to stand opposite them on the day in dignified defiance.

Our approach has been vindicated. “Never again” means firmly standing up for our rights, in the streets if necessary, not ignoring aggressors.

For over a month our volunteers have worked tirelessly. We have held countless discussions and meetings with the various branches of the Metropolitan Police Service, Barnet Council and our government contacts. This has meant dozens of days of work and hours of work for our pro bono lawyers.

Our volunteers have simultaneously prepared for a demonstration for thousands of people in the middle of a busy road on Shabbat with huge logistical and security challenges. We have prepared thousands of placards and procured thousands of flags. We have distributed 7,500 flyers. We have contacted tens of thousands of people via social media and e-mail.

We would like to thank the dozens of volunteers who stepped forward to share this burden, allowing individual members of the community to contribute their considerable talents to the fight against antisemitism.

This neo-Nazi demonstration was an attempt to intimidate the largest Jewish community in the UK on the Jewish Sabbath at the heart of Golders Green, on the very memorial to those who lost their lives fighting Nazis.

We believe that “never again” is a call to action from our history, which is why we called thousands of Jews and non-Jews to stand together against this disgrace in dignified defiance, unity and pride.

Today’s decision by the Metropolitan Police Service is a victory for British values and we applaud their firm defence of our community.

Antisemitism is a societal disease and zero tolerance law enforcement and education are fundamental parts of the cure.

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Campaign Against Antisemitism Joins Panel to Oversee Implementation of New Measures Against Hate Crime in London

On Tuesday, 19th May 2015, Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) Chairman Gideon Falter attended the first meeting of the London Hate Crime Panel convened by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). The Panel is chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Stephen Greenhalgh, and will oversee the delivery of London’s Hate Crime Reduction Strategy. The Panel includes senior representatives of the Metropolitan Police Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Ministry of Justice and National Probation Service.

Last summer MOPAC reported that July was London’s worst ever month for hate crime, and that 95% of that hate crime was directed at the capital’s Jewish community. CAA met the Deputy Mayor soon after our rally outside the Royal Courts of Justice last August, at which we called for zero tolerance enforcement of the law against antisemitic hate crime. Soon after that meeting it was agreed that CAA would work with MOPAC to oversee specific new strategies to better enable the authorities to enforce the law against antisemitic hate crime.

The creation of the London Hate Crime Panel is a very welcome development and we were pleased with the progress made during our inaugural meeting.

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Annual Antisemitism Barometer Published

The Annual Antisemitism Barometer is the largest study of its kind. It reveals both the scale of antisemitic sentiment in Britain, and its effect on the increasingly-threatened British Jewish population.

Whilst antisemitism in Britain is not yet at the levels seen in most of Europe, the results of our survey should be a wakeup call. Britain is at a tipping point: unless antisemitism is met with zero tolerance, it will continue to grow and British Jews may increasingly question their place in their own country.

The year 2014 saw a record-breaking number of antisemitic incidents perpetrated against Jewish people and Jewish property in Britain. Antisemitism is usually most visible in Great Britain during crises involving Israel, but the sentiment behind it does not simply disappear when the crises end.

The Mayor of London’s office recently revealed that in July 2014, when fighting between Israel and Hamas peaked, the Metropolitan Police Service recorded its worst ever month for hate crime in London, 95% of which was antisemitic hate crime directly related to fighting between Israel and Hamas.

It was in response to this record-breaking wave of antisemitism that in August 2014, the Campaign Against Antisemitism organised a grassroots-led movement dedicated to identifying and combatting antisemitism of both a classical ethno-religious nature and also a political nature related to Israel.

Some antisemitic views may be totally unintentional but are no less offensive for it. Many people in the UK have simply never met Jewish people, and might have stereotypical ideas of them. This is a smaller problem which simply needs better education and discussion so that people can appreciate that, as with any minority group, Jewish people are not defined only by their religion or race. ‘Unintentional’ stereotypes should be highlighted more often, and those espousing them will be able to better understand that they are offensive.

To effectively fight antisemitism we must examine both its origins and its consequences. It is our hope that this study will shed light on both of these aspects of this pernicious form of racism, in order that we can reduce its presence in British society. Antisemitism is not a problem only for Jewish people, but for all of Britain, which must uphold its tradition of tolerance and pluralism.

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Campaign Against Antisemitism Meets with Home Secretary, Police and CPS Chiefs to Address Antisemitism

On Thursday evening, 8th January 2015, the Campaign Against Antisemitism attended a private meeting convened at the Home Office to address last year’s record-breaking number of antisemitic incidents.

Joining the Home Secretary, Theresa May, at the meeting were Home Office Special Adviser, Nick Timothy; the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders; the Chief Executive of the College of Policing, Alex Marshall; and Campaign Against Antisemitism Chairman, Gideon Falter.

The meeting was held to discuss practical ways in which the authorities and the CAA could work together to address antisemitic hate crime and marks a major milestone in the CAA’s campaign for zero tolerance enforcement against antisemitism.

CAA Chairman, Gideon Falter, proposed a five-point plan which will be the focus of the ongoing discussions between the Home Office, Police, Crown Prosecution Service and the CAA.

The key points of the plan are:

  1. Production of a quick reference guide on how to enforce the law against antisemitic hate crime for police officers and prosecutors;
  2. Strengthening oversight mechanisms within the Police and CPS to ensure that the response to antisemitism is as firm as the law will permit;
  3. Taking enforcement action against the organisers of marches and protests which become intimidatory or antisemitic;
  4. Ensuring that social networks tackle online hate crime effectively; and
  5. Formally adopting a definition of antisemitism which includes antisemitism disguised as anti-Israel political discourse.

Last summer, when antisemitism reached its highest recorded level, the CAA held a rally attended by thousands outside the Royal Courts of Justice calling for zero tolerance enforcement against antisemitic hate crime.

Since then the CAA has held a series of meetings with the government to deliver on its zero tolerance agenda, including at ministerial level, with the Home Office, Cabinet Office, Department for Communities and Local Government, Police and CPS, as well as at local authority level and with major corporations such as Twitter.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “I was very pleased to welcome Gideon Falter to the Home Office so we could discuss the response of the police and prosecutors to antisemitism and hate crime. I hope we can continue to work together to eradicate antisemitism in all its forms.”

CAA Chairman Gideon Falter said: “Britain is at a tipping point. Antisemitism must be met with zero tolerance and British Jews must feel secure in their own country. I am pleased that the government is so determined to tackle antisemitism as was evident at my meeting with the Home Secretary, Police and CPS.”

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.