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70,000 of you made your voices heard

On Sunday, Campaign Against Antisemitism, backed by major Jewish communal organisations, led an estimated 70,000 in Britain’s March Against Antisemitism from the BBC, where comedian and broadcaster Josh Howie spoke to the crowd, to Parliament Square, where they were addressed by the Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice, author and journalist Jake Wallis Simons, Campaign Against Antisemitism Chief Executive Gideon Falter and Tali, a Jewish student at King’s College London.

We were also joined by numerous peers, MPs, community leaders, Jewish and non-Jewish activists, actors and others for this important occasion.

Noticeably absent was a representative of His Majesty’s Government, despite antisemitism reaching record highs in the UK, with a shocking one fifth of British adults now holding entrenched antisemitic views – rising to a terrifying 40% among 18-24 year olds.

These statistics play out in real life. In just the past two weeks, we have seen Jews shot at with air rifles, synagogues repeatedly daubed with faeces, Jewish families rammed by racists on scooters, a threat to a Jewish nanny and the baby in her care and a swastika scrawled onto a rabbi’s house.

That is why we needed to march, and why tens of thousands of you agreed.

The March began behind the BBC on Hallam Street, stopped at Broadcasting House, travelled down Regent Street past Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus before reaching Trafalgar Square, proceeding down Whitehall and past the Cenotaph and ending with a rally at Parliament Square.

You can access photographs of the march at antisemitism.org/photos.

Where was the Government? A scandalous absence

Weeks ago, Campaign Against Antisemitism reached out to the Government, the Opposition and, given its position in the national polls, Reform UK, to send high-ranking and relevant representatives to address the Jewish community at this perilous time for British Jews and our country.

The Opposition and Reform UK obliged with the Shadow Home Secretary and Deputy Leader respectively. The Labour Government, however, dragged its feet. Last Thursday evening, we were informed that it is not the Government’s policy to provide representatives to marches and rallies – despite the Conservative Government sending Ministers to previous marches and Labour, when in Opposition, sending Shadow Secretaries of State.

Labour offered a backbench peer instead, who would represent the Labour Party. As this came at the last minute and did not fulfil our requirement for a representative of the Government – let alone a high-ranking official with a relevant portfolio – we could not accommodate this suggestion.

Note that all this took place before the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister and the reshuffle. Had it taken place after, it may have been more forgivable.

There were a number of MPs, including from Labour and other parties, marching with us, for which we are grateful, but they were not present as representatives of the Government.

The Government’s scandalous decision not to send someone to address the Jewish community at a time of the worst antisemitism in the UK in living memory will do nothing to reassure British Jews that this Government has their back or even understands the scale of the crisis.

Speeches

Comedian and broadcaster Josh Howie addressed the crowd outside the BBC, saying: “Again and again we’ve come to the BBC, pleading not for favouritism but that they do their job. That when it comes to Jews, they simply tell the truth. And each time they never change. In fact the situation has only gotten worse.”

At Parliament Square, the crowd heard first from the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who said: “These are awful times. We have seen an explosion of hatred right across the UK. Antisemitism is rife right across the UK. You will see it. You will hear it. You will feel it. Britain, wake up now.”

Next to speak was Tali, a Jewish student at King’s College London, who recounted her harrowing ordeal as a first year student, including being told: “Bitch get down”; “You’re not the messiah you think you are”; “The Zionists are actually everywhere”; “As a group, we should just band together and carry her out.”

The crowd then heard from Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, who said: “The question now it’s not whether we will thrive but will British Jews thrive here.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the crowd: “We’re here to say enough. We’re here to say no more…I am here to tell you that you are not alone. I stand with you. We stand with you. We will end this evil.”

Then the rally heard from Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice, who said: “There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that if those marches had been banned as they had in other countries, we would not have seen the increase of antisemitism in this country. We need to stand united. United as proud Britons.”

Last to take the stage was author and journalist Jake Wallis Simons, who said: “We didn’t ask for this but since October 7th, the Jews and our allies have become the conscience of the nation. Betray the Jews and you betray Britain. Betray the Jews and you betray the west. Betray the Jews and you betray yourself. With extremism raising its ugly head above societies it’s the future of the West truly hanging in the balance. Stand up for the Jews. Stand up for the west. And for the love of G-d stand up for yourself.”

The crowd was led in song by Cantors Steven Leas and Yossi Binstock, who also blew the shofar (ram’s horn), which is customary as we approach the Jewish New Year.

It is a clarion call to wake up, and no message is more important right now for Britain.

In memory of the murdered 1,200 of 7th October 2023 and to maintain awareness of those who remain captive in the dungeons of Gaza, a minute’s silence was also held.

Police chiefs’ double standards on our march

We have been used to double standards in policing for some time, but the smugness, arrogance and overreach from the Met in the lead-up to our march was staggering.

We submitted the route to the Met two months before our march, during which time they permitted a march attended by over 100,000 people to gather at the BBC on Portland Place. But when it came to our march, just as we were supposed to announce the starting location with two weeks to go, senior Met officers tried to ban us from going anywhere near the BBC, even though — or perhaps because — protesting against the constant BBC scandals is part of the purpose of our march.

All of a sudden, after nearly two years of Palestine marches that often started at the BBC, with frequent displays of criminal behaviour, the Met decided that our orderly march against antisemitism would be too disruptive to even pass by the BBC.

We had to bring our in-house lawyers and external lawyers into meetings, and eventually the Met relented, but by then we hadn’t been able to publicise the starting location for over a week and they still refused to let us gather at the BBC, which is where the next Palestine march, taking place ten days after ours, is due to assemble.

The Met’s claims that this was about avoiding disruption to “the business community” were bare-faced attempts to frustrate the purpose of our protest. The only businesses near the BBC are the BBC itself, a hotel and a church, and we had made strenuous preparations to ensure that we would not cause disruption to the hotel or the church — all of our marches in the past have been extremely well behaved.

This was a clear case of Sir Mark Rowley’s Met trying to abuse its position to censor criticism of the BBC by British Jews. That this was overseen by the Met’s head of Culture, Diversity and Inclusion makes it all the more galling.

Heads should roll. Our police have become a joke, cracking down on those who abide by the law and letting lawless mobs have the run of the city.

An arrest

Britain’s March Against Antisemitism was a peaceful protest. Unlike some other marches, where arrests are commonplace, our attendees respected the law, as we knew they would.

There was one arrest at our march, and it was of a passerby alleged to have assaulted an attendee.

We understand that this woman swore at the crowd, threw a drink at someone, and allegedly hit them.

The police have requested that the victim come forward.

If you have any information, please contact the Metropolitan Police or us at [email protected].

We have also been told of people making racist comments towards people leaving the march, including on Lambeth Bridge. Please contact us if you have information about any such incident or any other incidents that took place on Sunday.

Media coverage of the march

There has been wide coverage of the march, including in the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Metro and The Express, among others, as well as coverage on Sky News and elsewhere.

That is in addition to coverage in advance of the March that included the front page of The Sunday Telegraph and opinion editorials on LBC and in The Telegraph, as well as very wide coverage in the national and international Jewish press.

The march has also received considerable attention online, and continues to garner further coverage in traditional and new media.

One newspaper that did not provide much coverage of the march was The Times. Instead, it gave space to one of its star columnists, Giles Coren, to brag about why he did not attend.

We have written to The Times about this appalling column, which it would not have published in relation to another minority. If you also wish to write to the newspaper, you can do so at [email protected].

To those who came and kept us safe

We are enormously thankful to everyone who joined us at Britain’s March Against Antisemitism and the Jewish community organisations and non-Jewish groups like Our Fight UK, October Declaration/British Friends of Israel and Free Speech Union who backed the march.

We are also grateful to the frontline police officers, CST personnel and the volunteer Campaign Against Antisemitism stewards for keeping us safe and organised.

Supporting the march

This march was vital. It was also expensive. So many of you have donated to help cover the costs, and we are enormously grateful.

If you wish to make a contribution of any size, you can do so by clicking here.

New polling shows antisemitism in Britain has doubled in less than five years

Campaign Against Antisemitism commissioned YouGov to survey British adults’ attitudes towards Jews. The findings show that antisemitism has risen to the highest levels on record since we began these surveys.

You can read the full results here.

The survey was featured on the front page of The Sunday Telegraph.

These are the highest antisemitism figures that we have ever recorded, having doubled in less than five years. Our country is clearly at a tipping point.

Our young people are being radicalised into adopting hateful ideologies before our eyes. Britain will lose its soul to extremists unless the silent majority wakes up.

The public recognises that racism against Jewish people has skyrocketed, but the authorities have abysmally failed to rise to the occasion.

Politicians, police and prosecutors, regulators, media organisations, cultural institutions, universities, trade unions – they are all complicit in the creation of a climate of hatred in Britain. Jews may feel it most sharply now, but for all of us, this is not the country that we used to know.

When we announced Britain’s March Against Antisemitism, we believed that it was vital to make our voices heard. The turnout at the march – and the feedback that we have received from so many of you – confirmed that this feeling was widely shared in the Jewish community and among our courageous allies.

Our message was clear: Britain needs to wake up to this very real threat.

Together, we drew attention to the issue of antisemitism and extremism that is affecting British Jews most directly but is gradually wreaking havoc on the social and civic fabric of our country.

It now remains to be seen whether the authorities will finally listen.

Image credit: Omri Dagan/Campaign Against Antisemitism

Britain’s March Against Antisemitism
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70,000 join Britain’s March Against Antisemitism as antisemitism at record levels, but Government declines to attend

Today, Campaign Against Antisemitism, backed by major Jewish communal organisations, led an estimated 70,000 in Britain’s March Against Antisemitism from the BBC to Parliament Square, where they were addressed by the Chief Rabbi, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice, author and journalist Jake Wallis Simons, CAA Chief Executive Gideon Falter and Tali, a Jewish student at King’s College London.

We were also joined by Spectator editor and former Minister Lord (Michael) Gove, Shadow Attorney General Lord (David) Wolfson, Lord (Toby) Young), Lord (David) Gold, Lord (Ian) Austin, Lady Valerie Mirvis, MPs including Joani Reid, actress Louisa Clein, Maj. Andrew Fox, producer Leo Pearlman, author and influencer Dov Forman, Jewish community leaders and non-Jewish allies from Our Fight UK, and others.

Noticeably absent was a representative of His Majesty’s Government, despite antisemitism reaching record highs in the UK, with a shocking one fifth of British adults now holding entrenched antisemitic views – rising to a terrifying 40% among 18-24 year olds.

The March began behind the BBC on Hallam Street, stopped at Broadcasting House, travelled down Regent Street past Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus before reaching Trafalgar Square, proceeding down Whitehall and past the Cenotaph and ending with a rally at Parliament Square.

Comedian and broadcaster Josh Howie addressed the crowd outside the BBC, saying: “Again and again we’ve come to the BBC, pleading not for favouritism but that they do their job. That when it comes to Jews, they simply tell the truth. And each time they never change. In fact the situation has only gotten worse.”

At Parliament Square, the crowd heard first from the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who said: “These are awful times. We have seen an explosion of hatred right across the UK. Antisemitism is rife right across the UK. You will see it. You will hear it. You will feel it. Britain, wake up now.”

Next to speak was Tali, a Jewish Student at King’s College London, who recounted her harrowing ordeal as a first year student, including being told: “Bitch get down”; “You’re not the messiah you think you are”; “The Zionists are actually everywhere”; “As a group, we should just band together and carry her out.” You can read (and quote from) and watch Tali’s full story here.

The crowd then heard from Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, who said: “The question now it’s not whether we will thrive but will British Jews thrive here.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp addressed the crowd, saying: “On campuses, up and down the country like Tali told us, Jewish students are being abused and persecuted. It is immoral what is happening, and the fact that university authorities are standing by and doing nothing is shameful.” He added: “We’re here to say enough. We’re here to say no more… I am here to tell you that you are not alone. I stand with you. We stand with you. We will end this evil.”

Then the rally heard from Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice, who said: “This nation will be safe and it will be free. I don’t want a single Jewish person to feel like they have to leave. The sad truth is, we shouldn’t need to be here at all. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that if those marches had been banned as they had in other countries we would not have seen the increase of antisemitism in this country. We need to stand United. United as proud Britons.”

Last to take the stage was author and journalist Jake Wallis Simons, who said: “We didn’t ask for this but since October 7th, the Jews and our allies have become the conscience of the nation. Betray the Jews and you betray Britain. Betray the Jews and you betray the west. Betray the Jews and you betray yourself. With extremism raising its ugly head above societies it’s the future of the West truly hanging in the balance. Stand up for the Jews. Stand up for the west. And for the love of G-d stand up for yourself.”

The crowd was led in song by Cantors Steven Leas and Yossi Binstock, who also blew the shofar (ram’s horn), which is customary as we approach the Jewish New Year. It is a clarion call to wake up, and no message is more important right now for Britain.

In memory of the murdered 1,200 of 7th October 2023 and to maintain awareness of those who remain captive in the dungeons of Gaza, a minute’s silence was also held.

Background on the Government’s absence

Weeks ago, Campaign Against Antisemitism reached out to the Government, the Opposition and, given its position in the national polls, Reform UK, to send high-ranking and relevant representatives to address the Jewish community at this perilous time for British Jews and our country.

The Opposition and Reform UK obliged with the Shadow Home Secretary and Deputy Leader respectively. The Labour Government, however, dragged its feet. Last Thursday evening, we were informed that it is not the Government’s policy to provide representatives to marches and rallies – despite the Conservative Government sending Ministers to previous marches and Labour, when in Opposition, sending Shadow Secretaries of State.

Labour offered a backbench peer instead, who would represent the Labour Party. As this came at the last minute and did not fulfil our requirement for a representative of the Government – let alone a high-ranking official with a relevant portfolio – we could not accommodate this suggestion.

Note that all this took place before the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister and the reshuffle. Had it taken place after, it may have been more forgivable.

There were a number of MPs, including from Labour and other parties, marching with us, for which we are grateful, but they were not present as representatives of the Government.

The Government’s scandalous decision not to send someone to address the Jewish community at a time of the worst antisemitism in the UK in living memory will do nothing to reassure British Jews that this Government has their back or even understands the scale of the crisis.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Our country is clearly at a tipping point. These are the highest antisemitism figures that we have ever recorded, having doubled in less than five years. The findings in relation to young people are nothing short of terrifying. Our young people are being radicalised into adopting hateful ideologies before our eyes. Britain will lose its soul to extremists unless the silent majority wakes up.

“The public recognises that racism against Jewish people has skyrocketed, but the authorities have abysmally failed to rise to the occasion. This is no more evident than in the Government’s scandalous decision not to send anyone to address the Jewish community. The Government’s insulting absence today will do nothing to reassure British Jews that this Government has their back or even understands the scale of the crisis.

“Politicians, police and prosecutors, regulators, media organisations, cultural institutions, universities, trade unions – they are all complicit in the creation of a climate of hatred in Britain. Jews may feel it most sharply now, but for all of us, this is not the country that we used to know. Soon it will be too late for our country to change course.”

Photo credit: Nathan Lilienfeld/Campaign Against Antisemitism

‘Israel, what’s your final solution?’ sign during anti-Israel protest in London
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Extremism rife as antisemitism rises to highest levels on record

Campaign Against Antisemitism commissioned YouGov to survey British adults’ attitudes towards Jews. The findings show that antisemitism has risen to the highest levels on record since we began these surveys.

Here are some key takeaways from the polling:

Entrenched antisemitism

  • An astounding 21% of the British public affirmed four or more antisemitic statements, compared to 16% last year. In 2021, the figure was 11%.
  • In other words, the number of people in Britain holding what we consider to be entrenched antisemitic views has doubled in less than five years to over a fifth of the British population.
  • These are the highest figures since we began these surveys a decade ago.

Israel acts like Nazis

  • A staggering 45% of the British public – almost half of the population – believes that Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews, a record figure and a huge increase from last year’s prior record of 33%. 60% of young people believe this, and 48% – practically half – of Londoners believe it too.
  • This is one of the most common antisemitic tropes that we see. It both trivialises the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were industrially slaughtered, and insultingly accuses victims of the crime committed against them of perpetrating it.

Young people

  • Almost half (49%) of 18-24-year-olds are uncomfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel; only 18% are comfortable.
  • Only 31% of young voters agree that Israel has a right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people; 20% (one fifth) of them say that it does not.
  • 58% of young people believe that Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on our democracy, compared to 29% of the overall population.
  • Over a quarter (26%) of the British public believes that Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media, up considerably from 18% last year. Among young people, the figure skyrockets to 42%.
  • Bearing in mind that the overwhelming majority of British Jews identify as Zionists and with the Jewish state, these attitudes among young Britons have enormous implications for young Jews on campus, on social media and starting out in the workplace.

Views of Hamas among young people

  • 10% of young people have a favourable view of Hamas, and 14% of them believe it is wrong to class Hamas as terrorists.
  • Almost one fifth – a terrifying 19% – of young people believe that the Hamas attack on Israel on 7th October 2023 was justified.
  • These are deeply alarming figures. On 7th October 2023, Hamas murdered some 1,200 people in Israel – having also murdered hundreds over preceding decades by suicide bomb, rocket, bullet, knife and other means. There are few stronger indicators of the rise of extremism in our country than that such high proportions of young people believe that this attack was justified and view the perpetrators favourably.

Among party voters

  • 10% of Reform voters do not believe Jewish people are just as loyal to Britain as other British people, and 24% of them – almost a quarter – believe that Jewish people chase money more than other people do. These are higher figures than for voters of any other major party.
  • By contrast, only 7% of Reform voters say that they disagree that they would be comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel – the lowest figure for all party voters.
  • This compares very favourably to a remarkable one third (33%) of Labour voters who say that they are uncomfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel, and a majority (54%) of Green Party voters.
  • 29% of the British public believe that Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on our democracy, up significantly from 22% last year. 54% of Green Party voters and 32% of Londoners believe this. Conversely, the percentage of the overall population disagreeing that Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on our democracy has fallen from 30% to 23%.
  • Among Green Party voters, 15% believe that the Hamas attack on Israel on 7th October 2023 was justified, higher than any other major party’s voters.
  • 29% of Labour voters believe that Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media. Put differently, nearly one third of voters for the governing party believe that the Jewish state’s supporters control the media and therefore evade accountability.

Perception of antisemitism

  • Half (51%) of the British public believes that antisemitism has increased in the UK since October 2023, and 60% of young people agree. 23% of the population believe that it has stayed the same and only 2% believe that it has decreased.
  • Awareness of antisemitism is clearly high, but given the rising levels of antisemitic views, either people are not bothered by the surge in anti-Jewish racism or, more likely, they do not comprehend the nature of it and their role in the increase.

Palestine marches

  • The country is divided on the regular Palestine marches: 29% view them positively and 32% – a slight plurality – view them negatively. But a sizable majority of 69% believe that they are achieving not very much or nothing at all; only 13% believe that they are achieving something.
  • A clear majority of 58% of the British public believes that the organisers of the Palestine protests should foot the bill for them.
  • The country is evidently divided on the obsession with Palestine in our public life, but most people do not want to pay for it.

Understanding of Zionism

  • 54% of the British public admit that they do not know what Zionism means. Only one third (32%) do know.

Our survey of British adults was conducted by YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 2,245 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 1st – 2nd September 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

The YouGov survey was designed in collaboration with Campaign Against Antisemitism using the Generalised Antisemitism Scale, more on which below.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Our country is clearly at a tipping point. These are the highest antisemitism figures that we have ever recorded, having doubled in less than five years. Our young people are being radicalised into adopting hateful ideologies before our eyes. Britain will lose its soul to extremists unless the silent majority wakes up. The public recognises that racism against Jewish people has skyrocketed, but the authorities have abysmally failed to rise to the occasion. Politicians, police and prosecutors, regulators, media organisations, cultural institutions, universities, trade unions – they are all complicit in the creation of a climate of hatred in Britain. Jews may feel it most sharply now, but for all of us, this is not the country that we used to know. Soon it will be too late for our country to change course.”

Full results

Jewish people can be trusted just as much as other British people in business

  • Strongly agree 36
  • Agree 39
  • Neither agree nor disagree 20
  • Disagree 3
  • Strongly disagree 2

Jewish people are just as loyal to Britain as other British people

  • Strongly agree 29
  • Agree 37
  • Neither agree nor disagree 27
  • Disagree 5
  • Strongly disagree 2

I am just as open to having Jewish friends as I am to having friends from other sections of British society

  • Strongly agree 54
  • Agree 33
  • Neither agree nor disagree 11
  • Disagree 2
  • Strongly disagree 1

Compared to other groups, Jewish people have too much power in the media

  • Strongly agree 4
  • Agree 9
  • Neither agree nor disagree 44
  • Disagree 25
  • Strongly disagree 18

Jewish people talk about the Holocaust just to further their political agenda

  • Strongly agree 3
  • Agree 6
  • Neither agree nor disagree 25
  • Disagree 31
  • Strongly disagree 35

Jewish people chase money more than other people do

  • Strongly agree 3
  • Agree 11
  • Neither agree nor disagree 40
  • Disagree 24
  • Strongly disagree 22

I am comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel

  • Strongly agree 11
  • Agree 21
  • Neither agree nor disagree 45
  • Disagree 16
  • Strongly disagree 9

Israel has a right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people

  • Strongly agree 18
  • Agree 40
  • Neither agree nor disagree 33
  • Disagree 5
  • Strongly disagree 4

Israel is right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it

  • Strongly agree 17
  • Agree 42
  • Neither agree nor disagree 32
  • Disagree 6
  • Strongly disagree 4

Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on our democracy

  • Strongly agree 11
  • Agree 18
  • Neither agree nor disagree 47
  • Disagree 15
  • Strongly disagree 8

Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media

  • Strongly agree 8
  • Agree 18
  • Neither agree nor disagree 43
  • Disagree 21
  • Strongly disagree 10

Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews

  • Strongly agree 20
  • Agree 25
  • Neither agree nor disagree 37
  • Disagree 11
  • Strongly disagree 8

Do you think the level of antisemitism in the UK has increased or decreased since October 2023, or stayed much the same?

  • Increased a lot 15
  • Increased a fair amount 36
  • Stayed much the same 23
  • Decreased a fair amount 1
  • Decreased a lot 1
  • Don’t know 24

Since 2023 there have been regular demonstrations in many city centres in support of Palestine. Generally speaking, do you have a positive or negative opinion of these demonstrations?

  • Very positive 12
  • Fairly positive 17
  • Neither positive nor negative 28
  • Fairly negative 13
  • Very negative 19
  • Don’t know 11

Many of the protests in support of Palestine in London on Saturdays are moving demonstrations (that is, marches). Do you think that these marches should be allowed to continue, or should they be restricted to static protests?

  • The demonstrations should be allowed to continue as marches 41
  • The demonstrations should be restricted to static protests 22
  • The demonstrations should not be allowed to continue at all 19
  • Don’t know 18

How much, if anything, do you think the demonstrations in favour of Palestine are achieving?

  • A lot 2
  • A fair amount 11
  • Not very much 42
  • Nothing at all 27
  • Don’t know 17

Thinking about the cost of policing the demonstrations in support of Palestine, do you think these costs should be paid by?

  • The police or the government 26
  • The organisers of the marches 58
  • Don’t know 16

Thinking about how the police are handling pro-Palestinians demonstrations, which of the following best reflects your view?

  • The police are being too relaxed and are allowing people to break the law and get away it 27
  • The police are being too strict and are arresting or charging people who are doing nothing wrong 22
  • The police are getting the balance about right 22
  • Don’t know 28

Do you have a favourable or unfavourable view of Hamas?

  • Very favourable 1
  • Somewhat favourable 2
  • Somewhat unfavourable 15
  • Very unfavourable 54
  • Don’t know 28

From what you have seen or heard, do you think the attacks that Hamas launched on Israel on 7th October 2023 were justified or unjustified?

  • Justified 7
  • Unjustified 62
  • Don’t know 31

The British Government currently classifies Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Do you think they are right or wrong to class them as terrorists?

  • Right to class them as terrorists 65
  • Wrong to class them as terrorists 6
  • Don’t know 29

Whether you have a positive or negative opinion towards it, so far as you know, what is the actual meaning of the term “Zionist”. If you don’t know, please say so, rather than taking a guess.

  • It means someone who believes there should be a Jewish homeland in the land of Israel 32
  • It means someone who believes Palestinians should be forcibly removed from Palestine 4
  • It means someone who is a supporter of the current Israel government 3
  • It means someone who is a practicing Jew who attends Synagogue 2
  • It is another word for someone who is a citizen of Israel 1
  • None of these 3
  • Don’t know 54

The Generalised Antisemitism Scale

The twelve statements – which include six relating to Judeophobic antisemitism and six relating to anti-Zionist antisemitism – together comprise the Generalised Antisemitism Scale.

The Generalised Antisemitism Scale was devised by Dr Daniel Allington of King’s College London, Dr David Hirsh of Goldsmiths, and Dr Louise Katz (then) of the University of Derby. The research behind the Generalised Antisemitism Scale has been peer reviewed.

In particular, in developing the Generalised Antisemitism Scale, they were guided by the International Definition of Antisemitism, which Campaign Against Antisemitism, together with other Jewish communal institutions from around the world, has long campaigned to be widely adopted.

Further background on the Generalised Antisemitism Scale can be found here.

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British Jews have always stood with Britain. Now, we need you to stand with us.

Something is happening to our country. The bullies are trying to take over.

This weekend, we’re standing up to them. We need you to stand with us.

This Sunday, 7th September, march with us against antisemitism and extremism.

We set off at 13:00 this Sunday (7th September), gathering at the corner of Hallam Street and Weymouth Street, Marylebone, London W1W 6JJ.

Our first stop is the BBC, followed by other London landmarks.

There is more travel information below, and ways to get the latest updates for Britain’s March Against Antisemitism.

There are moments when we must all stand up and be counted. Given everything that is happening in our country right now, this is one of those moments.

Over the past few weeks, we have been projecting stories of antisemitism onto major institutions in Britain.

Here, you can watch videos of the projections on the BBC, the National Gallery and King’s College London, showcasing just how widespread prejudice and hatred towards Jews has become.

If we do not make our voices heard on Sunday, these trends in our country will continue to deteriorate.

Time is running out.

We Vow To Thee, Our Country

The difference between their marches and ours could not be clearer.

British Jews have always stood with Britain. Now, we need you to stand with us.

The Union Flag will be proudly flown on Sunday. Will you be flying it with us?

Everything you need to know

We are aware that there may be limited service on the London Underground on the day of Britain’s March Against Antisemitism this Sunday.

These strikes are usually cancelled, but in case this one is not, please find information in the graphic here.

More information will be available tomorrow to those who have signed up at antisemitism.org/march.

You can also get updates via our WhatsApp channel on the day of the March by clicking here.

So many of you have already signed up to march, because you rightly do not want to sit on the sidelines.

Britain’s March Against Antisemitism is an occasion not to be missed.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

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This Sunday, we will gather near the BBC and march

Britain’s March Against Antisemitism is just one week away, and we can announce the starting point.

We set off at 13:00 this Sunday (7th September), gathering at the corner of Hallam Street and Weymouth Street, Marylebone, London W1W 6JJ, on a route that we will confirm later in the week, passing the BBC and London’s landmarks.

Don’t sit on the sidelines! Come march and make your voice heard!

How do I get to the march?

If you are driving, single yellow lines and pay-by-phone bays are free to use all day on Sundays in the area around the start of the march. Please always check signage yourself before parking.

We are aware that there may be a strike on the London Underground on the day of the march. These strikes are usually cancelled, but in case this one is not, we have a plan.

Please note that the Elizabeth line and the Overground lines will still be operating as normal on the day.

Please see below for advice on how to reach the starting point in the event that the strike proceeds.

  • From Euston: You can either walk for 15 minutes or take the 205 bus.
  • From Kings Cross/St Pancras: You can either walk for 25 minutes or take the 73 bus to Euston Square and walk for 15 minutes.
  • From Waterloo: You can either walk for 40 minutes or take the 139 bus to Oxford Circus and walk for 10 minutes.
  • From Paddington: You can either walk for 30 minutes, or take the Elizabeth line to Bond Street and walk for 15 minutes or take the 27 bus to Great Portland Street and then walk 6 minutes.
  • From Liverpool Street: You can either take the Elizabeth line to Bond Street and walk for 15 minutes or take the 205 bus to Great Portland Street and then walk 5 minutes.
  • From Marylebone: You can either walk 20 minutes or take the 453 bus from Great Central Street to New Cavendish Street.

If you still need advice on how to get to the march, please e-mail us.

No Bank Holiday from Hate

As the country returned to work from a relaxing bank holiday weekend, Bournemouth’s Jewish community was still recovering from a spate of incidents that took place during the Jewish Sabbath.

Rabbi Benzion Alperowitz walked out of his home in the city only to discover that someone had daubed a swastika — the Nazi symbol of the perpetrators of the genocide of six million Jewish men, women and children — on his house.

It transpired that a number of swastikas had been scrawled elsewhere across the area as well.

In Dorset, a Jewish boy had reportedly been shot at on Shabbat with an air rifle by someone in a car, who reportedly first took the opportunity to make derogatory comments towards him. It is understood that the boy sustained a head injury. Someone has been arrested in connection with this alleged assault.

At a protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London, an activist declared: “This will become the Embassy of Palestine. There will be no peace until Israel is destroyed. We want Palestine in the 1948 borders.”

In footage from a recent Bob Vylan concert, one of its members is heard calling for “armed resistance” against the IDF and the Metropolitan Police.

During the opening ceremony of the Wheelchair Basketball Nations Cup, every member of the British team turned their backs to the Israeli players during Israel’s national anthem.

For the past two years, British Jews and decent Britons across the country have watched in horror as our country has changed.

Extremists and bigots are getting their way, radicalising children, running rampant on our streets and campuses and even spreading venom through our national broadcaster, all without fear of consequences.

Too many of our civic institutions have responded, if at all, with appeasement. Many of our police forces have chosen to give into the marching mobs, arresting those who stand up against them.

This has to be the moment that the country wakes up.

We need you with us. Stand up. March. Make a difference. Go to antisemitism.org/march.

“Is there a f***ing Zionist in this group chat?”: Campaign Against Antisemitism projects campus antisemitism back onto KCL

Today, we published a video of a Jewish student recounting dire experiences in her first year at King’s College London (KCL). The video was projected onto KCL premises.

In the projection, the student, Tali, speaks about the hostilities that she has faced on campus from fellow students, including seeing messages in a group chat reading, “Is there a f***ing Zionist in this group chat?” and “Bitch get down,” in reference to her.

She also discusses the failures of university staff to assist her when she raised concerns for her safety, including potentially victim-blaming advice such as: “It may be helpful to try to understand why the other students are behaving this way.”

She had to rely on her brother to escort her to classes.

The video ends with Tali calling on people to join her at Britain’s March Against Antisemitism on Sunday 7th September.

Tali’s experience is absolutely scandalous.

What happened to her and the University’s apparent failure to address the threatening racism that she has faced is symptomatic of the deep rot of antisemitism that has spread across campuses nationwide. Behind the façade of virtuous anti-racism rhetoric, universities have become epicentres of Jew-hatred: Jewish students are abused, Jewish societies are trolled and Jewish institutions are vandalised.

Tali’s harrowing testimony lays bare not only the hostility faced by Jews on campus, but also the staggering failures of those in positions of responsibility. KCL has failed — and it must act decisively to protect Jewish students before more damage is done.

This vicious Jew-hatred and the authorities’ failure to grapple with it is why we will be marching in central London this Sunday against antisemitism and extremism.

Watch the full video here.

As Jewish children begin to return to school and Jewish students make preparations for university, many of them – and their parents – will be thinking not only of the opportunities ahead of them but also of the risks to their welfare and safety.
That may because of hostile teachers or radical academics, but it may also be because of racist peers who have a problem with Jews (sorry: ‘Zionists’).

At Campaign Against Antisemitism, we continue to do whatever we can to defend the rights and dignity of Jewish schoolchildren and students, as well as faculty and staff who face discrimination in the workplace and in their trade unions.

Sadly, the education sector is not only not immune to the pervasive antisemitism in our society but is actually one of its principal incubators. Our work is more essential than ever.

You can contribute to the fight against this scourge by supporting our work with youth and on campuses – educating, empowering, supporting victims and holding authorities to account.

If you want to support our work in the education sector, go to antisemitism.org/donate.

Become a Student Ambassador!

One example of our work on campus is our unique Student Ambassador programme.

We are looking for Student Ambassadors for the coming academic year who can make a real positive difference to campus life.

More information is available at antisemitism.org/become-a-student-ambassador.

Places are limited and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis so don’t wait to apply!

What will you be wearing this Sunday?

Many of you have already bought our new apparel, including our I ♥️ my Jewish friends t-shirts, with some even sending us photos.

Also available in time for the march is our new United Against Antisemitism t-shirts.

How often can you walk in the centre of London and proudly declare your opposition to anti-Jewish racism without fear of strange looks or hostile reactions?

For once, this Sunday, you can.

You can get yours at antisemitism.org/shop.

It’s obvious to Australia, so why not to us?

It is obvious to the Australian Government: Iran is behind attacks on Jews in Australia.

It is obvious to the UK Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.

It was obvious to Foreign Secretary David Lammy and to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper before the election when they promised to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

So why is the IRGC still legal in the UK?

This Government must keep its word and proscribe the IRGC now, as Australia has just done, before people are hurt or killed on our streets.

Sign the petition now.

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Where will you be in two weeks?

In less than two weeks, thousands across Britain will come together to take a stand against antisemitism.

Will you be one of them, or watch from the sidelines?

We are still finalising the route of the march and other important details with the police, so if you have not done so already, please sign up to attend. We will be sending full details to everyone who has signed up as soon as they are finalised.

Bring a friend!

We are issuing you a challenge.

On 7th September, Britain will march against antisemitism. This is a moment for the people of this country to raise their voice and say “enough is enough.”

But this is bigger than one community — it represents everyone who stands against extremism and believes in Britain’s values of unity and respect.

That is why we are challenging you to bring two friends with you to Britain’s March Against Antisemitism and share a picture of you all together on the day using #MarchAgainstAntisemitism on social media. If you tag us, we may even repost it!

Is your MP joining you for Britain’s March Against Antisemitism? Invite them below!

For the past two years, British Jews have watched in horror as our country has changed.

Extremists and bigots are getting their way, radicalising children, running rampant on our streets and campuses, and even spreading venom through our national broadcaster, all without fear of consequences.

It has long been time that our representatives must do more to protect British Jews and stand up against extremism.

That is why we have invited MPs from across the country to join Britain’s March Against Antisemitism. But we need you to do the same!

You can find your MP by going to members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP.

We put antisemitism in the arts on display

Campaign Against Antisemitism has today published a projected video of Jewish artist Sharon Rose on the National Gallery, one of the few remaining safe spaces for Jews in the arts, in Trafalgar Square.

In the projection, Ms Rose exposes the hostility that she has faced in the art world for incorporating Jewish symbolism into her work. She also talks about recent controversies in the art world relating to Jews.

Below is just a sample of some of the appalling incidents in the arts:

  • The National Portrait Gallery’s display of a portrait of a high-profile activist whose social media promoted a placard equating Gaza with the Holocaust and posts attacking “the Zionist regime”.
  • A portrait comparing the Prime Minister of the world’s only Jewish state to Adolf Hitler, which was displayed at The Other Art Fair, presented by Saatchi Art.
  • The Royal Academy’s display of someone holding a sign that misleadingly implied that most Jews are opposed to Israel.

The National Gallery has been an exemplar within the art world, and it has become one of the few safe spaces for Jews in the arts. That is why we chose to project our image onto this iconic building: to highlight its example and to call on others to follow suit.

Watch the full video here.

Somehow, being Jewish has been made politically controversial, as if Jewish identity were just a matter of opinion.

For all that the art world boasts of celebrating diversity, its inclusivity too often does not extend to Jews.

This issue cannot continue to go unaddressed.

If the art world insists on elevating voices hostile to Jews while sidelining Jewish artists, then we will ensure that Jewish identity is given prominence.

That is why we encourage everyone to join us on Britain’s March Against Antisemitism on Sunday 7th September.

Sign up at antisemitism.org/march.

Victory for Niyak

Last September, Niyak Ghobani held his now-famous sign which read, “Hamas Is Terrorist”.

He was arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace. However, while in the back of the police van, he was de-arrested and then arrested again for allegedly assaulting two police officers who were on top of him during his arrest.

He was held in a cell until 4:00 the following morning, when he was then interviewed under caution for five minutes. He was not shown any evidence.

Last week, he finally faced trial at City of London Magistrates’ Court where he stood accused of “assaulting emergency workers”.

The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence in relation to one of the alleged assaults. It maintained that it would still prosecute Niyak over the other officer, who told the court that Niyak had assaulted him. This claim was then comprehensively debunked and contradicted by police footage, which led to the Crown’s case falling apart completely.

We are pleased that the charges — which should never have been brought — against Mr Ghorbani were eventually abandoned.

We are proud to have supported Mr Ghorbani’s stand for justice and we will continue to support those who defend British Jews and defiantly stand up to the mob by calling Hamas and Hizballah exactly what they are: proscribed terrorist organisations.

Should you require free legal assistance over an incident relating to antisemitism or a wrongful arrest while standing up to extremists, you can contact us at [email protected].

This is Britain, 2025

Many of you would have seen disturbing footage of a woman appearing to drive past a group of Jewish people – including young children – swearing and shouting “Free Palestine” whilst giving them the middle finger.

It is understood to have taken place last week on Leicester Road in Salford.

If you have information about this incident, please contact us at [email protected] or Greater Manchester Police.

Elsewhere, in London, a man was reportedly spotted carrying a Hizballah flag during the Hussaini Islamic Association annual march from Edgware Road to Paddington Green on 16th August.

Hizballah is a proscribed organisation. Anyone expressing support for it, contrary to section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, commits a criminal offence and must face the full force of the law.

If you have any information about the man in the footage below, the Metropolitan Police have asked those with information to quote CAD5235/17Aug.

Become a Student Ambassador!

We are looking for Student Ambassadors for the coming academic year.

Let’s make a difference to campus life in the UK.

Help us expose.
Help us report.
Help us support.

Places are limited and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis so don’t wait to apply!

Many of you have already bought our new t-shirts ahead of Britain’s March Against Antisemitism.

Whether you want to show your Jewish friends some love, or simply say that you stand united against antisemitism, we’ve got you covered!

Get yours whilst stocks last at antisemitism.org/shop.

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Where the money is going

Support for Palestine Action and Hamas. Waving the flag of the Taliban. Rants about Zionist control.

The Metropolitan Police Service was out in force on Saturday, having been given notice by us and others that activists were planning to try to overwhelm the justice system with support for proscribed terrorist organisation Palestine Action.

Further officers from police forces across the country were brought in, and at least 532 arrests were made. It will now be up to Attorney General Lord Hermer to decide whether to bring prosecutions.

Volunteers from our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit captured images and footage from the scene.

This was Saturday in London.

Our Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit has also obtained an audio recording in which nurse Leigh Evans from Wales, who was arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action on Saturday, claims that an officer from Counter Terrorism Policing thanked him for his activism and expressed solidarity with his support for the proscribed terrorist organisation.

The police must immediately and transparently examine whether an officer expressed solidarity with someone arrested for allegedly showing support for a proscribed terrorist organisation.

If so, this would represent gross misconduct on the part of the relevant officer, who must obviously be dismissed from their position and criminally investigated.

We have contacted the Metropolitan Police Service, which says that it is investigating.

The Metropolitan Police Service is losing 1,700 police officers due to lack of money and closing eighteen police station front counters across London.

Why doesn’t it have the money?

Could it be because it’s regularly having to pay for hundreds of extra police officers, bussed in from all over the country, to arrest entitled terrorist supporters in sunny London? Could it be because these protests have cost upwards of £60 million so far?

How have we got here?

There are a number of reasons, but among them is the fact that two successive governments have allowed Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to make a mockery of public order legislation, appeasing the mob and emboldening extremists who are now ready to shout their support for proscribed terror groups in the faces of frontline officers.

If the police had used their existing powers from the start, the Government wouldn’t have had to rely on terrorism legislation as the last resort to get police chiefs to do their jobs.

Ordinary citizens are paying the price for this monumental failure of leadership with fewer bobbies on the beat, to say nothing of the unprecedented levels of antisemitism and extremism that have severely impacted the Jewish community and transformed our country into something almost unrecognisable.

If you agree with us that this is intolerable, make your voice heard. March with us on Sunday 7th September.

How appeasement always plays out

Writing in The Telegraph, our Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, explains that it should be no surprise that the Palestine fanatics responded ungratefully to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s threat to Israel to recognise a Palestinian state because this is “how appeasement always plays out; it is a bottomless pit. Give an inch and they’ll take the country.

“It is no good proscribing Palestine Action unless the Government is willing to tackle the rest too, from the bloodcurdling Islamist sermons, to the terrorist-supporting marchers, to the radicalisation of our young people. And they cannot hope to succeed at any of that whilst playing to extremists at home with inflammatory foreign policy gestures relating to a conflict thousands of miles away in which Britain is totally irrelevant.”

You can read the full opinion editorial here.

The impact of Bob Vylan on antisemitic incidents

More than a month has passed since Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, where one of its members incited the crowd with the chilling chant, “Death, death to the IDF”.

British Jews are still feeling the consequences.

CST has said that the highest number of antisemitic incidents reported so far this year occurred the day after that performance, with many directly linked to that chant — and it’s still going on.

There can be no justification for directing this call for death and destruction at a Jew trying to get around London on the Tube.

Our Chief Executive Gideon Falter spoke to TalkTV about the radicalisation of British youth.

Do you love your Jewish friends?

Elie gave out free ‘I ❤️ My Jewish Friends’ t-shirts in London, but there was one simple rule: you only get one if you oppose antisemitism.

Straightforward, right? Not for everyone.

Watch what unfolded here.

If you love the ‘I Love My Jewish Friends’ t-shirts in Elie’s latest video, you can get yours at antisemitism.org/shop.

Get them in time for the March on Sunday 7th September!

Men arrested for driving through Jewish neighbourhood firing water guns at Jews

Two men who published footage appearing to show themselves driving around and targeting Jews with a water gun, with Hava Nagila playing in the background, have been arrested by Greater Manchester Police.

The force has arrested two men, aged 26 and 36, on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault relating to this incident.

Harassing Jewish people is not a prank but antisemitic abuse. Allegedly doing so from the comfort of your car is particularly cowardly.

We are also aware that this is not the first time that one of these men has allegedly targeted Jews for videos on social media.

We would like to thank Greater Manchester Police for taking swift action. This is how it is done.

High Court judge on inflammatory activist Mohammed Hijab: “His evidence, overall, is worthless”

“I am satisfied that he lied on significant issues, with the consequence that his evidence, overall, is worthless.” So says Mr Justice Johnson at the High Court in respect of the inflammatory activist Mohammed Hegab (known as Mohammed Hijab).

Mr Hijab humiliatingly lost a libel case that he himself brought against The Spectator and author Douglas Murray.

The judge listed a number of issues on which Mr Hegab apparently lied to the court. Our lawyers are examining the implications of this finding.

Here is just one example that the judge raised:

“On 22 May 2021, the claimant went to Golders Green with Ali Dawah and two camera operators. Mr Dawah subsequently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, entitled ‘Muslims confront radical Israelis.’ The video shows the claimant and Mr Dawah standing on a pavement. There are Jewish children a short distance away. The claimant and Mr Dawah are standing next to a van. On the side of the van is a large video screen which displays a series of images (approximately six) in a loop. Some of the pictures appear to show dead children in Gaza. One apparently shows Jewish prisoners in a second world war German concentration camp with the words ‘Did we not learn from the Holocaust?’ The claimant and Mr Dawah seek to engage passersby in conversation about Israel. Within a short period of time, police officers arrive. A passerby, walking with children, says ‘you can’t ask me any questions.’ Mr Dawah follows the group, asking them questions about whether they support Israel. Other passersby cross the road, apparently to avoid the claimant and Mr Dawah. The claimant and Mr Dawah say they only wish to engage in discussion and criticise their disinclination to engage. The claimant asks, ‘Do you condemn the killing of children’ and then, when there is no response, says ‘The silence is deafening.’”

You can watch the incident here.

After hearing Mr Hijab’s evidence, the judge later concludes: “I am satisfied that he lied in respect of the event at Golders Green.”

The judge explained: “The video shows that the claimant was using the van as a prop. When this was put to him, he denied it: ‘How could I use it? It’s not mine… it’s not my van; it’s nothing to do with me… I didn’t even know where that van came from.’ Later he said (in respect of the images displayed on the van): ‘I don’t know anything about what is going on the van.’ The denial that he was using the van as a prop, and his assertion that the van had nothing to do with him, was untrue. The claimant was indeed using the van as a prop to provoke passersby and to elicit a reaction. That is all demonstrated beyond argument from the video evidence.

“The claimant also said that he was not, at the time, aware of the Holocaust image. Again, that is not credible. He was standing in front of the van for a substantial period of time both at Golders Green and at the BBC, and this was one of a relatively small number of images that were shown in a loop. Although, for most of the time, he was not looking directly at the van, he was clearly aware of it, and he was referring to the imagery that was displayed on it…

“A video of a subsequent interview in December 2021 shows that by that point the claimant was certainly aware of the Holocaust image and the fact that it had been displayed on the van at the Golders Green event. The claimant accepts as much. However, in his Reply, served in May 2024, the claimant pleaded: ‘[T]he Claimant is unaware of whether there was at any time a display of “images of the Holocaust” on the van.’ This is untrue…

“The claimant’s evidence that he attended in good faith to engage in a debate with ‘Zionists’ is not credible. His conduct was grossly offensive and disingenuous. It was designed to cause an adverse reaction and to elicit material for his social media channels…”

Untrue, lies, not credible, worthless.

This is the High Court’s assessment of Mohammed Hijab’s evidence.

The court saw through his cowardly attempts to downplay his involvement in an incident (among others) in which he went to a heavily-Jewish neighbourhood on the Sabbath and tried to provoke Jews with images that compared Israel to Nazis, in breach of the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism.

Mohammed Hijab: the man whose testimony is “worthless”.

Become a Student Ambassador!

We are looking for Student Ambassadors for the coming academic year.

Let’s make a difference to campus life in the UK.

Help us expose.
Help us report.
Help us support.

Places are limited and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so don’t wait to apply!

We were proud to partner with groups from across and beyond the Jewish community to march in London yesterday for the release of innocent hostages being held captive by antisemitic, genocidal Hamas terrorists.

We were united in calling for the UK to focus all of its diplomatic pressure on securing the return of the hostages, of whom 50 still remain in captivity.

The situation for the hostages is absolutely desperate. The war would end tomorrow if Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad would release the hostages, and if the British Government is going to get involved at all, it must be to apply pressure to Hamas and its allies to release those being held, not reward them by recognising a Palestinian state.

Let them go.

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Prime Minister announces Britain is to recognise a state of Palestine

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire.

In a statement, he said: “So today, as part of this process towards peace, I can confirm the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli Government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two state solution.”

He did not appear to impose any conditions at all on Hamas.

This was then confirmed in the subsequent days by the Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, who explained why UK policy is to appease Hamas and pressure Israel: “Hamas is a terrorist organisation and we don’t put conditions on them because we don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

In other words, because Hamas is a terrorist organisation, the British Government will not put conditions on it, whereas because Israel is an ally, it will threaten it with an ultimatum.

That is some warped logic.

Hamas, which murdered 1,200 people in cold blood and abducted hundreds of innocents, will be rewarded with recognition regardless of whether or not it releases the hostages.

Any Hamas terrorist listening to the Prime Minister or the Business Secretary will have clearly understood that they need do nothing at all to receive their reward in September. Indeed, a senior Hamas official has welcomed the announcement, concluding that “International support for Palestinian self-determination shows we are moving in the right direction” and that “victory and liberation are closer than we expected”.

Two successive governments have now pledged that they would do everything possible to secure the release of the hostages. The events of this week have shown just how hollow those promises have been. Representatives of the families of British hostages have, following a meeting with officials, effectively confirmed that the Government has severed any connection between the release of the hostages and its plan to recognise a state of Palestine. As the representatives put it, the Government’s so-called Vision for Peace may well involve Jewish hostages continuing to rot in Hamas dungeons.

Our Prime Minister’s declaration is morally indefensible.

There are still hostages held in torturous conditions in Hamas dungeons in Gaza. Were they released, there would be a ceasefire immediately, as Israel and the United States have repeatedly said.

Sir Keir Starmer should be saying that he will take the issue of Palestinian statehood off the table if the hostages are not returned by September or sooner. Instead, he has decided to brandish recognition of a Palestinian state as a threat against the world’s only Jewish state as it seeks to retrieve the hostages still held nearly two years after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

This announcement sends the worst possible message: that mass murder, rape and hostage-taking are legitimate paths to diplomatic gain. This is not a step toward peace; it is a dangerous precedent. This is not about justice, peace or a negotiated two-state solution. This is about appeasement, and it will only embolden extremists, including Hamas, who now know that they need only hang on until September — holding the hostages and looting aid — to receive their reward.

Recognition of a Palestinian state should never be wielded as a political weapon. Doing so in the aftermath of an antisemitic pogrom is not only reckless: it is shameful.

“Smash the Zionist terrorist state!”

Footage showed Palestine protesters in our nation’s capital last week chanting: “Smash the Zionist terrorist state!”

80% of British Jews consider themselves to be Zionists; only 6% do not.

Other hideous slogans seen and heard included: “Zionism, terrorism!”; “This is your Holocaust,” in an apparent reference to Gaza; “Resistance isn’t a crime”; and “Deaf to the IOF [sic]” in reference to a recently popularised chant against the IDF.

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

Meanwhile, thousands of Palestine Action supporters are reportedly planning to flout terror laws in a coordinated attempt to overwhelm the police this weekend.

The plot, which we have been closely monitoring, by supporters of the terrorist organisation Palestine Action puts the lie to the common belief in Britain that terrorism cannot be popular.

Not only are Palestine Action and its tactics of sabotage and wanton destruction, criminal damage and intimidation of the Jewish community more popular in Britain than anyone would like to admit, but after over a year and a half of such limited repercussions for extremists in our country, what reason do they have to fear the state or indeed a society whose cultural and civic institutions tolerate and in some cases even appear to celebrate their conduct?

One of the organisations involved in this plot is Defend our Juries, whose name was attached to briefing documents circulated in advance that we have seen. The group seems to have made it a priority to encourage people to express support for Palestine Action, which is illegal.

We have reported the group to Counter Terrorism Policing and the Metropolitan Police, and they must now take immediate steps. Inaction sends a dangerous message about enforcement of our laws and broadcasts that extremism has no consequences. The way to deter large-scale flouting of the law is to enforce it against those organising the activism.

If the police are overwhelmed, we have the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, to blame. He has devoted his tenure as Britain’s top policeman to emboldening extremists. They believe that they have nothing to fear from him. He has given them every reason to think so.

It is past time to make them think otherwise.

Caprice: “I don’t recognise this country anymore.”

Supermodel Caprice Bourret has said that she has removed her mezuzah from her door out of fear for her safety.

“I don’t recognise this country anymore. Nobody should feel afraid or intimidated because of their religion. The whole concept is bizarre to me, but it’s happening right now,” she said.

Her experience of being Jewish in London illustrates just how bad antisemitism is in the UK right now.

Only one-third of British Jews believe that Jews have a long-term future in the UK, according to our representative polling.

Britain is losing its soul and losing the plot. This country needs to wake up urgently.

Join us and the thousands who have already signed up on 7th September in Central London for Britain’s March Against Antisemitism.

Sign up now at antisemitism.org/march.

The Express replies to Campaign Against Antisemitism over debunked ‘Madonna and child’ photograph

A clickbait image that went around the world before landing on the front page of The Express and being cited by numerous major media outlets across the world has now been debunked.

The child in this harrowing image is not suffering from malnutrition but from a genetic disorder, which is the cause of his gaunt appearance, as the researcher David Collier uncovered.

Real journalists would have investigated that before running it – but real journalists are very few and far between these days, especially when it comes to reporting on the Jewish state.

We wrote to The Express calling for a prominent retraction and apology.

The newspaper has a duty to investigate and verify its stories prior to publication—a basic standard of professional journalism. That duty becomes even more important when publishing emotive and potentially misleading images of minors in order to attract reader attention.

A clarification was added to the online article noting the child’s pre-existing health issues. However, this was a later and insufficiently prominent amendment that fails to undo the damage caused by the original presentation. The clarification states that the child “was also suffering” from these issues—wording that implies other causes for the child’s condition. The implication is that the child’s physical condition has somehow been affected by the war in Gaza, but no evidence is presented to explain why this is so in light of the revelation of his pre-existing condition.

We wanted to know on what basis The Express claims that the child was suffering from anything else and how the image supports the newspaper’s original contention.

Such misreporting on Israel has a severe impact on British Jews, 92% of whom believe that media bias against Israel fuels persecution of Jews in Britain, according to our representative polling.

Instead of taking accountability and issuing a proper apology, The Express came back to us with the following: “The attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7 were unequivocally condemned and we fully acknowledge the anguish felt in Israel in their aftermath. Equally, we have a journalistic duty to report the reality in Gaza, where independent coverage is scarce and civilian suffering is widespread. It was with this in mind that we chose to publish images of Muhammad, a young boy, and his mother. Their story was intended to highlight the human cost of the conflict and to serve as a reminder that the suffering must end on both sides. The decision was not political but humanitarian – a call to recognise the devastating toll of war, particularly on children. Too many have died; too many continue to suffer.

“Subsequent to publication, we were informed that Muhammad had pre-existing neurological and muscular conditions. While this adds context, it does not lessen the tragedy of his situation. We remain committed to covering attacks on Israeli citizens with the same seriousness and visibility as events in Gaza. Our role is to provide accurate, compassionate reporting wherever lives are affected. At its core, our message is simple: The lives of innocent Israeli and Palestinian citizens must be spared.”

This misreporting on Israel has a severe impact on British Jews. That does not mean that Israel should not be covered in the news; it simply means that it should be covered accurately. After over a year and a half of this war, we have yet to see that happen.

In the meantime, the Jewish community is suffering the worst levels of antisemitism in living memory – enabled, it has to be said, by the press.

A tale of two New York newspapers

The image of the child went around the world, including landing on the front page of The New York Times, which subsequently issued a correction for the use of the photo.

It is notable how, barely a week apart, one major New York newspaper essentially ran a fake photo on its front page while its tabloid rival, the New York Post, ran a real one.

Is the media spreading antisemitism?

According to 92% of British Jews, media bias against Israel fuels persecution of Jews in Britain.

How widely is that view shared?

Elie hit the streets to find out more. Watch here to hear more.

Is the International Definition of Antisemitism under threat at Edinburgh University?

Academics at the University of Edinburgh have attacked the International Definition of Antisemitism in a recently published review.

The report, titled ‘Confronting the University of Edinburgh’s History and Legacies of Enslavement and Colonialism’, reads: “The IHRA definition violates academic freedom and freedom of speech by framing any criticism of Israel’s policies of settler-colonial dispossession driven by state racism as a form of antisemitism.”

The International Definition of Antisemitism, which was adopted by the University in 2020, can be found in full at antisemitism.org/definition. There is nothing in the Definition that supports the contention of the academics’ claim.

How the Jews – who are most affected by definitions of antisemitism – managed to be shoehorned into such a report is itself indicative of the times.

We have previously published a note on the relationship between the Definition and Freedom of Expression under the law, which can be found at antisemitism.org/universities/#freedom-of-expression.

Most brazenly, the authors of the report recommend that the University drops its adoption of the Definition, and, sickeningly, they view this step as part of a “commitment to equality, diversity and anti-racism”. That is about as clear an indication as one can find that some people simply do not seem to believe that Jews merit equality or inclusion and do not need to benefit from anti-racism initiatives.

A student at the University told us: “I am deeply upset and worried by the Review’s suggestion to un-adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Since 7th October, Jewish students on campuses across the UK have faced unprecedented levels of antisemitism, and many university campuses already feel unwelcoming and unsafe for Jewish students to freely express their identity. Un-adopting IHRA would stop Jewish students from calling out antisemitic behaviour. It would invalidate the real lived experiences of Jewish students, and deny us the right to be believed when we call something out as unacceptable. I am worried that un-adopting IHRA is a slippery slope where in the future, Jewish voices at the University of Edinburgh will be silenced in the name of freedom of speech.”

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

Get involved in the fight against campus antisemitism!

We have two incredible opportunities for students and recent graduates who want to join the fight against campus antisemitism.

The first is our paid School and Campus Educator, a position for up to eight months starting in September 2025.

For more information and to apply, please visit antisemitism.org/jobs.

The second opportunity is our Student Ambassador programme.

We are looking for superb Student Ambassadors for the coming academic year to help make a difference on campus life in the UK.

You can apply now at antisemitism.org/become-a-student-ambassador.

Places are limited and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so don’t wait to apply!

An audience member disrupted a recent Regina Spektor concert in Oregon by shouting “Free f***ing Palestine!” at the Jewish musician mid-performance.

The musician’s family fled antisemitism in the Soviet Union, one of countless Jewish families forced to uproot their lives to escape racist hatred.

She responded calmly and poignantly: “You’re just yelling at a Jew.”

Her response shines a light on the centrality in the ‘Free Palestine’ movement of simple, old-fashioned anti-Jewish harassment and hate. Yelling at Jews doesn’t change things in the Middle East, release hostages or bring peace any closer.

Let’s stop pretending that those who shout these slogans are peace activists. They are not.

All they’re doing, as Ms Spektor so succinctly put it, is “yelling at a Jew”.

If you are fed up of Jews being yelled at by self-described ‘peace activists’, make your voice heard: March with us on Sunday 7th September.

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In cafés and onstage, on our streets and campuses, on television and online, hate is all around us, and we are responding

This weekend has showcased just how desperate the situation is for British Jews – and all Britons who believe in law and order, decency and tolerance – and has underscored to us at Campaign Against Antisemitism why what we do is so important.

It is hard to know where to begin.

Assault on Charedi man

We were alerted to reports of a man who chased a Jew down the street shouting “Free Palestine” in what was an act of brazen antisemitism.

Apparently some see a Jewish person and think that, because they are Jewish, they are fair game to harass in the name of ‘freeing Palestine’. Others, clearly not fearing any repercussions, will actually act upon their demented impulse.

Campaign Against Antisemitism exists to ensure that they do face repercussions.

We offered a reward for information leading to the identification and conviction of the perpetrator. Already on the same day, we were contacted confidentially by a member of the public with a tip as to the identity of perpetrator.

Our Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit has now verified the information provided to us. It is our intention to ensure that the person responsible for this brazen act of antisemitism faces the full force of the law.

If you have information regarding this incident, including information about the perpetrator, please contact us confidentially at [email protected].

This is the true face of Palestine protesters.

*See antisemitism.org/terms

Attack at kosher café

We received footage of an attack on Jewish customers at a kosher restaurant in central London.

We helped to publicise the incident and understand that police have made an arrest and are reportedly treating this as a hate crime. Those responsible for any attack must face the full force of the law.

Meanwhile, in Manchester, we learned that a man believed to be leaving an Oasis concert was reported to police after a Jewish man was verbally abused.

At approximately 21:45 last night, a topless man, believed to be drunk, came to the entrance of a kosher restaurant on Bury Old Road and began harassing customers, all of whom were identifiably Jewish.

The man then allegedly started commenting on customers being Jewish and is understood to have mentioned “bad Jews in Israel” before demanding to know what the views of the customers were on the conflict. We understand that this made those in the restaurant feel incredibly uncomfortable. Backing away from the door after being approached, he then shouted “Free Palestine!”

Nearby officers at the scene were made aware of the alleged assailant. We are in touch with the victim and offering support.

Our polling shows that fewer than half of British Jews (43%) feel welcome in the UK. With incidents like these, is it any wonder?

Even the opera is not immune

At the curtain call for a performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Royal Opera House in London, a member of the cast unfurled the flag of the Palestinian Authority onstage.

It is so typical of the narcissism of some of the Palestine crowd that they hijack the last night of an enormously successful production at one of the world’s most famous opera houses and try to make it about their performative politics. Other members of the cast who had worked so hard must have wondered why people in the audience started to boo during their curtain call, as an incensed stage manager tried to grab the flag.

The Royal Ballet and Opera has denounced what happened as “a wholly inappropriate act”. We completely agree.

We understand that the performer was a freelancer and that this was their last night on stage. If that’s the case, good riddance.

This isn’t about freeing Palestine. This is about an attention-seeker craving even more of the spotlight.

Brits trying to enjoy an evening out shouldn’t have to worry about whether fanatics obsessed with the world’s only Jewish state may try to dominate the night.

“Zionist Holocaust” on London’s streets

On Saturday, Palestine Action’s supporters were out in force, on a day with over 100 arrests.

Masked thugs took over the streets in London and towns around the UK once again, firing flares, shouting “f*** your Jewish state” at Jews, and smugly goading officers, daring them to do something. Thankfully, they did.

Police made over 100 arrests. 55 were arrested in London on suspicion of supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation, with a further sixteen arrested in Manchester, and seventeen in Bristol for the same offence. Another ten were arrested at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s march in London, including for a racially aggravated public order offence, and for breaching Public Order Act conditions.

Meanwhile, walking around Central London parading a sign about a “Zionist Holocaust” is abhorrent and disgraceful.

Some six million Jewish men, women and children were murdered in the Holocaust, representing around one third of the world’s Jewish population. 80 years later, the Jewish population has still not fully recovered. There is no comparison to be made.

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

Extremist rhetoric has no place on our streets.

If you see such rhetoric, contact us at [email protected].

Show your opposition to what our country is becoming: March with us on 7th September

Since the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, the thuggery and performative nature of this movement have become increasingly clear. It seems pretty obvious to us that Palestine Action smashes up Jewish businesses and wrecks RAF aircraft because they hate Jews and hate Britain, so their supporters cannot then claim to be persecuted peaceful protesters advocating for an organisation that is meek and harmless.

If this were about foreign conflicts, they would have spoken up against the massacre of Druze in Syria this week, but they were silent. Why? Because they are extremists, obsessed with Jews, the Jewish state, and intimidating and radicalising here on the streets of the UK.

In almost two years, they have yet to influence anything thousands of miles away in the Middle East, but they are having an enormous impact on the lives of ordinary law-abiding people here in Britain.

We welcome the robust action from the authorities. However, those arrested this weekend must face the full force of the law, not be released to take over our cities again.

The police action that we are seeing now should have happened nearly two years ago when the Palestine extremists first began their campaign of intimidation, gaslighting the British public by labelling their thuggery as “peaceful”. But it is still too little, too late.

The constant protests, masked mobs, vandalism, glorification of terrorism, and open hatred of Jews that we have seen week after week must end. They were given an inch, and they’ve now taken the country. Enough is enough.

On 7th September, we will be in Central London for Britain’s March Against Antisemitism, demanding action. Join us.

Sign up now at antisemitism.org/march.

The BBC is still trying to defend itself

Video leaked this week of Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News, appearing to downplay the scandal of licence fee money going to the family of a Hamas official whose son narrated a BBC documentary about Gaza.

In the footage, she sought to emphasise that the official in question – a deputy minister in the Hamas Government – was supposedly a member of Hamas’ so-called ‘political wing’.

Notwithstanding that the artificial distinction between Hamas’ military and political wings is nonsense (as if the Nazi Government was somehow more palatable because it wasn’t the SS), both ‘wings’ are proscribed by the British Government, and providing support or financial benefit to either is equally unlawful.

Isn’t it funny how now it’s so “important to remind people” of this official’s precise role, when it wasn’t important at all in the so-called documentary itself.

The BBC is still trying to play down this scandal. There is always an excuse.

This is why we said that the BBC’s internal report on the scandal almost read like the Corporation was trying to exonerate itself – and this is further evidence.

Ofcom, which is now investigating, should take into account the broadcaster’s institutional inability – as we have seen time and again from the BBC – to accept its failings.

Does the public trust the BBC?

According to our polling, 92% of British Jews rate the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish interest as unfavourable.

Elie hit the streets to see what the public thinks. You can listen to what they have to say here.

On the rare occasion the BBC does the right thing, Channel 4 will make up for it

It would appear that a producer of a Gaza documentary axed by the BBC (a different Gaza documentary to the one narrated by the Hamas official’s son), but then aired by Channel 4, is someone who celebrates antisemitic terror attacks that murder Jews.

Osama Al Ashi was one of two Gazan producers working on the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was made by Basement Films, an independent production company. The film had been commissioned by the BBC, but the Corporation, reeling from the other Gaza documentary fiasco, decided that broadcasting this other film “risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC”.

Channel 4 then acquired the film, declaring it had carried out “thorough fact checking and verification” to ensure that it met its editorial standards and the Ofcom broadcasting code. The documentary was broadcast on 2nd July.

It has now emerged, however, that Mr Ashi previously described Khairi Alqam, a 21-year-old terrorist from Jerusalem who murdered seven Israelis, including a fourteen-year-old child, outside a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day in 2023, as a “martyr”. Mr Ashi reportedly reacted to the attack by posting a commemorative video showing photos of the terrorist, captioned “the martyr Khairi Alqam – may God have mercy on him and forgive him”, a common Arabic condolence message.

On 7th October 2023, Mr Ashi reportedly shared footage of Hamas terrorists flying into Israel by paraglider, set to an Islamist song encouraging fighting. The post is captioned: “These are the videos that settlers are now circulating of the resistance storming and infiltrating the occupied territories in the Gaza Strip.”

On another social media platform, also on 7th October, Mr Ashi reportedly posted a video showing Hamas rockets being fired into Israel, accompanied by an excitable child’s voice saying: “Go, go!” The video is captioned “keep going, oh Mahdi, keep going!” followed by two fire emojis and a laughing-crying emoji.

There was reportedly other inflammatory material as well.

Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News, recently revealed that it was concerns over the “social media activity” of a journalist involved in this documentary that prompted the Corporation to pause production. Ramita Navai had reportedly said during a BBC radio interview that Israel was “a rogue state that’s committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing and mass-murdering Palestinians”.

Channel 4 saw fit to give Mr Ashi a platform to air his film on themes related to these outrageous social media posts, to say nothing of other individuals who were involved in the production of the documentary.

Channel 4 has no excuse. They knew that the film was high risk after the BBC axed it, but they thought that they had scored some PR win by broadcasting it themselves. What they have instead is a PR disaster – and a predictable one at that.

Whoever decided that this publicly-funded broadcaster should show this programme clearly needs to be fired. No ifs or buts.

We will be writing to Channel 4 and to Ofcom.

Catching bots in the act

On Friday, #Famine_in_Gaza was trending on the social media platform X. Campaign Against Antisemitism investigated the trend and found that it was started and manipulated by bots.

Here’s how it works:

First, hundreds of accounts start posting phrases concocted by AI, but all using the #Famine_in_Gaza hashtag.

All of the bot accounts post with the hashtag and a phrase that a typical X user might post. There is no engagement with the post because these particular bots have no friends.

The bots then use a random string of characters at the end of the post, for example, “tYuJL”. This is to make X’s anti-bot algorithm think that it’s definitely a unique post. 

The bots look at each other’s posts to fool the X algorithm into thinking that they’re interesting. As a result, bot accounts with a small number of followers have a disproportionately high number of views on their posts. 

In terms of ownership, some bots are operated by state actors to pursue an agenda, but today’s bots are just bots for sale, which post about anything. One of the bots identified by Campaign Against Antisemitism posts in all languages about everything from scams to politics and likes to “lick hallucinogenic frogs”, according to its profile. 

Someone, somewhere, decided to direct a bot farm to promote the hashtag #Famine_in_Gaza and an army of bots swung into action. The bots are mostly registered around 2011 and 2012 and have been posting in coordination for a very long time.

After a while, the hashtag reaches number one and real users weigh in. One user’s post with the hashtag read: “Israel, worse than Nazi Germany.” According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon is all too common. When Elon Musk took over X, he said that he would end the influence of bots on the platform, but that clearly hasn’t happened.

This isn’t just a case of a few hackers having fun on social media. It is the deliberate manipulation of public discourse, with real-world consequences for Jews across the globe, who have faced an unimaginable surge in antisemitism over the past two years — a crisis only worsened by foul play online. This is the new face of media manipulation, and it is deadly serious.

Why has Diane Abbott (only) been suspended?

Diane Abbott MP has doubled down on comments about Jews that she previously made in a letter to The Observer that previously got her suspended from the Labour Party.

The original 2023 letter was written in response to an article in The Observer by Tomiwa Owolade, which commented on a new report on ethnic inequality that revealed that “Irish, Jewish and Traveller people are among the most abused.”

Ms Abbott wrote: “Tomiwa Owolade claims that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people all suffer from ‘racism’. They undoubtedly experience prejudice. This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable. It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism…”

Asked by the BBC if she regretted the incident, she reportedly said “No, not at all,” and proceeded to try to defend the remarks.

That was not the full story, however.

In its article covering the interview with the long-serving MP, the BBC summarised the letter as follows: “She suggested people of colour experienced racism in a different way to Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.”

But that isn’t what she wrote.

So, Ms Abbott stands by rhetoric that got her suspended from Labour, which is clearly conduct that merits expulsion from the Party.

The BBC misreports the original incident, misleadingly paraphrasing the language in a way that makes it seem less offensive to Jewish people.

We called, yet again, for Ms Abbott finally to be expelled from the Labour Party, and, yet again, for an independent investigation into the BBC and its coverage of matters of Jewish interest.

Interesting how Labour and the BBC have both struggled to get to grips with this same issue.

While the BBC amended its article, Labour announced that Ms Abbott would be suspended.

But let’s be clear: Ms Abbott has been suspended for doubling down on comments for which she was previously suspended. Does that make sense to anybody?

Two yellow cards is a red in our book.

Ms Abbott has obviously not learned a thing from her previous suspension. There is no reason to believe that she will from this one. She must be expelled.

On our campuses and in our schools

Jewish students on campus have had to endure seismic levels of abusive antisemitism since 7th October 2023.

Anti-Israel protests and encampments left many feeling unsafe at their own university.

Now these same activists have capped off their streak of disruptive and intimidatory activism by ruining graduation ceremonies.

Showcasing an obsession with Israel — the world’s only Jewish state — during a graduation ceremony is not noble. It is shameful.

Students have spent years working for their degree so that they may finally graduate. Hijacking what should be one of the proudest moments in the lives of fellow students and their families for the sake of performative activism does nothing to bring peace to the Middle East. This attention-seeking only spreads hate right here in the UK.

A new survey of Jewish teachers by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) has found that more than half of Jewish teachers have reported abuse.

They have reported increasing instances of swastika graffiti and chants of “free Palestine” and “f*** the Jews”.

One Jewish teacher said: “On multiple occasions, students have shouted ‘free Palestine’ at me. On another occasion, someone shouted ‘f*** the Jews’ outside a meeting of Jewish students.”

Our Director of Investigations and Enforcement appeared on GB News to examine the issue.

With attacks and intimidation in cafes and on our streets, on campuses and in schools, in our media and online, it is difficult to know where to begin when explaining how desperate the situation is becoming for British Jews.

It is also not clear where things will end.

Our country is changing. We must not stand by.

March with us on Sunday 7th September.

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Victory: Palestine Action to be proscribed

On Friday morning, activists from Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the sabotage of two RAF planes at a base in Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.

Footage published on the group’s X account appears to show someone spraying an aircraft with red paint. According to Palestine Action, two activists “repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers and caused further damage using crowbars”.

By the end of the day – and a little over a week since Campaign Against Antisemitism provided her with a detailed dossier making the case for a ban of Palestine Action under existing laws – the Home Secretary announced that she would be proscribing the group.

Breaking into an RAF base to vandalise aircraft demonstrates Palestine Action’s real hatred for this country. This was an attack on Britain and the heroes who protect us daily, and jeopardises our nation’s security.

The vandalism at Brize Norton was reportedly the fourth attack by the group on key UK defence assets, and comes after a litany of attacks on branches of Barclays Bank, premises used by Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit, museums and numerous Jewish institutions, businesses and charities.

Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.

We are pleased that the Home Secretary has listened to our representations over the last week.

The announcement by Yvette Cooper has been met with fury by Palestine activists, who appear to have gone on a new spree of criminal vandalism in London over the weekend ahead of a demonstration this afternoon against their proscription.

In advance of a protest by Palestine Action against the planned proscription this afternoon, the Met Police released a statement outlining conditions imposed on the demonstration outside Parliament under the Public Order Act. Remarkably, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also announced that he was “shocked and frustrated” by the demonstration, which itself was shocking, given that it has been his persistent failure to robustly address anti-Israel protests that has allowed this climate of extremism to take hold.

Sir Mark needs to take his head out of the sand and look around. If he does, he may finally see what the rest of the country has seen for over a year and a half: extremists taking over our streets.

It is clear that the authorities will need to be ready to enforce the law as the ban takes effect.

After all, when a group of radicals takes to the streets to defend a soon-to-be proscribed terrorist group and protest against those who risk their lives to keep our streets safe, it is a frighteningly clear indication that something has gone very wrong in this country.

Frontline police officers’ struggle at times to contain the baying mob of Palestine Action supporters at the protest demonstrates exactly why our calls for the Government to ban this group were needed.

After she bans Palestine Action, we urge the Home Secretary to urgently turn her attention to proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ansar Allah (the Houthis).

This country needs to clamp down on the domestic and foreign terrorists running amok on our soil.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has no place in Britain

Right now, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is operating freely in the UK. It is planning terrorist attacks and grooming young followers.

This madness can end with a stroke of Yvette Cooper’s pen.

As our Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, explained in an op-ed for The Telegraph, “Two governments have failed to act. This one still can. Both Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy promised before the last election to ban the IRGC.

“They must now honour that promise.”

Why is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard a threat to Britain in 2025?

  • Officially a branch of Iran’s Armed Forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operates as a parallel paramilitary force answering directly to the regime. But it’s more than an Iranian military force — it’s a global terror actor involved in plots, threats, and surveillance on British soil.
  • It was founded by Ayatollah Khomeini after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the theocracy and advance its interests. The Iranian Government has a long and appalling record of promoting antisemitic propaganda, including Holocaust-denial, and funding and orchestrating violence against Jews. The IRGC is a principal instrument of the regime for these antisemitic and violent policies.
  • In 2023, the UK Government sanctioned IRGC figures. Why? They plotted to kill or kidnap people in Britain, including dissidents, journalists, and activists. These weren’t idle threats. British intelligence confirmed over fifteen credible threats to kill or kidnap UK-based individuals by Iran since 2022. The IRGC infiltrated Europe, surveilling targets and attempting assassinations.
  • It is not just in Europe. One shocking case was the abduction in the UAE of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan. It is believed that he was surveilled at his kosher grocery shop and murdered by terrorists linked to Iran.
  • There are examples of support for the IRGC in Britain, particularly following the US assassination of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s elite al-Quds Force and, it is believed, the second most powerful man in Iran. We have also observed IRGC flags at demonstrations in London. There have also been instances of IRGC figures trying to radicalise students in the UK and there are multiple cases of foiled abduction and murder plots by IRGC agents in Britain.
  • The IRGC is an indispensable backer of Shia militias in Yemen and Iraq as well as the proscribed terrorist groups Hizballah, Hamas, the Houthis and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hizballah and Hamas pose direct threats to the UK by conducting intelligence operations, targeting Jewish communities, and supporting terrorism globally. The UK fully banned Hizballah in 2019 and Hamas in 2021, but both groups remain active, backed by Iran’s resources and intent on destabilising the West.
  • Despite the Labour Party stating that, if elected, they would ban the IRGC, this has not happened a year after the Party came to power. Today, the IRGC is not yet proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK, even though it clearly fits the criteria.
  • The US, Israel, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain already proscribe the IRGC. Why haven’t we? The UK must act. The IRGC is here in Britain and a threat to our security.

You can add your voice to the calls to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by signing the petition.

With conflict raging between Iran and Israel, demonstrators took to the streets of London over the weekend in support of the antisemitic Islamic Republic.

As our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit documented, protesters held aloft signs displaying an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and urging onlookers to “choose the right side of history.”

Ayatollah Khamenei — and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which he controls — could not be further from the “right side of history”.

The signs were embossed with the logo of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, a controversial charity best known for Al Quds Day events, which in the past have featured IHRC-badged placards that read “We are all Hizballah”.

The IRGC is not just a threat to Britain’s Jews, but to Britain itself. It must be proscribed.

This Government previously promised to proscribe the IRGC. It must now keep its word.

Fun at the Maccabi Fun Run!

Yesterday, we attended the Maccabi GB Community Fun Run.

Thousands turned out to run, cheer and raise money for great causes.

We spoke with runners at this most energetic day of the Jewish community calendar, to find out: What keeps Britain’s Jewish community running, literally and figuratively?

A big thank you to everyone running for Campaign Against Antisemitism and to all of our brilliant volunteers who were present.

SRA confirms investigation into Hamas’s lawyer

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has confirmed an investigation into one of the lawyers acting on behalf of Hamas in its application to get de-proscribed in the UK, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

We submitted a complaint to the SRA regarding the conduct of Fahad Ansari after our Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit uncovered a plethora of posts from his X account.

Mr Ansari is the Director and Principal Solicitor at Riverway Law, the law firm representing the terrorist group Hamas in a desperate bid to get the group de-proscribed in the UK. The application is being made to the Home Secretary.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has made a submission to the Home Secretary challenging the application for de-proscription.

According to posts on Mr Ansari’s social media accounts, he seems to find a bulldozer breaching the border fence between Gaza and Israel on 7th October to be “one of the most iconic, hopeful images of our time”, hails Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin as a “hero”, and, referring to “the heroic Palestinian resistance”, hopes that “every one of their bullets hit their targets”.

Another post read: “At this point, Israel could literally set up gas chambers for Palestinians during Ramadan and the genocide enablers in the Western media will be shouting ‘What about Hamas?’ and crying antisemitism if anyone draws a comparison with the Holocaust. Make no mistake, if these people were alive in the 40s, they would have sided with the Nazis.”

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

Another post read, “Long live the Palestinian resistance,” and “Victory to the intifada.” Intifadas in the past have always been campaigns of terrorist violence, including suicide bombings.

Over the past week, we marked World Refugee Day, remembering those who were driven from their homes by antisemites.

Over the centuries, some countries took them in; others refused. Often, those who took them in would themselves later force them to flee once again.

Whether through proscriptions, private prosecutions, protests or other means, we will continue to fight to maintain Britain as a hospitable and safe place for Jewish people to live.

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“Resistance is justified”: Friends of Palestine Society suspended at University of Birmingham

The Friends of Palestine Society at the University of Birmingham has reportedly been suspended by the Guild of Students, following a protest last month.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has obtained footage of the protest, which took place on 15th May. The footage appears to show students chanting: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, which was adopted by the University in 2020, “Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology” is an example of antisemitism.

Further footage shows protesters chanting: “Israel is a terror state.”

According to a statement on the Society’s Instagram account, it intends to appeal the decision.

A Jewish student at the University told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “I am pleased with the Guild of Students’ decision. Hearing these kinds of slogans on campus made me feel unsafe and uneasy. Jewish students should not have to face such intimidatory protests at an institution that is supposed to be a place of learning. I hope other universities will look at this case, impose similar measures, and take a clear stand against those who seek to intimidate Jews.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This decision vindicates Jewish students at the University of Birmingham. For all their virtuous anti-racism rhetoric, our universities have become epicentres of Jew-hatred, where Jewish students are abused, Jewish societies are trolled and Jewish institutions are vandalised. Our polling shows that 90% of young British Jews blame their fellow students for the increase in reported antisemitic incidents on UK campuses.

“This protest was yet another example of just how bad the situation is for Jews on campus right now. Universities and student societies across Britain should follow this decision and take concrete steps to protect their students, who should be able to come to campus without fear for their safety.”

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

Vigil for murdered Embassy staffers, 22nd May 2025
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Vigil in London for murdered Israeli Embassy staffers draws hundreds

A crowd gathered this evening outside the Israeli Embassy in London in a vigil organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism to honour two diplomats who were brutally murdered last night in Washington D.C.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who both worked for the Israeli Embassy in the United States, were shot outside Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. last night as they were leaving an event.

The shooting, by a suspect who allegedly shouted “Free Palestine!” at the scene and who later reportedly confessed to police, has sent shockwaves around the world.

Addressing the crowd in London, Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “They were a couple, and had plans to travel to Jerusalem next week, where Yaron intended to propose to Sarah. That is what could have been. That is what should have been. Instead, their lives were stolen, and now, that proposal will never come. The family they would have built will never be realised. They were gunned down at the very gates of a Jewish museum — a place meant to preserve memory and culture — by a man shouting ‘Free Palestine.’ This was not peace. It was violence. This was not protest. It was murder.”

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis then spoke to the crowd: “We will never lose our hope, and we have every reason to be filled with hope, and that is because we know that the peace we are committed to, the justice that we want to see in the world, will ultimately triumph over those who seek to kill and to murder.”

A statement from Tzipi Hotovely, Ambassador of Israel to the Court of St. James’s, was read, from which the following is extracted: “At a time when tensions remain high, and Jewish communities are feeling vulnerable, this incident is a sobering reminder of the threats we face. All diplomats, and representatives of embassies across the world, should be able to work without fear for their lives or safety, as they work to achieve greater cooperation amongst nations. Last night’s events are a harsh reminder of the virulent antisemitism we are still seeing, in the US, here in the UK, and across the world.”

The crowd then observed a two-minute silence for the victims, following which the crowd was led in song and prayer by Cantor Aaron Isaac. Attendees then sung the British national anthem and the Israeli national anthem.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The growing extremism of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement has been a ticking time bomb which has been waiting to explode. This is what they mean when they yell ‘Globalise the Intifada’ on the streets of capital cities, on our campuses and at trade union meetings. They are being honest and open when they call for ‘intifada’. It means murder and terrorism, and yet the authorities have gaslit us, telling us that these are peaceful protesters. They are anything but peaceful, and now they have shed blood. Two people are dead, never to return to their families. Yaron and Sarah’s young lives have been cut short, murdered at the entrance to the Jewish Museum

“These are the real colours of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement. Anybody surprised by this horrific double murder has had their head in the sand. We are locked in a battle for the soul of the West. It’s long past time that our leaders and police chiefs woke up and took firm action, otherwise these will not be the last lives taken by these fanatical extremists dressed up as peaceniks.”

Image credit: Campaign Against Antisemitism

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As arrests are made across the nation, the Government must heed our calls to proscribe the IRGC

Several Iranian nationals have been arrested under suspicion of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in London, according to a report by The Times.

Arrests were made across the nation, with footage of one of the arrests showing a man being dragged out of a Rochdale home during a raid. Other arrests were made in West London, Swindon, Stockport and Manchester.

Four of the men, aged between 29 and 46, are being held in custody for questioning, following arrest. One man, aged 26, has been released on bail.

Whilst exact details of the plot are yet to emerge, this is another reminder of the urgency for the British Government to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s paramilitary force that answers directly to the radical regime.

In 2023, then Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in Parliament: “We would proscribe the IRGC, either by using existing terrorism legislation or by creating a new process of proscription for hostile state actors.”

The same year, as Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper reiterated that a Labour Government would apply a full ban on the IRGC.

But since the establishment of the Labour Government, no action has yet been taken on the proscription of the IRGC.

So were our Government’s words just empty promises?

We have long campaigned for the proscription of the IRGC. But it isn’t just us. 93% of British Jews back our calls for proscription, according to our polling.

Earlier this year, Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of MI6, said of a proscription: “I just don’t get why we haven’t done so. It is the agency through which Iran has conducted what I would call ‘arm’s length warfare’. The Quds Force is part of the IRGC, and they’ve made an absolute fundamental aspect of Iranian policy using this agency to destabilise and interfere in the affairs of other countries. I know the Foreign Office arguments for not banning the IRGC, but it should have been identified as a terrorist organisation a long time ago.”

A message to terrorists: sooner or later, you will be found

A man behind one of the most gruesome terrorist murders of our time has now been killed — and it’s thanks to India.

In 2002, Jewish American journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by terrorists in Karachi, Pakistan.

They murdered him nine days later in a barbaric video titled “The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl”.

In his final words, he said: “My father’s Jewish, my mother’s Jewish, I’m Jewish.”

For more than two decades, Abdul Rauf Azhar — one of the men behind his murder — lived freely. But not anymore.

India’s government last week announced that it has eliminated Azhar.

Will that undo the horror of what happened? No. But it sends a message to terrorists: sooner or later, you will be found — and eventually, your crimes catch up with you, just as Azhar’s did.

Yet more scandals for our national broadcaster

“When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything.”

“We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.”

“We Are All Hamas”

These are reportedly the words from a freelance journalist who has appeared on BBC Arabic more than a dozen times.

As our national broadcaster goes from one disaster to another, it has reportedly reiterated its intention to launch a “thematic review” into its Gaza coverage and BBC Arabic.

Samir Shah, the Chair of the BBC, told Times Radio: “The [BBC] Arabic service, we are looking at it, we’ve been examining it. I think this whole business of how we’ve covered Israel-Gaza is a proper thing to examine thoroughly, which is why we’re going to identify…we’re going to get hold of an independent figure to look at our coverage.”

This comes after the BBC told Jewish media last month that it was “considering training for staff and launching an independent Thematic Review of our Israel-Gaza coverage,” promising that “The BBC is committed to upholding the highest possible editorial standards across our output, reporting impartially to maintain the trust of audiences. The conduct and welfare of all of our staff is an absolute priority and we have well-established and robust processes in place to handle any concerns or complaints raised with us.”

It is understood that this “thematic review” of the standard of the BBC’s Gaza coverage will be drafted for presentation to the BBC Board, and will be “independent and published in full”.

The announcement, such as it is, comes some two months after Mr Shah suggested before the Culture Media and Sport Committee that a thematic review might be on the table, and just days after yet another BBC Arabic contributor who reports on the Hamas-Israel conflict was alleged to have published antisemitic rhetoric on social media.

The scandal has arisen following the broadcast earlier this year of a so-called documentary, ‘Gaza How to Survive a War Zone’, which was narrated by the son of a senior Hamas official, whose family was paid with licence fee funds for the son’s participation. The BBC launched an internal review, which, almost three months since the broadcast, has yet to report its findings.

Why go through the charade of an internal review only to accept, weeks later, the need for an independent investigation? We called for that from the start but the BBC, as usual, tried to dig in its heels.

Given the BBC’s record, does anyone trust the Corporation to appoint someone truly independent to investigate itself? BBC bosses still haven’t got a grip on this scandal.

Enough is enough. The TV licence must be suspended, pending an independent investigation into the BBC. Sign the petition here.

Is it any wonder that 92% of British Jews look on the BBC’s coverage unfavourably?

Listen to what our Director of Investigations and Enforcement, Stephen Silverman, has to say on the matter here.

Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse.

Oghenochuko Ojiri, who has appeared on the BBC’s Bargain Hunt, has pleaded guilty to charges contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000, after the court heard that he had sold art worth some £140,000 to a Hizballah financier.

Hizballah is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.

The Met blocks Swiss Cottage protest again

The Metropolitan Police recently announced that it was imposing conditions under the Public Order Act, blocking an anti-Israel protest from happening last Friday.

This was just one of many weekly protests that have been taking place for over a year at Swiss Cottage, an area with a significant Jewish population.

These protests in Jewish communities just before or during the Sabbath (apparently this is the only time that these groups want to protest) should never have been allowed in the first place.

After a period in which the Swiss Cottage protests were stopped, the Met inexplicably decided to allow another one, before then deciding to ban last week’s protest.

Pressure from Campaign Against Antisemitism and others should not have been necessary before the Met reimposed conditions.

Now some sanity has been restored, but with vacillation like this, it is no wonder that the Met’s Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, commands the confidence of just 5% of British Jews.

Want to use your skills to combat Jew-hatred?

We are recruiting a full-time paid intern for up to twelve months, starting September 2025!

You will be working alongside our Education Officer in our Central London office. Support Jewish students on campus and develop the skills and experience to become a powerful voice in the fight against antisemitism.

For more information and to apply, visit antisemitism.org/jobs.

Do you want to take a step forward in the fight against antisemitism?

This year, you can run in the Maccabi GB Community Fun Run on behalf of Campaign Against Antisemitism.

If you plan to be in London on Sunday 22nd June, sign up now, get sponsored and get fit!

We are enormously grateful to the many thousands of you who have written to us over the past year and a half requesting assistance with incidents, reporting cases, providing tips, asking for information and more.

We apologise for any delay in responding to you, due to the considerable volume of correspondence that we have been receiving in this period.

Please rest assured that we review every e-mail and are investigating every tip, but, as a charity with limited resources, we may not be able to respond to every message immediately or unless we need further information.

Please continue to send through material of concern and let us know if you need assistance with an incident.

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The ‘Hamas case’, and what it means

Three British lawyers have announced that they are representing Hamas, the antisemitic genocidal terror group, in an application to have it removed from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations in the UK.

We will not let this happen and our lawyers are on the case.

Our assessment is that the submission is amateurish and desperate. It demonstrates that Hamas is struggling by any means necessary to stay afloat as pressure is brought to bear on the murderous Islamist group. If Hamas is no longer proscribed, it can be funded from the UK.

The lawyers bringing the case are understood to have been instructed by Musa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas leader who, in addition to his role in Hamas, is alleged to have provided funds to some of the 9/11 hijackers and has spent time in a US prison. He is also reportedly a billionaire, like several other Hamas leaders who have dubiously enriched themselves while Gazans languish in poverty under Hamas’ tyrannical rule.

In a particularly grotesque irony, the case to de-proscribe Hamas is being made as a human rights claim. In other words, a group that has deprived well in excess of a thousand Jews of their lives and some two million Gazans of their safety is basing its appeal on human rights.

Specifically, the case argues that the proscription of Hamas deprives British citizens of their rights to freedom of expression and protest.

Of course, we’ve been told for a year and a half that all the protesters on our streets and the activists who have spent months intimidating Jews on campuses, in cultural institutions and elsewhere are not terrorist sympathisers. So whose rights are being curtailed, exactly?

Are there people in Britain who are desperate to be able to reveal that they support Hamas and its aspiration to annihilate the Jewish people? This case appears to rest on the claim that there are.

What does the application say?

The so-called legal case to is essentially 500 pages of propaganda dressed up as law. Here are some of the most outrageous lies — and the truth.

📣 1. “Hamas does not target British citizens either in the UK or anywhere else.”

❌ False. British citizens were murdered and taken hostage on 7th October. Hamas has never distinguished by nationality—only that the target is Jewish or Israeli.

📣 2. “We reject any allegations that we are antisemitic or that we target Jewish people.”

❌ Absurd. Hamas’s founding charter calls for the murder of Jews. It cites The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Its leaders regularly incite against Jews as a people, not ‘just’ Israelis.

📣 3. “Knife attacks against occupying Israeli soldiers” are described as “low-level violence.”

❌ Knife attacks are attempted murder. Trying to rebrand stabbings as minor unrest tells you everything you need to know about the moral compass behind this submission.

📣 4. One effect of the prolonged Israeli occupation…has been to stifle Palestinian democracy.

❌ No. Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007. It overthrew its rivals in a violent coup and hasn’t held elections in nearly 20 years. That’s on Hamas, not Israel.

📣 5. The UK is complicit in genocide, colonialism and occupation.

❌ This isn’t legal argument—it’s radical propaganda. The submission accuses Britain of war crimes. Is this what a serious legal case looks like?

📣 6. Hamas is comparable to the ANC.

❌ Nelson Mandela’s ANC rejected violence against civilians and built a democratic, multi-racial South Africa. Hamas glorifies terror, preaches antisemitism and rejects peace. The comparison is a disgrace.

📣 7. Proscription has a chilling effect on political engagement.

❌ No it doesn’t. You can campaign for Palestinian rights, criticise Israel, or support a two-state solution. What you can’t do is promote a terrorist group that rapes, tortures and kills civilians.

The bottom line?

The Hamas case is a bad-faith attempt to mainstream genocidal antisemitism.

The UK is right to ban Hamas — and this sham of a submission only proves why it must stay banned.

The courts must stand firm against Islamist antisemitism, and the Home Secretary must take seriously what this claim represents.

We are writing to the Home Secretary with a brief on why the application must be refused, and we will take the matter to court if necessary.

We have also contacted the companies hosting the ‘Hamas case’ website, to have it taken down.

You can read an op-ed article that our Chief Executive wrote about the Hamas case for LBC here.

What of the lawyers behind the application?

The solicitor representing Hamas is Fahad Ansari, the Director and Principal Solicitor at Riverway Law.

Our Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit has uncovered numerous diabolical social posts media from his X (Twitter) account.

He seems to find a bulldozer breaching the border fence between Gaza and Israel on 7th October to be “one of the most iconic, hopeful images of our time”, hails Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin as a “hero”, and, referring to “the heroic Palestinian resistance”, hopes that “every one of their bullets hit their targets”.

He has also downplayed the brutality of the 7th October attack, mocked the hostages and referred to deceased Hamas leaders as “martyrs”.

We will be writing to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Why did the police just stand by?

A march took place on Saturday in a residential area of Southend, Essex, which has a Jewish community. The march passed one synagogue directly, and passed within the close vicinity of other synagogues.

Essex Police should never have permitted this hateful procession through the heart of a small Jewish community, as families walked home from synagogue after Sabbath prayers during Passover. Not only did police allow this march, despite it apparently being organised without the required legal notice, they took minimal action as marchers shouted ‘Stop killing children’ — a chilling echo of medieval blood libels — and openly displayed support for terrorist organisations banned in the UK.

Protesting a conflict thousands of miles away had no place in a quiet residential neighbourhood; this was, in reality, a demonstration targeting Jews.

A volunteer from our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit was assaulted for filming the march, yet police failed to intervene. The few arrests made were far too little, too late, as another Jewish community in the UK was intimidated into staying indoors while police stood by inertly.

The Government has not acted to compel police to enforce the law robustly. British Jews were abandoned by authorities who appear increasingly unwilling to protect their Jewish citizens, allowing extremist mobs to act with impunity.

“Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud.”

A Metropolitan Police officer has been dismissed without notice and placed on the College of Policing barred list after sharing what his own force described as “antisemitic and grossly offensive” content on social media.

In the days after the 7th October 2023 terrorist attack, DC Ibrahim Khan took to Instagram to post:

  • An image comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler alongside the text, “The irony of becoming what you once hated.”
  • A graphic juxtaposing a mass grave from 1945 with what was claimed to be a mass grave in Gaza.
  • The text: “Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud.”

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

Police said that Mr Khan also made several posts suggesting that the events of the 7th October attack “were a fabrication”.

While the Met has taken action against Mr Khan, it is worrying that he was ever in a position of authority to begin with.

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls for terrorism charges against Abu Wadei

After we revealed that Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas (Abu Wadei), who recently arrived to Britain by dinghy, was part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border and used antisemitic rhetoric at foreign rallies and online, he was arrested by British authorities on immigration charges.

Last week he was denied bail at a court hearing.

In addition, our solicitors have written to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) calling for terrorism charges to be added to the charge sheet.

We believe that Mr Al-Gassas has committed serious offences and that it is in the interests of national security to bring a prosecution. Failure to do so risks signalling that Britain is a safe haven for terrorists. We cannot be a soft touch.

The only way to deter more Islamist extremists from entering our country is to ensure that the extremists already arriving here face the full force of the law. We have offered the CPS any assistance to help their assessment of the charges.

Have your say on the BBC

The BBC is running a survey to find out what the British public wants from our public broadcaster.

While the survey is not specifically about matters of Jewish interest, you may wish to complete the survey and raise any concerns about bias in its reporting.

You can access the survey here.

Please note that you must be registered with the BBC to complete the survey.

If you have not yet signed our petition calling for the suspension of the licence fee pending an independent investigation into BBC bias, you can do so here.

Campaign Against Antisemitism puts the spotlight on the International Committee of the Red Cross

As the Jewish community prepared to celebrate Passover, a festival commemorating Jewish liberation, our thoughts were – and still are – with the 59 hostages being held hostage in the captivity of antisemitic genocidal Hamas terrorists.

Much of the international response to the plight of these hostages has been lacklustre and vapid, with empty promises to take action with no follow-through.

Among the pitiful responses has been that of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

This organisation is dedicated to “ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for people affected by armed conflict and other violence”. When it comes to the hostages, however, the world has borne witness to its apparent indifference.

Many in the Jewish world no longer regard the ICRC as much more than a glorified taxi service, sitting aside for months as hostages languish in abominable conditions and then patiently waiting as psychopathic terrorists parade their traumatised captives onstage in grotesque ceremonies before carting them away as though nothing had happened.

The ICRC claims that “for the hostages in Gaza, the Red Cross is neutral” but denies being mere “bystanders”. Tell that to the families of the hostages longing for their loved ones to come home. Tell that to the Jewish people waiting for their brethren to return.

ICRC, we say to you: let my people go!

As we battle lawyers who seem to want us to imagine that a group of genocidal antisemites did not massacre innocent Jews in the present Middle East, this week we are also remembering how another group of genocidal antisemites murdered untold numbers of innocent Jews in wartime Europe.

As the Jewish world commemorates Yom HaShoah v’HaGevurah (The Day of the Holocaust and the Heroism), we honour their memory by fighting to ensure that the antisemitic hate that the victims and survivors of the Holocaust endured does not prevail in our day.

May the memory of all of those killed simply because they were Jews be blessed.

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“Stop killing children”: Anti-Israel march in Southend

A march took place on Saturday in a residential area of Southend with a small Jewish community. The march passed one synagogue directly, and passing within the close vicinity of other synagogues.

The march took place despite the marchers appearing to fail to give police the required legal notice of their plans. Police did not intervene to stop or move the march.

There were multiple arrests on the march — which featured chants of “Stop killing children” and expressions of support for proscribed terrorist organisations — but police largely failed to act.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism, e.g. blood libel, to characterise Israel or Israelis,” is an example of antisemitism.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Even by the standards of the past 18 months, the march in Southend was despicable. Essex Police should never have permitted this hateful procession through the heart of a small Jewish community, as families walked home from synagogue after Sabbath prayers during Passover. Not only did police allow this march, despite it apparently being organised without the required legal notice, they took minimal action as marchers shouted ‘Stop killing children’ — a chilling echo of medieval blood libels — and openly displayed support for terrorist organisations banned in the UK. Protesting a conflict thousands of miles away had no place in a quiet residential neighbourhood; this was, in reality, a demonstration targeting Jews.

“A volunteer from our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit was assaulted for filming the march, yet police failed to intervene. The few arrests made were far too little, too late, as another Jewish community in the UK was intimidated into staying indoors while police stood by inertly.

“The Government has not acted to compel police to enforce the law robustly. British Jews were abandoned by authorities who appear increasingly unwilling to protect their Jewish citizens, allowing extremist mobs to act with impunity.”

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A confused policy proposal

The Government has announced that police are to be given greater powers to stop protests near places of worship, including mosques and synagogues.

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, intends the policy to “prevent intimidating protests outside places of worship to ensure that people can pray in peace.”

It is not clear to what extent the motivation for this policy relates to antisemitism.

We have urged the Government to do what its predecessor failed to do and act to stop the intimidatory marches through our cities, which have been rife with criminality and support for proscribed terrorist organisations.

The announcement of restrictions on these marches near synagogues and other places of worship appears to be far from enough.

Ultimately, if one accepts that these marches pose a threat to synagogues and thus to the Jewish community, then why is changing their route a solution? To ask the question is to concede the point: as we have been arguing for months now, marches that threaten Jews should be prohibited. To limit the solution to protecting synagogues is to accept only that Jews are entitled to worship without intimidation, but not that they have a right to be free from intimidation anywhere else.

Not only that, but as we have been arguing for months, along with prominent KCs, police have the power to ban these marches and have declined to use those powers. The police have also already used existing powers to prohibit the marches from taking place near synagogues.

This proposal may, therefore, not be as ground-breaking or pertinent as the Government is suggesting, but we hope that this announcement is a sign of a new interest in addressing the worst crisis of antisemitism in living memory, which is being driven by these regular marches.

We look forward to engaging with the Home Secretary to bring about the urgent changes that the Jewish community and our urban centres are craving.

Give a thought to Jewish mothers

This Mother’s Day, we’ve been amplifying the voices of Jewish mothers speaking out about antisemitism and their fears for their children.

We then brought their words to non-Jewish mothers. Watch here to see how they reacted.

Extraordinary from the BBC

Several weeks ago, we submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the BBC regarding the so-called documentary titled ‘Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone’.

We have received a staggering response.

Given that the BBC, like all media outlets, urges everyone to be transparent, we hoped that the BBC would have no problem responding quickly to our request asking whether the BBC made payments in relation to the so-called documentary, to whom and in what amounts – in particular whether it had made payments to Hamas or anyone affiliated to it. This was before the BBC admitted that monies had gone to a Hamas family.

Here is what the BBC wrote back to us:

“We have carefully considered your request and concluded that it is clear from your description of the information you are seeking that if the BBC held information of the kind you have asked for, it would all be held for the purposes of journalism, art or literature. The FOI Act does not apply to information held by the BBC for any of those purposes.”

The BBC then referred us to the statement that it has since published, admitting that money went to a Hamas family.

Let’s be clear: the BBC is saying that, in principle, information about money that goes to Hamas terrorists is for the purposes of journalism and can therefore remain secret.

Yes, information about money that goes to Hamas terrorists is considered journalism at the BBC.

Of course, if this happened in any other institution, the BBC would desperately be trying to expose it, on the basis that the public ‘has a right to know’. But when things happen at the BBC, the public has no right to know anything.

Now, the BBC is clutching at whatever it can in its desperate effort to do damage control over this Gaza film fiasco. But it all just goes to show why the BBC cannot be allowed to mark its own homework and why we need an independent investigation into the broadcaster – something that our polling, conducted by YouGov, shows that a majority of the British public supports.

Until there is such an investigation, the licence fee must be suspended. If you agree, please sign the petition.

It has been reported that the BBC has rejected offers of antisemitism training by the Government’s independent advisor on antisemitism. This tallies with our experience: every offer that we have made of antisemitism training to the BBC has been rejected or ignored, as have our repeated calls on the broadcaster to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, which would help staff and journalists understand what qualifies as antisemitic discourse.

The prospect of the BBC delivering its own antisemitism training, which has also been reported, is plainly absurd.

We are now well over a month since the BBC began to mark its own homework with an internal review into how the so-called Gaza documentary was made and broadcast and licence fee money was paid to a Hamas family. There is still no outcome to this review.

The BBC cannot be allowed to kick this into the long grass. A majority of the British public supports an independent investigation. There must be accountability for endemic BBC bias.

Until there is a proper investigation, the licence fee must be suspended.

In the meantime, there continue to be instances of the BBC putting its thumb on the scales, for example a producer was recently caught requesting an Israeli guest who would be critical of the Israeli Prime Minister. This is not news; it is narrative. The BBC has issued an “unreserved apology” to the Israeli embassy.

Not everybody at the BBC is apologetic, however.

BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen has reportedly claimed that Israel has refused to allow foreign journalists into Gaza to report on the war against Hamas “because there’s stuff there they don’t want us to see.”

It is odd that Mr Bowen would care one way or another, given his record of misreporting things that he does see and refusing to apologise for doing so.

We need an independent investigation into bias at the BBC. Until then, the licence fee must be suspended.

Rogue venues are screening the BBC’s so-called Gaza documentary

Now, the Cubit Gallery is planning to hold a screening this week of ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’, the same so-called documentary that the BBC removed from iPlayer after it was revealed that it spotlighted the family member of a Hamas official. The event is being hosted by the Islington branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign who, in their description of the event, make reference to “pressure from the Zionist lobby”.

Hamas is an antisemitic genocidal terror organisation responsible for the 7th October attacks in which they murdered some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251. One of the documentary’s cameramen reportedly celebrated the attacks. This documentary is little more than Hamas propaganda, and we will not stay silent about it. Hamas terrorists also still hold 59 hostages in Gaza, and we need all of them home.

We are writing to the Charity Commission regarding the screening, as the Cubit Gallery is a registered charity.

A “right to armed resistance” at Manchester University

Last week, the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union passed a scandalous motion.

One part of the motion reads: “International law enshrines a right to resist occupation…” It also states: “In recognising that, as an occupied nation, the people of Palestine have the right to armed resistance under international law.” The motion can be read in full here.

Yet again, Manchester University Students’ Union has disregarded the concerns of Jewish students to push through a reckless and divisive motion.

Whether or not it is meant as such here, the phrase ‘armed resistance’ is commonly used in this context as a euphemism for terrorism and the destruction of the Jewish state. At a minimum, this motion aspires to deprive the Jewish people of their right to self-determination.

These motions do nothing to change things in the Middle East but contribute to the ostracisation of Jewish students on campus.

Our lawyers are examining whether the motion runs afoul of charitable or criminal law, and we are supporting affected Jewish students.

We have written to the University and the Students’ Union and, if necessary, we will write to the Charity Commission as well.

Naomi, a Jewish student at the University of Manchester, told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “Despite our concerns about this deeply troubling motion, the Students’ Union proceeded with discussions on the Solidarity with Palestine policy. Prior to the assembly, they invited us to a meeting where we voiced our concerns. While they assured us that the policy’s demands cannot be enforced due to the Union’s charitable status, they also acknowledged that its only real impact would be fostering intimidation, an unwelcoming atmosphere, and hostility toward Jewish students and those who proudly support Israel.

“They are trying to create an environment where you have to disavow Israel and your identity to be accepted. This is not what I came to university for, and it is no longer a place where I feel comfortable. What is the university administration going to do about it?”

King’s College London (KCL)

We are also supporting a student at KCL, where the Students’ Union, in a staggering decision, has issued a “formal warning” against a student society that hosted a speaking event which was disrupted by anti-Israel activists with chants of “From the River to the Sea”, rather than to the protesters themselves.

The event, which took place on 27th February, was titled ‘From Conflict to Connection: Israelis & Iranians in Dialogue’, and featured guest speaker Faezeh Alavi, an Iranian researcher and artist, speaking sympathetically about the future of Israel and Iran. The chanting came as part of a barrage of intimidation tactics targeting Ms Alavi and the organiser of the event. Security was forced to escort Ms Alavi out of the lecture theatre, and the event was swiftly and abruptly terminated. Students then continued their abuse and disruption outside the lecture theatre and throughout the corridors of the building.

Following the incident, we wrote to the University calling on the administration to take action and we have been supporting the Jewish KCL student who moderated the event.

Speaking to Campaign Against Antisemitism, the student said that as the day of the event progressed, they became “acutely aware that the event may cause some unnecessary commotion and welcome some unreceptive audience members” owing to spurious information appearing on the event’s sign-up sheet. Approximately fifteen minutes into the event, a “pre-planned” and “premeditated” outburst occurred, alarming the speaker.

The student said: “From what was supposed to be an opportunity to bring together two uncommon allies and opinions that are often silenced in a world flooded with misinformation, became a wholly negative experience where antisemitism was given a lecture room to spread and be promoted to the masses under the guise of being anti-Israel.”

The student alleges that KCL offered virtually no support to him following the incident: “It seems as if the mental hell that I had been dragged through was not enough to get in contact with me. Quite telling, isn’t it? To this day, I am yet to hear from any member of security or any member of a ministerial or senior level at KCL consoling myself, Faezeh, or my guests, or apologising for the disruption.”

The student has now also revealed that the KCL Students for Justice in Palestine Society has since reached out to him, but “failed to apologise directly”.

The student has also disclosed to us that, ten days after the incident, they received an e-mail from KCL’s Students’ Union (KCLSU) informing them that rather than taking action against those who disrupted the event, it was KCL’s Geopolitics Forum – the society to which the student belongs – that received a “formal warning”.

In an e-mail seen by Campaign Against Antisemitism, it was stated that supposed misconduct on the part of the Geopolitics Forum included “behaviour that has a negative impact on other people,” “theft, misuse of funds or damage to KCLSU property,” “actions that are in contravention of KCLSU’s values and likely to damage the reputation of KCLSU or KCL,” and “actions that knowingly or willingly expose KCLSU to threat of legal action”. The e-mail appears to be a staggering example of victim-blaming.

The student forwarded this e-mail to a senior KCL staff member, who allegedly referred to the action as “a clumsy move” from the Students’ Union. When asked whether they felt that the University was supporting its Jewish students, the student replied: “This is drivel. Total nonsense.”

We reached out to KCLSU but they declined to provide a comment, citing confidentiality around student disciplinary issues.

A spokesperson for KCL said: “We are investigating the disruption at a recent student society event in line with our policies and procedures for protest. We fully support and are committed to upholding the right of freedom of speech and of protest within the law, however the safety and wellbeing of our community and visitors to our campuses is our absolute priority. Since October 7 we have engaged with our Israeli, Jewish and wider student societies, to listen to any concerns and provide extensive pastoral support. In response to concerns for safety, both on campus and across London more generally, we have enhanced security measures to keep our community safe on campus.”

KCL and its students’ union should be protecting its Jewish students, not persecuting them. Is it any wonder that only 3% of British Jews are confident that if a Jewish student reported an antisemitic incident on campus, the university’s administration would take appropriate action?

This incident is a stain on KCL. It should issue an apology to the Jewish student and finally go after not the victim but the people who perpetrated the disruption of the event.

University College London (UCL)

Elsewhere in London, masked anti-Israel thugs stopped students and staff from entering UCL while chanting: “Resistance is glorious. We will be victorious!”

Jewish students on campus deserve better, and UCL is failing them.

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

It is good to see the Government finally showing interest in addressing the worst crisis of antisemitism in living memory.

As a starting point, we need to see real measures to tackle the regular marches, and action regarding the BBC.

We will engage with the Government to bring about those measures – but we will never be afraid to call out failings or hold institutions to account when we believe that they fall short in their duty to defend British Jews.

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A year and a half on, has anything really changed in law enforcement?

After a year and a half of regular Palestine protests, the scene of a man standing on the entrance to Marble Arch Underground Station waving a flag at the Al Quads Day march has become one of the preeminent and iconic symbols of London.

It has happened with the full acquiescence of the police and criminal justice system, and thanks to politicians too afraid to stand up to the mob.

A photograph of this scene was taken yesterday by our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit at the Al Quds Day march in London.

In the past, the Al Quds Day march has been an annual display of support for the murderous theocracy in Iran and its client terror groups like Hizballah. Some cities have banned the march altogether. Since we and others secured the proscription of Hizballah in the UK, the organisers and marchers have had to rethink some of their paraphernalia.

Still, yesterday’s Al Quds Day march featured what we have all come to expect in our nation’s capital at the weekend: support for violent terrorism and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Extremism is on the march in London, and it is a devastating indictment of our political class and of the state of our criminal justice system that they simply do not seem to care.

A week prior to Al Quds Day there was – of course – another Palestine march, which, as ever, our volunteers were present to monitor.

What was interesting about that march was that it took place when there was a ceasefire in Gaza – which was exactly what the Palestine protesters claim to have been calling for over the past year and a half.

Many of us argued that the animosity on these marches went much deeper and spoke to far darker motivations. Hence we were not surprised that, notwithstanding the ceasefire, they continued to march.

But for what?

Judging by the chanting and the signs many seemed to be marching for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state and the exile or murder of its millions of Jewish citizens.

For the few who still believed in the mask, it has well and truly fallen.

A noteworthy intervention

Why are these marches still taking place?

Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, says that he is disgusted by the regular Palestine demonstrations, finding the response of the authorities lacking, and is astonished that the IRGC has not yet been proscribed.

In an interview with the JC, he said: “As a long-serving intelligence officer, I’m disgusted by what I’ve seen in terms of Hamas-supporting demonstrations in the UK, which are clearly very, very intimidating. The Government hasn’t nearly taken a tough enough line. In my view, we should have been like the French and banned them.”

He described Iran as “the primary destabilising force in the Middle East” and, with regard to proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said: “I just don’t get why we haven’t done so. It is the agency through which Iran has conducted what I would call ‘arm’s length warfare’. The Quds Force is part of the IRGC, and they’ve made an absolute fundamental aspect of Iranian policy using this agency to destabilise and interfere in the affairs of other countries. I know the Foreign Office arguments for not banning the IRGC, but it should have been identified as a terrorist organisation a long time ago.”

We have been critical of the response of the authorities to the Palestine marches for a year and a half now. We have also long called for the proscription of the IRGC, and our polling shows that 93% of British Jews support a ban. A proscription was promised by the Government prior to the General Election but has not yet been delivered.

So, where are the police?

A few weeks ago, the police finally applied some restrictions to one of the marches, conveniently timed to coincide with Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s victory lap around the Jewish community. This, despite our polling showing that just 5% of British Jews have confidence in him.

Beneath the surface, the police have continued to disappoint.

Their policy of avoiding arrests in real time means that they rely on making identifications of suspects later on, but even then their success has been limited. For example, a woman was taken aside by police at a march a few weeks ago, apparently in connection with a sign that she was holding that glorified the deceased leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar. She was then let go. Later, the police sought to identify her for questioning but apparently could not do so and closed the investigation.

As usual when a public authority fails to do its job, we stepped in, and our Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit looked into the matter and provided her identity to the police. We are waiting to hear if further action is being taken.

Even when details of the case are known to the police and prosecutors, they still often decline to take action.

For example, the Metropolitan Police have decided to close their investigation into an imam at the Redbridge Islamic Centre, claiming that there was not sufficient evidence for a conviction.

The investigation related to a sermon delivered on 20th October 2023. In a video of the sermon, the imam is heard saying, “Oh Allah, curse the Jews and the children of Israel. Oh Allah, curse the infidels and the polytheists,” and “Oh Allah, break their words, shake their feet, disperse and tear apart their unity and ruin their houses and destroy their homes.”

Following an initial investigation, the Met concluded that there was insufficient evidence and closed the case.

In May 2024, Campaign Against Antisemitism notified the Met of our intention to launch a private prosecution of the imam, and over the succeeding months there was also a public outcry as media pressure began to build. Consequently, the Met decided to reopen its investigation. Their conclusion was that they were “not satisfied there was sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction” and they have now decided to close the case again.

It is hard to imagine what more the Met would need to pursue this case. There is video footage and it does not seem that any of the facts are in question, so what the Met is saying is that extremists can preach hatred of Jews from pulpits in mosques up and down the country, and our police will not lift a finger.

This is why eight in ten British Jews think that the police do not do enough to protect them, according to our polling, and why only 16% of British Jews believe that the police treat antisemitic hate crime like other forms of hate crime, with two thirds believing that the police apply a double standard.

We are now working with our lawyers to continue the process of privately prosecuting this case.

We are also awaiting a decision from the Charity Commission on this matter as the mosque where this took place is a registered charity.

Instead of relying on the authorities like everyone else, it is increasingly the case that British Jews have to rely on us to take action to enforce the law of the land.

There are some cases where the police do take action: for example against the Iranian activist and ally of the Jewish community, Niyak Ghorbani.

Mr Ghorbani has become renowned for declaring, in the face of anti-Israel protesters, that Hamas and Hizballah are terrorists under UK law. For doing so, he has repeatedly been arrested by the police, with draconian bail conditions removed by the courts when appealed by our lawyers.

The latest fiasco stemmed from an accusation by a counter-protester against Mr Ghorbani at a demonstration on 12th November last year at Queen Mary University of London. The demonstration was organised to protest Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who was scheduled to speak at the University. Ms Albanese has long been accused of using antisemitic rhetoric.

The protest was initially organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism, but was cancelled due to security concerns, following an online threat of an ‘Amsterdam-style’ attack, which appeared to refer to a series of violent attacks against Jews in the Netherlands that took place only days earlier. Several protesters, including Mr Ghorbani, proceeded to demonstrate outside the University and were met by counter-demonstrators.

‘Mr Ghorbani was accused by one of the counter-protesters of making racially aggravated threats to kill. They alleged that he said: “I’ll kill you, you Arab b******.” A police investigation was launched but, with our legal assistance, he has since been informed that the investigation has been dropped. The police have also confirmed that an investigation will be opened to determine if the allegation was an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

We will continue to stand with all those who stand with the Jewish community and face repercussions for doing so.

Justice has prevailed, but this case raises serious concerns about the priorities of those tasked with upholding the law.

It isn’t just the police

Recently, a volunteer from our Court Monitoring Unit reported that the CPS has dropped its case against a person whom it had charged with a racially aggravated public order offence for parading around London during one of the Palestine marches in March last year with a sign showing the Israeli flag being thrown in the bin and the caption “Keep the world clean”.

The District Judge said that that the CPS had told him that: “Upon a thorough review of all the evidence it was felt there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.”

This sort of last-minute dropping of charges is unreassuringly reminiscent of the convoy scandal, when the CPS decided at the eleventh hour not to prosecute individuals charged in connection with a car that drove down Finchley Road whose occupants shouted antisemitic, misogynistic vitriol from loudspeakers.

What of the regulators?

We mentioned that we are awaiting a decision regarding the Redbridge Islamic Centre from the Charity Commission.

Lord Walney, the former independent adviser on political violence and disruption, has criticised the Charity Commission for proceeding with investigations at a “glacial pace”.

Our experience sadly confirms this assessment: of all the outstanding complaints that Campaign Against Antisemitism has with the Charity Commission regarding UK-registered charities, fewer than one-fifth have proceeded beyond an automated acknowledgement.

In some cases, it has been months and there is still no word from the Commission as to whether an investigation is even going to be launched. That is aside from the time that it will take for an investigation to be carried out once it is commenced.

Some of these cases involve extremist activity that, in our view, puts Jewish people at risk.

In the meantime, potentially dangerous charities and trustees are able to continue with business as usual and enjoy all of the benefits that charitable status entails.

We appreciate that the regulator may be inundated with actionable complaints, especially since 7th October 2023. But that goes to an even deeper and more worrying issue: the scale of the problem and the threat within Britain’s charitable sector.

This is what ‘globalising the Intifada’ looks like

Faiz Shah, 23, Mohammad Comrie, 23, and Elijah Ogunnubi-Sime, 20, have been sentenced to eight years and one month in prison after pleading guilty to manipulating Itay Kashti, an Israeli Jew, into traveling hundreds of miles to Wales, where they kidnapped him, handcuffing him to a radiator and beating him.

Why did they do it? Because he is a Jew.

It is astonishing that this crime has not received greater coverage; it may represent a terrible tipping point for Jewish life in Britain.

Mr Kashti said that the incident “felt like my own personal October 7,” in reference to the Hamas massacre in Israel on 7th October 2023 and the terror group’s seizing of hostages, many of whom still remain in captivity in unspeakable conditions.

The gang was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court, where Judge Catherine Richards said that the kidnapping was “motivated by events taking place elsewhere in the world,” adding: “He was an entirely innocent, hard-working music producer that you had identified as a victim based on your understanding of his wealth and his Jewish heritage.”

This is an absolutely horrific crime.

It is an enormous relief that Mr Kashti was able to escape, given that similar abductions of Jews from France to Gaza have ended in murder. This is what ‘globalising the Intifada’ looks like: Jews being subjected to violence motivated by religious hatred.

We are grateful to the police in Wales and to the court for taking a stand. This sentence is a message both to prospective perpetrators of such heinous crimes and also to the authorities elsewhere in Britain, who have turned too much of a blind eye to incitement to violence against Jews.

Suspend the licence fee!

31 days.

That is how long it has been since the BBC announced that it had launched an “internal review” into how it commissioned and aired a so-called documentary on Gaza that spotlighted the family member of a Hamas official. It was later revealed that licence fee money actually went to that Hamas family.

One month, and still no update for the public on this internal review. Britain deserves better than this.

No other broadcaster in Britain would be allowed to get away with marking its own homework with a mere internal review into such a major scandal, which is why we have called for an independent investigation.

We will not let the BBC kick this into the long grass with an endless review. The BBC must publish the result of its naval-gazing, and then we can have a proper independent investigation, which a majority of the British public supports.

Until there is an independent investigation, clearly the licence fee must be suspended.

Sign the petition at suspendthelicencefee.com.

In the midst of all the negative news, there is a bright spot.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on UK-Israel has published a report on the Hamas attack of 7th October 2023. The report was authored by esteemed historian Lord Robert of Belgravia.

As the report explains: “This report is driven by a single purpose: to chronicle the facts of 7 October with clarity and precision. By compiling survivor testimonies, eyewitness accounts, first responder narratives, and expert analyses, this project has sought to create an authoritative historical record. This report will serve as an enduring resource for governments, educators, and civil society, safeguarding the truth against denialism and distortion.

“By preserving these facts for posterity, the Commission seeks to honour the memory of those who died and ensure that the events of 7th October 2023 are never forgotten. It should also stand as a stark reminder of the cost of extremism.”

The report memorialises the eighteen British citizens murdered by Hamas and observes that more British citizens were killed on 7th October than in any foreign terror attack since 9/11. One might question whether the previous or current governments have acted in a way commensurate with this extraordinary statistic.

It is tragic that a report is necessary to counter denialism of an attack whose perpetrators filmed themselves in action.

But we are fortunate to have legislators and historians who still value truth and decency and brought about this worthwhile project.

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Once again, needless police investigation into anti-Hamas activist dropped following legal support from CAA

A police investigation into an activist renowned for declaring, in the face of anti-Israel protesters, that Hamas and Hizballah are terrorists under UK law, has been dropped.

The investigation stemmed from an accusation by a counter-protester against Niyak Ghorbani at a demonstration on 12th November last year at Queen Mary University of London.

The demonstration was organised to protest Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who was scheduled to speak at the University. Ms Albanese has long been accused of using antisemitic rhetoric.

The protest was initially organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism, but was cancelled due to security concerns, following an online threat of an ‘Amsterdam-style’ attack, which appeared to refer to a series of violent attacks against Jews in the Netherlands that took place only days earlier. Several protesters, including Mr Ghorbani, proceeded to demonstrate outside the University and were met by counter-demonstrators.

Mr Ghorbani, who is of Iranian heritage, was accused by one of the counter-protesters of making racially aggravated threats to kill. They alleged that he said: “I’ll kill you, you Arab b******.” A police investigation was launched.

He has since been informed that the investigation has been dropped.

The police have also confirmed that an investigation will be opened to determine if the allegation was an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement for Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We welcome the decision to drop the ludicrous investigation against Niyak Ghorbani, who should never have been subjected to this ordeal in the first place. It is appalling that those who speak out against terrorism are targeted while actual extremists go unchallenged. We are proud yet again to have provided legal assistance to Mr Ghorbani, and we will continue to stand with all those who stand with the Jewish community and face repercussions for doing so. Justice has prevailed, but this case raises serious concerns about the priorities of those tasked with upholding the law.”

Anyone requiring legal assistance over an incident relating to antisemitism can contact us at [email protected].

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Extremism is on the march: Another annual Al Quads Day in London

Today saw the annual Al Quds Day march in London and other cities in the UK and abroad.

The Al Quds Day march in the UK is convened by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), a controversial charity best known for these Al Quds Day events, which in the past have featured IHRC-badged placards that read “We are all Hizballah”. Hizballah is an antisemitic genocidal terror organisation.

As ever, our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit was present at today’s march.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “In the past, the Al Quds Day march has been an annual display of support for the murderous theocracy in Iran and its client terror groups like Hizballah. Some cities have banned the march altogether. Since we and others secured the proscription of Hizballah in the UK, the organisers and marchers have had to rethink some of their paraphernalia.

“Sunday’s Al Quds Day march featured what we have all come to expect in our nation’s capital at the weekend: support for violent terrorism and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. Extremism is on the march in London, and it is a devastating indictment of our political class and of the state of our criminal justice system that they simply do not seem to care.”

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CAA takes out full-page ads in Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and Mail on Sunday calling for suspension of the licence fee

This weekend, we launched a full-page advertisement campaign in the Sunday newspapers calling for the suspension of the TV licence fee, pending an independent investigation into the BBC in relation to the Gaza film scandal and wider issues of bias against the Jewish state in its coverage.

The striking ads, which appeared in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and The Mail on Sunday thanks to the support of a generous donor, observed that a majority of the British public supports the launch of an independent investigation, according to polling commissioned by Campaign Against Antisemitism and conducted by YouGov, more on which below.

It is unconscionable to force people to pay a licence fee that for years has funded biased reporting and has now been handed to the family of a Hamas terrorist. The licence fee must be suspended pending an independent investigation.

Thousands of people have already signed our petition at suspendthelicencefee.com, and now celebrities are adding their voices too, with 200 figures from the entertainment industry signing an open letter calling for an investigation into the BBC, including Ozzy and Sharon Osborne, Debra Messing and Mayim Bialik.

Everyone has had enough of BBC bias and handing licence fee money to a Hamas terrorist’s family has to be the final straw.

New polling on the BBC

New polling commissioned by Campaign Against Antisemitism and conducted by YouGov shows that 57% of the British public back an independent investigation into the BBC Gaza film scandal; only 21% do not.

The majority of the British public (58%) does not trust the BBC to investigate itself (only 28% do); and only 49% trust Ofcom compared to 33% who do not.

You can find the full results and methodology here.

BBC bosses hauled before Culture Committee

Earlier in the week, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee heard from Dr Samir Shah, Chair of the BBC, and the Director-General of the BBC, Tim Davie.

The hearing came as the BBC is engulfed in scandal following its publication of the so-called documentary, ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’.

Rupa Huq, Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, appeared to doubt the BBC’s decision to remove the documentary and remarked: “There might be a danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport and Chair of the Committee, addressed Dr Shah regarding Ofcom’s announcement that it may intervene in the BBC’s investigation, remarking that “trust matters” and asked: “Can the BBC mark their own homework?” She added: “A film like this has huge value but we have to be able to trust what we are seeing.”

Dr Shah responded: “We have literally marked our own homework,” and noted that the BBC’s system of doing an investigation “is not in itself a bad thing” but admitted that “Ofcom’s position is right.” He also said: “We will get to the bottom of this and take appropriate actions.”

James Frith, Labour MP for Bury North, asked: “Will the scope of your inquiry confirm if the money paid for the documentary ended up with Hamas?” Mr Davie responded: “Yes, of course.” Mr Frith noted: “It’s fair to assume that if the family of a senior Hamas leader is paid, that that money goes into the orbit of Hamas.” Mr Davie insisted: “I’ve told you what I know.”

Dr Shah further admitted, “This is a really, really bad moment,” and agreed that the “mechanics of the filmmaking itself” needed to be investigated. He said that “There’s a dagger to the heart of the BBC’s claim to be impartial and to be trustworthy.” He added: “We need to restore trust in the BBC.”

Mr Davie opined at one point: “This was a serious failing, but we have trust numbers that we’re very proud of. We’re the most trusted brand in the world.”

As expected, Mr Davie and Dr Shah delivered the expected answers to the Committee. But no amount of spin can cover for either the scandal of this so-called documentary and the wider problem of bias at the BBC, or the outrageousness of the BBC marking its own homework with an internal review instead of an independent investigation.

No other broadcaster would be permitted this latitude, and no other regulated industry would allow this. It bears restating: licence fee funds went to the family member of a senior member of a proscribed terrorist organisation. How can it possibly be business as usual at the BBC?

Outside scrutiny must be allowed into the BBC’s clique to see what has been done with the public’s money. The licence fee must be suspended pending an independent investigation.

Second protest outside Broadcasting House

For the second time in as many weeks, last Thursday evening we protested again outside Broadcasting House.

The hundreds in attendance heard from our Chief Executive, Gideon Falter; broadcaster and comedian Josh Howie; actress and columnist Dame Maureen Lipman; Nova music festival survivor Natalie Sanandaji; and Mark Birbeck, founder of Our Fight UK.

Last week, our protest demanded that the BBC stops whitewashing terrorism. This week, we gathered to tell the BBC: “We refuse to fund terrorists with our licence fee!”

Gideon Falter told the crowd: “A national treasure has become a national embarrassment.”

Josh Howie, who at last week’s protest announced on stage that he will no longer pay the BBC licence fee, told demonstrators this week: “We have no choice. We are all compelled to be here—compelled by decades of racism, compelled by the distortions, the omissions and the outright lies—all in service of creating a warped biased hateful narrative that has been directed at our community by the BBC. And just as much, we are also compelled to be here by the decades of inaction, dismissal and denial by the BBC of that racism.”

Dame Maureen Lipman asked: “Where is the balance? As always, all I ask for is a level playing field.”

Natalie Sanandaji, who survived the Nova music festival massacre on 7th October, told the crowd: “This is not just a case of poor judgment. This is an active betrayal of the trust that the public has in institutions like the BBC. The BBC is supposed to be a respected, reliable source of news for the British public. The BBC is supposed to uphold standards of fairness and responsibility. And yet here they are, amplifying the voices of those connected to the very people who are responsible for the deaths of our friends, our families, our communities.”

Mark Birbeck said: “There are a lot of people like me that feel that first and foremost, journalism should be about truth and transparency.”

We also asked those who came to the protest about how they feel about the licence fee.

Thank you to everyone who came to the protest last Thursday, and the protest before that.

If you were not able to make it, you can still make your voice heard by signing the petition calling for a suspension of the licence fee.

Gazan small-boat migrant arrested after Campaign Against Antisemitism exposé makes national front pages

An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism has revealed that a man who posted on TikTok on Friday about his arrival in the UK was a member of a Hamas-endorsed unit involved in serious violence on the Gaza-Israel border who wants to “die for the sake of Allah”.

The man, who goes by Abu Wadei, posted a video on TikTok showing the final steps of his journey from Gaza to Britain, in a dinghy. Our investigative teams urgently looked into who he is.

We identified him in a video in which he took the microphone at a rally, apparently in Gaza. He told the crowd that he is a member of the “tyre burning unit”, which was active in the Hamas-endorsed violent border riots in 2018 and 2019. He then railed against Jews, adding that his “loftiest aspiration” is to “die for the sake of Allah”.

At the same rally, men chant a battle cry referring to a massacre of Jews: “Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.” The “Khaybar” chant is a classic Arabic battle cry referencing the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, now Saudi Arabia, in the year 628 CE. The chant has been heard in numerous anti-Israel rallies in Britain and abroad.

We also found photographs of Abu Wadei apparently at a conference addressed by Yahya Sinwar, the deceased leader of the antisemitic, genocidal terrorist group Hamas.

Our exposé was widely covered in the national media, including the front page of The Mail on Sunday and double-page coverage in The Sun on Sunday.

We told the media that anyone who may have a track record of being in any way affiliated with Hamas or promoting antisemitic rhetoric must not be permitted to endanger this country. If jihadis who want ‘to die for the sake of Allah’ can enter the United Kingdom from Gaza with relative ease, that poses a serious threat to national security.

Following our exposé and the wide coverage, the Home Office confirmed today that Abu Wadei has been arrested.

We welcome the reported arrest of Abu Wadei. It is evident that he poses a threat to the safety of the Jewish community and to the British public more widely. Clearly he should not be at liberty in the UK.

We are now asking the Home Office to confirm that this case will be expedited and we are seeking assurances on the anticipated timeframes. We are also asking why nobody seemed to have worked out who he was until our investigators exposed him.

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Protesters tell the BBC: “We refuse to fund terrorists with our licence fee!”

This evening, protesters gathered at Broadcasting House to tell the BBC: “We refuse to fund terrorists with our licence fee!”

The protest was organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism, following the BBC’s admission of ‘serious flaws’ relating to the so-called documentary, ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,’ and confirmation that licence fee payers’ money was handed to the family of a senior Hamas official.

The crowd was addressed by Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, who said: “A national treasure has become a national embarrassment.”

Broadcaster and comedian Josh Howie told demonstrators: “We have no choice. We are all compelled to be here—compelled by decades of racism, compelled by the distortions, the omissions and the outright lies—all in service of creating a warped biased hateful narrative that has been directed at our community by the BBC. And just as much, we are also compelled to be here by the decades of inaction, dismissal and denial by the BBC of that racism.”

At last week’s protest, he announced on stage that he will no longer pay the BBC licence fee.

We then heard from actress and columnist Dame Maureen Lipman, who asked: “Where is the balance?”

She continued: “As always, all I ask for is a level playing field.”

Natalie Sanandaji, who survived the Nova music festival massacre on 7th October, where a reported 364 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists, told the crowd: “This is not just a case of poor judgment. This is an active betrayal of the trust that the public has in institutions like the BBC. The BBC is supposed to be a respected, reliable source of news for the British public. The BBC is supposed to uphold standards of fairness and responsibility. And yet here they are, amplifying the voices of those connected to the very people who are responsible for the deaths of our friends, our families, our communities.”

We then heard from Mark Birbeck, founder of Our Fight UK, who said: “There are a lot of people like me that feel that first and foremost, journalism should be about truth and transparency.”

The protest came following another protest at the Broadcasting House last week, also organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism, where protesters demanded that the broadcaster stop whitewashing terrorism.

On Tuesday, BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC Chair Dr Samir Shah spoke at a Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing, where Mr Davie insisted that the BBC is the “most trusted brand in the world”.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The BBC has allowed licence fee money to go to the family of a Hamas terrorist in the production of what was essentially a Hamas propaganda film. The majority of the British public now backs our call for an independent investigation.

“The BBC is trying to pretend that it is business as usual while hoping to get away with an internal report, but the British public is having none of it and does not want the BBC to mark its own homework. That is why we want the licence fee to be suspended pending an independent investigation into this scandal and the wider issue of the BBC’s glaring bias.

“It is unconscionable to force people to pay a licence fee that pays for biased reporting and has now even been handed to the family of a terrorist.”

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New polling on BBC, as we prepare to protest this evening

New polling commissioned by Campaign Against Antisemitism and conducted by YouGov shows that 57% of the British public back an independent investigation into the BBC Gaza film scandal; only 21% do not.

A majority of the British public do not trust the BBC to investigate themselves.

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be demonstrating at the Broadcasting House at 19:00 this evening.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The BBC has allowed licence fee money to go to the family of a Hamas terrorist in the production of what was essentially a Hamas propaganda film. The majority of the British public now backs our call for an independent investigation.

“The BBC is trying to pretend that it is business as usual while hoping to get away with an internal report, but the British public is having none of it and does not want the BBC to mark its own homework. That is why we want the licence fee to be suspended pending an independent investigation into this scandal and the wider issue of the BBC’s glaring bias.

“It is unconscionable to force people to pay a licence fee that pays for biased reporting and has now even been handed to the family of a terrorist.”

Full polling results

“Last month the BBC pulled a documentary about Gaza after it was revealed that the narrator was the teenage son of a Hamas official. Do you think there should or should not be an independent investigation into how this came to happen?”

  • Definitely should 31
  • Probably should 26
  • Probably should not 14
  • Definitely should not 7
  • Don’t know 23
  • TOTAL SHOULD 57
  • TOTAL SHOULD NOT 21

“Last month the BBC pulled a documentary about Gaza after it was revealed that the narrator was the teenage son of a Hamas official. How much, if at all, would you trust the following to investigate how this happened?”

The BBC themselves?

  • A lot 6
  • A fair amount 22
  • Not very much 26
  • Not at all 32
  • Don’t know 14
  • TOTAL A LOT / FAIR AMOUNT 28
  • TOTAL NOT VERY MUCH / AT ALL 58

OfCom?

  • A lot 12
  • A fair amount 37
  • Not very much 23
  • Not at all 10
  • Don’t know 18
  • TOTAL A LOT / FAIR AMOUNT 49
  • TOTAL NOT VERY MUCH / AT ALL 33

Fieldwork

Polling was conducted by YouGov plc, with frieldwork undertaken on 4th – 5th March 2025 with a sample size of 2,147 adults in GB.

The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). YouGov are a member of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules.

You can find the full results here.

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As our petition calling for a suspension of the licence fee grows, we will be protesting again outside the BBC this Thursday

In view of new developments relating to the BBC’s so-called documentary about Gaza that was tantamount to a Hamas propaganda film – including that licence fee funds did go to the family of a senior Hamas official, more on which below – we will be protesting again outside the BBC this Thursday.

  • When: 19:00, Thursday 6th March
  • Where: Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA

There is no need to sign up. Placards will be provided.

We hope that you will join us.

Please also sign our petition calling for a suspension of the licence fee here, and read more below about why this is so important.

Last week, we put the BBC on notice

Thank you to everyone who joined our protest outside the BBC last week.

Together, we showed the BBC that its bias against Israel – which an overwhelming majority of British Jews believes fuels persecution of Jews – is intolerable, and that the prospect that licence fee monies went to Hamas was the last straw.

The crowd gathered outside Broadcasting House to call on the BBC to stop whitewashing terrorism and to hold our national broadcaster to account.

We were calling for answers:

Why did the Gaza film get aired?
Did money go to Hamas?

We needed transparency and accountability from the BBC.

First to speak was Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, who said: “The BBC has become a mouthpiece for terror. It cannot call terrorism by its name. The BBC has become a spokesperson for terrorists.”

Recent events have not occurred in a vacuum. For sixteen months, we have watched our national broadcaster provide ever more sympathetic coverage to a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Hence the need for a full inquiry into the BBC’s bias in its coverage of the Jewish state.

Next came David Collier, the investigative researcher who exposed the BBC in his investigation into the so-called documentary about life in Gaza.

“Last Monday night, the BBC aired a Hamas propaganda documentary. Four days later they took it down. But let us be clear about one key point: They did not take it down because it was raw Hamas propaganda. They did not take it down because it was full of distortion and lies. They did not even take it down because it featured continuity issues and children reading from their Hamas written scripts. All of those issues may be true – but the key point is this: The only reason the BBC took down its documentary is because they were caught and this time – they had no excuses to hide behind.”

Judging by the reaction, the crowd seemed to agree.

After a minute’s silence in memory of those slaughtered by Hamas on 7th October and in the sixteen months since, we then had the honour of hearing from Michael Marlowe.

Michael’s beloved son Jake was among the 1,200 murdered by the antisemitic terrorists that day.

“For decades, the BBC stood as the bastion of honest and trustworthy reporting. It was the world’s first port of call for global and national news, respected for its integrity and neutrality. But that BBC is long gone.”

Finally, the crowd heard from the broadcaster and comedian Josh Howie, who declared on stage that he will no longer be paying his license fee.

“Jews and non-Jews are here together to tell the BBC we’ve had enough. Together we declare: ‘No to a licence of hate’.”

It says something about the strength of feeling in the Jewish community that Josh – and he isn’t alone – is prepared to risk penalties by announcing his refusal to pay the licence fee.

We also asked protesters why they had come and what they thought of the BBC.

We also submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act asking whether any payments made by the BBC in relation to Gaza film went to Hamas or those associated with it.

It is time for transparency, and resignations.

The BBC must stop being allowed to mark its own homework. Currently the BBC reviews complaints about its coverage and appeals of those complaints, and only further appeals go to Ofcom. This is unique, as complaints regarding all other broadcasters go directly to Ofcom.

It is time to bring regulation of the BBC into line with other broadcasters.

Recent events have not occurred in a vacuum. As noted, for sixteen months, we have watched our national broadcaster provide ever more sympathetic coverage to a proscribed terrorist organisation, and that follows decades of biased coverage.

It is time for a full and independent inquiry into the BBC’s coverage of the Jewish state.

We are also very grateful to our friends in Sussex, who organised a local protest at BBC Sussex last week as well.

The protest and the wider scandal have been covered across the national press, our Chief Executive penned an op-ed for LBC and our spokespeople gave interviews to the broadcast media.

Subsequent developments

More revelations emerged about the documentary, including regarding other protagonists and cameramen, even as Gary Lineker, Miriam Margolyes and other usual suspects criticised the BBC for pulling the film.

It was also revealed that the BBC had mistranslated words like ‘jihad’ and ‘Jews’ in ways that downplayed violent antisemitism among Gazans.

By lying like this, the BBC is actually shielding Hamas and trying to brainwash audiences.

This is not impartial, and it’s not accurate. It is the BBC putting its thumb on the scales and breaching its editorial guidelines to cover for people who want Jews dead.

Interestingly, it also emerged that, in 2013, the BBC Trust dismissed complaints against the BBC for similarly translating the Arabic word for ‘Jew’ as ‘Israeli’, despite concerns that this whitewashed antisemitism. Among the trustees at the time of the ruling was apparently David Liddiment.

According to The Telegraph, Mr Liddiment was previously a founding member and creative director of All3Media. All3Media is the international distributor of – you guessed it – the ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ so-called documentary at the heart of the BBC scandal over bias and terrorism.

This is why the BBC cannot be allowed to continue marking its own homework.

The Culture Secretary was pressed in Parliament about the scandal, and revealed that she had already sought assurances from BBC Director General Tim Davie that no money had gone to Hamas.

Days later, those assurances were still not forthcoming, which already said it all.

The bombshell

The BBC eventually admitted that licence fee funds were paid to the family of a senior Hamas official.

It has not yet been able to rule out that further payments to Hamas members were made as it continues to investigate where hundreds of thousands of pounds went.

The BBC released a statement that represented an exercise in desperate damage control, and shows why an internal review is no substitute for an independent investigation into this documentary and the wider bias at the BBC that allowed it to be made and aired.

Clearly those responsible must lose their jobs.

It is unconscionable that the British public should have to pay a licence fee to an organisation that gives that money to proscribed terrorists. It represents a shocking double standard in our law.

Pending an independent investigation, the licence fee must be suspended.

A criminal investigation?

The BBC’s apparent admission that licence fee funds went to the family of a senior Hamas official also clearly gives rise to concern about breach of terrorism financing laws.

That is why we are among those who have reported the BBC to Counter Terrorism Policing.

The Met Police told us: “We’re aware of a BBC documentary about Gaza and we have received a number of reports raising concerns. Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are currently assessing whether any police action is required in relation to this matter.”

We are grateful to the Met for giving this urgent attention, as it is clearly very significant and firmly within the public interest.

Ofcom weighs in

Now, Ofcom has weighed into the scandal, warning that it may open an investigation itself into the BBC.

Despite the BBC’s admission that licence fee funds went to a senior Hamas official’s family, amazingly it is still being allowed to mark its own homework with an internal review, rather than an independent investigation.

No other broadcaster would get away with this.

Ofcom’s intervention cannot come soon enough. It is time to do away altogether with the BBC’s unique and absurd right to regulate itself, and make Ofcom the first port of call for complaints about the BBC.

Our petition

We have launched a petition, calling for a suspension of the licence fee, pending a full, independent investigation.

It is utterly unconscionable that we should still be required to pay a fee that apparently may go to a proscribed terrorist organisation sworn to the destruction of the Jewish people.

A national treasure has become a national embarrassment.

You can sign the petition here.

It’s about time: Met imposes restrictions on Swiss Cottage anti-Israel protests

You may recall that we recently invited those local to Swiss Cottage to reply to the consultation regarding the weekly anti-Israel protests there.

Thank you to those who were able to do so.

Finally, after more than a year, the police have moved the weekly protests taking place in Swiss Cottage, an area with a significant Jewish population.

These protests have been taking place every week on Friday evenings. As the Jewish community has been ushering in Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, they have had to listen to calls for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state, support for Hamas and the 7th October attack, blood libels and more.

We welcome the move from the Met Police. What took so long?

Campaign Against Antisemitism lights London orange for the Bibas family

Over the past week, cities and landmarks around the world lit up orange in memory of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were brutally murdered by Hamas and have now been laid to rest.

Disappointingly, London did not light up a landmark.

We fixed that.

On Saturday night, Campaign Against Antisemitism lit up Trafalgar Square in Central London to honour the Bibas family, murdered by antisemitic terrorists.

May their memory be a blessing.

The BBC’s admission that licence fee money went to the family of a senior Hamas official is outrageous.

It must be the final straw for the Jewish community, and the final nail in the coffin for a licence fee that the Jewish community has been forced to pay to an institution whose bias has put the safety of British Jews at risk.

We must make our voices heard again. Please sign the petition, and please join us to protest outside the BBC this Thursday.

We look forward to seeing you then.

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CAA to protest at BBC on Thursday over payment to senior Hamas family

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be demonstrating outside BBC Broadcasting House at 19:00 on Thursday 6th March.

Over the past weeks, the BBC has been engulfed in scandal, following its publication of the so-called documentary, ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’.

Last week, the BBC shared an e-mail with staff and released statements regarding the progress of its internal review into the documentary. In the e-mail, it admitted to ‘serious flaws’ and confirmed that licence fee payers’ money was handed to the family of a senior Hamas official.

The payment was for the appearance of a boy in the film. Clearly the filmmakers knew who the boy’s family were because they paid them, but rather than the boy’s actual family appearing in the film, audiences were shown a fake family to hide the truth of his real family’s deep involvement with Hamas. The BBC says that it maintained full editorial control and responsibility for the film.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has called for an independent investigation and for a suspension of the licence fee pending the outcome of that investigation.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “A national treasure has become a national embarrassment. The BBC has now admitted that licence fee funds were paid to the family of a senior Hamas official. It has not yet been able to rule out that further payments to Hamas were made as it continues to investigate where hundreds of thousands of pounds went. It is unconscionable that the British public should have to pay a licence fee to an organisation that gives that money to proscribed terrorists. That is why we invite everyone to join us at 19:00 on Thursday outside the Broadcasting House. Enough is enough. We refuse to fund terrorists.”

CAA lights up Trafalgar Square orange for Bibas family
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CAA lights up London orange for Bibas family

After London, unlike other major cities, did not light up a landmark orange in memory of the Bibas family, we did so last night in Trafalgar Square.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism: “Over the past week, cities and landmarks around the world lit up orange in memory of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were brutally murdered by Hamas and have now been laid to rest. Disappointingly, London did not light up a landmark. We fixed that.

“Last night, Campaign Against Antisemitism lit up Trafalgar Square in Central London, to honor the Bibas family, murdered by antisemitic terrorists. May their memory be a blessing.”

You can see the full picture here: https://x.com/antisemitism/status/1896172740136108268

Crowd holds placards in protest outside the BBC
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Protesters tell the BBC: “Stop whitewashing terrorism”

This evening, protesters gathered at the Broadcasting House to demand that the BBC stops whitewashing terrorism.

The protest was organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism, following the broadcast of a documentary that was tantamount to a Hamas propaganda film.

The crowd was addressed by Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, who said: “The BBC has become a mouthpiece for terror. It cannot call terrorism by its name. The BBC has become a spokesperson for terrorists.”

We then heard from investigative researcher David Collier, who exposed the BBC in his investigation into the documentary, who said: “Last Monday night, the BBC aired a Hamas propaganda documentary. Four days later they took it down. But let us be clear about one key point. They did not take it down because it was raw Hamas propaganda. They did not take it down because it was full of distortion and lies. They did not even take it down because it featured continuity issues and children reading from their Hamas written scripts. All of those issues may be true – but the key point is this: The only reason the BBC took down its documentary is because they were caught and this time – they had no excuses to hide behind.”

Michael Marlowe, the father of Jake Marlowe, who was brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists during the 7th October attack, told the crowd: “For decades, the BBC stood as the bastion of honest and trustworthy reporting. It was the world’s first port of call for global and national news, respected for its integrity and neutrality. But that BBC is long gone.”

Broadcaster and comedian Josh Howie declared on stage that he would no longer be paying his license fee, saying: “Jews and and non-Jews are here together to tell the BBC we’ve had enough. Together we declare: ‘No to a licence of hate.’”

Those in attendance also observed a minute’s silence for those that were murdered on 7th October 2023 and hostages who were since murdered in Hamas captivity and those still being held.

What are we calling for?

  1. Licence-fee funds: We have submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act asking whether the BBC made payments in relation to its ‘Gaza How to Survive a War Zone’ so-called documentary, to whom and in what amounts. This is an opportunity for the BBC to come clean on whether licence fee funds have gone to Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, or those associated with it. It is time for transparency, and resignations.
  2. Regulation: The BBC must stop being allowed to mark its own homework. Currently the BBC reviews complaints about its coverage and appeals of those complaints, and only further appeals go to Ofcom. This is unique, as complaints regarding all other broadcasters go directly to Ofcom. It is time to bring regulation of the BBC into line with other broadcasters.
  3. Independent inquiry: Recent events have not occurred in a vacuum. For sixteen months, we have watched our national broadcaster provide ever more sympathetic coverage to a proscribed terrorist organisation, and that follows decades of biased coverage. Our polling shows the overwhelming majority — 92% — of British Jews believe media bias against Israel fuels antisemitism, and look on the BBC’s coverage disfavorably (it performs the worst among broadcasters). We need a full and independent inquiry into the BBC’s coverage of the Jewish state.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The absolute scandal of this so-called documentary is the tip of the iceberg. We’ve shown how the BBC also literally copy and paste phrases from Hamas spokespeople and quote them as fact. The BBC have become spokespeople for terrorists. They might know that if they were prepared to acknowledge terrorism and call it by its name, but sixteen months since 7th October and they still can’t call Hamas what they are.

“We all came out this evening because it is time for transparency and accountability. We need to know if licence fee funds went to Hamas, we need to know how a Hamas propaganda programme was broadcast, we need resignations and we finally need an independent inquiry into BBC bias against the Jewish state. The problem is clear to everyone now – except, apparently, the BBC. That’s when you know there’s an institutional problem.”

Background

In the past week alone, the BBC has demonstrated time and again how it has become a mouthpiece for terrorists.

Broadcasting Hamas propaganda film

Last week, BBC Two broadcast a documentary called “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone”. It was directed by Yousef Hammash and Jamie Roberts and purported to follow the lives of four young people during the current Hamas-Israel war in the Strip.

The independent researcher David Collier investigated the protagonists and has alleged that one of the principal children featured in the film who also serves as the documentary’s narrator – Abdullah Al-Yazouri – is related to a senior Hamas official.

Al-Yazouri featured in a Channel 4 documentary last year, where he reportedly appeared under the name Abdullah Abu Shamala alongside a man claiming to be his father. That man, whom Mr Collier identified as Khalil Abushammla, is a former Director of anti-Israel NGO Al-Dameer, which allegedly has links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group.

Al-Yazouri’s real father is allegedly Mr Khalil’s brother-in-law, Ayman Al-Yazouri, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the Hamas Government in Gaza.

This would hardly be the first time that Gazans have played roles for gullible Western media, which has failed to do due diligence or has played along for reasons of convenience or ideology.

Mr Collier’s research makes further allegations about these individuals.

The BBC has essentially published long-form propaganda for an antisemitic genocidal terror organisation with licence-fee funds.

These broadcasts have real-life consequences for British Jews, 92% of whom rate our national broadcaster’s coverage of matters of Jewish interest as unfavourable, according to our polling.

Providing a megaphone for Hamas claims

Days after allegations that our national broadcaster published Hamas propaganda, it finally offered a flimsy apology in which it stated that it will air the so-called documentary again but will “add some more detail to the film”.

Then it provided a stage for stomach-churning claims from the very same antisemitic genocidal group.

How about pointing out that the hostages — including a baby and a four-year-old whom the terrorists kidnapped — would still be alive had they not been taken from their home by Hamas in the first place?

Why does the BBC insist on treating Hamas as though it were some neutral party?

It is a proscribed terrorist organisation that has explicitly stated its goal is the annihilation of Jews and Israelis wherever they may be around the world.

How can the BBC claim that this article is provided “For context” without providing that context?

How can they tell their worldwide audience and the British public who pay their salaries that Hamas says “it would have preferred to have returned them alive” when Hamas’s goal is the murder of every Jew?

(This was before Israeli examinations appeared to suggest that these hostages were murdered in cold blood and not killed by an Israeli airstrike as Hamas had claimed.)

All that the BBC has done is provide a megaphone for Hamas’s bogus and insulting claims.

Coverage of the Hamas ‘handover’ ceremony

But it got worse still.

Here is how the BBC summarised the transfer of the four coffins of dead hostages, and the picture that it published of the backdrop of the cruel and twisted Hamas ‘handover’ ceremony.

What the BBC carefully excluded from the picture of smiling (now dead) hostages was the antisemitic portrayal of the Israeli Prime Minister as a blood-sucking vampire looming over the pictures of the hostages who were abducted by Hamas and killed in captivity.

The BBC summary failed in its coverage to say anything more than that the ceremony was similar to previous choreographed events.

For some reason, our public broadcaster opted not to mention that Gazan civilians reportedly participated in the ceremony and danced to celebratory music as the coffins of dead Jewish children lay before them.

The BBC also declined to report that the coffins were labelled “date of arrest: 7th October 2023”, that they were apparently locked with no key provided to the Israelis, and that they had to be checked for explosives, given Hamas’s history and its aspiration to murder as many Jews as it can.

This was before it was discovered by Israeli authorities that the fourth body was not that of Shiri Bibas or indeed of any hostage. After that discovery, things still did not improve.

The “mix-up”

In a post and in its news article, the BBC referred to Hamas’s failure to hand over the body of Shiri Bibas as a mere ‘mix-up’.

They did not put that phrase in inverted commas, instead portraying the assertion of a mix-up as a fact.

In reality, however, the phrase is a quote from a Hamas spokesperson – who claimed that the bodies of people killed in an Israeli airstrike were simply “mixed-up”, which was purportedly why Shiri Bibas’s body was confused with another.

But that was nonsense, as Israel later determined that Shiri and her infant child and baby were murdered in cold blood.

Still, it did not stop the BBC from parroting the Hamas propaganda verbatim and representing it as fact, rendering the broadcaster in effect literally a spokesperson for Hamas.

Further revelations

The so-called documentary has since also come under fire regarding a second child and other protagonists.

Furthermore, this week, fresh allegations have surfaced that one of the cameramen in the making of the film, Hatem Rawagh, celebrated Hamas’ brutal attack on social media.

On the day of the attack, one of the posts on his account reportedly read, “Whoever missed Oct 6 in Egypt … Oct 7 is happening in Palestine,” in an apparent reference to the Yom Kippur war in 1973.

Another post, which was published the following day on the account, showed a video of an Israeli soldier being shot by a terrorist with the caption: “You are going to come back to this video a million times.”

It is time for the BBC to stop whitewashing terrorism and serving as spokespeople for terrorists. There must be an independent investigation into the BBC’s bias in relation to its Middle East coverage.

Thank you to everyone who came out this evening to make your voices heard.

Image credit: Nathan Lilienfeld/Campaign Against Antisemitism

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Join us this Tuesday to protest outside the BBC

This Tuesday, we will be demonstrating outside BBC Broadcasting House, following the broadcast of a documentary that was tantamount to a Hamas propaganda film.

  • When: 19:00, Tuesday 25th February
  • Where: Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA

There is no need to sign up. Placards will be provided.

We hope that you will join us.

You can read more about the BBC’s latest crimes against journalism below.

In the past week alone, the BBC has demonstrated time and again how it has become a mouthpiece for terrorists.

Broadcasting Hamas propaganda film

Last week, BBC Two broadcast a documentary called “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone”. It was directed by Yousef Hammash and Jamie Roberts and purported to follow the lives of four young people during the current Hamas-Israel war in the Strip.

The independent researcher David Collier investigated the protagonists and has alleged that one of the principal children featured in the film who also serves as the documentary’s narrator – Abdullah Al-Yazouri – is related to a senior Hamas official.

Al-Yazouri featured in a Channel 4 documentary last year, where he reportedly appeared under the name Abdullah Abu Shamala alongside a man claiming to be his father. That man, whom Mr Collier identified as Khalil Abushammla, is a former Director of anti-Israel NGO Al-Dameer, which allegedly has links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group.

Al-Yazouri’s real father is allegedly Mr Khalil’s brother-in-law, Ayman Al-Yazouri, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the Hamas Government in Gaza.

This would hardly be the first time that Gazans have played roles for gullible Western media, which has failed to do due diligence or has played along for reasons of convenience or ideology.

Mr Collier’s research makes further allegations about these individuals.

The BBC has essentially published long-form propaganda for an antisemitic genocidal terror organisation with licence-fee funds.

These broadcasts have real-life consequences for British Jews, 92% of whom rate our national broadcaster’s coverage of matters of Jewish interest as unfavourable, according to our polling.

Providing a megaphone for Hamas claims

Days after allegations that our national broadcaster published Hamas propaganda, it finally offered a flimsy apology in which it stated that it will air the so-called documentary again but will “add some more detail to the film”.

Then it provided a stage for stomach-churning claims from the very same antisemitic genocidal group.

How about pointing out that the hostages — including a baby and a four-year-old whom the terrorists kidnapped — would still be alive had they not been taken from their home by Hamas in the first place?

Why does the BBC insist on treating Hamas as though it were some neutral party?

It is a proscribed terrorist organisation that has explicitly stated its goal is the annihilation of Jews and Israelis wherever they may be around the world.

How can the BBC claim that this article is provided “For context” without providing that context?

How can they tell their worldwide audience and the British public who pay their salaries that Hamas says “it would have preferred to have returned them alive” when Hamas’s goal is the murder of every Jew?

(This was before Israeli examinations appeared to suggest that these hostages were murdered in cold blood and not killed by an Israeli airstrike as Hamas had claimed.)

All that the BBC has done is provide a megaphone for Hamas’s bogus and insulting claims.

Coverage of the Hamas ‘handover’ ceremony

But it got worse still.

Here is how the BBC summarised the transfer of the four coffins of dead hostages, and the picture that it published of the backdrop of the cruel and twisted Hamas ‘handover’ ceremony.

What the BBC carefully excluded from the picture of smiling (now dead) hostages was the antisemitic portrayal of the Israeli Prime Minister as a blood-sucking vampire looming over the pictures of the hostages who were abducted by Hamas and killed in captivity.

The BBC summary failed in its coverage to say anything more than that the ceremony was similar to previous choreographed events.

For some reason, our public broadcaster opted not to mention that Gazan civilians reportedly participated in the ceremony and danced to celebratory music as the coffins of dead Jewish children lay before them.

The BBC also declined to report that the coffins were labelled “date of arrest: 7th October 2023”, that they were apparently locked with no key provided to the Israelis, and that they had to be checked for explosives, given Hamas’s history and its aspiration to murder as many Jews as it can.

This was before it was discovered by Israeli authorities that the fourth body was not that of Shiri Bibas or indeed of any hostage. After that discovery, things still did not improve.

The “mix-up”

In a post and in its news article, the BBC referred to Hamas’s failure to hand over the body of Shiri Bibas as a mere ‘mix-up’.

They did not put that phrase in inverted commas, instead portraying the assertion of a mix-up as a fact.

In reality, however, the phrase is a quote from a Hamas spokesperson – who claimed that the bodies of people killed in an Israeli airstrike were simply “mixed-up”, which was purportedly why Shiri Bibas’s body was confused with another.

But that was nonsense, as Israel later determined that Shiri and her infant child and baby were murdered in cold blood.

Still, it did not stop the BBC from parroting the Hamas propaganda verbatim and representing it as fact, rendering the broadcaster in effect literally a spokesperson for Hamas.

We must protest

The Culture Secretary declared that she intends to meet with the Director General and Chair of the BBC in the coming days to discuss the propaganda film.

Following an outcry, and since we announced the protest, the BBC has pulled the so-called documentary from iplayer, but without an apology, investigation or any sort of reckoning. This is not good enough.

Our protest must go ahead.

The BBC has no shame and Britain has had enough.

For over sixteen months, we have watched our national broadcaster provide ever more sympathetic coverage to a proscribed terrorist organisation, hiding behind claims of impartiality.

But there is nothing impartial about giving credibility to the claims of terrorists.

Providing a platform for terrorists’ propaganda, downplaying their crimes and continuing to refuse to call them terrorists is the BBC putting its thumb on the scale. It is extremely partial, and inaccurate. It is a breach of the BBC’s editorial guidelines and a betrayal of licence-fee payers.

The BBC has become a mouthpiece for terrorists.

That is why we are inviting everyone to join us at 19:00 on Tuesday outside Broadcasting House. Enough is enough.

It is time for the BBC to stop whitewashing terrorism and serving as spokespeople for terrorists. There must be an independent investigation into the BBC’s bias in relation to its Middle East coverage.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday evening.

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CAA to protest at BBC on Tuesday following airing of Hamas propaganda film

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be demonstrating outside BBC Broadcasting House at 19:00 on Tuesday 25th February.

In the past week alone, the BBC has:

  • Published essentially a Hamas propaganda film, eventually offering a flimsy non-apology and defiantly stating it will air it again but will “add some more detail to the film” and then broadcast it again.
  • Provided a megaphone for Hamas’ bogus and insulting claims that the terror group did “everything in its power” to keep the hostages alive as it returned four bodies, including those of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were four years and nine months respectively at the time of their kidnapping.
  • Covered Hamas’ cruel and twisted ‘handover’ ceremony whilst carefully excluding from the article’s featured image Hamas’ antisemitic portrayal of the Israeli Prime Minister as a blood-sucking vampire looming over pictures of the smiling hostages. It also declined to report that the coffins were labelled “date of arrest: 7th October 2023”, that they were apparently locked with no key provided to the Israelis, and that they had to be checked for explosives, given Hamas’ history and its aspiration to murder as many Jews as it can.

The Culture Secretary intends to meet with the Director General and Chair of the BBC in the coming days to discuss these failures.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The BBC has no shame and Britain has had enough. For over sixteen months, we have watched our national broadcaster provide ever more sympathetic coverage to a proscribed terrorist organisation, hiding behind claims of impartiality. There is nothing impartial about giving credibility to the claims of terrorists. Providing a platform for terrorists’ propaganda, downplaying their crimes and continuing to refuse to call them terrorists is the BBC putting its thumb on the scale. It is extremely partial, and inaccurate. It is a breach of the BBC’s editorial guidelines and a betrayal of licence fee payers. That is why we are inviting everyone to join us at 19:00 on Tuesday outside the Broadcasting House. Enough is enough. It is time for the BBC to stop whitewashing terrorism. There must be an independent investigation into its bias in relation to its Middle East coverage.”

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Palestine Solidarity Campaign exposed

It has now been revealed that permission for the first anti-Israel protest was sought already on 7th October 2023, while Hamas was still slaughtering Jews in southern Israel.

The permission was requested by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

Past senior figures in the group, who have also been involved in the marches over the past year, have previously met with Hamas leaders. A past investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism, titled Bigots for Palestine, found that the PSC was riddled with bigotry.

Anti-Israel marches since the Hamas massacre sixteen months ago have cost the UK taxpayer around £55 million, accounting for over 70,000 police officer shifts. These breathtaking figures are for London alone, and do not account for the protests that have taken place in city centres around the country, usually on weekends. Many of these shifts have been filled by officers being drafted from elsewhere in the country, depriving other regions of personnel.

At a time when the rate of actually solving crimes in Britain is frighteningly low, the Met Police has prioritised securing protests organised by a group that rushed to action on 7th October.

Recently, the Met Commissioner has warned that his force faces “eye-watering cuts” to services unless funding is increased. Perhaps he should have thought of that before failing for over a year to place meaningful restrictions on these marches despite admitting that they posed a threat to Jewish communities. Police chiefs around the country have also warned that thousands of officers face losing their jobs because of shortfalls in funds.

So was it really worth tens of millions of pounds to police regular anti-Israel marches by a group that rushed to activism while Jews were being slaughtered?

Enough is enough. It is finally time for trade unions and politicians to disaffiliate and withdraw their support from the PSC.

Man who wrote “Hitler has been proved right” pleads guilty and is sentenced following CAA private prosecution

Alun Coleman, 71, who published a comment on social media which read, “Hitler has been proved [sic] right,” was sentenced at court following a private prosecution by Campaign Against Antisemitism that was taken over by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Mr Coleman, of Gainsborough, was sentenced at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court in October 2024, having pleaded guilty to an offence contrary to section 127(1)(a) and (3) of the Communications Act 2003.

The offence related to a Facebook comment that read: “Hitler has been proved right.” The comment was in response to another user who expressed support for the State of Israel shortly after Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack in Israel on 7th October 2023.

The case began as a private prosecution by Campaign Against Antisemitism after the Metropolitan Police failed to identify Mr Coleman during its investigation. The Met therefore decided not to refer the case to the CPS, claiming that there was “not a sufficiently strong evidential case” to pursue it.

It later emerged that Mr Coleman was easily identifiable, given the distinct spelling of his first name and the fact that his full name was displayed on his Facebook account.

Campaign Against Antisemitism applied for a summons, which was granted by the Magistrates’ Court. The case was then referred to the CPS, which decided to take over the prosecution.

Mr Coleman was ordered by the Court to pay a fine, a victim surcharge and prosecution costs.

Mr Coleman’s sentencing marks a victory against those who feel that they can spew Jew-hatred online. When antisemitism crosses the criminal threshold and the authorities fail to deliver justice, we will fight to secure justice ourselves, just as we have done here.

It should not have been necessary for us to bring a private prosecution, but the failure of the Metropolitan Police to properly investigate this case left us with no alternative. The CPS, to its credit, was only too happy to take over the case and would have done so sooner had the police referred it.

Those who target Jews should know that ruinous consequences will await them and that propagating hateful rhetoric online does not protect them from the law.

Elsewhere, a 29-year-old man has admitted to writing antisemitic posts and professing support for proscribed terror groups Hamas and Hizballah.

Zakir Hussain pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last week to a total of eleven charges; four of expressing support for proscribed organisations and seven of stirring up racial hatred.

He is said to have referred to 7th October 2023 – the day that Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering some 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostage – as a “beautiful day”.

Other comments reportedly included: “We are hunting them for fun in the UK” and “I’m in London any Jews out there come out and stand up for your religion.”

He is due to be sentenced in March.

How has antisemitism shaped English literature?

From Chaucer to Shakespeare, Dickens to Dahl, how has antisemitism shaped English literature?

Our short six-part series chronicling the history of antisemitism in English literature is now available.

In this podcast, we explore the anti-Jewish tropes perpetuated by centuries of literary misrepresentation. Beginning with medieval poetry and concluding with contemporary plays, the series offers a chronological overview, inclusive of social as well as literary context. From Dickens to Dahl, there’s a lot to learn!

You can stream the Antisemitism in English Literature series now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and other major platforms.

Know a legal mind sharp enough to fight antisemitism?

We are seeking a General Counsel, and we are offering a £2,000 referral fee to anyone who refers an applicant for the role who successfully completes their probationary period.

To qualify for the referral fee, please ask the applicant to mention that you referred them to us when they send us their CV and cover letter.

Find out more here.

Eight in ten British Jews think that the police do not do enough to protect them, and only 5% have confidence in Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.

When the police authorise protests by the PSC that are requested at the same time as an antisemitic terror group is butchering Jewish people, and the police fail to properly investigate a case of antisemitism online leaving Campaign Against Antisemitism to do so, you can see why.

There have been too many instances over the past sixteen months when the police have failed the Jewish community. We will continue to do whatever we can to hold them to account and fill the gap.

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Do British Jews believe that they have a future?

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, but as we reflect on historic antisemitism, as a society we also have to ask ourselves: why are we doing so little about antisemitism right here, right now?

The truth is that Britain and the authorities are failing the Jewish community.

New polling of the Jewish community that we have published today bears this out.

Being Jewish in Britain

  • Only one-third (34%) of British Jews believe that Jews have a long-term future in the UK.
  • Half of the Jewish community has considered leaving Britain in the past two years due to antisemitism. Among 18-24-year-olds, it is two-thirds (67%). The main reason is the surge in antisemitism since 7th October 2023, cited by 76% of respondents.
  • Less than half of British Jews (43%) feel welcome in the UK. Almost half of 18-24-year-old Jews (47%), conversely, do not feel welcome.
  • A majority of British Jews (58%) hide their Judaism due to antisemitism.

Extremism

  • British Jews consider Islamists to be the most serious threat (95%) compared to the far-right (67%) and the far-left (91%).
  • More than nine in ten British Jews do not believe that the authorities do enough to protect the Jewish community from Islamists.

Policing and prosecutions

  • Less than one-tenth of British Jews believe that the authorities are doing enough to address and punish antisemitism; 84% believe that they are not.
  • In Scotland, nearly one-fifth of Jews would not bother reporting an antisemitic hate crime to the police, with almost two-thirds not confident that it would be prosecuted.
  • Only 16% of British Jews are confident that if they reported an antisemitic crime, it would be prosecuted if there was strong enough evidence. Conversely, 62% are not confident, rising to 64% in London – the highest level geographically.
  • An alarming eight in ten British Jews think that the police do not do enough to protect them.
  • A minuscule ten percent of British Jews think that the CPS does enough to protect them, and only 13% think that of the courts.
  • Three-quarters of British Jews are dissatisfied with how their local police force has been policing anti-Israel marches in their local cities. Only one-tenth are satisfied. 
  • Just 5% of British Jews have confidence in Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, and six in ten believe that he should not be in post.

Politics

  • The vast majority – 85% – of British Jews are dissatisfied with London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s performance in relation to the Jewish community since 7th October 2023. Fewer than one in ten (9%) are satisfied.
  • Regarding Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, one-third of British Jews are dissatisfied with his performance in relation to the Jewish community, while only 12% are satisfied. In Northern England the satisfaction is higher at 30%, but still less than one-third; dissatisfaction is also higher, at almost half (49%).
  • Nearly three-quarters – 72% – of British Jews think that the Green Party is too tolerant of antisemitism among their MPs, MEPs, councillors, members and supporters. This is closely followed by the Labour Party with 71%. This is the highest figure ever recorded for the Greens, and it is the first time that another party has overtaken Labour in our polling. For their first time, a third party has also crossed the majority threshold: the SNP, at 52%.
  • The figures for the other parties are 42% for Sinn Féin; 40% for the Liberal Democrats; 26% for Plaid Cymru; 22% for the Conservatives; 22% for UKIP; 21% for the Democratic Unionist Party; and 19% for the Reform Party. 
  • 72% of Scottish Jews feel that the Scottish National Party is too tolerant of antisemitism. 

Arts and Media

  • 92% of British Jews think that media bias against Israel fuels persecution of Jews in Britain.
  • Among broadcasters, the BBC scored the worst in terms of its coverage of matters of Jewish interest, with 92% of British Jews rating its coverage as unfavourable.
  • Among newspapers, The Guardian scored the worst on the same metric, with nearly seven in ten – 69% – of British Jews describing its coverage as unfavourable.
  • More than four-fifths (84%) of British Jews agree that boycotts of Israeli artists, academics or businesses selling Israeli products constitute intimidation. This finding is particularly pertinent given the incidence of boycotts over the past year.

Proscriptions

  • Nearly all British Jews – a resounding 98% – back our calls to proscribe all groups that were involved in the 7th October 2023 attack in Israel under terrorism legislation.
  • 94% of British Jews back our calls to proscribe the Houthis and 93% to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The latter was promised by the Government prior to the General Election but has not been delivered.
  • More than four-fifths (85%) of British Jews think that the British Government should proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group. 

Universities and education

  • Only 3% of British Jews are confident that if a Jewish student reported an antisemitic incident on campus, the university’s administration would take appropriate action. Among young Jews it is 6%.
  • 90% of young British Jews blame students for the increase in reported antisemitic incidents on UK campuses.
  • Nine in ten British Jews said that if anybody in their family were choosing a university, antisemitism would be a factor in their choice.
  • Nearly nine in ten – 88% – British Jews said that if anybody in their family were choosing a school, antisemitism would be a factor in their choice. 

Rhetoric

  • 95% of British Jews consider the chant ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free’ to be an antisemitic call to destroy the Jewish state. Only 2% do not. 
  • A minuscule 2% of British Jews consider the fiercely anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect to be representative of their views on Israel.

Representation

  • 86% of British Jews believe that Campaign Against Antisemitism is representative of their views on antisemitism. More than half strongly believe that.

Full results of the survey can be accessed here and the methodology here.

These figures paint a sobering picture of the lives of British Jews and their future.

British Jews have lost trust in the criminal justice system in general, which they do not feel is protecting them, and in the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley in particular, after he has presided over the worst surge in antisemitism in living memory, opting for excuses over action and gaslighting those who call him out.

From politics to the BBC to universities, the Jewish community sees betrayal across our civil and cultural institutions.

The cumulative result is that less than half of British Jews feel welcome in the UK. Antisemitism has become our nation’s great shame, and time is running out.

Never again is now

Holocaust Memorial Day is supposed to be an occasion to remember the victims of Nazi antisemitism and rededicate ourselves, as a society, to the fight against Jew-hate.

Despite this, many of us began the day with ITV’s Good Morning Britain’s shocking omission of Jews from the statement: “Six million people were killed in concentration camps during the Second World War, as well as millions of others because they were Polish, disabled, gay, or belonged to another ethnic group.”

This dire reporting is not only factually incorrect but erases Jews from a genocide in which six million Jewish men, women and children were slaughtered specifically because they were Jews.

If this is intended to pay respect to the victims of Holocaust Memorial Day, it has failed abysmally and ignores the true nature of this horrific event.

Not only is antisemitism at startlingly high levels right now, but Holocaust Memorial Day in particular has become yet another front in the war against the Jews and the slander of the Jewish state.

The moral inversion – whereby the Jews, who were victims of genocide, are now falsely portrayed as perpetrators of genocide – is thoroughly underway.

It is not for naught that the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism lists “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” as an example of antisemitism.

Over the past week, we have sought to counter this insidious narrative in the media, online and on our streets, and this campaign will continue over the coming days. We have also been involved in events in London and Manchester.

You can read our Chief Executive Gideon Falter’s comment piece in the Daily Express on why ‘Never again’ is now here.

We also went out in London to ask people if they would take some time out of their day to learn about some of the victims of the Holocaust and light a candle in honour of their memory. You can watch the full video here.

Fallout from last week’s anti-Israel protest continues

We have posted more video footage from last week’s anti-Israel protest, where participants allegedly tried to march in breach of modest restrictions imposed by the Met Police.

With signage and rhetoric like this, is it any wonder why British Jews stay away from city centres when these demonstrations are taking place?

We are particularly interested in any information in relation to the man in this footage.

If you have any information, please e-mail us in confidence at [email protected].

Furthermore, we caught footage of a man who appeared to be a steward at the event wearing a high-vis jacket with the phrase “We don’t hate Jews.” Some might say they doth protest too much.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, who was interviewed by police under caution, complained online that the Met’s description of events was not accurate at all, and that he “was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed. This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through.”

In response, we released further footage showing his own brother, Piers, telling the police “We’re not here to make things easier for you.”

Piers Corbyn has been arrested and charged in relation to his conduct that day.

Then, on Wednesday, demonstrators rallied outside Scotland Yard to protest against the Met Police’s imposition of restrictions on last weekend’s march and its enforcement of those conditions.

One shouted through a megaphone, about the police: “Like obedient sheep, you obey Israel.”

We have a considerable amount of footage from last week’s anti-Israel protes, including of the organisers, and we have offered our assistance to the police in this matter.

Let Your Star Shine!

Thank you to everyone who has been participating in our “Let Your Star Shine” campaign by sending us your selfies with your beautiful Stars of David!

You may recall that last week we released a video featuring numerous Jewish influencers promoting together with us a campaign to encourage Jewish people to honour the memory of Holocaust victims by proudly displaying their Stars of David.

The video has gone viral, so much so that Google’s AI even signposts it to searchers.

The result is that we have people from all over the world taking part by sending us selfies, from the UK to the US, Mexico, Argentina and beyond. Keep them coming!

If you would like to take part, send your selfies to [email protected] with the subject line: “Let Your Star Shine”.

Do you live in or regularly pass through Swiss Cottage?

For those who live near or pass by Swiss Cottage, the police are asking for the views of the Jewish community on the impact of the weekly protests on Fridays between 17:30 and 18:30 at the end of Eton Avenue next to Swiss Cottage Station.

They are finally considering instructing that it be moved.

Please consider e-mailing [email protected], including thinking about the following questions which might be helpful.

(Please do not copy and paste the questions – please compose an e-mail that incorporates your thoughts on them instead.)

  • Are you a local resident/Jewish Londoner?
  • Does the protest cause serious disruption; fear and concern; fear and intimidation; unacceptable disruption; distress and alarm; or harassment?
  • Have there been antisemitic signs, slogans or speeches?
  • Does the protest create a hostile/intimidating environment particularly on Shabbat, a Jewish holy day?
  • How does it make you feel on your way to synagogue/Swiss Cottage Underground Station?
  • How does it make you feel when walking to see family/friends for Shabbat dinner?
  • Have you had to change your usual route to/from somewhere?
  • Have you found it very noisy/disruptive?
  • What impact do you think this has on communal tensions?

We are aware of the impact that these protests are having on locals and wished to bring this consultation to wider attention.

In footage from last Friday at Swiss Cottage, a man can be seen shouting: “Don’t think because you are a Jew you are better than the whole world. You are the scum of the world.” In the video, a Met officer appears to witness this shocking interaction but take no action.

If you were involved in this incident and wish to speak with us, please e-mail [email protected].

This Holocaust Memorial Day, we are faced with the challenge of commemorating historic antisemitism while confronting the scourge of anti-Jewish racism in our own time.

The scale may be different, but it is the same ancient hatred.

It is difficult to believe that the world has learned anything.

But now we have tools to fight back, and at Campaign Against Antisemitism today we are rededicating ourselves to continue to lead that fight for a better future for British Jews.

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New polling shows Britain’s failure to protect its Jews

New polling of British Jews by Campaign Against Antisemitism has revealed a number of alarming insights.

The study covers how secure British Jews feel, their views on the criminal justice system and Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, where they believe threats are, their assessment of political parties and the Mayors of London and Manchester on antisemitism, their views on the BBC and universities, and more.

Being Jewish in Britain

  • Only one-third (34%) of British Jews believe that Jews have a long-term future in the UK.
  • Half of the Jewish community has considered leaving Britain in the past two years due to antisemitism. Among 18-24-year-olds, it is two-thirds (67%). The main reason is the surge in antisemitism since 7th October 2023, cited by 76% of respondents.
  • Less than half of British Jews (43%) feel welcome in the UK. Almost half of 18-24-year-old Jews (47%), conversely, do not feel welcome.
  • A majority of British Jews (58%) hide their Judaism due to antisemitism.

Extremism

  • British Jews consider Islamists to be the most serious threat (95%) compared to the far-right (67%) and the far-left (91%).
  • More than nine in ten British Jews do not believe that the authorities do enough to protect the Jewish community from Islamists.

Policing and prosecutions

  • Less than one-tenth of British Jews believe that the authorities are doing enough to address and punish antisemitism; 84% believe that they are not.
  • In Scotland, nearly one-fifth of Jews would not bother reporting an antisemitic hate crime to the police, with almost two-thirds not confident that it would be prosecuted.
  • Only 16% of British Jews are confident that if they reported an antisemitic crime, it would be prosecuted if there was strong enough evidence. Conversely, 62% are not confident, rising to 64% in London – the highest level geographically.
  • An alarming eight in ten British Jews think that the police do not do enough to protect them.
  • A minuscule ten percent of British Jews think that the CPS does enough to protect them, and only 13% think that of the courts.
  • Three-quarters of British Jews are dissatisfied with how their local police force has been policing anti-Israel marches in their local cities. Only one-tenth are satisfied. 
  • Just 5% of British Jews have confidence in Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, and six in ten believe that he should not be in post.

Politics

  • The vast majority – 85% – of British Jews are dissatisfied with London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s performance in relation to the Jewish community since 7th October 2023. Fewer than one in ten (9%) are satisfied.
  • Regarding Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, one-third of British Jews are dissatisfied with his performance in relation to the Jewish community, while only 12% are satisfied. In Northern England the satisfaction is higher at 30%, but still less than one-third; dissatisfaction is also higher, at almost half (49%).
  • Nearly three-quarters – 72% – of British Jews think that the Green Party is too tolerant of antisemitism among their MPs, MEPs, councillors, members and supporters. This is closely followed by the Labour Party with 71%. This is the highest figure ever recorded for the Greens, and it is the first time that another party has overtaken Labour in our polling. For their first time, a third party has also crossed the majority threshold: the SNP, at 52%.
  • The figures for the other parties are 42% for Sinn Féin; 40% for the Liberal Democrats; 26% for Plaid Cymru; 22% for the Conservatives; 22% for UKIP; 21% for the Democratic Unionist Party; and 19% for the Reform Party. 
  • 72% of Scottish Jews feel that the Scottish National Party is too tolerant of antisemitism.

Arts and Media

  • 92% of British Jews think that media bias against Israel fuels persecution of Jews in Britain.
  • Among broadcasters, the BBC scored the worst in terms of its coverage of matters of Jewish interest, with 92% of British Jews rating its coverage as unfavourable.
  • Among newspapers, The Guardian scored the worst on the same metric, with nearly seven in ten – 69% – of British Jews describing its coverage as unfavourable.
  • More than four-fifths (84%) of British Jews agree that boycotts of Israeli artists, academics or businesses selling Israeli products constitute intimidation. This finding is particularly pertinent given the incidence of boycotts over the past year.

Proscriptions

  • Nearly all British Jews – a resounding 98% – back our calls to proscribe all groups that were involved in the 7th October 2023 attack in Israel under terrorism legislation.
  • 94% of British Jews back our calls to proscribe the Houthis and 93% to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The latter was promised by the Government prior to the General Election but has not been delivered.
  • More than four-fifths (85%) of British Jews think that the British Government should proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group. 

Universities and education

  • Only 3% of British Jews are confident that if a Jewish student reported an antisemitic incident on campus, the university’s administration would take appropriate action. Among young Jews it is 6%.
  • 90% of young British Jews blame students for the increase in reported antisemitic incidents on UK campuses.
  • Nine in ten British Jews said that if anybody in their family were choosing a university, antisemitism would be a factor in their choice.
  • Nearly nine in ten – 88% – British Jews said that if anybody in their family were choosing a school, antisemitism would be a factor in their choice. 

Rhetoric

  • 95% of British Jews consider the chant ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free’ to be an antisemitic call to destroy the Jewish state. Only 2% do not. 
  • A minuscule 2% of British Jews consider the fiercely anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect to be representative of their views on Israel.

Representation

  • 86% of British Jews believe that Campaign Against Antisemitism is representative of their views on antisemitism. More than half strongly believe that.

Full results of the survey can be accessed here.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “As we reflect today on historic antisemitism, as a society we also have to ask ourselves: why are we doing so little about antisemitism right here, right now? The truth is that Britain and the authorities are failing the Jewish community. These figures paint a sobering picture of the lives of British Jews and their future.

“British Jews have lost trust in the criminal justice system in general, which they do not feel is protecting them, and in the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley in particular, after he has presided over the worst surge in antisemitism in living memory, opting for excuses over action and gaslighting those who call him out. It is time for arrests and a ban on the anti-Israel marches.

“From politics to the BBC to universities, the Jewish community sees betrayal across our civil and cultural institutions. The cumulative result is that less than half of British Jews feel welcome in the UK. Antisemitism has become our nation’s great shame, and time is running out.”

Fieldwork

Fieldwork was conducted between 3rd and 11th June 2024. In total, 4,078 responses were obtained.

Methodology

Our surveys of British Jews were modelled on the National Jewish Community Survey (NJCS) conducted by the Institute for Jewish Policy research. In common with the NJCS, the samples were self-selecting, and respondents were required to self-identify as Jewish and confirm that they lived in the United Kingdom. Like the NJCS, they were contacted primarily through ‘seed’ organisations, including religious bodies, Jewish online networks (including targeted advertising on social networks), and community welfare organisations, among others. In common with the NJCS, the seed organisations were used to initiate a ‘snowballing’ process which, in effect, created a non-probability convenience sample. It was not possible to use a random probability sampling approach for this study because a suitable sampling frame for the Jewish population is not available in the UK. Fieldwork was conducted between 3rd and 11th June 2024. In total, 4,078 responses were obtained. As is the case with the NJCS, the number of unique respondents contacted cannot be determined due to the likely overlap between different ‘seed’ organisations’ supporter bases, thus we cannot estimate the survey response rate.

A key issue with an online survey is to ensure that respondents are not counted twice. To avoid this and other abuses that might affect the survey’s integrity, several measures were implemented. These included: carefully monitoring responses for unusual trends during the fieldwork phase, and assessing the completed dataset for the presence of extreme or unrealistic values (i.e. outlier diagnostics) and for the presence of unlikely combinations of values across variables (i.e. logical checks).Additionally, cookies were used to avoid respondents completing the survey more than once. Finally, respondents’ IP addresses were logged so that if a respondent deleted their cookies, multiple responses from the same IP address could still be identified. As a result, duplicate responses were kept to a minimum and ultimately, removed from the sample.

Our survey is modelled on best practice established by NJCS. All surveys have their shortcomings, and ours shares the shortcomings of NJCS. Even surveys that are based on probability sampling are typically affected by high levels of non- response. Surveys of populations lacking sampling frames, such as this one, are particularly challenging, as is establishing their representativeness. Nevertheless, because we have extremely high-quality baseline statistics available in the UK, it is possible to both accurately weight the data and make reasonable assumptions about where they may depart from the ‘true’ picture. In general, the survey samples reflect the diverse character of Jewish respondents in the UK across geographical, demographic and religious variables. Where the sample does depart from baseline characteristics, responses were weighted for location, gender, age and religious affiliation. Population estimates were based on responses to the 2021 Census in England and Wales and the 2022 Census in Scotland where that data is available, and otherwise on responses to the 2011 Census, and size estimates with regard to religious denominations were based on the NCJS 2013. The weights were calculated using random iterative method weighting by an external consultant.

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London in chaos as the Met finally takes on the marches

Saturday was a dark day for London.

Not only did we see the usual antisemitic bile and open support for Jew-hating terrorist organisations to which our nation’s capital has become accustomed, but extremists repeatedly breached the modest restrictions imposed by the police on the anti-Israel protest. Frontline officers acquitted themselves superbly in the face of extremely challenging circumstances, making numerous arrests across central London, but why had they been put in such a dangerous position by their superiors?

Over the course of the preceding days, the Met Police and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) argued online and in meetings about the route of Saturday’s regular anti-Israel march. The fact that the marches invariably feature antisemitic rhetoric and sympathy for terrorism have sadly not prevented them from becoming a weekly staple of London life.

The PSC wanted to march from near Broadcasting House to Whitehall, as per their usual route. For once, the Met Police decided to impose restrictions on their march under section 12 of the Public Order Act, insisting that the march could not assemble near Broadcasting House due to its proximity to London’s Central Synagogue, which has borne the brunt of these intimidatory marches for over a year.

The PSC defiantly declared that the march would assemble at Whitehall and end at Broadcasting House. The Met said that this was unacceptable and directed that the march should form up at Russell Square instead and then head to Whitehall. The PSC then decided that it will assemble at Whitehall and indicated that the march will likely now become a static protest, but appeared to leave the door open to marching.

Indeed the PSC spent all of last week posting online with the hashtag #WeWillMarch.

When Saturday came, chaos ensued. The police arrested some 77 individuals, some 66 of whom in relation to breaches of the modest conditions that the police had imposed, in what the Met described as “a coordinated effort to breach Public Order Act conditions and cause serious disruption to Londoners.” Other arrests related to alleged support for proscribed terrorist organisations and other offences, which of course are by now to be expected on the streets of London.

So far, some twelve people have been charged with Public Order offences, including the chief steward of the protest, as well as PSC Director Ben Jamal and Piers Corbyn, while Jeremy Corbyn MP and John McDonnell MP, who ran in the 2019 General Election to become Prime Minister and Chancellor of Exchequer respectively, have been interviewed by the police under caution.

These charges came after we called on the Met to arrest the organisers of these protests.

The Met’s Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is learning what happens when you bend over backwards to accommodate extremists for fifteen months and then dare to impose a minor restriction. For over a year we have called for these marches to be banned; we reiterated that call on Friday when it was clear that the police would not be able to control the situation. In the event, police authorised a static protest for activists who repeatedly declared, ‘#WeWillMarch’. The result was chaos in London.

What happened on Saturday was not a case of a few bad apples. It is time that the organisers of the protest, several of whom appeared to be involved in trying to break the police lines and defy the conditions, finally be prosecuted and their organisations’ future marches be contained as static rallies.

Anything short of that would broadcast the message that the police have lost control of law and order in our nation’s capital, or, worse still, that some people are above the law, and some forms of extremism are acceptable.

Our Demonstrations and Events Monitoring Unit was on the ground capturing evidence that day. We have a considerable amount of footage from the march, including of the organisers, and we have offered our assistance to the police in this matter. Our analysis has been quoted across the media, from the BBC and Metro to the Independent and The Times.

We will be monitoring whether the arrests lead to charges and the charges to prosecutions, and if necessary we will intervene wherever we can to ensure that justice is done.

Calls to boycott Holocaust Memorial Day

For some weeks now, there have been calls for a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), which takes place next Monday, 27th January.

Coming after a year of constant antisemitic comparisons of Israel to Nazis and baseless allegations of genocide against the Jewish state, it is not surprising but still despicable that some now seek to deprive the Jewish community and its friends of a day to remember the millions of Jews murdered in an actual genocide.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has reportedly written to 460 town halls and educational institutions calling on them to boycott official HMD events following organisers’ refusal to include references to Gaza in commemorations.

The IHRC is best known for its pro-Hizballah “Al-Quds Day” parades under IHRC-badged placards that read “We are all Hizballah,” and this past summer it reportedly claimed that “Zionist financiers abroad” were to blame for “enabling” the Southport riots. The Chair of the organisation allegedly participated in a vigil in 2020 for the leader of the Iranian IRGC terror group Qassem Soleimani, reportedly saying at the event: “We hope and we pray and we work hard to make sure that there will be many many more Qassem Soleimanis. We aspire to become like him.”

The IHRC is a registered charity. While it may no longer be able to bring itself into any further disrepute, its conduct does still continue to adversely impact the charitable sector as a whole.

In a similar vein, others are planning to hold a Genocide Memorial Vigil in Parliament Square on Saturday, two days before HMD, in what appears to be an unsubtle protest against HMD’s focus on the Holocaust.

It is extraordinary just how intolerable some people find the notion that Jewish people can be victims.

Let your star shine!

On 27th January, the world will commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day and mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

There are so many ways in which we can honour the victims. One of the best ways is to be a proud Jew.

This year, we’re launching our “Let Your Star Shine” campaign. We’re encouraging Jews to confidently wear their Stars of David for the whole world to see, demonstrating their Jewish pride and unwavering opposition to the rising tide of antisemitism.

Send us your selfies where you’re proudly wearing your Stars of David and we will repost them on our social media channels.

All images should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line: “Let Your Star Shine”.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in this video: food writer and chef, Alissa Timoshkina; artist Avraham Vofsi; chef and activist Ben Rebuck; comedian Elon Gold; Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Elie K; actor Jonah Platt; comedian Josh Howie; comedian Judy Gold; entrepreneur Karen Cinnamon; rapper Kosha Dillz; journalist Nicole Lampert; actor Tracy-Ann Oberman; musician Westside Gravy and comedian Zach Margolin.

Antisemitism on dating apps

Antisemites must not be welcome on dating apps.

We are hearing from people who are experiencing antisemitism on these platforms.

If this applies to you, we want to know.

Please e-mail us confidentially at [email protected] with the subject line “Dating apps”.

How has antisemitism shaped English literature?

From Chaucer to Shakespeare, Dickens to Dahl, how has antisemitism shaped English literature?

Our short six-part series chronicling the history of antisemitism in English literature is now available.

In this podcast, we explore the anti-Jewish tropes perpetuated by centuries of literary misrepresentation. Beginning with medieval poetry and concluding with contemporary plays, the series offers a chronological overview, inclusive of social as well as literary context. From Dickens to Dahl, there’s a lot to learn!

You can stream the Antisemitism in English Literature series now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and other major platforms.

Kfir and Emily

This past Saturday, Kfir Bibas turned two years old.

He has spent the majority of his life in Hamas captivity.

We continue to pray for his safe return, along with his brother Ariel and his parents Yarden and Shiri, and all the other hostages who were barbarically abducted by Hamas, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist organisation, and have been held for well over a year.

The ceasefire due to come into force on Sunday was delayed having already been breached by Hamas, which failed to provide the names of the first hostages to be released in the prescribed time frame. To the last, Hamas’ psychological terror continued.

A few hours later, Emily Damari, a British-Israeli national who was brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on 7th October 2023, was freed, along with two other hostages, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher.

Emily can now do something that she has not been able to do in fifteen months: embrace her mother, Mandy, who has been tirelessly working to bring her home.

We joined so many others across the world to call for her release over the past fifteen months. Yesterday, it finally happened.

We are on the right side of history; those who shamefully spread lies to humanise and defend murderous Hamas terrorists, including on the streets of Britain, are on the other.

We pray for the safe return of all of the other hostages, and that this weekend was the last birthday that baby Kfir spends in Hamas’ clutches.

This has been a bittersweet weekend.

There was chaos in London, but the Met has finally taken action against the marches and their organisers.

Frontline police officers conducted themselves superbly in trying conditions, but now it is the failed leadership of the Met that is taking an undeserved victory lap.

Meanwhile, hostages have begun to be released from Gaza but in difficult circumstances and on Hamas’s timeline. Still, after fifteen months of agony, we must take all the good news that we can get.

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The Met must ban the march

For the last several days, the Met Police and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) have been arguing about the route of this Saturday’s anti-Israel march. These marches invariably feature antisemitic rhetoric and sympathy for terrorism and have become a weekly staple of London life.

The PSC wanted to march from near Broadcasting House to Whitehall, as per their usual route. For once, the Met Police decided to impose restrictions on their march under section 12 of the Public Order Act, insisting that the march could not assemble near Broadcasting House due to its proximity to London’s Central Synagogue, which has borne the brunt of these intimidatory marches for over a year.

The PSC defiantly declared that the march would assemble at Whitehall and end at Broadcasting House. The Met said that this was unacceptable and directed that the march should form up at Russell Square and then head to Whitehall. The PSC has now decided that it will assemble at Whitehall and has indicated that the march will likely now become a static protest, but it appears to be leaving the door open to marching.

Indeed the PSC has been posting all week using the hashtag #WeWillMarch.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: As the Jewish community prepares to go offline for Shabbat and ordinary Londoners want to make weekend plans in central London, there is still insufficient clarity about whether and where this week’s anti-Israel march — along with the habitual displays of antisemitism and sympathy for terrorism — will take place.

“The Met has finally discovered the consequence of fifteen months of pandering to this mob that has taken over London’s streets week after week with impunity. Like a child grown accustomed to getting their way over and over again, the slightest limitation provokes a tantrum. But the current prospect of a chaotic and unauthorised march taking place at the last minute is unacceptable. Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley must apply to the Home Secretary to ban any march under section 13 of the Public Order Act. It is about time that the Met remembers that it is here for all Londoners, not just an extremist minority.

“A ban is long overdue. By trying to impose restrictions this week, the Met has finally acknowledged what we all know: these marches pose a threat to the safety of Jewish people and communal institutions, such as synagogues. It is shameful that the Met has refused to act on that threat all this time, and is mustering a show of strength only now that it appears that the war might be ending. The least that it can do is see this tokenistic gesture through and finally limit these marches to static protests, as we have been urging for over a year.”

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Met Police must not bow to pressure from organisers of march this Saturday

An attempt is being made to stir controversy around the fact that the Metropolitan Police Service has decided to impose basic conditions on the latest Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) march. This now includes a Parliamentary Early Day Motion sponsored by John McDonnell MP.

The Met has not banned the PSC march this Saturday. It has simply said that the marchers cannot assemble or conclude right around the corner to a major central London synagogue if the march is to take place on a Saturday right as Shabbat services end.

Almost one year ago, we posted about how Jewish parents and children were afraid to walk home from their synagogue at the end of Shabbat services because of one of the weekly PSC marches taking place nearby. Police had to stand by the entrances to the synagogue and were stationed around the area. The fear was palpable, and understandably so, given what has happened on these marches before.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Met is being told by the PSC that their march has to be on a Saturday, it has to be just after Shabbat services, and it has to form up or conclude around the corner to a major central London synagogue.

“In making that absurd argument, the Jewish community is being gaslit by the organisers of the march and their allies, who claim to be incredulous that Jews might be intimidated by people marching the streets, demanding ‘intifada’ and the like, as they usually do. To help make their point, they are parading a handful of Jews who say that they support the marches, but this is a well worn tactic that uses a few token Jews in an attempt to override the legitimate concerns of the actual mainstream Jewish community. It is transparently deceitful and shows utter disdain for British Jews.

“These are London’s streets, and they must be made safe again for all Londoners, including Jews. These marchers have had the run of the capital for far too long.

“The Met is absolutely right to insist on using its powers under the Public Order Act to prevent demonstrators from marching in the vicinity of a local synagogue this Saturday. Our only complaint is that these measures are still too limited, and come after more than a year of our streets resounding to chants exhorting violence while thousands of people happily walk alongside antisemitic and extremist placards. The Met has finally drawn a line in the sand — it is the bare minimum and it must stand by it. In doing so, the Met has the full support of the Jewish community, including us at Campaign Against Antisemitism. We will be watching closely to see how the day is policed.”

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Is this year shaping up to be any different?

A lot of British Jews and our friends — and those who care about the social fabric in Britain — have been wondering whether 2025 is going to turn the page on more than a year of the worst antisemitism and extremism that our country has seen in living memory.

Over the holiday period and heading into the new year, we at Campaign Against Antisemitism have been just as busy as ever.

Much as we would like to provide reassurance on the direction of travel for antisemitism and the Jewish community over the coming year, it is still too early to tell.

However, among the persistent bad news, there have recently been some positive developments.

Are the Met Police finally changing course?

Our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit continues to monitor anti-Israel rallies across the country, and we continue to see antisemitic or terrorist-sympathising signage and rhetoric at these protests, such as a sign at a demonstration in Leeds featuring the inverted red triangle symbol. This symbol has been used by some anti-Israel activists to signal support for proscribed terrorist organisations such as Hamas, inspired by the appearance of the symbol in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate targets for attack.

While we have all become used to such expressions of support for Hamas and the murder of Israeli Jews on our streets, we will continue to call them out and take action, so that our society does not allow this conduct to become normalised.

But down in London, the Met has for once heeded calls by the Jewish community to divert the next big Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) march — which, if it’s anything like previous protests, will also feature plenty of antisemitism — away from local synagogues holding weekly Shabbat morning services.

Naturally, the PSC and its supporters are furious; the very idea of accommodating Jewish concerns – whether or not the organisers consider them to be founded or not – is apparently unacceptable to them.

The Met has stuck to its proverbial guns, however, and imposed restrictions under the Public Order Act, prohibiting the march from assembling near Broadcasting House because of the close proximity of a synagogue that has been significantly affected by the almost-weekly demonstrations.

The Met has finally stood up to the bullies. This is the bare minimum that should be expected, and it is outrageous that it has taken over a year to see this sort of action, in spite of calls by us and others for a change in policing policy. Still, at least it’s a start.

Naturally, the PSC is refusing to comply. So the question is — as ever — how the march will be policed on the day, and how strictly the Met’s conditions will be enforced. Will those who brandish antisemitic signs and chant antisemitic chants be dealt with?

We will be watching.

There have also been arrests here and there, such as an individual who protested a public Menorah lighting by Chabad in Islington, North London during Chanukah.

Good news in the courts

In the courts too, there has been good news.

A man who published antisemitic posts online, including one that called to “eradicate every Zionist,” was sentenced to twelve months in prison.

Mohammed Nafees Ahmed, 32, of Tipton, was sentenced at the Old Bailey for eight offences of supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation. The offences related to several posts from his X account, including one that read, “Your fool, long live Palestine long live hamas [sic],” in response to then-Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s condemnation of attacks carried out by the terrorist group in Israel on 7th October 2023.

Another post, published only four days after the attacks, read: “Wipe them off the map. Death to Israel and America.” Other posts celebrated Israeli soldiers being killed. In response to a post by Sir Keir Starmer celebrating Chanukah in December 2023, he wrote, “You Zionist, your time will come,” accompanied by an emoji of a knife.

Meanwhile, two individuals convicted of expressing support for Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, have had their pre-trial appeals dismissed by the Court of Appeals.

The three judges, headed by the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, upheld the convictions delivered by crown courts in two separate cases. In their judgment, the justices underscored that a defendant’s knowledge of whether an organisation is proscribed does not need to be proved by the prosecution to make out an offence under terror legislation.

On the far-right, a Lancashire taxi driver responsible for setting up “Southport Wake Up”, a far-right Telegram channel that was used to instigate and organise the summer riots last year and who has a history of engaging with neo-Nazi ideology, was sentenced to seven and half years’ imprisonment at Liverpool Crown Court following a guilty plea to charges of encouraging violent disorder and carrying a knife.

Messages in the Telegram channel that Andrew McIntyre, 39, set up included “support neither brown nor Jew,” while another described Hitler as “the only politician since Roman times to truly care for his people”. In the same message, the user wrote: “The Jewish people fabricated the Holocaust…Today, Jewish media, NGOs, finance, business, entertainment and a huge overrepresentation in government, are doing the same all over Europe. The fight will be long brothers, but we will succeed. Never capitulate.”

Mr McIntyre was found to have sent a message in the channel urging people to target mosques and synagogues and referred to “k*ke ideology”. It was also revealed that days after rioters had attacked hotels housing migrants and asylum seekers, he shared a video of the Christchurch mosque attack in 2019 with the caption: “WHITE LEGEND. F*** ISLAM, F*** JEWS.”

It is vital that all types of extremism are confronted with the same vigour and treatment by our judicial system.

A mixed bag in the media

The BBC has apologised for an atrocious interview with Rabbi Gideon Sylvester. This was one of the starkest examples of anti-Jewish BBC bias that we have ever encountered.

When you invite a Rabbi to discuss Chanukah in wartime, the bare minimum is to ask questions about Chanukah. Instead, Rabbi Sylvester was subjected to an aggressive interrogation about Israel accompanied by images of war before being cut off in mid-sentence, in glaring contrast to the respectful and sympathetic treatment of the Imam and Reverend interviewed earlier in the day. Not a single question about Chanukah or Jewish suffering in the region right now. Absolutely despicable. The only silver lining is that Rabbi Sylvester acquitted himself very well in the circumstances.

It is yet further evidence that the BBC abandoned the principles of fair journalism a long time ago. The BBC’s quiet apology to the rabbi is only a start. This was a collective effort — producers, editors, anchors, and researchers all demonstrating an unspoken prejudice that this is how Jews or anyone connected with the Jewish state should be treated, in contrast to the respectful treatment of anyone who criticises the Jewish state.

When will our national broadcaster explain to British Jews and the wider public how it is going to address its internal rot?

The apology was an outlier, however.

More typical of the BBC is this headline, which unequivocally declares that journalists in Gaza have been killed by Israel. But buried in the body of the article is the rather significant line: “The BBC has not been able to verify claims made by either side.” So the BBC is effectively reporting something as fact that it itself admits may not be a fact.

Unsurprisingly, this maybe-fact portrays the Jewish state negatively.

Our polling consistently shows that overwhelming proportions of British Jews believe that media bias against Israel fuels antisemitism. Not that the BBC will let that come in the way of bad journalism.

Over on LBC, a summary of Matthew Wright’s line of questioning towards towards his guest, The JC Editor Jake Wallis Simons:

‘You’re a “Jewish man”: tell us the “Jewish figure” for how many children the Jews have killed in Gaza.

‘Now let’s turn to discuss antisemitism in the UK and what we can do about it.’

With interviews like that, it’s a total mystery!

Three retailers take action

Three retailers have taken action following contact from Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Customers had been complaining for days to the local Pret A Manger in St John’s Wood to remove antisemitic graffiti reading “Zionists are child killers” from the public toilet door, but only after we contacted the branch the graffiti was finally removed.

It should have happened faster and should not have required our intervention over and above the dozens of complaints that the branch received, but ultimately the offensive vandalism was rightly addressed.

After being alerted by customers, we also contacted the Camden branch of clothing outlet Urban Outfitters about graffiti reading “F*** Zionism” in one of the changing rooms, following which the graffiti was scribbled out.

These are obviously only two examples of graffiti that we have all seen repeatedly over the past fifteen months. It is appalling that rhetoric of this sort has become so visibly widespread.

Estarli agreed to remove from its social media platforms footage of a BDS Israel boycott sticker displayed on a bicycle in one of its video advertisements after we alerted the e-bike maker to its inclusion.

The retailer wrote to us saying: “We are very sorry if we have caused any offence. We hold no prejudices and when we film with customers we do not know how they have personalised their bikes and we do not stage what they wear or have on their bikes. We were not aware of this sticker when we filmed nor when we made the video. We will now remove it from any content it appears in and we will be more vigilant in the future. Sorry again.”

Leaving aside the role of particular Estarli in this case, the notion that a sticker like this is prevalent enough that it features in apparently randomly filmed scenes underscores just how normalised the anti-Israel rhetoric has become, and thus why it has such an impact on British Jews.

If you become aware of antisemitic graffiti or inflammatory political messages at commercial premises or in promotional material, please e-mail us at [email protected].

World Bowls Tour reverses a terrible decision

At the very end of the year, the World Bowls Tour caved to pressure from the anti-Israel mob, banning competitors from the Jewish state from participating in the Bowls World Indoor Championships.

“Bowls is a sport that unites people,” the organisation declared. Except, apparently, Jews, who were excluded. This decision was a disgrace to international sport. Athletes should be judged by their skill, not their race, ethnicity or nationality. Unfortunately, that principle did not seem to apply to Jewish athletes.

Thankfully, the decision was quickly reversed after an outcry.

World Bowls Tour apologised and arranged for “an increase in the security presence at the event,” thereby apparently making possible a restoration of the invitation to participants from the Jewish state to attend.

While it is shameful that the Israeli athletes had been disinvited in the first place, it was a reassuring end to the matter and a welcome happy note on which to bring 2024 to a close.

It does not take long before a major catastrophe is blamed, somehow, on the Jews.

Naturally, then, the haters sought a way to connect the Los Angeles fires with the Jews or the Jewish state.

Among them is the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese. She also recently posted in support of the conspiracist and disgraced academic David Miller, before (inexplicably, for her) deleting her tweet.

We continue to call for the UN to remove her from her position — and on the UK Government to pressure the UN to do so.

Our hearts go out to those affected by the fires.

It’s a terrible shame that antisemites prefer hate to empathy and will use any opportunity to incite against the Jews.

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Far-right Southport riots instigator had history of Nazism and posted about “k*ke ideology”

A Lancashire taxi driver, who was sentenced in court on Monday for his involvement in the far-right riots last summer, was found to have a history of engaging with neo-Nazi ideology.

Andrew McIntyre, 39, was sentenced to seven and half years’ imprisonment at Liverpool Crown Court following his guilty plea to charges of encouraging violent disorder and carrying a knife.

Mr McIntyre was responsible for setting up “Southport Wake Up”, a far-right Telegram channel that was used to instigate and organise the riots last year. The riots across Britain began following the murder of three children in Southport, an incident that was falsely attributed to an asylum-seeker.

Other messages from users in Southport Wake Up also reportedly said that they “support neither brown nor Jew” and claimed that “our nation is our land and our people.” Another message in the channel described Hitler as “the only politician since Roman times to truly care for his people”. In the same message, they wrote: “The Jewish people fabricated the Holocaust – ensuring they would never again be questioned by Europeans while they destroyed their homelands […]

“Today, Jewish media, NGOs, finance, business, entertainment and a huge overrepresentation in government, are doing the same all over Europe.

“The fight will be long brothers, but we will succeed. Never capitulate.”

Mr McIntyre, who used the alias ‘Stimpy’, was found to have sent a message in the channel urging people to target mosques with Molotov cocktails. He also suggested that synagogues could be targeted and referred to “k*ke ideology”.

It was also revealed that only days after rioters had attacked hotels housing asylum seekers, he shared a video of the Christchurch Mosque attack in 2019 with the caption: “WHITE LEGEND. F*** ISLAM, F*** JEWS.”

He also sent an image of a woman doing a Nazi salute to a neo-Nazi symbol to the Telegram channel.

This was not the only time that Mr McIntyre was found to have engaged with Nazism. Police discovered a copy of Mein Kampf at his residence and in July 2022, he posted an image of himself performing a Nazi salute. Mein Kampf was the Magnum Opus and manifesto of the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

Mr McIntyre was arrested on 8th August last year after advocacy group Hope Not Hate shared his identity with Merseyside Police, following an extensive investigation of his online activity. It is understood that he used over 160 anonymous accounts, each active for only one or two days.

Image credit: Merseyside Police

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Was Jesus a Jew, or something else?

As Christmas approaches, activists are gearing up for their annual attempts to airbrush Jews out of the story of the birth of Jesus.

This year, those attempts even included a nativity scene at The Vatican.

The scene, titled “Nativity of Bethlehem 2024”, featured a bay Jesus clad in a keffiyeh. Designed by artists in conjunction with the PLO, it was accompanied by a plaque presented to the Pope by children in the presence of representatives from the Palestinian Authority.

The Pope was photographed at the scene, which was briefly displayed in the Paul VI Hall – as opposed to in St Peter’s Square, which is where the main nativity scene is located – before being removed without explanation following an outcry.

There have also been reports of Protestant denominations in the UK promoting this sort of propaganda.

Historical revisionism has become a new annual Christmas tradition for Palestine activists.

But whether Pope Francis or the Baptists or specific churches here and there like it or not, Jesus was a Jew from Judea. The notion that he was not Jewish or belonged to another ethnic group is ahistorical nonsense and offensive to one of the founding stories of Christianity.

These pitiful attempts to airbrush Jews out of this story undermines interfaith relations and is a betrayal of Christianity itself.

How sad that the festival of goodwill is highjacked in this way.

When Santa Claus visited an anti-Israel demonstration

’Tis the season to be jolly.

But that’s not easy when there’s so much antisemitism around.

So we sent Santa Claus to an anti-Israel demonstration to find out who’s been good this year, and who’s been bad.

Watch what happened when Santa Claus visited an anti-Israel demonstration here.

For those wondering, we have reported the man in the opening clip to the Metropolitan Police Service and have provided his name and other information.

Fighting antisemitism on Chanukah

Chanukah is a celebration of Jewish empowerment and the fight against antisemitism.

Here are eight measures that we have been calling on the Government and other authorities, this Chanukah, to introduce to aid in that fight.

  1. Over half (59%) of the British public would be less likely to visit a city centre if they knew a large Palestine march was due to happen, according to our polling conducted by YouGov. It is time for these marches to stop. We are asking for the Home Secretary to close loopholes in our legislation that permit weekly anti-Israel marches; allow police to infer that marches led by the same organisers will likely repeat illegality; remove the limitations to definitions of “serious disruption to the life of the community”; and more. Antisemitic hate crime is skyrocketing in Britain. It is time for a change in direction.
  2. At the beginning of the year, the previous Government heeded calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir, which praised Hamas’ barbaric attacks on 7th October 2023. But there is more to do. The Home Secretary must urgently proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ansar Allah (the Houthi Rebels), and certain Palestinian terrorist organisations that were involved in or claimed involvement in the 7th October Hamas-led attacks in Israel.
  3. Jews are more than twelve times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group, according to our analysis of the latest Home Office statistics. But how many of these incidents end in arrests and prosecutions? The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must break down hate crimes prosecution statistics by category. A full 95% of British Jews believe that the CPS should be doing this, according to our polling.
  4. British campuses were already hotbeds of antisemitism before October 2023, and the situation since then has only become worse. Universities need to take a proactive approach to dealing with antisemitism. Among other things, we are asking for universities to reconfirm their commitment to the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism and add it to disciplinary procedures and codes of conduct; and designate a member of staff responsible for tackling antisemitism on campus.
  5. Over the past year, campuses have become venues for the glorification of antisemitic terrorism and support for groups opposed to Britain and our values. With nearly one in ten (9%) of 18-24 year olds having a favourable view of Hamas, according to our polling conducted by YouGov, universities need to ensure that incidents on campus are being assessed for potential criminality. The Department for Education must obligate universities to report antisemitic incidents to the police and send universities legal advice on the requirement to balance freedom of speech with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
  6. Our police forces are vital in ensuring that those whose antisemitism crosses a criminal threshold face consequences for their actions. Police officers must be empowered with the right tools to combat antisemitic hate crime, including by the establishment of a Single Point of Contact within each police force to facilitate alerting and monitoring of antisemitic hate crime and identify training needs, and more.
  7. Palestine Action is a criminal enterprise operating freely in the UK and terrorising the Jewish community. Over the past year, we have seen Palestine Action escalate its campaign of harassment through acts of intimidation, including carrying out a mock beheading and vandalising the offices of Jewish charities. Palestine Action must be outlawed.
  8. Earlier this year, it was announced by the Foreign Secretary that the Government would restore funding to UNRWA. That funding had been paused by the previous Government earlier in the year due to allegations that a number of its staff were involved in the 7th October Hamas attacks. UNRWA teachers have glorified terrorism and some UNRWA personnel have been found to be members of Hamas, and UNRWA schools and premises have been used as storage facilities for munitions and launching pads for rockets. The agency’s educational materials have long been accused of promoting antisemitism and encouraging hate. The resumption of funding to UNRWA by the UK was an obviously controversial decision. We are therefore asking the Foreign Secretary, in the interests of transparency and consistency, to disclose the legal advice that was sought in deciding to restore funding to UNRWA.

Chanukah is the story of how the Jewish people fought and overcame antisemitism.

In a modern democratic country like Britain, we can only make advances in this fight with at least some support from the state.

The measures that we are calling for – some of which we have been advocating for over many years – are essential, and we encourage you to write to or meet with your local MP to promote support for these policy changes.

We are prepared for 2025

2025 is, sadly, shaping up to be another challenging year for British Jews. But we will be there, continuing the fight.

Here are some recent developments and successes:

Michael Derham, who shared antisemitic conspiracy theories online, was sentenced at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court following a private prosecution by Campaign Against Antisemitism. Mr Derham used his X account to express opinions about Jews that included: “Why are you allowing Jews to manipulate our politics?”; and “Mind you Jewish people are showing themselves to be easy to hate, especially their politicians, diplomats and media. Makes you question all the myths they have spread about themselves.” We brought the private prosecution against Mr Derham after the Metropolitan Police told us that “no suspect was identified” in its investigation and that it would therefore not refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The parent of a fourteen-year-old identifiably Jewish boy has reported that his son was assaulted with threats of rape issued against the boy’s mother. The alleged incident occurred at the junction of Bury Old Road and Singleton Road in Manchester earlier this month, at around midnight. The boy, who was with a group of friends of similar age, was said to have been approached by a man around the age of twenty. The father of the victim claims that the man questioned him about their religious affiliation and, upon confirming that they were Jewish, asked about their views on the Hamas-Israel war. When the group of boys provided neutral answers, the man then allegedly attempted to strike the boy, knocking his hat off. It was at this point that a threat of rape against the boy’s mother was said to have been made. It is understood that the police were called and arrived at the scene roughly an hour and a half after the incident. The father of the boy expressed concern to Campaign Against Antisemitism over the police’s handling of the matter, and two weeks after the incident, the family is allegedly still yet to receive any communication from the police or external authorities. We are continuing to support the family.

You may recall that the Rio Cinema in Dalston cancelled London’s biggest Eurovision screening because Israel was participating in the competition. We submitted a complaint to the Charity Commission, which has been upheld. We are grateful that the Commission took this issue seriously and has issued guidance to the charity so that this does not happen again. Prejudice has no place in the arts.

Following our complaint, the Charity Commission has taken action against Millat-e-Islamia, Islamic, Cultural & Education Association. A video of Muhammad Adil Shahzad, who, according to the Charity’s Facebook page, is a resident imam at the Charity, appeared to feature him telling his audience not to use “Google, Facebook or Sheikh Twitter” because “nine out of ten websites are either run by Qadianis, or they are run by the Jews.” After reviewing our complaint, the Commission agreed that there was failure by the trustees in the administration of the Charity. Jew-hate is a poison that has no place in British society, least of all from registered charities.

Two teenage girls have been sentenced after carrying out a series of shocking attacks over the course of half an hour in Stamford Hill last December. In the first incident, the pair attempted to take money from a woman. One of them attempted to strike her but missed, allowing the woman to escape. Ten minutes later, the girls demanded money from a twelve-year-old girl. They only released her and walked off after realising she had no money. In a matter of minutes, the teenagers had accosted four eleven-year-old girls, hurling antisemitic insults and demanding money. Frightened, the girls ran off, using a pedestrian crossing on the High Road to get away. The pair pursued one of the girls, eventually grabbing her arm, intimidating her and stealing her lunch bag. Moments later, in an incident captured on video, a woman was viciously assaulted by the girls after the pair demanded money from her. The girls struck the woman’s back, took her phone from her hand and ripped off her wig, which she wore for religious reasons. The woman was thrown to the ground where she was then kicked into unconsciousness. The two girls were both found guilty of attempted robbery, religiously-aggravated harassment and ABH, with one of the defendants also found guilty of attempted theft. Despite all that, the girls have not received a custodial sentence. Apparently beating a Jewish woman unconscious and stealing from her as part of a spree of antisemitic robberies is not enough to land you in jail as a minor. Instead, both of the girls were handed a Rehabilitation Order, in addition to an order to undertake a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 and 45 hours. They were also placed under curfew with an electronic tag for three months.

A Tower Hamlets school’s “hunger strike” for Gaza, which encouraged children as young as eleven to go without food, has been called off following reporting by the JC and subsequent action by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others, including our demand for Tower Hamlets Council to investigate the matter. This unethical initiative should never have been allowed to go ahead. Now the school is reportedly proceeding with a non-uniform day to raise funds in Gaza. But all this is only the tip of the iceberg. One mother of a Jewish child said: “This week my kid told me they would be ‘beaten up’ if anyone found out they were Jewish. I have sleepless nights worrying.” It is unconscionable that Jewish families should be made to feel fearful for their children in this way.

This is just a selection of the recent cases and incidents that we have been working on. The situation for British Jews is dire, but we will continue to do everything that we can to defend the Jewish community in the coming year.

Why did you march?

The March Against Antisemitism in London drew tens of thousands of people from the Jewish community and their allies across Britain.

We caught up with so many of you who attended to find out what motivated you to march.

This is what you told us.

You can also catch up on the full speeches by our Chief Executive Gideon Falter, Major Andrew Fox, heroic Druze nurse Lorin Khizran, Rev. Hayley Ace, and Founder of Our Fight Mark Birbeck, as well as the performances of Cantor Steven Leas and Israeli rock icon Aviv Geffen.

The photographs from the March Against Antisemitism are available here.

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Thank you for making all of our voices heard

Sunday’s March Against Antisemitism in central London drew tens of thousands of people from the Jewish community and their allies across the country, calling on the authorities to act against hate before it’s too late.

The march, organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism with the support of all major Jewish communal groups and numerous non-Jewish organisations, began at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand before passing along Whitehall and ending at Parliament Square.

As marchers passed Downing Street, they stopped to sing the national anthem. How unlike so many other marches that we’ve seen over the past year in London.

On this march, there were no violent attempts to gain access to Downing Street or desecration of national monuments, there were no masks or glorification of terrorism, no fireworks or racist rhetoric.

This is how the Jewish community and its friends march. This is what a real peaceful march looks like.

At Parliament Square, a rally was held featuring numerous non-Jewish speakers who emphasised how the battle against antisemitism implicates not just the Jews but all of British society.

At Parliament Square, the crowd was addressed by Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, who said: “The fight against antisemitism puts Jews on the frontlines of the battle for the future of the West. It is a long frontline with many flashpoints, but should any part of it fail, the entire defence fails.

“We owe it to future generations to raise our voices against this tide of extremism and bigotry, and reject appeasement, so that we might bequeath them the bright future that once was ours. Last year we gathered to say that we are one United Kingdom, united against antisemitism. Today we have a warning to the authorities: act against hate, before it’s too late.”

The full speech can be watched here.

The other speakers were not Jewish. They wished to express their considerable concern at the surge in antisemitism and extremism in Britain and to emphasise how this affects not just Jews but all of us.

The highly-respected military figure and senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Major Andrew Fox, said: “When I turned on the television on 7th October and saw extremists celebrating the attacks in Israel—on UK streets—I could not believe my eyes. Since then, we’ve seen weekly marches in London keeping extremism in the public eye. This is not just a fleeting moment or an isolated problem. It is a movement of hatred that threatens the very fabric of our society.”

Our brief interview with Major Fox can be watched here and his full speech at the rally can be watched here.

Lorin Khizran is a heroic nurse from the Druze village of Yarka in the north of Israel who found herself working around the clock on 7th October treating the wounded. She spoke at the rally, saying: “Since I have been in the UK, I have heard a few Jewish families say there might not be a future in a generation’s time…The people marching on your streets, taking over your campuses, spewing their hate on social media, are changing absolutely nothing in the Middle East. They’re simply showing us who they: racists.”

Her full speech can be watched here.

Rev. Hayley Ace, the trailblazing cofounder of Christian Action Against Antisemitism, said at the rally: “We have to try and reach people who don’t realise this ideology that is coming for the Jews is coming to attack everyone. To see Jew-hatred explode after 7th October, the most brutal awful day for the Jewish people, as a Christian, is truly heartbreaking. We are in this together.”

The full speech can be watched here.

Mark Birbeck, the courageous founder of advocacy group Our Fight UK, told the crowd at Parliament Square: “When people say they want to ‘globalise the Intifada’, they mean it. The fight against antisemitism, the fight against extremism—it’s our fight. We need to fight against extremism before it’s too late.”

His full speech can be found here.

The crowd also heard music from renowned Cantor Stephen Leas and Israeli rock icon Aviv Geffen.

Meanwhile, we asked the peerless Allison Pearson, co-founder of British Friends Of Israel and Daily Telegraph columnist, why she joined the march. She told us that it is because this is not just a battle for the Jews: it’s for everyone.

News coverage of the March Against Antisemitism has been extensive, with write-ups in newspapers from the Mail to The Independent and reports on the BBC to GB News, broadcasts on LBC and even reporting for foreign outlets as far as Sky News Australia.

The March also drew significant attention online, and it trended on X (formerly Twitter).

Over the past year, antisemitic hate crime has quadrupled, and Jews are now the most targeted faith minority in the country, despite our minuscule numbers. The regular Palestine protests have unleashed a tidal wave of antisemitism that has left no part of our society unaffected. Jewish people feel like we’re drowning.

The turnout on Sunday – in spite of the stormy weather – demonstrates how strongly British Jews feel and, quite frankly, how desperate we are.

We want to thank in particular those who came from outside of London to ensure that this was a truly national march against antisemitism.

We also wish to thank everyone who kept us safe on the day, including frontline police officers, the terrific professionals from CST, our stewards and our amazing volunteers, thanks to all of whom so many thousands of us were able to participate.

The turnout would have been even higher had weather conditions been milder, as we know from so many of you who kindly wrote in to tell us how much you had wanted to be able to join.

All of the pictures from the March Against Antisemitism can be viewed here.

None of this is possible without your support, and we have a lot more to do.

If you wish to make a donation to help cover the costs of the March Against Antisemitism – including security and stewarding, publicity and placards, staging and logistics – you can do so by clicking on the button below.

All donations of any size are enormously appreciated to help defray the costs of this historic event. Only with your support can we continue to make our voices heard and ensure that the authorities finally take action against antisemitism.

With extremism changing our country before our eyes, we all took a stand on Sunday to uphold our country’s values and demand action to secure the future of Britain’s Jewish community.

But time is running out. The authorities and two governments have dragged their feet for over a year now. They must finally act against hate before it’s too late.

Image credit: Stuart Mitchell/Campaign Against Antisemitism

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Protester who wore sign labelling Leeds chaplain “war criminal” and “pervert” convicted and fined

A protester was convicted and fined yesterday after wearing a sign labelling the Jewish Chaplain at the University of Leeds a “war criminal” and a “pervert”.

Serena Fenton, 56, was found guilty in Leeds Magistrates’ Court of two counts of racially aggravated offences under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

The charges related to a sign, which she displayed on her person, at two anti-Israel demonstrations in Leeds on 13th April and 1st May earlier this year.

The sign displayed an image of the University’s Jewish Chaplain, Rabbi Zecharia Deutsch, who was targeted with death threats during his tenure at the University after it was claimed that he had served as a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza. Text imposed on the image read: “Thousands of war criminals will soon be walking our streets: Rapists, child-killers, perverts, torturers, thieves, psychopaths! They are dangerous! Do not approach unless armed! They will face justice!”

During proceedings, a community witness described the words on Ms Fenton’s sign as “extremely distressing” and said that it was “clearly designed to cause distress”.

The court found that the word “they” in the sign referred to Jews, notwithstanding Ms Fenton’s claim that she was referring to the IDF. She also said that the wording “unless armed” referred to being armed with “knowledge”; the court, however, concluded that the wording constituted a call to vigilante violence that would cause alarm or distress.

During her oral testimony, Ms Fenton said that she “only disliked Zionist Jews”, which the court concluded was an antisemitic view. It was also determined that her actions demonstrated racist intent.

According to our representative polling, only 6% of British Jews do not consider themselves to be Zionist.

A police officer also testified that Ms Fenton was uncooperative during her arrest, which took place during the demonstration in May.

Ms Fenton was fined £100 per offence, plus a £160 victim surcharge cost and £600 in prosecution fees.

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

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If I am not for myself, why should others be for me?

The future for Jewish people in Britain is under threat, but if we don’t show that we care, why should anyone else?

We cannot expect the general public, the media, the authorities or the Government to take heed of the Jewish community’s cries if we do not make the effort to show the strength of our feeling regarding the unprecedented levels of antisemitism that have permeated every aspect of our lives.

If we do not tell them how we feel, how are they to know?

We have a responsibility to make ourselves heard.

If you have not yet joined the thousands who have already signed up to march at 13:00 this Sunday, 8th December in central London, please do so now and be part of this critical and historic event.

We will be gathering from 12:00 for a prompt 13:00 start.

You can sign up for the march here.

Why are we marching?

We are marching because these sorts of incidents – all from the past ten days – have become unacceptably commonplace.

  • A fourteen-year-old identifiably Jewish girl in Stamford Hill was reportedly hospitalised after being struck in the face with a glass bottle.
  • The Trades Union Congress called on all trade union members – including nurses, teachers and journalists – to “wear something red, green, black or a Palestinian keffiyeh to visibly show solidarity” at their places of work, resulting in BBC staff reportedly handing in their National Union of Journalists memberships.
  • A leading Jewish restaurant critic quit The Observer after 28 years, saying: “For years now being Jewish, however non-observant, and working for the company has been uncomfortable, at times excruciating.”
  • Ten teenagers reportedly attacked a TFL bus carrying pupils from JFS, a Jewish school in North London, in an incident in which four teenagers boarded the bus screaming “F* Israel, nobody likes you! F* off you b!” and throwing things at the JFS students, with seemingly no assistance provided to the victims by the driver or other passengers.
  • An experienced Jewish member of staff at the BBC has revealed that antisemitism has become “normalised” at the broadcaster.
  • It was reported that Counter Terrorism Police rightly felt the need to ban a video game in which users play as terrorists invading Israel to murder “Zionists”.
  • Anti-Israel activists outside the University of Oxford called for intifada, made comparisons between the only Jewish state and terrorists and engaged in genocidal chanting. Meanwhile what happened inside the Oxford Union, the University’s debating society, was indescribably appalling.
  • A Jewish leading figure in British arts resigned “from all voluntary positions within UK arts institutions” after accusing the art world of becoming host to “vile antisemitic sentiments…that are not isolated incidents but part of a broader culture that seeks to marginalise and dehumanise Jews.”
  • Anti-Israel protesters tried to force their way into Downing Street.
  • An academic at King’s College London allegedly attempted to “indoctrinate” her students with Hamas propaganda.

Anybody who does not think that antisemitism is a problem in Britain has their head in the sand.

The question for the Jewish community and our allies is whether we are willing to march this weekend to fight for our future.

It is not just about the Jewish community

It is essential that we march, not just for the Jewish future but for the future of our country.

We must take a stand against the growing extremism, radicalisation and support for terrorist groups that we are seeing on our streets, campuses and online, because it does not just affect the Jews.

As our Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, wrote in The Times last week: “Woe betide us if we believe this to be a passing nightmare, or an affliction that will affect the Jewish community alone and spare the rest. As the late Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks warned, ‘The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.’”

The full article can be read here.

He also wrote in The Sunday Telegraph yesterday, pointing out that all of the activism that we are seeing is doing nothing to affect events in the Middle East but having a considerable, adverse impact on the fabric of our society right here. He asked: “Has this ‘activism’ done anything to change things in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon or Iran? Or are they just changing the face of our society over here?”

Th full article can be read here.

The future of British Jewry and our country’s tradition of tolerance and decency is not guaranteed. We owe it to our ourselves to fight for our future.

March with us.

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Marching has never been more important

The situation in Britain right now is worse than any of us can remember.

Antisemitism is rife across our public life. Worst still, the authorities seem to be indifferent.

Below is a sample of recent examples across society of the problems that we are seeing. But while we may be feeling helpless, we still have a responsibility to do something.

The future of British Jewry and our country’s tradition of tolerance and decency is not guaranteed. We have to stand up to extremism.

March with us. The march will start at 13:00 on Sunday 8th December in central London.

If you were among the 105,000 people who marched with us last year, you will know that this is a historic opportunity not to be missed.

Please ensure that you sign up in order to receive details and updates, enable us to plan for the right numbers and, for those coming from farther afield, arrange coaches.

The antisemitism and extremism – and the indifference – are deafening

These are just a sample of recent developments that showcase the levels of antisemitism and extremism – and the apparent indifference of the authorities.

  • Last month, Dyar Amin pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault after he tried to attack a Jewish counter-protester at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) demonstration. He also called him a “big-nosed bastard” and a “baby killer”. Shockingly, he was only sentenced to 180 hours of community service, despite the maximum being 300 hours. His sentence was further reduced by 30% due to his guilty plea. Since the attempted attack, he has also reportedly been used as a steward by Leeds PSC at an anti-Israel demonstration. This is another disappointing outcome from our justice system, but hardly an outlier over the past year.
  • The police have said that they will review a decision not to treat an imam’s public prayer for the destruction of Jewish homes as a crime after a public outcry led by The JC. We still have an outstanding complaint with the Charity Commission about the mosque in question, but why does it take a public backlash for the police to take this incident seriously?
  • The Telegraph and others reported this weekend on how the failure of the police to make arrests and pursue charges has forced an organisation like ours to bring private prosecutions as the only means of securing justice for the Jewish community.
  • The CPS, instead of devoting its energies to prosecuting antisemites, is bringing charges against allies of the Jewish community like Niyak Ghorbani, who has become renowned for declaring, in the face of anti-Israel protesters, that Hamas and Hizballah are terrorists under UK law. Once again, we funded his legal defence to have the charges dropped so that he retains the freedom to show solidarity with British Jews.
  • A social media account appearing to belong to the Oxford-based Dr Sebastian Hormaeche published numerous inflammatory posts, including “Gaza is a concentration camp where zionist jews are bombing Palestinians to oblivion [sic],” “The unimaginable horrors. Israel is a Nazi terrorist state,” and “May the souls of the Zionazis burn in hell forever,” among others. We wrote to Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation requesting an investigation. They replied to say that they were actioning it, and we queried what that meant. They responded that “internal actions remain confidential”, but that they “have looked into your concerns raised, met with Dr Hormaeche and [are] satisfied that this matter has been dealt with appropriately.” Since then, Dr Hormaeche has continued to post incendiary material. Such is the quality of NHS enforcement. We have now written to the GMC, which regulates doctors.
  • Whether or not we are right to place our confidence in the GMC remains to be seen. We have just heard from the regulator in response to our complaint in the case of a doctor who was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir (which has since been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government). The GMC have contended that they have no power over the NHS’s decision to lift his suspension. This is true in a technical sense but untrue in the sense that he is only able to practice as a physician because the GMC permits it. Still, they are investigating, which is obviously welcome. It has been several months now, however, so we do wonder how long this is going to take. In the meantime, he continues to see patients and the NHS apparently has no problem with that.
  • Last week, a caller to LBC said that “We’ve got a country controlled by Zionists who are running the whole world…the definition of Zionist is Jewish,” and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a “Zionist”. He said that, clearly, because President Zelenskyy is a Jew. Presenter Tom Swarbrick deftly dealt with the call, which you can listen to below. But the enduring – and growing – popularity of these opinions and comfort with publicly expressing them contributes to the current surge in antisemitism.
  • Some media outlets are doing less to challenge dangerous sentiments – and are even amplifying them. The BBC, for example, published a fawning article on its website that excuses and even appears to glorify members of Palestine Action. “I think people will look back at people who took direct action in this context as heroes in the future,” one source is quoted as saying. No victims of Palestine Action were interviewed, and we also discovered that the journalist who wrote the piece has strongly-held views about the Jewish state which are easily discernible in her article. We submitted a complaint to the BBC.
  • Equity, the trade union for entertainment and the performing arts, has affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The PSC is one of the organisers behind the regular anti-Israel demonstrations in London and across the country. These demonstrations routinely feature antisemitic rhetoric and signage. We asked some Jewish members of the union how they feel about this decision. One Jewish theatre director told us: “Equity does not support the views of Jewish members except a minority who are anti-Zionist. As a Jewish director, I do not feel that Equity represents me.” Another said: “Once again, Equity’s Jewish members have been airbrushed. And it’s heartbreaking. In aligning with an organisation that hosts regular marches at which antisemitism is ever-present, Equity has betrayed its Jewish members…I’m upset, disillusioned, and frankly, about to give up on Equity.” We have asked Equity for its reactions to these testimonies from Jewish members.
  • In a bid to disrupt a “Peace-building at Goldsmiths” event, anti-Israel activists at the University banged on the windows of a lecture hall whilst brandishing a banner that read “Zionism is colonialism”. It is revealing that this is how “peace-building” is treated on a British university campus.

These incidents showcase what British Jews are facing right now, from our streets to campuses, charities to unions, hospitals to policing, and more.

If you want to take a stand, sign up to march with us at antisemitism.org/march.

We mourn the murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, and reiterate our call on the Government to ban the IRGC

It has been announced that UAE-based Chabad Rabbi Tzvi Kogan was murdered.

It is believed that he was surveilled at his kosher grocery shop and murdered by Uzbek terrorists linked to Iran.

This is a global war on Jews, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is leading this antisemitic onslaught.

The British Government and other Western states must take action if they actually believe their own words about the importance of fighting antisemitism.

That is why we join a call by a cross-party group of more than 40 MPs, peers and other public figures for the Government to finally proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as promised prior to the general election. Iran’s malign influence is on display day after day in the Middle East and beyond, and that influence finds expression through the IRGC. We and others have been calling for a proscription for a long time.

We bless the memory of Rabbi Kogan, who is also the nephew of another Rabbi murdered in Mumbai in 2008 by antisemitic Islamist terrorists. This incredible but long-suffering family, which has dedicated itself to the service of Jewish communities around the world, are in our prayers and thoughts this week.

We honour Jewish veterans

Last weekend, Campaign Against Antisemitism was honoured to have participated in AJEX’s annual Remembrance Parade.

We pay tribute to the sacrifices and contributions of the British Jews who so courageously served our country.
Many people are despairing about the levels of antisemitism and are resigned to this becoming the new normal for British Jews – even if it means rethinking whether they have a future here.

But we owe it to ourselves and our children – and to wider British society – to fight for that future.

We must march. We hope that you will join us.

Image credit: Stuart Mitchell/Campaign Against Antisemitism

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Our future is threatened: we must fight for it now.

The future for Jewish people in Britain is under threat.

The Hamas massacre unleashed a tidal wave of antisemitism in Britain that has left no part of our public life unaffected. Jewish people feel like they are drowning.

What we recently saw in Europe shows the depths to which our society can still sink.

The future of British Jewry and our country’s tradition of tolerance and decency is not guaranteed. We have to stand up to extremism. March with us.

The march will start at 13:00 on Sunday 8th December in central London.

Please join us on the national March Against Antisemitism 2024, and bring your family and friends. Sign up here to march with us!

The march will be friendly, well secured and properly policed. We look forward to seeing you there.

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This is what ‘Globalising the Intifada’ looks like

Last Thursday evening, a modern-day pogrom took place in Amsterdam. In shocking scenes, Israeli Jewish football fans were targeted in a series of violent attacks.

Footage from the evening showed people running for their lives, an unconscious body being kicked in the street and a man begging for mercy as attackers yelled “Free Palestine”.

Others were run over, and at least one man apparently had to jump into a canal to avoid further attack as assailants shouted “cancer Jew”, a classic Dutch insult applied here towards Jews, with antisemitic undertones to boot.

From the information now available, it is clear that these attacks were pre-planned, using private messaging platforms, with bands waiting at designated spots with knowledge of where the fans would be and where they were staying. The attackers were reportedly armed with knives, clubs and other weapons.

The police warned Jews not to use local taxis, as drivers were providing information to the attackers, many of whom are believed to be youth gangs from the Dutch Moroccan and Dutch Turkish communities.

Aghast at the failure of police in Amsterdam to assist the victims, Israel sent two rescue places and brought 2,000 people home.

These images mirror early 20th-century pogroms in Europe and the Middle East, where Jews were sought out by mobs and either ran or faced being beaten in the streets, or worse.

Amsterdam is a city known for Anne Frank. The house in which she hid before before taken and eventually murdered by the Nazis is now a museum and one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations.

But what good is all this memorialisation when right outside the same antisemitism thrives on Dutch streets?

The King of The Netherlands declared: “We failed the Jewish community of The Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.” The Western European country with the highest proportion of Jews murdered in the Holocaust was The Netherlands.

The comparisons to historic antisemitism were particularly unavoidable given that the pogrom took place in the week of Kristallnacht, which we commemorated this weekend.

What happened in Amsterdam is what “globalising the intifada” looks like.

Indeed not only were there further Palestine protests in Amsterdam in the days after the pogrom in defiance of a court ruling, but there are also reports of violent incidents from Sweden to the United States, and all eyes will be on Paris this week, where the Israeli and French national football teams are playing amid a deployment of thousands of police officers.

We are witnessing levels of antisemitism not seen in our lifetime, and it is of the utmost importance that Britain acts against the antisemitic thugs here at home who have become increasingly emboldened.

Anti-Israel demonstrators have taken over our streets week after week, calling for “intifada”. How much longer will it be before scenes like these are replicated here?

For all those who chant for “intifada” week in and week out, what just happened in Amsterdam is what they are asking for. This is what happens when lax policing for over a year repeatedly succumbs to the mob. When are we going to wake up?

Why people have such little faith in the news media

The immediate media coverage of the pogrom in Britain and across the Western world was deplorable.

The level of victim-blamimg in this now-deleted report from Sky News, for example, cannot be put down merely to mistaken reporting in the heat of the moment.

Instead, they are seeing what they want to see. They are refusing to see what they do not wish to see.

This is the essence of media bias, where the story is known ahead of time, and information will be manipulated, distorted or fabricated to fit with it, facts be damned.

Last week there was a pogrom against Jews in the most liberal city in Europe. Sky News and so many other outlets did not cover it. They covered for it.

A clear message to LSE

Yesterday, we sent a clear message to Francesca Albanese and the London School of Economics.

Someone with Ms Albanese’s history of rhetoric, which includes reference to the “Jewish lobby”, support for a “right to resist” and repeated comparisons of Israel to Nazis, is not welcome at British universities.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in letting LSE know exactly what they think of Ms Albanese.

Jewish patient allegedly refused treatment in Palestine t-shirt controversy

A Jewish patient has allegedly been refused treatment following an incident with a student nurse at a hospital in East London.

The patient reported that the incident occurred when they took a photo of a student nurse who was wearing a t-shirt with the word ‘Palestine’ on the front and a map of the entirety of Israel on the back, which could very readily be understood as support for the erasure of the world’s only Jewish state and its replacement with a Palestinian state.

It has also been alleged that a security guard at the hospital was co-opted in trying to get the patient to delete the photo.

These allegations are unbelievable. The NHS has a responsibility to ensure that its patients, who are among the most vulnerable in society, feel safe. That means restricting the display of political images and symbols, and – it is incredible that this needs restating – not refusing treatment to patients.

This alleged incident underscores how toxic life has become in Britain since 7th October, that something like this could happen to a Jewish patient.

We have called for an investigation to be opened immediately. We are also writing to the hospital to ask how this nurse was reportedly allowed to wear this t-shirt in the first place and what will be done in response to this extremely serious allegation of threatening and grossly unethical conduct.

We are in contact with the patient and our lawyers are examining the case.

If you have experienced discomfort or discrimination in the medical industry because you are Jewish or perceived to be Jewish, please contact us.

This weekend, we honoured the fallen

Kristallnacht was not the only event that we commemorated this weekend.

Sunday was Remembrance Day, and yesterday was Armistice Day, when we honour those heroes who fought for our freedoms, and reflect on the values that so many of them died to defend. Sadly, not everyone in our country will be doing the same.

A pogrom targeting Jews in one of the most developed Western countries in the world.

We had hoped that we would only be using those words to commemorate Kristallnacht this past weekend. Never forget? It seems that we already have.

People must wake up and the authorities need to be held to account. We will continue to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

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At LSE, SOAS and QML, you can help us #BanFran

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is going to be lecturing on British campuses. She has previously posted about “the Jewish lobby” and is alleged to have told a conference featuring Hamas leaders that they have “the right to resist”.

We will be holding demonstrations at universities where she is scheduled to speak to make clear that she is not welcome. Even if the UN refuses to #BanFran, Britain’s leading educational institutions should.

Please join us at:

We are also writing to the universities which are planning to host her.

By now, Ms Albanese’s indefensible past comments about “the Jewish lobby” and repulsive comparisons between the Nazis and the Jewish state are well known. There can be no excuse for inviting her to address students on campus in light of her views, which she has unrepentantly promoted for decades.

You can read more about her record here.

At a time when, according to our polling, almost one in ten 18-24 year olds have a favourable view of Hamas, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, universities need to be doing more to stop the spread of antisemitic extremism on campuses, not inviting those who appear to endorse it into their lecture theatres.

We are at a tipping point and Jewish students, who have been facing over a year of hatred on campus, need us.

Speakers like these help to fuel the activism on campuses that puts Jewish students at risk and radicalises the student body and the leaders of tomorrow. We will not let this pass without an answer.

Join us. Together, we can #BanFran!

Since students returned to campus, we have been standing with them

Students have been back on campus for several weeks now, and Campaign Against Antisemitism has been standing with them. Our campus tour is well underway, and we have launched our new Student Ambassadors programme, bringing together fearless, motivated students – Jewish and non-Jewish – for training in monitoring and combating antisemitism at their universities.

In addition to supporting students, we have also been monitoring developments on campuses and submitting complaints to universities.

By way of example, in recent weeks in London:

  • We wrote to UCL regarding anti-Israel protesters calling for intifada and chanting “From the river to the sea” on the anniversary of 7th October. We heard reports that students had to use the side entrance to the campus because demonstrators blocked off the main way in, and some told us how they did not feel safe attending lectures.
  • We wrote to Queen Mary University in relation to students surrounding a vigil for victims of 7th October on the first anniversary of the attack and chanting against them. That was not the only incident at the university.
  • We called out shocking signs at SOAS that read “Stop genocide baby killer Israel” and “You will never be free of us until Palestine is free of you!!”
  • At Goldsmiths, students chanted “From Gaza to Beirut all our martyrs we salute”, “From London to Gaza Globalise The Intifada” and “When people are occupied, resistance is justified.”
  • At London Metropolitan University, a lecturer published an effusive eulogy for the leader of Hamas who orchestrated the massacre of 1,200 people. Our lawyers are examining the case.

Last year, Jewish students faced the worst period of campus antisemitism. We will continue to do everything that we can to ensure that that this year is not a repeat, and that university authorities and regulators finally do their jobs.

Palestine Action and this weekend’s protests

The authorities have been too lax on Palestine Action.

Given the events of this weekend – during which Palestine Action activists allegedly smashed glass at Manchester University to steal two busts of Chaim Weizmann, a Reader in chemistry at the University who went on to become the first President of Israel, and vandalised the premises of Jewish charities in London – it is clear that Palestine Action will only continue to escalate its campaign of criminality, and the authorities are failing to stand in its way.

Whether that is due to an unwillingness to take action or an inability to do so due to the constraints of existing legislation, the result is that a group of petty vandals continue to terrorise the British public and, in particular, the Jewish community and its institutions. This has got to change.

We are talking to the Government and our legal team is reviewing existing legislation to assess its effectiveness in tackling what has become essentially a criminal organisation that wrecks businesses and charities, and terrorises the Jewish community.

The police and the Government must take urgent steps to ensure that Palestine Action faces enforcement action.

This latest vandalism comes in the same weekend when anti-Israel protesters in London invoked the age-old blood libel in a banner that read, “Israel enjoys killing kids. Never forgive. Never forget,” and when a sign was displayed at the protest that read, “Our media, TV, radio and government are controlled by Zionists.” This sort of rhetoric is regularly seen on the streets of London these days, another sign of what happens after a year of failed policing.

Still, there are some bright spots. A Met Police officer was filmed calmly explaining to an anti-Israel protester how wearing a T-shirt bearing a swastika and comparisons between Israel to the Nazis could be seen as offensive. The protester grew belligerent and started yelling at the officer who was trying to do his job. The police rightly detained the man. We will be writing to the Met to find out what further action they took.

Also at the regular anti-Israel march this weekend, police spoke to a man carrying a flag with the words “Free Palestine” and an inverted red triangle. In recent months, the inverted red triangle and its emoji variant have been used by some anti-Israel activists to signal support for proscribed terrorist organisations such as Hamas, inspired by the appearance of the symbol in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate targets for attack. It was encouraging to see that the police actually pulled this man aside.

Could it be that our police forces are beginning to recognise what may possibly count as more nuanced forms of support for banned terror groups? We will be writing to the Met to find out what the outcome of this interaction was and whether any arrests were made.

We are grateful to the volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit, who continue to monitor anti-Israel protests and activities, week after week.

Problems in our politics persist

Concerns over antisemitism in our politics do not seem to go away.

Regarding the Conservative Party:

  • We observed that if Kit Malthouse MP thinks that making vague references to “humanity’s darkest period” and feigning ignorance blinds us to the Holocaust comparisons that he is almost certainly insinuating in recent comments to the House about Israel, he is wrong. Comparing the Jewish state to Nazis breaches the International Definition of Antisemitism, which has been adopted by the Conservative Party. We have called on the Conservatives to urgently require him to clearly reject such comparisons, or face full disciplinary action.
  • In an interview with a YouTube channel, former minister Sir Alan Duncan said of one of the Conservative leadership candidates, Robert Jenrick: “Now this man is an extremist. He does not believe in any kind of two state solution, although he says he does. He knows nothing about it. He takes his script entirely from the Conservative Friends of Israel and the Israelis, so he would be a disaster if he were leader of the Conservative Party.” Sir Alan was asked why he thinks that Mr Jenrick, whose wife is Jewish, is a supporter of Israel. He replied that “it is disgusting extremism born of ignorance. But there’s also family connections which have a Jewish link. But just because someone’s Jewish doesn’t mean that they have to agree with Netanyahu.” The suggestion that a politician’s political views are adversely dictated by the ethnic heritage of their spouse is surely beyond the pale of our politics. You can read about the full exchange and Sir Alan’s subsequent statement here. After already being investigated earlier this year in relation to antisemitism, Sir Alan – emboldened by the Conservatives’ recent appalling decision not to sanction him in relation to other antisemitism allegations – is at it again. We will be writing to the Conservative Party once more.
  • Baroness Warsi, who surrendered the Conservative whip following a complaint against her but who remains a member of the Party, recently shared a repulsive propaganda video that makes direct comparisons between Israel and the Holocaust, in breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism. We are writing to the Conservative Party about her yet again.

Labour MPs, meanwhile, continue to upset members of the Jewish community and their allies, many of whom have written to us to share their frustrations with how their MPs have replied to their letters about the hostages, the suspension of arms licences to Israel and other issues.

These replies have included references to “hostages on both sides” and support for Gaza with no appreciation for the impact of the war on Israeli or British Jews. The levels of ignorance and ideological entrenchment are remarkable.

We encourage you to continue writing to your MP – no matter their party and no matter their stated position – to express your views and show them that you are an active and interested constituent whose opinions matter. You may not change minds, but there is no harm and only good can come from engaging with your MP.

If you receive particularly supportive or egregious responses, please forward them to us at [email protected].

Jewish students have been facing the worst period of campus antisemitism over the past year.

From submitting complaints and publishing open letters, to organising targeted protests and publicising incidents, providing victim-support and launching our Student Ambassador programme, we will continue to do everything that we can to ensure that that this year is not a repeat of last year, and that university authorities and regulators finally do their jobs, and do right by Jewish students.

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As Francesca Albanese heads to LSE, SOAS and QML, it’s time to #BanFran

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is going to be lecturing on British campuses. She has previously posted about “the Jewish lobby” and is alleged to have told a Hamas-organised conference that they have “the right to resist”.

We will be holding demonstrations at universities where she is scheduled to speak to make clear that she is not welcome. Even if the UN refuses to #BanFran, Britain’s leading educational institutions should. Join us at:

  • London School of Economics (LSE), 11th November, 11:30
  • School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 11th November, 16:00
  • Queen Mary University of London (QML), 12th November, 11:00

We are also writing to the universities which are planning to host her. Should they come to their senses and reconsider the invitation, our protests will be called off.

Sign up at antisemitism.org/BanFran

Here is just a selection of Ms Albanese’s past rhetoric:

  • She has made innumerable comparisons between Israelis and the Nazis, in breach of the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism, which has been adopted by the British Government.
  • In 2022, she reportedly addressed a conference in Gaza in which she stated “You have a right to resist this occupation.” The conference was reportedly organised by Hamas and numerous spokespeople from both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were present. Both Hamas and the PIJ are proscribed as terrorist organisations by the UK Government.
  • Earlier this year, she was condemned by the French Foreign Ministry after she posted on X: “The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel’s oppression,” after President Macron described the 7th October attacks as “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century”.
  • A 2014 open letter that she posted on her Facebook account read: “America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust, remain on the sidelines and continue to condemn the oppressed — the Palestinians — who defend themselves with the only means they have.” This is also a breach of the Definition.
  • According to The Times of Israel, in 2014 in a now-hidden post on Facebook directed at the BBC, she wrote: “The Israeli lobby is clearly inside your veins and system and you will be remembered to have been on the big brother’s side of this orwellian [sic] nightmare caused once again by Israel’s greed.” Also a breach of the Definition.

Is this the kind of person that LSE, SOAS and QML want to be lecturing their students?

Do not let this go unanswered. Join us. #BanFran

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

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Britain’s ‘anti-racists’ may be coming to a neighbourhood near you

This past Saturday, Stand Up to Racism and other ‘anti-racist’ groups gathered in London, ostensibly to protest a march organised by Tommy Robinson.

But there was plenty of racism on display among the so-called ‘anti-racists’, including signs and flyers demanding that “Zionism must be destroyed” and calling for an “End to Zionism”, claiming that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson are all “Israeli puppets”, and explaining “genocide maths” as “racism plus colonialism equals Zionism.”

Labour MPs and National Education Union leaders were among those in attendance. For those who like far-left ‘anti-racism’ maths, this seems like a more accurate equation: all anti-racisms are equal, but some are more equal than others.

The next day, the ‘anti-racists’ came to JW3, the Jewish cultural centre in North London, where a conference on Israel was taking place amid other regular programming. As members of the Jewish community entered the venue in order to attend that day’s events, they were forced to bypass an angry mob, who were screaming and chanting intimidatory slogans.

We have offered support to Jewish counter-demonstrators who were reportedly arrested by police, who otherwise allowed the anti-Israel protest to take place directly outside the entrance to the centre.

We are writing to the Metropolitan Police. Of course, this is the same Metropolitan Police whose officers do not seem to know that Hizballah is a terrorist organisation, even at a time when we know that Iran and its proxies pose a threat to Britain and the Jewish community.

After we publicised a video exposing ignorance among police officers, the Met rightly acknowledged the need for improved briefings for its officers. However, it feels like twelve months of excuses now while terror is being glorified on our streets, and British Jews are paying the price with unprecedented levels of antisemitism.

If you want to remind Hizballah supporters and forgetful police officers about the law of the land, our T-shirts and hoodies – with the caption “Hizballah Are Terrorists – It’s not an opinion. It’s the law.” – are available for purchase!

Show us the legal advice on UNRWA funding!

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has refused to reveal to us whether legal advice was sought or obtained in relation to the restoration of funding to the highly controversial United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), so we are now calling on Foreign Secretary David Lammy to publish the legal advice in the interests of transparency and consistency.

Last month, “in the interests of transparency” Mr Lammy published a summary of the legal advice in relation to the decision to suspend some 30 licences for arms exports to Israel following legal advice from the Attorney General, due to a supposed “clear risk” that they may be used in ways that breach international law.

We called on the FCDO to confirm whether legal advice had been sought or obtained in relation to the decision to resume UNRWA funding, but the Ministry has refused to tell us. We have therefore now written to Mr Lammy calling on him to do so, and to publish a summary of the advice.

It is time that, in the interests of transparency and consistency, Mr Lammy reassures the British public that legal advice identified no such risks in relation to taxpayer funding of UNRWA.

Watermelons on Big Brother

Last week, a Big Brother ‘housemate’ was seen wearing a t-shirt depicting the map of Israel as a watermelon – a symbol widely associated with anti-Israel sentiment. Many British Jews regard this symbol as a genocidal message similar to the slogan ‘From the River to the Sea’ which calls for the elimination of the world’s only Jewish state.

We therefore submitted a complaint to Ofcom in relation to its appearance on the programme.

After we did so – and others complained as well – the episode was removed from ITVX and re-uploaded, having been edited to remove the offending image.

A spokesman for Big Brother said that the show did not “allow any personal items into the house that could be deemed harmful,” adding: “We regret that the implications of this particular item of clothing were not fully understood in our bag checks or prior to broadcast of last night’s show. We apologise to any viewers who have been offended by the broadcast and assure viewers that Big Brother was unaware of the implications of the image.”

We are grateful to ITV for acting swiftly to ensure that this sort of programming is free from unnecessary political or threatening messaging.

How the British media sees Israel’s conflict with Iran and its terror proxies and supporters

In explaining Israel’s targeting of military infrastructure in Iran over the weekend, BBC News offered a backgrounder, with the anchor saying: “Let us just remind you now of exactly how we got here.”

What followed was several minutes in which Israel was portrayed as the solitary actor engaging in entirely unprovoked military action against Hizballah – which was not described as a terrorist organisation or explained in any way – and Iran, whose firing of the largest barrage of ballistic missiles in history against Israel was played down.

You can watch the full clip and read our analysis here.

Once again, the BBC’s failure to describe Hizballah as a terrorist organisation was not impartial but inaccurate. We will be writing to the BBC.

When the Jewish state is falsely portrayed, as in this BBC report, as needlessly aggressive and the methods and motivations of its enemies are whitewashed, it invites viewers to view Jews negatively and gives licence to antisemites to attack them. In this surge of antisemitism in Britain, the BBC is not innocent.

Please sign our petition calling on all broadcasters to call Hizballah what they are: terrorists.

The BBC is not alone in its dubious portrayal of what is happening in the Middle East or right here in Britain. Last weekend, Sky News gave national airtime to a ‘peaceful’ protester who claimed that Israel is “systematically targeting civilians” in Gaza.

Yet, we interviewed this same individual earlier this year, and he openly described Hamas as a “legitimate resistance organisation”. In fact, he even admitted that if he were a Gazan, he would probably join Hamas himself. In 2015, he also ran as an Independent Parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, one of the most heavily-Jewish constituencies in the UK.

When people show you who they truly are, believe them. These are not peace marches. It’s time they stopped happening on our streets.

Meanwhile, The Guardian recently removed its appalling review of ‘One Day in October’, a documentary about the Hamas massacre on 7th October. In the review, the author lamented that, watching the documentary, “All our sympathies are with relatable Israelis…By contrast, Hamas terrorists are a generalised menace on CCTV, their motives beyond One Day in October’s remit.”

The review did not meet its editorial guidelines, according to the newspaper, but we’re wondering why. After all, we put together a selection of other articles which are still up on the newspaper’s website that apparently do meet The Guardian’s editorial standards.

Clearly, The Guardian’s editorial standards are deficient. Perhaps at long last, it is time that The Guardian acquired some moral standards.

Sukkot and Simchat Torah, which we celebrated over the past two weeks, were joyous occasions. But they were tinged with the memory of what took place at this time last year.

We remembered those murdered on these days twelve months ago, and mourned their absence. We also marked the absence of the over 100 hostages still in Hamas captivity.

Thanks to a contribution from a generous supporter, we were able to build and dedicate a sukkah to the hostages, and in particular recreated what the Bibas family sukkah may have looked like if Yarden (35), Shiri (33) and their beautiful children Ariel (5) and baby Kfir (1) were free to celebrate this wonderful festival with the rest of their people.

We continue to hope, advocate and pray for their safe return.

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New polling shows extent of sympathy for Hamas and frightening trends of radicalism among young Britons

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) commissioned YouGov to survey British adults’ attitudes towards Jews.

The polling has revealed very concerning levels of support for Hamas and antisemitic views, especially among young people in Britain.

As we mark one year since Hamas’ barbaric attacks in Israel, levels of antisemitism in Britain have never been higher.

Here are some key takeaways from the polling:

Views on Hamas

  • Almost one in ten – 9% – of 18-24 year olds have a favourable view of Hamas, compared to 3% of the general British public. More than two thirds (68%) of the British public has an unfavourable view of Hamas, as do 50% of young Britons.
  • More than one eighth of British 18-24 year olds (13%) do not believe that reports that Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis in the attacks on 7th October 2023 are broadly true, compared to 7% of the wider British public. Just over half (55%) of the British public think that those reports are broadly true, compared to 39% of 18-24 year olds.
  • An astounding 16% of young British adults believe that the attacks carried out by Hamas on 7th October 2023 were justified, compared to 7% of the wider British public. This figure rises to 28% among people identifying as “very left-wing”.
  • More than one eighth of British 18-24 year olds (13%) believe that the British Government is wrong to classify Hamas as a terrorist group, compared to 7% of the British public and an astonishing 31% among the “very left-wing”.
  • Over half (59%) of the British public would be less likely to visit a city centre if they knew a large pro-Palestinian march was due to happen.

Antisemitic attitudes

  • One third (33%) of the British public believes that Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews, which is antisemitic according to the International Definition of Antisemitism. This is the highest figure that we have recorded in our polling. Even more worryingly, the figure rises to a shocking 48% – nearly half – of 18-24 year olds. More than two-thirds (68%) of those who identify as “very left-wing” hold the same view. Among 2024 Labour voters, the figure is 45%, compared to 36% for Lib Dems voters, 22% of Conservative voters, and 18% of Reform voters.
  • Almost one in five (18%) British people believe that Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media, a figure that rises to a shocking 33% – one third – among 18-24s.
  • Almost one quarter (23%) of 18-24s do not believe that Israel is right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it, compared to 7% across the whole population. This number rises to one third (33%) among the far-left.
  • Nearly one fifth (18%) of young people do not believe that Israel has a right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people. Overall among the British public, the figure is 8%. Interestingly, among 2024 Lib Dem voters, it is one in ten, which is higher than other mainstream political parties.
  • Almost one-fifth (19%) of the British public is not comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel. Among young people, it is 41%, nearly double the 21% figure recorded in December 2023.
  • Almost a quarter (22%) of the general population think that Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on our democracy. Among young people, the figure is a staggering 43%. A quarter (25%) of 2024 Labour voters believe this as well, as do 22% of Lib Dem voters, 17% of Reform voters and 10% of Conservative voters.
  • One in ten people in Britain believe that compared to other groups, Jewish people have too much power in the media. Among 18-24 year olds, this rises to 16%.
  • One in ten young people believe that Jewish people talk about the Holocaust just to further their political agenda. Among the general public, the figure is 7%.
  • Nearly one-tenth (9%) of British young adults do not believe that Jewish people can be trusted just as much as other British people in business, which is almost double the 4% of the general British public.

The YouGov survey was designed in collaboration with Campaign Against Antisemitism and using the Generalised Antisemitism Scale, more on which below.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Extremism is becoming normalised in our country, and as ever Jews are the canaries in the coal mine. This week marks one year since the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, but here in Britain we need to turn our attention to the home front, where British society is changing before our eyes. Most alarming of all, our young people are becoming radicalised at a far greater rate than the rest of the population, sympathising with terrorists and espousing extreme anti-Jewish racism. If the authorities continue to let radicalism run rampant on campuses and on social media, it will not be long before we are looking over our shoulders at generation hate.”

Full results

(Figures in brackets represent the 18-24 answers)

Jewish people can be trusted just as much as other British people in business

  • Strongly agree 42 (47)
  • Agree 35 (30)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 18 (15)
  • Disagree 2 (4)
  • Strongly disagree 2 (5)

Jewish people are just as loyal to Britain as other British people

  • Strongly agree 33 (33)
  • Agree 33 (29)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 28 (30)
  • Disagree 4 (2)
  • Strongly disagree 2 (6)

I am just as open to having Jewish friends as I am to having friends from other sections of British society

  • Strongly agree 58 (66)
  • Agree 31 (24)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 9 (6)
  • Disagree 1 (3)
  • Strongly disagree 1 (1)

Compared to other groups, Jewish people have too much power in the media

  • Strongly agree 3 (4)
  • Agree 7 (12)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 42 (29)
  • Disagree 26 (31)
  • Strongly disagree 22 (24)

Jewish people talk about the Holocaust just to further their political agenda

  • Strongly agree 2 (2)
  • Agree 5 (8)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 26 (26)
  • Disagree 29 (29)
  • Strongly disagree 38 (35)

Jewish people chase money more than other people do

  • Strongly agree 3 (4)
  • Agree 9 (6)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 42 (35)
  • Disagree 21 (26)
  • Strongly disagree 25 (30)

I am comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel

  • Strongly agree 12 (9)
  • Agree 23 (12)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 46 (38)
  • Disagree 13 (22)
  • Strongly disagree 6 (19)

Israel has a right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people

  • Strongly agree 20 (14)
  • Agree 37 (25)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 34 (44)
  • Disagree 5 (10)
  • Strongly disagree 3 (8)

Israel is right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it

  • Strongly agree 19 (10)
  • Agree 43 (31)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 30 (36)
  • Disagree 4 (11)
  • Strongly disagree 3 (12)

Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on our democracy

  • Strongly agree 7 (22)
  • Agree 15 (21)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 47 (39)
  • Disagree 19 (13)
  • Strongly disagree 11 (5)

Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media

  • Strongly agree 5 (12)
  • Agree 13 (21)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 44 (42)
  • Disagree 24 (18)
  • Strongly disagree 13 (7)

Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews

  • Strongly agree 12 (22)
  • Agree 21 (26)
  • Neither agree nor disagree 41 (39)
  • Disagree 16 (6)
  • Strongly disagree 10 (7)

Since last year there have been regular marches in many city centres in support of Gaza. If you were due to visit a city centre when you knew a large pro-Palestinian march was due to happen, would it put you off from visiting?

  • It would make me less likely to go 59 (35)
  • It wouldn’t make any more or less likely to go 27 (34)
  • It would make me more likely to go 4 (16)
  • Don’t know 10 (14)

Do you have a favourable or unfavourable view of Hamas?

  • Very favourable 1 (1)
  • Somewhat favourable 2 (8)
  • Somewhat unfavourable 19 (17)
  • Very unfavourable 49 (33)
  • Don’t know 29 (40)

From what you have seen or heard, do you think the attacks that Hamas launched on Israel on 7th October 2023 were justified or unjustified?

  • Justified 7 (16)
  • Unjustified 61 (35)
  • Don’t know 32 (49)

The British Government currently classifies Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Do you think they are right or wrong to class them as terrorists?

  • Right to class them as terrorists 64 (53)
  • Wrong to class them as terrorists 7 (13)
  • Don’t know 29 (34)

It has been reported that Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis in the attacks on the 7th October 2023. From what you have seen or heard, do you think these reports are…

  • Broadly true 55 (39)
  • Broadly untrue 7 (13)
  • Not sure 38 (48)

Background and Methodology

The twelve statements – which include six relating to Judeophobic antisemitism and six relating to anti-Zionist antisemitism – together comprise the Generalised Antisemitism Scale.

The Generalised Antisemitism Scale was devised by Dr Daniel Allington of King’s College London, Dr David Hirsh of Goldsmiths, and Dr Louise Katz (then) of the University of Derby. The research behind the Generalised Antisemitism Scale has been peer reviewed.

In particular, in developing the Generalised Antisemitism Scale, they were guided by the International Definition of Antisemitism, which Campaign Against Antisemitism, together with other Jewish communal institutions from around the world, has long campaigned to be widely adopted. Further background on the Generalised Antisemitism Scale can be found here.

Our survey of British adults were conducted by YouGov Plc. The surveys were administered online to members of YouGov’s panel of over 1,000,000 British adults who have agreed to take part in surveys. E-mails were sent to adult panellists who fulfilled the requirements of the sample, inviting them to take part in the surveys, and providing a link to the survey. YouGov normally achieves a response rate of between 35% and 50% to surveys however this does vary depending on the subject matter, complexity and length of the questionnaire.

The total sample size was 2,615 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd-5th August 2024 by YouGov plc. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

YouGov ensured that there were no duplicate responses and that all respondents were adults living in Great Britain.

The responding sample was weighted according to age and gender, social grade, political attention level, education, and region, in addition to past voting behaviour, to provide a representative reporting sample. The profile is derived from the Census as well as the mid-year population estimates and Annual Population Survey published by the Office for National Statistics.

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Reflecting on a year of tragedy, and looking ahead

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we reflect on a year of tragedy for the Jewish people, a multi-front war against the Jewish state, skyrocketing antisemitism around the world, and over one hundred hostages still in captivity.

The international community has failed the Jewish people, and at home the authorities in Britain have failed the Jewish community.

Over the past year, we have raised awareness of the hostages on billboards and digital vans, exposed antisemitism on weekly anti-Israel marches, made scores of reports to the police, regulators and broadcasters about antisemitic incidents and rhetoric, supported more victims than ever, kept antisemitism on the front pages, engaged with ministers and political parties on legislation, supported students and arranged groundbreaking events, including the largest gathering against antisemitism in living memory.

But it is still not enough. That is why, on the cusp of the Jewish New Year – the Festival of Judgment – we rededicate ourselves to the fight for justice for British Jews.

You can help. If you want assistance pursuing justice in a case of antisemitism on the street or at work, on campus or online, please e-mail us in confidence at [email protected]. Only by raising our voices and seeking justice can we make a change.

The “peaceful” protests continue

The anti-Israel protests are continuing on our streets and on some campuses.

We are continually being told that these protests are peaceful, but our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit begs to differ.

Call Hizballah “terrorists”

Like Hamas, Hizballah is a proscribed antisemitic genocidal terror group. But you wouldn’t know this from Britain’s broadcasters, including the biased BBC.

We are therefore calling on our broadcasters to call Hizballah what they are: terrorists. Please sign the petition to make your voice heard!

Come discuss the future of British Jewry with us

From arson attacks to chants calling for intifada, to the harassment of Jewish students on campus, British Jews have been facing torrents of abuse. For the past year, our community has felt uncertain not just about safety, but our place in Britain.

One year on from 7th October, we invite you to join communal leaders for an important conversation as they discuss the current state of Jewry in Britain and what the future holds.

Hosted by journalist Nicole Lampert, the event will feature Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, and Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

This event will take place on Wednesday 9th October at 19:00 in North London. Booking is essential. The location will be announced to ticketholders on the day.

This 7th October, we remember

Rosh Hashanah is immediately followed by remembrance for the first anniversary of the 7th October massacre over the weekend and into next week.

We are proud to support the cross-communal commemoration event on at 14:30 on Sunday 6th October in Hyde Park in solidarity with Jews in Israel and calling, once more, for the swift and safe return of the hostages.

With your help, we will continue fighting

However difficult this past year has been, we are also reminded of the strength and resilience of the Jewish community. It is thanks to your support that we are able to continue to fight.

Please consider making Campaign Against Antisemitism the recipient of your Rosh Hashanah donation. Your contribution, no matter the size, will help us to defend our community.

May the Jewish people know no more sorrow, and may the new year be one of happiness, joy and justice.

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Nearly one year on, the police are still missing the mark

Despite having over eleven months of experience in policing weekly anti-Israel protests, the Metropolitan Police Service is still missing the mark.

Many of our supporters will have seen images online of anti-hate activist Mark Birbeck, who was recently arrested after holding a sign at an anti-Israel protest stating that under UK law, Hamas is a terrorist organisation.

Mr Birbeck’s bail conditions prevented him from entering the City of Westminster on the day of Israel-related protests, attending Israel-related protests and contacting Niyak Ghorbani, who was also arrested after holding a sign bearing the same simple statement of fact.

In order to avoid breaching his bail conditions, on the night of an Israel-related protest last week outside the Foreign Office, Mr Birbeck stood on the Lambeth side of Westminster Bridge with his sign in order to give people a “gentle reminder” that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation.

We decided to keep him company, and film what happened.

Following a bail application at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, Mr Birbeck’s bail conditions were overturned. However, disgracefully, Mr Ghorbani is prohibited from attending any Israel-related protest on a Saturday without obtaining prior permission from the police.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has provided the legal defence for both Mr Birbeck and Mr Ghorbani throughout their ordeal. We will continue to provide free legal defence to those who are improperly arrested whilst standing up to antisemitism. It comes at a significant cost, but it is the least that we can do for those who stand with Jews amid this outpouring of antisemitism.

The question is, why is it necessary?

All the while, at the very same protest, anti-Israel demonstrators in London chanted for the complete eradication of the only Jewish state with calls for a return to “1948”. And their only solution? To “globalise the Intifada” through armed “resistance” — a phrase synonymous with terror, violence, and the murder of innocent Israelis.

This isn’t about coexistence; it’s about the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state.

Damning report on policing of protests released

The Policy Exchange think tank has released a damning report into the policing of anti-Israel protests. The report reinforces what we have been saying all along and echoes a number of our legislative and policy recommendations.

The Met has failed abysmally in its policing of these demonstrations and ordinary people trying to go about their lives have had their rights curtailed.

According to the report:

  • 80% of British adults believe that the police should intervene if protesters are holding banners containing racist or derogatory slogans.
  • 78% of British adults believe that the police should intervene if protesters are climbing on buildings or public monuments.
  • 78% of British adults believe that the police should intervene if protesters are holding banners or chanting slogans that are threatening or implying violence to specific groups of people at home or abroad.
  • 71% of British adults would not go through with their plans to travel with small children if a major protest were to take place in a nearby town or city centre. This rises to 88% when answered by over-65s.

Matt Twist, Assistant Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, admitted: “When we look back at the policing of protests over the past eight months, we know we didn’t get everything right, particularly in the early stages in October.”

Next month will be one year since anti-Israel protesters took over our streets on a regular basis. Real change is long overdue. The British public deserves better.

The full report can be read here.

Making sure that the Foreign Secretary hears our voices

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently wrote to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, after it was announced that the UK would suspend some 30 licences for arms exports to Israel, to ask whether legal advice had been sought in relation to the restoration of funding to UNRWA, and for a summary of that advice similarly to be published.

We asked our supporters to write to the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, the Solicitor General, Sarah Sackman, and the Attorney General, Lord Hermer.

Following our call to action, three Labour MPs, including the Solicitor General, wrote to the Foreign Secretary, noting that “constituents have been in touch and expressed deep concern and upset” at the decision. The full letter can be read here. He has yet to respond.

Thank you to those who wrote to your MPs, and to those who shared with us the responses that you received.

Our call to advocate for the hostages

We will soon mark one year since Hamas abducted 251 Israelis and other nationals from Israel and took them into captivity in Gaza. Over 90 hostages remain in Gaza, including four who have been held by Hamas since before October 2023.

Thank you to our many supporters who wrote to their MPs, educating them and urging them to advocate for the hostages and ensure that their plight is not forgotten within the walls of our Parliament.

If you have yet to share a particularly supportive or hostile response from your MP, please let us know by e-mailing [email protected].

Unfortunately, there are still many people out there who deny that Israelis are being held hostage by Hamas.

We recently obtained and published footage of someone defacing posters of the hostages. The incident occurred in Hampstead, North London and we encourage anyone with further information to contact us at [email protected].

What is the biggest threat to an antisemite?

In the wake of 7th October, Jewish student life on campus was turned on its head.

That is why we hosted our first ever student panel where Jewish university students spoke about their experiences of antisemitism on campus in Britain following Hamas’ 7th October terrorist atrocities in Israel.

Our audience heard stories from our five panellists that were at the same time moving, troubling, and at times, inspiring.

Gili, one of the students on our panel, spoke of the importance of being a proud Jew on campus. He also emphasised how vital support from fellow students is against those who aim to intimidate Jews on university campuses.

One of the attendees wrote to us after the event to thank Campaign Against Antisemitism and tell us that whilst it was “sad hearing what [the students] are facing at university…the love that they have for their Judaism and the strength they have in standing up to antisemitism is wonderful”.

Education is a crucial part of the fight against antisemitism. Our work has never been more important.

Thank you to our audience for dedicating your time to learning more about what Jewish students are facing, and thank you to our panellists for bravely sharing your stories.

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

Become a Student Ambassador!

Are you a student at university in 2024-2025, or do you know somebody who is? Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Student Ambassador programme is an exciting opportunity to work with us in a prestigious year-long initiative.

Student Ambassadors will work closely with our Education Officer and wider team to help us to expose and challenge the rising tide of antisemitism overwhelming UK university campuses.

The contributions of our students are more important now than ever before to the fight against antisemitism.

For further information and details about the programme please visit antisemitism.org/become-a-student-ambassador.

Applications close on 30th September so make sure that you apply soon!

We need you

We are hiring two paid positions in diverse areas of our work.

Are you a lawyer? Are you disgusted with surging antisemitism? Do you want to hold antisemites to account?

We are seeking an experienced solicitor or barrister to become our new General Counsel.

Our in-house General Counsel will be at the forefront of the fight against antisemitism, using this unique position to hold antisemites to account and force the authorities to fulfil their duty to protect British Jews.

For more information, please visit antisemitism.org/jobs/general-counsel.

Are you skilled in creating impactful videos? Do you want to help combat Jew-hatred?

Campaign Against Antisemitism is looking for a Video and Content Creator to join us in the fight against antisemitism.

The Video and Content Creator will play a critical role in shaping visual narratives that educate, inform and inspire action against antisemitism.

To find out more, go to antisemitism.org/jobs/video-and-content-creator/.

Are you a medical professional, or a recent patient?

We are collecting testimonies on antisemitism in the medical field.

We are interested to hear from doctors and other medical practitioners, staff, patients and anyone else who has encountered antisemitism in medicine over the past year.

If you have been affected, please e-mail us confidentially at [email protected] with the subject: “Medical”.

After eleven months, we are still calling on the police, our ministers and members of Parliament to stop making the same mistakes. But it is clear that public dissatisfaction with these failures is growing and decision-makers are beginning to listen.

We will continue to make our voices heard and remain unrelenting in our fight against anti-Jewish racism.

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Is this summer of riots just the beginning?

The recent riots and counterdemonstrations have come to define this summer. But as they appear to cool off and the country finally gets a break, it remains to be seen whether the Jewish community will get any respite.

As we head into the new academic year and new Jewish year, we are ready for the fight ahead.

Riots, racism and “anti-racism”

Over the last few weeks, the criminal justice system has been woken from its slumber to confront the riots and hooliganism that have been plaguing the cities of Britain.

The rioters

We wrote about how far-right forums, which were being used to organise the riots, were targeting Jews, with messages in one far-right Telegram channel, for example, saying that they “support neither brown nor Jew”, and that Hitler was “the only politician since Roman times to truly care for his people”.

“The Jewish people fabricated the Holocaust – ensuring they would never again be questioned by Europeans while they destroyed their homelands… Today Jewish media, NGOs, finance, business, entertainment and a huge overrepresentation in government, are doing the same all over Europe,” said another.

The counter-demonstrators

While we applauded the strong response by the authorities to the riots, there were two things that we could not help but notice.

The first was that many of the so called “anti-racist” counter-demonstrators exhibited their own flavour of extremism, for which they have not suffered any consequences. The disgraced former academic David Miller, asserted that “the riots have been instigated by the Zionist asset, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon,” in reference to far-right activist Tommy Robinson, while a former Parliamentary candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party also reportedly shared content claiming that “Tommy Robinson is on Israel’s payroll”.

A video circulated online in which a man claimed that the rioters and Muslims should not be at odds with one another as the rioters are only targeting Muslims because of their “Zionist-backers”. The LBC presenter James O’Brien signposted this video, only to quickly apologise, claiming that he had not watched it in full. A user on X wrote in a post that received over three million views: “What’s happening in England is the perfect example of how Zionists manipulate the media to pin [sic] Christians and Muslims Against each other.” The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) charity also blamed “Zionist financiers” for the riots in a letter to the Home Secretary, and we have submitted a complaint to the Charity Commission.

Perhaps the best example was the “Finchley Against Fascism” WhatsApp messages that we exposed, in which so-called “anti-racist” activists not only referred to Zionism as “fascism” and “racism”, but, astoundingly, the activists were so blinded by their hatred of ‘Zionists’ that they would refuse their help in opposing the rioters.

Opposition to the far-right does not whitewash the racism of the far-left.

We supported the urgent action against the violent riots on our streets, but we have remained vigilant against some of the extremists amongst those counterprotestors who have also themselves been marching on our streets for months and are now trying to portray themselves as anti-fascist moderates.

The criminal justice system

The second thing that we could not but notice over the past few weeks was how, whereas nine months of one type of extremism on our streets was apparently not enough to wake up the criminal justice system, a few days of another type of extremism was. Accordingly, we have called for the resources mobilised to combat the riots now to be trained on the other extremists too.

Those espousing any extremist ideology must be made to face the full force of the law. If we are selective, our society will suffer.

To the authorities, we say that if you believe there to be no double standard in the policing, prosecution and sentencing of the current rioters over the past three weeks versus the violent or antisemitic anti-Israel demonstrators over the past year, at the very least you still need to reckon with why that perception has arisen.

That perception is not limited to the hooligans and thugs who have rightly been bearing the full consequences of their actions: it is widely shared by many law-abiding Britons across the country and by many in the Jewish community, who have suffered the most from failures in policing over the past year.

For ten months, they have been frustrated and let down by a lethargic criminal justice system that was apathetic and at times even hostile to the challenges that they faced; now they see how quickly the system can be mobilised when there is the institutional and political will to do so. Why has that been lacking for so long?

We cannot tackle extremism through double standards. Every type of extremism must be confronted by the full force of the law, no matter the perpetrators.

Reginald D. Hunter at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

A Jewish Israeli couple was reportedly hounded out of comedian Reginald D. Hunter’s show two Sundays ago at the Edinburgh Fringe, whilst audience members shouted insults at them.

The show was described by a reporter for The Telegraph reviewing the performance as “the ugliest Fringe moment [he] had ever witnessed”.

The alleged incident was triggered when Mr Hunter apparently made a joke in which he compared the State of Israel to an abusive wife, who, in a Channel 5 documentary, had accused her husband of being abusive. He is reported to have remarked: “My God, it’s like being married to Israel.”

The Jewish couple, who were in the front row of the audience and said that they were Israeli, responded by shouting “not funny” at the comedian. Audience members reportedly responded by shouting “genocidal maniac”, “you’re not welcome,” “baby-killers”, “f* off” and “free Palestine” at the couple. It is understood that Mr Hunter responded to the couple, saying: “I’ve been waiting for you all summer, where the f* you been? You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish…Look at you making everyone love Israel even more.” After the couple left the show, Mr Hunter reportedly quipped: “That tells me that I still got voltage.”

This is not the first time that the comedian has courted controversy in relation to the Jewish community. In 2006, also during the Edinburgh Fringe, he received backlash after making a joke about Holocaust-denial. At the recent performance, it is understood that he compared the moment to his 2006 controversy and made reference to being unable to access an article in a Jewish newspaper about the incident. He is alleged to have said: “Typical f***ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.” He reportedly then added: “It’s just a joke.”

We have spoken with the Jewish couple, as well as additional witnesses. The couple, noting that nobody in the audience came to their aid, told us that they were left in fear of violence. We are writing to venues currently scheduled to host Mr Hunter to ensure that they are fully aware of his conduct at the Edinburgh Fringe. We are encouraged to see that the first venue has decided to cancel his planned appearance. Our lawyers are exploring legal options and we urge anyone present at the show to contact us in confidence at [email protected].

We are also contacting Police Scotland, which opened and then closed an investigation, with additional evidence for them to review.

While Mr Hunter has released a statement in which he stated that he “regrets any stress caused”, the word “sorry” and a fulsome apology were noticeably missing. His social media activity since the incident does not indicate remorse. The victims reject this non-apology from Mr Hunter. The venue’s statement portraying the incident simply as audience members “choosing to leave” is appalling and wilfully overlooks the facts. Their claims that staff supported the couple during their exit do not chime with the victims’ accounts whatsoever. Our lawyers are also considering legal action in relation to the venue.

We will continue to support the victims and ensure that Mr Hunter faces the consequences of his actions.

This incident may remind some of another incident earlier this year, involving comedian Paul Currie. Incidentally, Mr Currie was also performing at the Fringe, having been booted by numerous other venues following our letters. We are aware of reports that he “banned Zionists” from his Fringe show. Our lawyers are also looking into that.

Are you a medical professional, or a recent patient?

We are collecting testimonies on antisemitism in the medical field.

We are interested to hear from doctors and other medical practitioners, staff, patients and anyone else who has encountered antisemitism in medicine over the past year.

If you have been affected, please e-mail us confidentially at [email protected] with the subject: “Medical”.

Meanwhile, Dr Wahid Shaida, who referred to the 7th October Hamas terrorist attacks as “resistance” and then denied that they even occurred, has had his suspension lifted by NHS England.

While working as a GP, Dr Shaida also chaired meetings for the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has since been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British Government. We have written to NHS England and to the GMC about this shocking decision.

We also wrote to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) regarding the scheduling of its annual conference over Rosh Hashanah. Although unable to change the date at this late stage, the RCGP did at least apologise and regret the clash.

University encampments

For months, we have seen hideous anti-Israel encampments erected on campuses across Britain, physical embodiments of the exponential rise of Jew-hatred in our universities, which were already hotbeds of antisemitism.

We have been closely monitoring what different universities have done to address (or not address) the encampments. The full report can be read here, or the specific responses of universities can be read below:

These encampments have had a grossly detrimental effect on the Jewish campus experience, and it is shameful that, exceptions notwithstanding, universities did not quickly act to remove them and sanction participants in line with their codes of conduct and legal duties.

In addition to the impact on Jewish students, several wider student activities are also known to have been disrupted by the encampments, hampering learning and student life on campus.

Some universities moved faster than others to address the encampments, some capitulated to the anti-Israel protesters while others held firm. In all cases, precedents have been set.

Some universities have had regard to the effect on Jewish students and staff; some seem not to care. Several seem more concerned with the commercial impact of the encampments – removing them as summer open days approached – than they did with the welfare of current students, which is particularly galling.

We will continue to expose antisemitic activity on university campuses, hold universities to account and support Jewish students.

While we are on the subject of encampments, Minouche Shafik has had to resign as President of Columbia University after becoming one of the symbols of the Ivy League’s abysmal treatment of Jewish students and its failure, if not refusal, to tackle antisemitism.

The prospect of her now coming to work for David Lammy in the Foreign Office is, at best, tone deaf. At worst, it is a slap in the face to Jews on both sides of the Atlantic, who are hearing the message that failing to tackle antisemitism and abuse of Jews has no impact on your career advancement, and apparently qualifies you to craft foreign policy, including in relation to the Jewish state.

Become a Campaign Against Antisemitism Student Ambassador!

Are you a student at university in 2024-2025, or do you know somebody who is? Our Student Ambassador programme is an exciting opportunity to work with us in a prestigious year-long initiative.

Student Ambassadors will work closely with our Education Officer and wider team to help us expose and challenge the rising tide of antisemitism overwhelming UK university campuses. The contributions of our students is more important now than ever before to the fight against antisemitism.

For further information and details about the programme please visit antisemitism.org/become-a-student-ambassador.

Book now to hear Stories from Students

Since 7th October, Jewish student life on campus has been turned on its head.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has therefore brought together current students and recent graduates from universities across the country to share their stories and answer questions from prospective students and their parents, as well as current students and other interested members of the Jewish community.

This event, taking place at 18:30 on Thursday 5th September in North London, is an important opportunity to hear directly from Jewish students.

It is also a chance for us to come together to show our support and solidarity with those who faced this new generation of hate head-on. Booking is essential.

Media bias and the BBC

Two recent incidents — one in Gaza that reportedly killed Gazans and one in the Golan Heights that killed Israeli children — illustrated media bias at the BBC more clearly than ever. The screenshots below speak for themselves, and you can read our full analysis here.

Notwithstanding the struggle to get the BBC to report fairly – with more than 200 people from across the television and film industry writing to the Corporation demanding that it open an urgent investigation into alleged “systemic problems of antisemitism and bias” – there are occasionally admissions and reversals.

For example, you will recall that, a few weeks ago, BBC Newsnight allowed a panelist – the climate activist Mikaela Loach – to say: “The Lancet yesterday, in one of their reports, said that the death toll [in Gaza] is probably more likely to be more than 186,000 people.” The host did not challenge this assertion – which was false on multiple levels – but we did. Following our complaint, the BBC has acknowledged that the widely-propagated “186,000” is “not a statement of fact”.

We also complained about a recent BBC Four Front Row radio segment in which the actress and provocateur Miriam Margolyes referenced “vile Jews”. The BBC did not apologise but agreed to “remove it from the programme”.

This summer will be remembered as one of riots being confronted by a determined criminal justice system, in stark contrast to the policing that we have seen over the past year. But it remains to be seen whether the extremists will now call it a day or be back in force on our streets and campuses, online and in our workplaces, as the country returns from the summer break.

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RMT and Unison leaders address inflammatory protest outside Downing Street

Last night at a protest outside Downing Street, amid the sort of docile policing that we have come to expect in situations like these, an anti-Israel crowd provided passersby with a whole panoply of antisemitic rhetoric and incitement to violence.

They called for the ethnic cleansing of Jews, chanting that ‘Palestine is Arab, Zionists out!’ They screamed for ‘Intifada’, yearning for more of the violent campaign of terror that left over 1,000 Jews dead in recent decades. They shouted ‘No Zionists here!’ whether oblivious to or in full knowledge of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Jews are Zionists. They accused Israel of ‘harvesting Palestinian organs’, a popular reinvention of the ancient blood libel. Then they heard from Eddie Dempsey of the RMT union and Liz Wheatley of Unison, who apparently felt comfortable in this sort of crowd.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “After almost a year of this rhetoric at such demonstrations, it stretches credulity that these union leaders did not know or anticipate that such chanting would feature. If their unions wish to distance themselves from this language, they must immediately discipline these individuals and set out steps to ensure that in future their representatives do not risk being associated with these messages, which have undoubtedly contributed to the unprecedented surge in antisemitism over the past ten months.”

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Neo-Nazi rhetoric used on far-right forums as riots sweep across Britain

Far-right forums, which are being used to organise riots, are reportedly being used to target Jews. 

A series of far-right riots across Britain began in response to the murder of three children in Southport last week, which was falsely attributed to an asylum-seeker.

The first riot in Southport, which began as an anti-immigration protest, was organised on a forum which is allegedly partially run by a neo-Nazi. According to the CST, the neo-Nazi is alleged to have previously incited attacks on synagogues abroad and was also reported to the police last year for suspected involvement in violent antisemitism. 

Messages in “Southport Wake Up”, a far-right Telegram channel, have reportedly said that they “support neither brown nor Jew” and claimed that “our nation is our land and our people.” Another message in the channel described Hitler as “the only politician since Roman times to truly care for his people”. In the same message, they wrote: “The Jewish people fabricated the Holocaust – ensuring they would never again be questioned by Europeans while they destroyed their homelands […]

“Today Jewish media, NGOs, finance, business, entertainment and a huge overrepresentation in government, are doing the same all over Europe.

“The fight will be long brothers, but we will succeed. Never capitulate.”

It is also understood that Matthew Hankinson, a convicted neo-Nazi, whom a judge previously described as a man with a “deep hatred of ethnic minorities and Jews”, attended the riot in Southport. Mr Hankinson was sentenced in 2018 for membership of National Action, which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British Government following pressure by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others. 

At one of the riots, a man was spotted with a swastika tattooed on his back. 

The riots, which have led to asylum centres and police stations being set on fire and have targeted offices of immigration lawyers, have occurred in numerous cities, including Liverpool, Plymouth and Belfast, and have sometimes led to violent pushback from counter-protesters who have also been making inflammatory statements in relation to Jews. 

For example, there have been reports of counter-protesters chanting, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” The genocidal chant ‘From the River to the Sea’, which is regularly heard at anti-Israel protests, refers to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and, whether intended or not, is widely understood to represent a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — and its replacement with a Palestinian state. It is reasonably interpreted to be a call for the annihilation of half the world’s Jews, who live in Israel. 

There have also been claims that ‘Zionists’ are responsible for the far-right riots in an attempt to target Muslims.

Prof. David Miller, an academic obsessed with anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, who was fired by the University of Bristol in 2021 one month after Campaign Against Antisemitism commenced a lawsuit on behalf of students against the institution, said online: “The riots have been instigated by the Zionist asset, Stephen Taxley-Lennon (‘Tommy Robinson’), who has been working for the State of Israel since 2009 as part of the so-called ‘counterjihad’ Islamophobia movement established by the state.”

Mehmoona Ameen, a former Parliamentary candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party, also reportedly shared content that claims that “Tommy Robinson is on Israel’s payroll”. It is understood that Ms Ameen has a history of sharing inflammatory rhetoric online, including an image of a mural which features Jewish bankers beneath a pyramid playing Monopoly on a board carried by straining, oppressed workers.

A video has also circulated online in which a man claims that rioters are targeting Muslims because of their “Zionist-backers”, and that the rioters and Muslims should not be at odds with one another. 

Similarly, a user on X wrote in a post that received over three million views: “What’s happening in England is the perfect example of how Zionists manipulate the media to pin Christians and Muslims Against each other.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth of Jews controlling the media,” is an example of antisemitism. 

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What have universities done about anti-Israel encampments?

For months, we have seen hideous anti-Israel encampments erected on campuses across Britain, physical embodiments of the exponential rise of Jew-hatred in our universities, which were already hotbeds of antisemitism.

So, what action have universities taken?

University of Birmingham

  • Already one day after an encampment was set up on campus on 9th May, University of Birmingham’s Director of Legal Services issued the protesters with a warning: “Your occupation at the premises is a trespass. The University requires you to leave the premises immediately. Failure to do so will result in the University taking legal action and/or reporting your trespass to law-enforcement officers without further notice.”
  • On 11th June, the Vice-Chancellor issued a statement: “The rights to protest and to freedom of speech do not include setting up a camp and occupying University land, to the detriment of the rest of the University community.”
  • On 10th July, the University secured a High Court order “for the possession of campus land,” which was the site of the encampment.
  • The next day, bailiffs reportedly arrived at the encampment and removed it from the University’s campus.

University of Nottingham

  • On 5th July, after the encampment had been at the University of Nottingham for nearly one month, the University asked for a possession order against protesters in the encampment on campus. In written submissions, the University’s legal representative, Katharine Holland KC, argued that the encampment was “unlawful” and that the University had “a duty to safeguard university assets”.
  • On 10th July, the University secured a High Court order “for the possession of campus land,” which was the site of the encampment.
  • On the same day, the University served protesters with eviction notices. The protesters packed up the encampment, with only a few remaining until bailiffs arrived.

London School of Economics

  • On 14th June, one month after students set up the encampment, London School of Economics obtained an interim possession order, which required protesters to leave the occupied site of the encampment.
  • District Judge Kevin Moses acknowledged the students’ right to protest, but also said: “What it does not do is give parties an unfettered right to occupy other parties’ premises with a view to protesting, particularly when they are required to leave.”
  • On 27th June, the University was granted an indefinite possession order, forbidding students from setting up encampments.


Organisers of the encampment responded, calling the move “an extremely concerning act of repression”.

University of Bristol

  • On 1st July, two months after the encampment was set up at the University of Bristol, the Vice-Chancellor of the University confirmed that the University had “taken legal action to disperse the encampment.”
  • In a statement, the Vice-Chancellor said: “Some individuals linked to the encampment have gone beyond what is an acceptable expression of their views. The behaviour of some has become aggressive, abusive, and has involved allegations of physical assault and damage to property.”
  • At a hearing in Bristol County Court, the University was refused an immediate possession order and, instead, another hearing was scheduled for 19th July.

On 11th July, organisers of the encampment announced the decision to close down the encampment, stating: “The thousands of pounds in legal fees […] is better spent given to Palestinian mutual aid funds.”

University of Oxford

  • Following a sit-in at the University of Oxford’s offices on 23rd May, which resulted in a lockdown and sixteen arrests, a spokesperson for the University said: “It is clear that the actions of some of the protesters involved in the encampment have created a deeply intimidating environment for many members of our community, including our Jewish students and staff and members of the local Jewish community.”
  • On 27th June, nearly two months after students erected an encampment, the University published an open letter, asking students to “vacate university land” and stating that if the encampment is not “disbanded” by 7th July, the University would apply for a possession order.
  • The letter also states that the University has “listened to [the protesters] and other student and staff concerns during our meetings this year. [The University] has acted as a result of these meetings.”
  • The letter also committed the University to several academic initiatives, including, a “review of the University’s investment policy” and a commitment “to work on a collegiate University crisis scholarship scheme for students normally resident in Gaza and the West Bank”.

On 7th July, students shut down the encampment and said in a statement online: “Admin shut down our camp to distract from their complicity in this genocide. They will not shut down our movement.”


Newcastle University

  • On 21st June, nearly two months after an encampment was set up at Newcastle University, the University threatened to take legal action against the anti-Israel protesters.
  • A spokesperson for the University said: “What began as a peaceful student-led demonstration has become a focus for disruptive activism attracting people who are not connected with the university. This has resulted in the targeting of university activities, people and property.”
  • Protesters responded two days later, posting a photo on Instagram of a letter of “notice to quit”, with the caption: “Today we issued a ‘Notice To Quit’ to the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. They can sit in their ivory tower and issue pseudo legal forms to us, but this will only anger us more. WE ARE NOT MOVING. YOUR NOTICE TO QUIT DOES NOT SCARE US.”
  • On 19th July, organisers of the encampment announced their decision to “decamp”, whilst still accusing the University of being “complicit in genocide”.

SOAS

  • On 9th July, just over two months since it was established, police arrested seven people at the SOAS encampment on suspicion of possession of drugs, assault of an emergency worker and the obstruction of police. Three of the people arrested were students at the University.
  • In a statement issued on 12th July, the University said it “had no involvement” in the police arriving at the encampment three days prior, but announced that because of “these actions”, it was supporting the University of London’s decision to seek legal assistance to dismantle the encampment.
  • In the same statement, the University said that it was aware of some behaviour resulting in “many members of the staff and student body feeling unsafe”. It also said that “this kind of behaviour is a reflection of anti-democratic, populist behaviour that is incompatible with SOAS’ values, and potentially with the law.”

According to a social media post by protesters, the University served them with “accelerated proceedings for eviction” on 30th July.

Queen Mary University

  • On 6th June, only weeks after the encampment was set up, Queen Mary University began legal proceedings in the High Court. After the first hearing date the next day, however, proceedings were adjourned until July.
  • In its application notice to the Court, the University cited concerns about the proximity of the encampment’s rallies on 1st and 3rd July to the Novo Cemetery, Jewish Sephardi cemetery on the University’s campus.
  • On 10th July, the Court granted the University a possession order.
  • On 11th July, members of the encampment put out a statement on Instagram which claimed that they had met with the University’s management, which told them that “they are not willing to negotiate with [them] and are unlikely to meet with [them] again unless [they] do not leave on [their] own accord.”


Protesters on the encampment refused to comply with the court order, resulting in bailiffs arriving at the site to evict them on 12th July.

University College London

  • On 4th June, just over a month after students set up an encampment at University College London (UCL), the University’s Provost issued a statement, with reference to an “end of year awards event”: “A group of students that have been protesting on the Main Quad with tents and banners deliberately targeted these student events. Their activities were intimidating and escalatory, including the physical assault of members of UCL security staff, damage to property, and reports of unacceptable antisemitic tropes in chants. I want to assure you that we are taking immediate action against this behaviour and have instigated disciplinary proceedings against those students involved.”
  • In the same statement, the Provost announced that the University had had to postpone and cancel other events.
  • On 15th July, the Provost said: “We have formally advised the protestors that we intend to follow the course of action taken by many other UK universities with similar protests in place and apply for a court order to remove them if they do not choose to go of their own volition.”

The encampment remains on the University’s campus.

University of Cambridge 

  • On 31st May, weeks after an encampment was set up, the Pro-Vice Chancellor for the University of Cambridge issued a statement, which said: “We were glad to meet our students as we have been willing to do from the first day of the protest. While we understand some will see it as a negotiation, we see it as a constructive dialogue with our students.”
  • The University also announced that it had rearranged degree ceremonies in May, due to the expansion of the encampment into Senate House Yard. 
  • On 23rd July, the University agreed to a number of commitments, which are “contingent on the encampment closing down”. This includes “working with the Task Force and the Working Group to review [its] approach to responsible investment” and “reviewing the guidelines that inform academic and industry research ties and collaborations with companies including those falling within the arms/defence category […] in dialogue with the Working Group and Task Force”. 
  • Towards the end of its statement, the University said: “We are also aware that the students would like their views to be represented in the consideration of these important issues and have proposed to set up their own task force, which will form part of the working group that we intend to establish. We welcome this engagement. We expect that this task force will elect its own members, and will be self governing. Members of the task force will become part of the wider working group, which will be expected to make recommendations to subsequent meetings of the relevant governance committees that oversee policies in relation to research, investments and partnerships.”

The encampment at the University remains, but organisers have said that they “are planning to undertake a process of decamping” following the University’s statement. 

University of Leeds

  • Six weeks after the encampment was set up, the University of Leeds announced that it was commencing legal proceedings.
  • On 4th June, the Leeds University Union cancelled the student Summer Ball due to “safety concerns”.
  • In a statement, the Interim Vice-Chancellor and President said: “The behaviour of the protestors and occupiers of the Ziff Building, including the wearing of face coverings, harassment of staff, and vandalism and graffiti on buildings has created an atmosphere that is significantly intimidating to many in our community and which the University deems unacceptable.”
  • Later in June, the encampment shut down, after 47 days in total.

Organisers of the encampment said in a statement that they had “achieved much” and vowed to “be back in September”.

Goldsmiths University

  • On 1st May, protesters entered the library at Goldsmiths University, expanding the already five-week-long encampment on campus, despite the University’s security staff trying to prevent entry, occupying two floors of the building.
  • After just two days, the University announced that its senior management team was “working to meet a set of commitments” and encampment organisers declared “victory” on the group’s social media.
  • The University agreed to several of the protesters’ demands: to rethink the University’s supposed adoption of the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism (it had been adopted alongside a controversial, competing and contradictory definition, rendering the adoption useless from the point of view of fighting antisemitism); to rename a lecture theatre after a Palestinian journalist; and even to create an installation to “memorialise” the anti-Israel protesters’ “occupation”.

Goldsmiths is in the middle of an independent inquiry into antisemitism, which will doubtless need to address the encampment and the University’s capitulation to protesters’ demands.

These encampments have had a grossly detrimental effect on the Jewish campus experience, and it is shameful that, exceptions notwithstanding, universities did not quickly act to remove them and sanction participants in line with their codes of conduct and legal duties.

In addition to the impact on Jewish students, several wider student activities are also known to have been disrupted by the encampments, hampering learning and student life on campus.

Some universities moved faster than others to address the encampments, some capitulated to the anti-Israel protesters while others held firm. In all cases, precedents have been set.

Some universities have had regard to the effect on Jewish students and staff; some seem not to care. Several seem more concerned with the commercial impact of the encampments – removing them as summer open days approached – than they did with the welfare of current students, which is particularly galling.

We will continue to expose antisemitic activity on university campuses, hold universities to account and support Jewish students.

If you wish to report an incident to us, please send us an e-mail [email protected] in confidence.

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What does this election result mean for British Jews?

The Labour Party arrives in Government as levels of anti-Jewish racism have skyrocketed and rocked the Jewish community for months. Our polling of British Jews is proof of the widespread fear that antisemitic extremists in our country are now completely out of control, with the effects of their hatred most visible on our streets and our campuses.

So far, precious little has been done to tackle this outpouring of hatred and we are making urgent proposals to the new Government, seeking firm action to halt the surge of Jew-hatred in Britain.

Labour has had to confront rampant antisemitism in its midst in recent years, and we hope that at this time of need it will do what is necessary to confront antisemitism in society, and defend this country’s Jewish community.

Two other noteworthy local results were in Islington North and Rochdale:

Jeremy Corbyn comfortably won his London seat as an Independent. This is the man who led Labour from being an anti-racist party to becoming the first ever political party found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to have unlawfully discriminated against, harassed and victimised Jews, following our referral. At a time of record-breaking antisemitism, the man who used to call Hamas his “friends” and oversaw the normalisation of Jew-hatred in one of the most shameful episodes of modern British politics is back making our laws. Many British Jews will find it hard not to read into this.

George Galloway narrowly lost his Rochdale seat, which he had won in a by-election earlier this year (the Labour candidate was suspended by the Party in relation to antisemitism allegations which we helped to publicise). Given Mr Galloway’s track record and the situation currently faced by Jews in this country, it seems unlikely that many in the Jewish community will be mourning his departure from the institution that makes our laws.

But the real stories of this election were beneath the surface.

First, the fragmentation of our politics. While the Labour Party won a landslide, it was with fewer votes than Jeremy Corbyn had won, and with one of the smallest vote shares of any winning party in modern British history. The Conservatives, meanwhile, suffered their worst-ever defeat, in an election with one of the lowest turnouts in recent times.

Taken together, it meant that the main parties haemorrhaged more vote share than ever to smaller parties, with the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK and the Greens all breaking records in votes or seats. Numerous candidates for the latter two parties faced serious antisemitism allegations during the campaign following our revelations, albeit not those who ultimately won seats. In Northern Ireland, meanwhile, Sinn Fein became the largest party for the first time.

Regardless of one’s political views, this result clearly represents heightened scepticism about our nation’s institutions – a feeling apparently shared across the Channel as well, judging by the recent French election results. While the Jewish community may share some of this disillusionment, given the failures of the authorities to act decisively against the antisemites over the past several months, it also cannot be forgotten that political and societal instability also tend to pose unique risks to the Jews.

Second, the Gaza vote. One of the biggest stories from this general election has been the rise of sectarianism in our politics. The emergence of single-issue pressure groups purporting to represent particular communities risks pitting certain communities against others. It is an extremely worrying omen for our politics, and all major parties must be absolutely resolute in their rejection of its implications.

The prospect of a handful of MPs – some of whom have records of grossly inflammatory language – bringing what seems to be a single-minded obsession with Gaza to Parliament is not a positive development.

Jeremy Corbyn declared on election day, “Today, Palestine is on the ballot,” and promised that he would “stand up for the people of Gaza” and fight for “an end to the occupation of Palestine”. He was joined in victory by four other Independents who ran on the Gaza issue: Ayoub Khan in Birmingham Perry Barr, Adnan Hussain in Blackburn, Iqbal Mohamed in Dewsbury and Batley, and Shockat Adam in Leicester South – where Shadow Cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth was defeated.

We have published an exposé on these new MPs.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and prominent backbencher Jess Phillips were among several more Labour MPs who only narrowly escaped defeat by other Gaza candidates, whose presence was felt in many constituencies across the country.

As a Parliamentary grouping, this Gaza caucus is level with Reform UK on five MPs, outranking the Greens and Plaid Cymru.

It is difficult to think of another instance in modern times when a foreign policy issue in which Britain is not directly involved has captured so much attention at home as to bring our streets to a standstill week after week, undermine many of our major institutions, and bring more MPs to Parliament than even some long-established parties – with numerous more candidates only narrowly missing out.

Why this foreign policy issue in particular? The Jewish community believes that it knows why, and it will take a fundamental reset of our political culture to convince British Jews that they have nothing to fear from this ominous development.

What we do know is that all of the attention on Gaza in the UK is not bringing peace to the Middle East but spreading hatred here at home. We have sought to promote that message.

BBC lets Gaza propaganda go unchallenged

One of the reasons that Gaza candidates do so well is that our broadcasters allow unverified statistics and propaganda to go unchallenged – and sometimes even repeat it.

Recently, BBC Newsnight allowed a panelist – the climate activist Mikaela Loach – to say: “The Lancet yesterday, in one of their reports, said that the death toll [in Gaza] is probably more likely to be more than 186,000 people.” The host did not challenge this assertion.

For context, the so-called “report” to which Ms Loach was referring is simply a letter to The Lancet – the prestigious medical journal – by readers with documented hostility toward Israel. It is not a peer-reviewed study nor a figure which the journal has endorsed. It is not even an estimate of current deaths. It is a speculative estimate about a future, final death toll that includes excess deaths and other categories. Indeed the letter itself acknowledges that even Hamas, a proscribed antisemitic genocidal terror organisation, estimates the current death toll at around 37,396, a figure that does not differentiate between combatants and non-combatants and which has been revised downwards considerably by the United Nations.

Given how controversial these statistics have proven, it is not possible that the host of a debate on Newsnight could plausibly plead ignorance of this issue.

We are submitting a complaint to the BBC. It will be just the latest of the many complaints that we have submitted to our national broadcaster in recent months.

While our broadcasters are failing in their duty, one social media company is making an effort.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has announced: “We will now remove speech targeting ‘Zionists’ in several areas where our process showed that the speech tends to be used to refer to Jews and Israelis with dehumanising comparisons, calls for harm, or denials of existence.”

Our polling shows that eight in ten British Jews consider themselves to be a Zionist. Only six percent do not.

While there is still more work to be done in combatting online antisemitism, this is certainly a step in the right direction.

“They use the Holocaust as a sort of cover”

Last week, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Redbridge National Education Union (NEU) hosted an event “in association with” the Newham, Tower Hamlets and Redbridge branches of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). According to an online flyer for the event, the supposed conference would include “workshops on antisemitism and anti-Zionism”.

Attendees at the antisemitism workshop were told: “They use the Holocaust as a sort of cover”; “It makes me very angry when people talk about the Jewish community because there’s no such thing”; and “Israel is nothing to do with being Jewish”; among other outrageous remarks.

It appears that this so-called workshop was rife with antisemitism, from comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany, to allegations that the Jewish state was somehow complicit in the murder of its own people on 7th October, to characterising Israel as a ‘racist endeavour’, to describing Zionism as a virus, to the wild claim that Israel ‘wanted the Holocaust to happen’.

Both the PSC and NEU have long histories of causing distress to the Jewish community. You can listen to excerpts from the here, which we have published exclusively.

No expulsion for Sir Alan Duncan

The former Conservative MP and Minister, Sir Alan Duncan, recently suggested on-air that members of the House of Lords were working at the behest of the Israeli state, and that was not the first time that he had made such an assertion. We submitted a complaint to the Party and urged the Conservatives to expel him as a member.

However, a spokesperson for the Conservative Party has now said: “Following a two-month investigation, an independent panel has reviewed the complaint and dismissed it.”

At a time when antisemitism is at an all-time-high, invoking conspiracy theories and tropes about dual loyalty only inflames the situation for British Jews. This is a shameful decision, and we are aware of members resigning from the Party in response.

The new Government comes into office facing an array of challenges. For the Jewish community, skyrocketing antisemitism is among the most important. Sir Keir Starmer has shown a willingness to confront antisemites in his own party. Now he must do it in wider society, and ensure that the authorities do so as well.

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For many in the Jewish community, this election is about antisemitism

All elections are about a range of issues, but with the surge in antisemitism since the Hamas attack last October, for so many Jews and our allies, so much of this General Election is also about that.

With the surprise calling of a snap election, in the midst of this global rise in antisemitism, CAA has sprung into action.

We have exposed candidates from across political parties – with some stories making the front pages of national newspapers – and there will be more to come this week.

We are also urging all Parliamentary candidates to sign up to our pledge to adopt and abide by the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism, and to encourage and promote its widespread adoption and implementation, unamended and in its entirety, to the exclusion of any other definition or modifying document.

With the polls showing likely changes in the size of the party representation in the House of Commons and so many incumbents stepping down, we are likely to see a vast number of new MPs in July. It is vital that we engage as many of them as possible, educate them about antisemitism and win their commitment to the Definition.

Scores of candidates from across the political spectrum have signed the pledge so far.

Please encourage your local candidates to sign the pledge by inviting them to e-mail us at [email protected].

We are also looking closely at the parties’ manifestos in relation to antisemitism, and will have more to say in the coming days, but you can put your questions directly to party representatives at our antisemitism hustings in London tomorrow evening.

Hustings on antisemitism tomorrow: Have you booked your place?

We have organised an urgent hustings, where, for the first time, candidates from the major national political parties will participate in an open event focusing exclusively on the fight against antisemitism.

Join us for an evening with the Conservatives’ Security Minister, Tom Tugendhat; Labour’s Shadow Policing Minister, Alex Norris; the Liberal Democrats’ Lords Foreign Affairs Lead, Lord Purvis; and Deputy Leader of Reform UK, Ben Habib.

The hustings is taking place at a venue in North London tomorrow evening – Monday, 24th June – so please book your place now.

For more information, please visit antisemitism.org/hustings.

Victims of antisemitism speak out

As part of our work making the voices of British Jews heard, our unique series of powerful testimonials by members of the Jewish community and allies continues, detailing how they have been affected by the events of the past several months.

Previously, we have shared testimonials from:

  • Lysa, who revealed the precautions that she feels that she must take to maintain her safety as a Jew in Britain.
  • Anatole, a Jewish student at Leeds University, who, like so many other students, does not feel safe right now.
  • Sarah (not her real name), who told us that when she and her friends went out one evening to put up posters of hostages taken by Hamas, they were assaulted, and she now fears for her safety.
  • Josh, who recounted how the screening of his film about two gay Jews at an LGBTQ+ support group was cancelled, leaving him questioning where he fits in as a gay Jewish man.
  • Farhad, who, though not Jewish, is horrified by what is happening on our streets, and believes people should speak up when they see antisemitism occurring.

We have now published our final three testimonials.

The anti-Israel marches in London have forced Jessica* and her family to alter the way they live. It is the same for many British Jews.

She describes in her testimonial how there is a sense of “doom” when the marches take place.

Jessica and her family are not alone. A staggering 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there. Our urban centres have become no-go zones for Jews.

*For security reasons, we have changed the name of the interviewee.

When Liahav and other Jewish audience members were hounded out of a comedy show, Campaign Against Antisemitism immediately investigated the situation to ensure that the comedian was held to account.

As a result of our efforts, the comedian has been banned from the Soho Theatre in London, and was also recently disinvited from the Glastonbury Festival.

No one should have to endure the events described in this testimonial.

In the final instalment of our testimonial series, Simon recalls the night when he was told by a fellow London Underground passenger that he “kills Muslims” because he is Jewish.

More than six in ten British Jews say that they have either personally experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident since 7th October or know somebody who has.

As our eight-part testimonial series has shown, there are faces with stories behind the statistics. Racism against Jews is only getting worse in Britain, and we won’t stay quiet about it.

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who agreed to be interviewed for this project. Their stories are being used to educate and spread awareness of the current situation for Jews in Britain.

Fight for our Future

This week, Campaign Against Antisemitism will be running a crowdfunding campaign, to give you the chance to join us in the fight for our future. We will be trying to raise the funds that we need to continue bringing cases, exposing political parties, assisting victims, exposing hate on the marches, supporting students on campus, holding the media to account, putting antisemitism on the front pages and giving a voice to the Jewish community and our allies.

Please consider making a donation when the campaign goes live on Wednesday morning.

If you would like to help by becoming a Team Leader and spending just a few minutes this week encouraging your family and friends to support Campaign Against Antisemitism, or you would like more information, please e-mail us at [email protected].

No previous experience is necessary, and we will provide all the resources and instructions that you need.

If you can’t wait to support us and want to make a donation now, you can do so by clicking here! But you may wish to wait, because during the crowdfunder your donation will be matched.

Maccabi Fun Run

Campaign Against Antisemitism was proud to join organisations from across the Jewish community at the Maccabi Fun Run this weekend.

Thank you to everyone who visited our stall for such a positive reception!

With election day fast approaching, we are proud to have arranged the first-ever hustings focusing exclusively on antisemitism, featuring senior representatives from the major national political parties.

This will be your opportunity to ask them about what they propose to do to defend the Jewish community during this unprecedented surge in antisemitism. Tickets are going fast, so be sure to reserve your place.

We hope that you will join us!

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Judge given formal warning after CAA complaint in relation to appearance of bias after his lenient sentence for Hamas paraglider protesters

Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu Taiwo, 27, were given twelve-month conditional discharges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this year after being convicted of terrorism offences.

During a demonstration in London shortly after the 7th October attack, when Hamas murdered over 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 people hostage, Ms Alhayek and Ms Ankunda attached images of paragliders to their backs; Ms Taiwo attached such an image to the handle of a placard.

They were arrested and charged with carrying or displaying an article to arouse reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of the proscribed antisemitic genocidal terrorist organisation, Hamas.

Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram reportedly said: “Seven days earlier, Hamas went into Israel with what was described by the media as paragliders. A reasonable person would have seen and read that. I do not find a reasonable person would interpret the image merely as a symbol of freedom. You’ve not hidden the fact you were carrying these images. You crossed the line, but it would have been fair to say that emotions ran very high on this issue. Your lesson has been well learnt. I do not find you were seeking to show any support for Hamas.” He concluded that he had “decided not to punish” the trio.

Campaign Against Antisemitism revealed that Judge Ikram’s social media activity may suggest bias. Specifically, the judge ‘liked’ a post that stated: “Free Free Palestine. To the Israeli terrorist both in the United Kingdom, the United States and of course Israel, you can run, you can bomb but you cannot hide – justice will be coming for you.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO), and it is understood that Judge Ikram also referred himself to the body as well. The complaint has been upheld and the JCIO has published a statement.

Judge Ikram was found to have breached Social Media Guidance for the judiciary by identifying himself as a judge on LinkedIn, but it was accepted that he had ‘liked’ the post inadvertently and that there were no other inappropriate posts or engagement. 

He reportedly described the contents of the post as “repulsive”, and told investigators that he had closed his LinkedIn account to mitigate the impact of his action. He said that it was an account that “he had primarily used for his work as a Diversity and Community Relations judge”.

The act was found to have amounted to misconduct and the nominated judge recommended a sanction of formal advice. However, Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk and Lady Chief Justice Dame Sue Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill “were not satisfied that a sanction of formal advice was sufficient” and increased the sanction to a formal warning because “the judge’s actions caused significant reputational damage to the judiciary”.

Judge Ikram sits on the judicial appointments committee and is a Diversity and Community Relations judge.

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Victims of antisemitism speak out

As part of our work making the voices of British Jews heard, we have begun publishing a unique series of powerful testimonials by members of the Jewish community and allies, detailing how they have been affected by the events of the past several months.

In the first of our testimonials, Lysa reveals the precautions that she feels that she must take to maintain her safety as a Jew in Britain.

When nearly 70% of British Jews say that they are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism right now, this is what that looks like.

The second testimonial features Anatole, a Jewish student at University of Leeds. There are so many students who, like him, do not feel safe right now.

With so little being done by the universities about the intimidation on campus and antisemitic chanting by students and lecturers alike, can you blame them? As Anatole rightly says, this inaction by universities is a betrayal of their Jewish students.

Campaign Against Antisemitism stands up for Jewish students

We are continuing to monitor incidents on campuses across the country, including recently at Newcastle University and Central Saint Martins.

As a community, we can no longer tolerate how vulnerable Jewish students are feeling on campus. That is why we have produced an open letter for students to hold their universities accountable for the rise in hostility and intimidation exacerbated by the campus encampments.

As it is fashionable to make demands of university administrations these days, Jewish students make the following demands of their own in the letter:

  1. Vice-Chancellors must not accept any of the demands of the organisers of the encampments, and, making it clear that universities will not be pressured into action by this sort of conduct, they must pledge not to begin to consider any policy changes relating to such demands for at least three months after the encampments are removed.
  2. University policies must be applied on trespassing, property damage, bullying, racist conduct and other relevant provisions in order to bring the encampments to an end and punish participants to the full extent of student codes of conduct.
  3. The creation of a new paid staff position dedicated exclusively to tackling antisemitism and promoting Jewish inclusion at each university must be announced, where such a position does not yet exist.
  4. Every university must publicly reassure its community of its commitment to the International Definition of Antisemitism as its sole and unamended definition of antisemitism.
  5. All staff and faculty members, including campus security and welfare officers, must be required to undertake updated antisemitism training.

We are thrilled by how many students have signed the letter so far and had their voices finally heard. Students can sign at antisemitism.org/studentletter.

We have also visited campuses over the past several weeks, speaking directly to students and offering support. On our trip to UCL, we spoke directly with students and showed Jewish students that they are not alone. You can watch the video here.

If you like the t-shirts that the Jewish students in the video are wearing, you too can make a statement with our ‘Quite Openly Jewish’ and ‘Quite Openly Standing With Jews’ t-shirts. Some people also wore them at the march for the release of the hostages yesterday, which Campaign Against Antisemitism was proud to support.

Join the movement, wear the message, and stand proudly with us. Together, we can combat antisemitism.

Available now at antisemitism.org/shop.

Check out the latest episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism

In our latest episodes, we spoke to two of the Jewish community’s best non-Jewish friends, the former MP Mike Freer and Rev. Hayley Ace.

Mike Freer announced his decision not to stand for re-election citing the “intolerable stress” that he and his family have been enduring from the several serious threats that he has received to his personal safety, including a recent arson attack on his constituency office. You can listen to our discussion about the impact of these threats and his decision.

Reverend Hayley Ace is the co-founder of the grassroots movement, Christian Action Against Antisemitism, along with her husband Timothy Gutmann. Both Hayley and Timothy have been standing firmly alongside the British Jewish community against antisemitism, using their perspective as Christians to educate people on racism against Jews. You can learn more about their work by listening to our conversation.

You can subscribe to the podcasts wherever you get your podcasts, or receive the podcast straight to your inbox by subscribing here.

With the General Election campaign now in full swing, we are working hard to expose candidates whose records concern us and calling attention to parties who are failing to act. We will have more on this in due course.

Whoever forms the next Government, they must be left in no doubt about what British Jews think and need right now. That is why it is so important that as many of you as possible complete the surveys above, so that we can convey your wishes and concerns to our lawmakers.

Once you have made your voice heard to us, we will stop at nothing to make sure that everybody else hears it too.

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Will policing of antisemitism finally change?

Under the leadership of Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Service’s policing of the anti-Israel protests and campaigns has been an expensive shambles.

Practically nothing has been done to curtail them, with marchers being given two-mile routes though the centre of our capital. For over seven months, Sir Mark has claimed that he requires additional legal powers to curtail the marches even though the law already plainly gives him the powers he needs.

To break the deadlock, we have provided Home Secretary James Cleverly and Minister of State for Crime and Policing Chris Philp concrete measures that will give the Met nowhere to hide:

  1. Issue regulations to make the meaning of “serious disruption to the life of the community” even clearer under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to force the Met and other forces to take into account the cumulative effect of protests and whether they cause intimidation to a particular community. The police must finally be made to treat the weekly marches as one single campaign, rather than as numerous discrete protests, and judge their impact on the rights of others accordingly.
  2. Issue directions to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, under section 40 of the Police Act 1996, to require the Mayor to work with the Met to ensure that sufficient police are at the marches to effect arrests for unlawful behaviour immediately, and keep Jews and others in the vicinity safe. There must be enough officers present to police the protests in real time, not after the fact.
  3. Make orders under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Ansar Allah (the Houthi rebels) and various terrorist organisations involved in the 7th October atrocity which have not already been proscribed. This would render illegal the display of various terrorist flags and chants such as “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around.”

These measures do not require any new laws to be passed, and if they are adopted, they will have an immediate and profound impact on the policing of processions and public assemblies.

No more excuses instead of arrests. No more ‘contextualising’ offences away instead of enforcing the law.

The proposals have been positively received by the Home Office, which said in a statement: “The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, but there are clear concerns about the cumulative impact protests are having on some of our communities which we are looking at.

“All communities should be able to go about their daily lives without fear. We have been clear with the police that they must use all the powers available to them to police protests appropriately and will always have our backing in doing so.

“We thank the Campaign Against Antisemitism for their proposals and we will be looking closely at them alongside Lord Walney’s recommendations which will be published this week.”

Our proposals were then echoed in a major report published today by Lord Walney, the Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption, titled “Protecting our Democracy from Coercion”.

Lord Walney’s review of antisemitism within the current anti-Israel protests represents a damning assessment of the police and Crown Prosecution Service for failing to apply their existing powers and politicising their response. The report lays bare how far our branches of law enforcement have fallen behind these extremist groups and the expectations of the British public, which abhors extremism and the use of illegal or intimidatory tactics to accomplish goals that cannot be secured at the ballot box.

One only has to look at the footage recorded by our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit from this past weekend’s march or the previous march, when a masked protester shouted “Go back to Poland!” at a Christian reverend whom he mistook for a Jew.

Where will this all end? In Manchester, three men have appeared in court, charged with planning an ISIS-style attack against Jews on British soil, while in Stamford Hill in North London, a woman allegedly brandishing a knife at Jews in the street was stopped by police and Shomrim.

She allegedly told a Jewish man that he is a “provocation” before specifying “you people, you Jewish…all the trouble you’re creating in the world.” When asked what she meant, she allegedly replied: “Who do you think started the Second World War? You, the Jewish, started the Second World War.”

These events do not occur in a vacuum. Policing in the UK must change course now, before it is too late.

Those who ignore the lessons of history

For a recent anti-Israel weekly march passing nearby, the Royal Parks covered up the Holocaust memorial in Hyde Park, a new low. At every turn, the authorities seem to be trying to keep Jews and anything Jewish out of sight to appease these mobs.

Concerns over the safety of the memorial are not, however, unfounded. Since 7th October, Holocaust memorials and museums around the world have been vandalised, blockaded, covered up or otherwise targeted in some way. Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Drancy…the list goes on and on.

Then, on Yom HaShoah, anti-Israel demonstrators wore yellow stars – akin to the sort that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust – and picketed outside Auschwitz concentration camp.

Whether by tearing down posters of the hostages or targeting Holocaust memorials, the supporters of Hamas not only support the antisemitic slaughter of Jews but they also oppose any remembrance for the victims. They want them forgotten. But we will not forget.

Campaign Against Antisemitism funds another successful appeal for Iranian dissident

For the second time this year, we have funded a successful appeal by Iranian dissident Niyak Ghorbani against excessive bail conditions imposed by the Metropolitan Police.

This time, the police wished to restrict Mr Ghorbani from attending or participating in “any protest demonstration related to the Palestinian cause or events occurring in Gaza”, and force him to refrain from any “behaviour aimed at inciting or disturbing participants of any protest demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause or against events in Gaza”, and from entering Camden or the City of Westminster for anything but medical or legal appointments.

However, following a successful appeal that was funded by Campaign Against Antisemitism, the court has rejected the Met’s conditions, with a judge saying that “they are not necessary let alone proportionate.” Mr Ghorbani is now free again to continue pointing out the legal fact that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and expressing his right to protest and counter-protest.

You may recall that we created t-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with the same message that Hamas are terrorists, which we have made available for sale. Many of you have already bought them, wearing them to protests and posting pictures on social media.

Supporting Jewish students in hostile campus environments

Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen anti-Israel thugs swarm university campuses with calls for intifada, the eradication of the State of Israel, and references to Hamas as “freedom fighters”. The growing number of encampments comes against a backdrop of escalating antisemitism, with Jewish students facing verbal abuse, receiving death threats and enduring physical violence.

We have met with the Department for Education and been on the forefront of exposing these incidents on campuses across the country, including in University College London, SOAS, University of Leeds, The University of Manchester, Newcastle University and elsewhere.

The hostile environment for Jews that has been created on British campuses challenges the very foundations of academia. Bastions of inclusivity and diversity operating in pursuit of truth are becoming cesspits of racist hate and intimidation.

We are assisting students around the country who are facing antisemitism where they live and study. Any student or faculty member can e-mail us in confidence at [email protected].

The Prime Minister has recently made it clear that antisemitism has no place in our universities. We thank the Prime Minister for doing so. It is now up to vice-chancellors to show that they agree. If they do not, we will do everything that we can to hold them and their institutions to account.

Podcast Against Antisemitism is back!

Season Five of our podcast is now streaming.

In the first episode, marking Yom HaShoah, we spoke to Mervyn Kersh, a distinguished WWII veteran. Now 99 years old, he joined the army in 1943 at the age of eighteen, and you can listen or watch as we discuss his conversations with survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp just days after its liberation.

Our guest in episode two was Elad Poterman, who, along with his baby daughter and wife Maria, are survivors of the Kibbutz Nahal Oz massacre on 7th October. Nahal Oz sits just 800 metres from the Gaza border and was one of the first targets in the early hours of the Hamas terrorist attacks. Listen or watch as Elad takes us through how he and his family spent seventeen hours in the safe room of his home hiding from Hamas terrorists.

For our third episode we interviewed the acclaimed actor, writer, and comedian Brett Gelman, known for his roles in BBC’s “Fleabag,” FX’s “Married” and Netflix’s “Stranger Things”. Brett is not only known for his impressive performances but also for his outspoken stance against antisemitism. You can listen or watch Brett dive into his Jewish identity and speaking on the silencing of Jewish voices.

You can subscribe to the podcasts wherever you get your podcasts, or receive the podcast straight to your inbox by subscribing here.

Some of our additional recent work includes:

  • We have led the coverage of newly-elected local councillors with concerning records, especially in the Green Party, and we are assisting in a police investigation into an independent councillor.
  • We have reported the comedian Dane Baptiste to the police over serious threats to a Jewish individual, with whom we are in touch.
  • We are writing to Ofcom about Hamas atrocity-denial by Natasha Devon on LBC (for which she has apologised).
  • We reported Dana Abuqamar, the President of Manchester Friends of Palestine and final year law student, to the Home Office after she said that “We are full of pride. We are really, really full of joy of what has happened” in apparent reference to 7th October. Her visa has now been revoked.
  • We are writing to the BBC after presenter Eddie Nester MBE asked “Why is [the Jewish lobby] so much more powerful than people with disabilities?” and we are also writing to the broadcaster after Gary Lineker appeared to dismiss the 7th October massacre as “the Hamas thing”.
  • A few weeks ago, to mark Pesach, our digital van drove around London with a message to “let our people go” in reference to the hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.

The Met’s policing of the anti-Israel protests and campaigns has been an expensive shambles, supposedly because the force needs additional legal powers. We have now provided a blueprint for moving forward. Our criminal justice system must be brought into line, and the laws on which it operates must be brought up to date. For the Jewish community, action cannot come soon enough.

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It is time for Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to go

Last Saturday, our Chief Executive went to synagogue and then went for a walkabout in London with a few others.

Just over six months ago, as law-abiding Londoners, that would not have been a problem. Supposedly it still isn’t.

They were openly Jewish but had no badges or placards, were not shouting anything, did not say or do anything political and did not seek to engage with any protesters or join any counter-protest.

They sought to walk through London, wherever they wanted, as Jews.

But they were not able to.

We then announced that, this coming Saturday 27th April, we will be going for a walk through London, openly as Jews and allies, wherever we want. There is more information on the walk below.

In response to our video recounting the incident on 13th April and announcing that we will go for another walk on 27th April, the Metropolitan Police Service released a statement.

The Met Police’s response included an offer to “meet and discuss with anyone who wishes to organise a march or protest ahead of 27th April”.

That is kind of them, but they are missing the point.

We have no intention of starting or joining any protest or counter-protest. Being Jewish in London is not a ‘cause’ that we should need to ‘march’ for. It is a right.

The Met released a number of statements, including one in which an Assistant Commissioner, one of the most senior officers on the force, appeared to double down on the suggestion that an “openly Jewish” person present near these marches could be “provocative”. The statement was an appalling example of victim-blaming, and the Met withdrew the statement and apologised.

The story has received national media coverage, including three front pages this weekend and another three on Monday morning. Campaign Against Antisemitism spokespeople have also featured numerous times across BBC television and radio, ITV, Sky News, LBC and more.

There was also a full interview in The Sunday Times, and on Sunday evening, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive held a one-hour phone-in with Rachel Johnson on LBC, explaining how these marches and the failed policing around them is affecting the Jewish community.

The incident on 13th April and the back-and-forth with the Met just confirm what we know: that it is dangerous to be a Jew in London when these marches are taking place, and the blame for that lies squarely with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley.

What happened last weekend was the inevitable conclusion of six months of inertia and contextualising crimes away by a Met that has curtailed the rights of law-abiding Londoners in order to appease mobs rife with anti-Jewish racists and terrorist sympathisers.

It has been six months of this now, and enough is enough. Britain is a country of tolerance and decency. Jewish people and other law-abiding Londoners should not be intimidated against walking the streets of the cities we live in.

That is why it is time for Sir Mark Rowley to go.

Sir Mark has the distinction of presiding over the worst surge in antisemitic criminality in our capital city since records began. We are in a time when 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid the centre of town when an anti-Israel protest is taking place. Those protests have made our city centres into no-go zones for Jews every weekend for six months now, and as the recent incident showed, that no-go zone is enforced by the Met.

Please join the thousands who have already signed the petition calling on Sir Mark to go.

Walk with us

On Saturday 27th April — the next major anti-Israel march — we are asking you, Jewish or not, to stand up for the tolerance and decency of which this country is so rightly proud, simply by going for a walk.

For those who want to walk together on the 27th, we will suggest a time and location where people can meet, which we will post on our social media accounts on the 26th.

If you would like to be notified of the suggested meeting place and time by e-mail instead, please sign up.

For those who wish to walk with us, please note that we have no intention of starting or joining any protest or counter-protest. We will not have placards or flags, we will not be chanting, we will not be wearing stickers. Those are not things one does when one goes for a walk.

We are not looking for a confrontation. We will simply be walking around our capital city as Jews and law-abiding Londoners, wherever we want. It is our right.

Time to finally proscribe the IRGC and the Houthis

Last weekend, the Islamic Republic of Iran flaunted its true colours and escalated its war against Israel with an unprecedented direct attack in its latest attempt to extinguish the Jewish state.

This is an antisemitic theocracy that means harm to Jews worldwide, Britain and its interests and the West. It is finally time to clamp down on Iran, its proxies and its supporters in the UK.

We have again called on the Home Secretary and the British Government to swiftly proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Houthis — as well as all of the terrorist groups in Gaza that were actively involved in the Hamas-led 7th October attack — and clamp down on the documented threats that they pose to our national security and empower the police to arrest those praising attacks on British shipping every week on our streets.

It makes no sense for Britain to engage this foe abroad while giving its supporters free rein here at home. For months, Britain has been generous with protesters in our own country who support our enemies. The time has come to take the gloves off.

Campaign Against Antisemitism funds successful appeal for Iranian activist’s right to call Hamas terrorists

A judge has rejected an attempt by the Metropolitan Police to prevent Iranian dissident Niyak Ghorbani from attending anti-Israel protests to display his sign calling Hamas terrorists.

Under draconian bail conditions imposed by the police, Mr Ghorbani, who has been arrested and de-arrested several times, would have been prohibited from approaching any demonstrations relating to Israel and Gaza in London.

However, following a successful appeal that was funded by Campaign Against Antisemitism, the court has rejected the Met’s conditions, ruling that they were neither proportionate nor necessary.

All Mr Ghorbani wants to do is point out to anti-Israel marchers that Hamas is a terrorist organisation under UK law.

If only the police were half as concerned with the marchers as with people like Mr Ghorbani. How did British policing get so topsy-turvy?

You may recall that we created t-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with the same message, which we have made available for sale. Many of you have already bought them, wearing them to protests and posting pictures on social media.

These achievements are only possible thanks to our dedicated staff, extraordinary volunteers and your support. Thank you to all of you who support our work.

Passover, which begins this Monday evening, is also known as the Festival of Spring. It is a time of birth and rebirth — of the Jewish people, of the nature all around us — and a time of optimism.

This is not an easy time to celebrate or be optimistic, as hostages remain in captivity, uncertainties abound in the Middle East, antisemitism surges around the world, including here at home in the UK, and policing in London is in shambles.

But let us choose, at this time of rebirth, to remake the environment that we live in. We will start with something simple. We will start with a walk.

Wishing those celebrating a happy Passover!

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Six months.

This weekend marked the six-month anniversary of the 7th October atrocity, the bloodiest day in Israel’s history and the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

In the wake of the attack, as Israelis and Jewish communities worldwide grappled with the trauma, a distressing contrast emerged: while grief and shock engulfed many, expressions of support for Hamas erupted in various forms of jubilation and celebration across the globe, some within hours of the massacre.

Some chose to turn a blind eye to the atrocities.

Others attempted to rationalise the unjustifiable.

And, shockingly, some even found inspiration in this heinous act.

For the Jewish people, with hostages still in captivity and justification, glorification and celebration of antisemitic terrorism still ongoing around the world, October 7 is 24/7.

Al Quds Day: a tale of two cities

Every year, on the last Friday of Ramadan, the Al Quds Day march takes place in cities around the world, including in London. Since it was established in Iran in 1979, following the Islamic Revolution, Al Quds Day marches are displays of support for the antisemitic Islamist theocracy that rules Iran, kills its opponents and supports Jew-hating terrorist groups across the world, and for its terror proxies.

In the UK, for example, participants in the marches used to fly Hizballah flags and hold placards stating “We are all Hizballah”, until we and others secured the proscription of Hizballah.

In the days prior to this year’s march, which took place on Friday, the organisers had the audacity to complain about occasional arrests at recent anti-Israel marches in London notwithstanding that their own march was in support of a foreign regime that murders protesters.

Our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit was present at the march on Friday. What they saw was predictably despicable, including a woman screaming “Zio-Nazis” at people, flyers emblazoned with Hitler’s face, and more.

As the march proceeded, what became clear was that London on Al Quds Day was a tale of two cities: the hateful marchers in one tale, and, in the other, our digital van displaying the images of hostages and peaceful counter-protesters, some of whom were wearing our “Hamas are terrorists” hoodies.

The Met Police posted on social media that they had identified particular placards that appeared to incite violence in a vehicle that they had proactively stopped near the starting point of the march. “As a result,” they triumphantly declared, “we don’t believe they have been distributed.” Still, they were firm: “Should they be displayed in the crowd, action will be taken.”

But after so many months of policing-by-tweet, it should come as no surprise that our volunteers observed plenty of these placards on display during the march, very often within the sight of police officers. To our knowledge, no action appeared to be taken. This was just the latest example of questionable policing.

The week before, during the anti-Israel demonstration on Easter weekend, a woman reported a placard featuring a swastika to a police officer, who appeared to try to explain that the meaning of a swastika would depend on the context, in echoes of Met Police policy on other antisemitic rhetoric.

Apparently the context of an anti-Israel demonstration rife with analogies of Israel to Nazis and other antisemitic signs, calls for violent intifada, support for Houthi attacks on British vessels and glorification of Hamas terrorism, was not clear enough context of what a swastika might portend.

The Met claimed that it arrested someone in relation to this incident. If so, it raises even more questions about why the police reflexively make excuses instead of taking action in real time.

Extremism in the UK: we want to hear from you

If you could poll the British public on antisemitism or extremism, what questions would you ask?

Click here to let us know.

It is time for Sir Alan Duncan to be expelled

Sir Alan Duncan, the former Conservative MP and Minister, and a particularly unpopular figure in the Jewish community, suggested in an interview on LBC that certain peers in the House of Lords are working for Israel, invoking classic tropes of Jewish power and disloyalty. He later went on to victim-blame Israel for the 7th October Hamas attack.

This is not the first time that he has made accusations of parliamentarians being controlled by Israel. But we believe that it should be the last time that he does so as a member of the Conservative Party.

We called on the Party to investigate, which they have announced that they are now doing. He is not the only Conservative figure that we have been following recently.

We also called for the whip finally to be withdrawn from Baroness Warsi, after she spoke at a Muslim Council of Britain event with Ghada Karmi. The MCB is a controversial group, and Dr Karmi has previously said: “What you saw on October 7th was breaking out from the cage of Gaza by a resistance movement.” Dr Karmi also previously told George Galloway on Al Mayadeen television: “It’s wonderful really and admirable that the Hamas fighters exploded this whole rotten structure.”

We called in addition for the suspension by the Labour Party of another attendee, Afzal Khan MP, of “mass murdering Rothschilds Israeli mafia criminal liars” infamy.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Azmat Husain, the Chairman of the Salford Conservative Federation and the Conservative candidate for Eccles in Salford in the May elections, has withdrawn his candidacy after a Facebook post emerged in which he appears to have written “Jew pigs”. He had claimed that the post was fake.

This is not the first time that there have been serious concerns relating to antisemitism within local Conservative associations in Manchester. The Party has yet to investigate transparently.

We also exposed the social media history of the independent MP, Angus MacNeil, who used to sit with the SNP.

Furthermore, we called out the crossbench peer Lord Bird for saying in a debate in the House of Lords that “The amount of antisemitism you see around the world is because of the fact that Israel is not thinking about the next five or ten years but is only thinking immediately.”

No, Lord Bird, the amount of antisemitism that we are seeing is not because of the Jews or their state. It is because there are antisemites.

The effect of antisemitism on British Jews

Our two-week nationwide billboard campaign spotlighting what it is like to be Jewish in Britain today has concluded. On the billboards, online and on our digital van, we highlighted a number of scenarios to give viewers pause, including:

  • “How would you explain guards outside your child’s nursery?”
  • “Imagine your family feeling unsafe every time they leave their place of worship.”
  • “Do you know how it feels to hide your school blazer so you won’t be attacked?”

Thank you to all of you who have got in touch about the campaign. To quote just one response from Glasgow: “I saw an ad about your campaign in Glasgow today at Finnieston Quay and I wanted to get in touch to say that it really spoke to me. I have been appalled by what I have been reading about antisemitism in the UK. The words on the billboard about guards at nurseries and abuse at a football stadium were really powerful. I hope it helps to make a difference.”

So do we.

Great Ormond Street Hospital

Last December we began discussions with Great Ormond Street Hospital, at the initiative of members of their staff, about providing antisemitism training. This is the same training that we have delivered for years to other NHS trusts, police forces, industry regulators, academic institutions, local authorities and others.

Discussions were proceeding smoothly until approximately six weeks ago, when we were informed that the Hospital’s Muslim Network had expressed concerns about Campaign Against Antisemitism as a provider. We addressed in writing the issues that were raised and offered to meet with the relevant members of staff, with a view to hearing and allaying any concerns.

Unfortunately, the offer was ignored and, apparently without regard for the views of its Jewish staff, the Hospital decided that the Muslim Network should have a veto in relation to antisemitism training, and withdrew from the discussions.

The Hospital assured us that it will still be arranging the provision of antisemitism training, but with a different provider. We replied to the Hospital to say that that is acceptable to us, provided that it uses a reputable trainer that will not compromise on the material to appease anyone at the Hospital who may be ideologically opposed to learning about certain contemporary manifestations of antisemitism.

The Hospital not only failed to provide us with this assurance, but has not responded to us at all for several weeks.

We continued to await contact from the Hospital, but in view of the length of time since our last correspondence, we had no choice but to make this public last week.

If non-Jewish staff at institutions are given a veto over the delivery or content of antisemitism training, such an institution simply cannot be said to be upholding its commitment to equality and diversity. Jewish people and the racism that they suffer cannot be ignored. That is itself antisemitic.

After we revealed the incident, the Hospital released a statement that was wholly unsatisfactory, and we have submitted a Freedom of Information request in order to release more information.

In addition to the victims whom we are assisting and other incidents that we are responding to, here are some of our other high-profile recent cases:

  • We submitted complaints to Ofcom about Matthew Wright for comments on two LBC programmes.
  • We wrote a letter to the Scottish Funding Council regarding the election of Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah as Rector of the University of Glasgow.
  • We called on UK Border Force to suspend officers involved in potential mistreatment of Israeli survivors of 7th October visiting the UK.
  • We publicised appalling footage from the Refectory at Goldsmiths, which is also midway through an inquiry, to which we have contributed, regarding antisemitism on its campus.
  • We reported a man appearing to make serious threats in a TikTok video to Counter-Terrorism Police, and were in touch with the victim.

It has been six months.

Six months of war. Six months of hostages in captivity. Six months of weekly anti-Israel protests and antisemitic rhetoric on our streets. Six months of surging antisemitism — on campuses and online, in workplaces and in our public life. Six months of police failures.

But we are resolute, and we will continue to fight for justice for the Jewish community, no matter how many more months or years it takes.

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What is the real everyday impact of antisemitism on British Jews?

Following 7th October, the Metropolitan Police Service reported a 1,350% increase in hate crimes against Jewish people. This statistic is incredibly alarming, but on its own it does not paint the full picture of what the effect of this surge in antisemitism is on British Jews.

That is why Campaign Against Antisemitism has today launched a nationwide billboard campaign spotlighting what it is like to be Jewish in Britain right now, and showing how the impact of that antisemitism penetrates the daily life of British Jews of all ages.

Kindergartens with guards, Jewish schools discouraging their pupils from wearing blazers with a Jewish school crest, university students afraid to reveal their religion, football stadiums full of people invoking the Nazi gas chambers, and intimidation outside synagogues.

We have chosen a sample of the real-life everyday effects of antisemitism on British Jews.

At a time when 69% of British Jews say that they are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism, it is important now, more than ever, that the British public is informed about the extent of the scandal of antisemitism in Britain.

Let everyone know that Hamas are terrorists

On 9th March, Niyak Ghorbani held a sign condemning Hamas as a terror organisation next to an anti-Israel demonstration in London. Footage appears to show that he was abused by protesters and potentially assaulted.

The police did not arrest those who were furious that he was pointing out that Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Instead, a phalanx of officers pulled him to the ground and violently arrested him, as he shouted “shame on you!” Police snatched, scrunched up and confiscated his accurate and perfectly legal sign which, from the footage, appears to be exactly what the protesters had sought to do. Mr Ghorbani was injured and required hospital treatment for a wound.

We provided Mr Ghorbani with assistance, including arranging legal representation, and we are pleased to announce that the outrageous charges brought against him have been dropped and the case is now closed.

The police are now, rightly, seeking the man who is on video appearing to assault Mr Ghorbani. If you have any information, please contact us at [email protected].

In the meantime, our lawyers are continuing to examine legal options in relation to the unacceptable police response to Mr Ghorbani’s lawful exercise of his free speech rights.

Policing of these weekly anti-Israel demonstrations is a shambles. Mr Ghorbani’s case – where an innocent man was arrested while potential criminals continued on their way – is a scandal. We will do everything in our power to force the Met Police to change course and finally start punishing criminality and extremism.

Mr Ghorbani was accosted and then arrested, all because he was trying to point out that, under UK law, Hamas is a terrorist organisation. So when the police censored him, we decided to amplify his message.

We created t-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with the same message, which we have made available for sale. Many of you have already bought them, wearing them to protests and posting pictures on social media.

We also enlisted our digital van to help spread the message, driving it to the very location where Mr Ghorbani was wrongly arrested.

It is a sad reflection of the times we live in when it has become controversial to promulgate the simple moral and legal truth that Hamas are terrorists.

Broadcasters must call Hamas terrorists too

This week, the BBC called the terror attack in Moscow, for which ISIS took responsibility, a “terror attack”. Perhaps realising that this might mean that the broadcaster would also have to call the Hamas terror attack, which was the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, a “terror attack”, the description of the Moscow attack was quickly deleted. This is not the first time that the BBC has done this.

The broadcaster’s refusal to describe Hamas as terrorists – and its increasingly comical efforts not to be called out for hypocrisy by calling other terrorist groups by their name – is, at best, a failure to live up to its own principles of accuracy, impartiality and fairness. That is why it is so important to have our voices heard.

Our Parliamentary Petition calling for terrorism legislation to be amended to require all broadcasters regulated by Ofcom to describe all terrorist organisations proscribed in the UK and their operatives as “terrorists” and not by any other descriptor, has been signed by over 10,000 of your so far, from almost every constituency in the UK. That means that the Government must now consider and respond to the proposal.

With 100,000 signatures, the topic will be considered for debate in Parliament. Please help us to right this wrong and urge lawmakers to act to ensure that television and radio audiences get the real facts in the news that they consume.

How many people in Britain sympathise with Hamas?

New polling has found that there are over 2.5 million Hamas sympathisers currently in Britain (4% of the British population). Almost a further 17 million (26%) “don’t know” if they sympathise with Hamas.

The figures are worst amongst the young. For example, one in ten of those aged 18-24 say that they hold a favourable view of Hamas.

The polling also shows that over three million Britons (5%) want all Jewish presence in the Middle East eliminated through mass expulsion, and the same number say that the 7th October atrocity was “justified”.

Terrorists pose a threat not only to British Jews, but to the entirety of British society. The approaches tried so far by our Government and police forces have not worked. The radicalisation of our country, and particularly our youth, poses a grave danger to the whole United Kingdom.

We hope that those celebrating had a joyous Purim

With antisemitism surging in the UK, war in Israel and hostages still trapped in Gaza, the story of Purim and the power to overcome genocidal hatred of Jews is as relevant as ever.

We hope that, circumstances notwithstanding, those who were celebrating this Jewish holiday had a joyous weekend.

Those protesting on our streets and our national broadcasters must be reminded that Hamas are terrorists — and they cannot be allowed to hide away from that fact. Whether by exposing the failures and hypocrisies of our public institutions, making apparel available, or by changing the law, we will continue to find innovative and effective ways to spread that vital message.

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CAA reacts to Government’s new Extremism definition

Today, the Government has announced a new definition of “Extremism”.

The new definition, announced by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, updates the previous definition “to respond to increased extremist threat since the 7th October terror attacks in Israel,” provides “new engagement principles to ensure that Government does not legitimise extremist groups,” and “follows the Prime Minister’s commitment to stamp out extremism to ensure we keep our citizens safe and our country secure.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Today’s announcement is a very belated admission by the Government that it has engaged with and even funded extremists over the years, and that it will no longer do so. That is welcome, but that is as far as this announcement goes. It proposes no sanction whatsoever for extremists caught by the new definition other than a loss of state support that they should never have had in the first place, and far too many extremists will not be caught under this definition at all.

“It is particularly ironic that the definition draws on the work of Sir Mark Rowley, who has become one of the country’s foremost enablers of extremism by his refusal to use his existing powers in relation to the weekly marches that are threatening the fabric of our society. Ultimately, today’s move by the Government amounts to yet more words at a time when firm action is already decades late.”

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Making antisemitism front page news

This week, Campaign Against Antisemitism brought antisemitism to the forefront of our nation’s mainstream media coverage.

Many of you will have seen the Evening Standard’s front page on Tuesday, titled, “London’s antisemitism shame”.

As our Chief Executive told the newspaper: “It’s the biggest untold story, the impact mass intimidation is having on Jewish families. The cumulative effect is pretty devastating…This is not the tolerant Britain that we cherish — it is a Britain succumbing to a racist mob.”

Now more than ever, antisemitism is at the forefront of our minds in the Jewish community. This is why we are working tirelessly to ensure that victims’ stories are told and that the British public comes to understand how antisemitism is not just a Jewish issue, but a national one. With our streets taken over by a mob every week, our politicians threatened and inept police leadership, our country is in crisis.

Reacting fast to injustice

Yesterday, a man was violently arrested by police in London for carrying a sign stating that under UK law, Hamas is considered to be a terrorist organisation. We are reviewing all of the footage available in relation to this incident.

The police response appears to have been not only outrageous and disproportionate but potentially legally actionable.

For a phalanx of police officers to violently arrest a man who was verbally and physically attacked for observing that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group while taking no action against his assailants is a breathtaking inversion of the law.

Not only are the police failing to enforce the law but they appear to be punishing those who are daring to point out what the law is. We are in touch with the victim and our lawyers are examining options.

What is the law?

Over the last ten days, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stated in no uncertain terms that he believes that calling for violent Jihad or the eradication of the Jewish state, or projecting antisemitic tropes like “From the River to the Sea” onto Big Ben are unacceptable criminal offences.

It was a categorical rebuke of how the Metropolitan Police has approached the regular anti-Israel protests, making excuses instead of arrests. Yesterday was yet another example.

That is why only 16% of British Jews believe that the police treat antisemitic hate crime like other forms of hate crime.

In response, Sir Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, rejected the Prime Minister’s assertions, doubling down on the excuses that he has made for police inaction for almost half a year now. The result is a lack of clarity on the law of the land. The Government says one thing, and the police say another.

Accordingly, we have written to Sir Mark, observing that “You have the distinction of presiding over the worst surge in antisemitic criminality in our capital city since records began,” and calling for clarity: “It is vital that the conflicting publicly stated positions of the British Government and the Metropolitan Police are reconciled.”

Jewish journalists resign from National Union of Journalists

On Tuesday, we broke the news that in recent months six Jewish journalists have resigned from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), one of the largest trade unions for journalists in Britain, owing to its alleged bias against the Jewish state and the impact that that is having on its Jewish members.

Those who spoke to us have told us that there is a culture in the NUJ that leaves its Jewish members feeling ostracised.

Jewish former NUJ members have told us of rhetoric in official e-mails from the union to its members, the sorts of events being held by the union and comments from other members.

One of the journalists who left told us that they don’t “feel safe being in a union which takes no interest in the concerns of Jewish journalists.”

Another journalist said: “They’ve created a divide. It’s like them versus us.”

When one of the largest trade unions for journalists is endorsing people who have engaged in antisemitism-denial and made comparisons between the Nazis and Israel, what message is this sending its Jewish members?

The NUJ has clearly failed its Jewish members and must urgently explain how it will regain their trust.

We are offering free legal representation to any NUJ members affected by anti-Jewish racism. Anyone affected can contact us at [email protected].

The need for our work is more urgent than ever before

The 7th October massacre changed everything, and it’s clear that the fight against antisemitism is more urgent than ever before.

We have been working tirelessly to combat antisemitism in all its forms, but we can’t do it without you.

If you are one of our supporters who already have a direct debit with us or donate regularly to support our work, thank you.

Here is just a small, varied selection of some of the work that your support has already enabled us to do in recent months:

  • After Jewish audience members were allegedly hounded out of Soho Theatre by comedian Paul Currie, we have been supporting the victims and secured a pledge by the theatre to ban him from returning to the venue. This is just one example of the cases that we are working on and the victims whom we are assisting.
  • The rallies and marches that we have organised or co-sponsored have cast a spotlight on the Met Police and BBC, empowered Jews and allies to march through London, and raised awareness of the hostages being held by Hamas – a goal to which our billboards and digital vans have also contributed.
  • Our expert opinion helped ensure that a solicitor accused of antisemitic conduct has been struck off; our efforts brought about the rapper Wiley’s forfeiture of his MBE; our calls led to a judge being scrutinised over potential bias in a case relating to anti-Israel protesters; we helped bring about a humiliation for Ken Livingstone in court; and more. We continue to process scores of criminal, regulatory and other cases.
  • Our in-depth polling has revealed that nearly 70% of British Jews say that they are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism right now, and that almost one fifth of the British public believes that Israel can get away with anything because its supporters “control the media”.
  • Following our ground-breaking exposé of rockstar Roger Waters, Germany-based music rights company BMG reportedly ended its relationship with the former Pink Floyd member.

We can only continue to do this vital work with your support.

By signing up for a direct debit today, you can ensure that we have the reliable funding needed to bring antisemitism to the forefront of British media. Direct debits offer a stable and efficient way for donors to support our cause, allowing more of your donation to directly fund our programmes and initiatives.

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Prime Minister tells police to do their job, but that demand needs to be backed by action

On Friday evening, the Prime Minister made a speech responding to the surge in antisemitism and extremism in our country.

His comments were nothing short of a rebuke of the Metropolitan Police Service’s well-honed practice of making excuses for extremism instead of arrests, and putting their frontline officers in impossible situations. He has demanded in no uncertain terms that the weekly anti-Israel marches no longer be merely managed, but actually policed.

In other words: it is time for the police to do their job.

Following this important intervention, we now look to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to announce concrete solutions to address this dire situation, which leaves the Jewish community in fear for its safety and our democracy in peril.

We welcome the Prime Minister’s call for police to do better when policing protests, and for protesters to think twice about the consequences of their actions, but for months, we have heard protesters and protest organisers tell us that they will continue on their current path and that they feel that they are under no obligation to deviate from it.

The true test of the effectiveness of the Prime Minister’s national address will come when we see what happens at the mass demonstration next Saturday, and in the weeks to come as these marches continue.

While the words were welcome, firm action is long overdue.

Extremists are not simply hijacking protests: they are organising them. The Prime Minister condemned the anti-Jewish genocidal “From the River to the Sea…” slogan projected onto Big Ben, but we have heard march organisers testify to MPs that they actively promote that language.

Yesterday, the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square and the Cenotaph on Whitehall once again required lines of police officers to stand guard over them. This has been necessary countless times since 7th October.

Over the past few weeks we have seen the extremism on our streets penetrate our politics. Now it has entered Parliament. We know, as the Prime Minister does, that nothing is likely to change without firm action from his Government and the authorities.

That action must materialise urgently.

We look forward to learning what measures will be introduced. We have made clear recommendations to the Government and the police.

In recent weeks, our democracy has faced a grave assault by anti-Israel protesters

Anti-Israel protesters have not hesitated in using intimidation to get their message across, brazenly threatening our elected representatives and launching direct attacks on the very foundation of our democratic institutions.

We are offering free legal representation to MPs who have been subjected to antisemitic threats or intimidation, including obtaining court orders to unmask the authors of anonymous comments made online.

Enough is enough.

Inaction against these marches has led to a feeling amongst many extremists and antisemites that they can get away with brazen acts of racism against Jews, and too often they are right.

On Thursday, we reported on an incident that occurred on the London Underground where an identifiably Jewish man noticed a fellow passenger staring aggressively at him. The passenger then proceeded to tell the man: “Your religion kills Muslims.”

British Transport Police is investigating and we are continuing to support the victim.

The incident occurred between Camden Town and Chalk Farm on a Northern Line train to Edgware at approximately 19:45 in carriage number 52585.

If you have information, please contact British Transport Police with crime reference number 2400026154 or e-mail [email protected].

It is shocking to see how this man was treated for daring to be Jewish in public, but perhaps it is not that surprising in these dark times.

Too little too late

On Tuesday, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee released its report on the policing of protests.

Last year, our Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, gave evidence before the Committee, which was included in the report, as well as our written evidence.

The report ​​fails to address the increasingly urgent need to restore the confidence of the British public and ensure the safety of Britain’s Jews.

Staggeringly, it appears that the only concrete recommendation from the Committee for the protests is that the organisers should give more notice to the police, which would not change the actual nature of these marches and therefore solves nothing other than timesheet planning for our overstretched police forces.

After months of intimidatory marches, the report offers no concrete recommendations for the here and now, just a long-term policy discussion about workforce planning and new laws that will take years to agree.

Read our full statement here.

We need action urgently.

Protest-organisers should be made to follow the March Against Antisemitism as an example of good practice.

The police seem to think so too. In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, one officer told the presenter that the march was a good example of how a protest can be “done well and respectfully”.

Why can the same not be said for the weekly anti-Israel protests on our streets?

Britain’s newest MP

On Thursday, the constituents of Rochdale voted in the by-election. After weeks of turmoil in Rochdale leading up to the parliamentary by-election, George Galloway is once again an MP.

Mr Galloway has an atrocious record of baiting the Jewish community.

He has previously and infamously declared Bradford an “Israel-free zone”. He said of his previous election loss that “the venal, the vile, the racists and the Zionists will all be celebrating”. He described David Baddiel, a Jewish comic who is well-known for not closely associating himself with Israel, as a “vile Israel-fanatic”. He claimed that the institutional antisemitism within the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn was really “a disgraceful campaign of Goebbelsian fiction”, in reference to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propagandist. He was sacked by TalkRadio despite his protestations, over an incident in which Tottenham Hotspur accused him of “blatant antisemitism” for a remark about keeping “Israeli flags” off the cup.

More recently, he has described the atrocity carried out by Hamas on 7th October as a “concentration camp breakout” and referred to Hamas terrorists as “fighters”.

Now, Mr Galloway has been chosen by the voters of Rochdale. Given his historic rhetoric and the current situation faced by the Jewish community in this country, we are extremely concerned by how he might use the platform of the House of Commons.

Is Charlotte Church tone deaf?

Earlier this week, we led the media outrage after singer Charlotte Church led a choir, which included children, singing, “From the River to the Sea…”.

The genocidal chant “From the River to the Sea…” refers to the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, and only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — and its replacement with a Palestinian state. It is a call for the annihilation of half the world’s Jews, who live in Israel.

Since 7th October, when Hamas committed their barbaric terrorist acts, we have heard this chant on the streets of Britain during anti-Israel marches, accompanied by all manner of anti-Jewish racism.

Singing “From the River to the Sea…” is not standing up for human rights. At best Charlotte Church has been tone deaf, but at worst she is using the voice for which she is so well known to fan the flames of hatred.

You cannot stoop lower than using your stardom to teach kids to sing extremist lyrics in a village hall.

We are writing to the Charity Commission to ask them to investigate how this was allowed to take place on a charity’s premises.

Five years since Hizballah was banned in the UK

Five years ago this week, following a gruelling effort over several years by Campaign Against Antisemitism and our allies, Hizballah was proscribed as a terrorist group in the United Kingdom.

Hizballah is a violent, genocidal and dangerous antisemitic organisation whose leaders have praised the 7th October Hamas terrorist atrocities as “heroic”.

Hizballah is suspected to have been involved in terrorist attacks targeting Jews from Burgas to Buenas Aires, where they bombed a Jewish community centre in 1994, killing 85 people. They continue to make their violent, murderous intentions towards Jews clear to this day.

As people continue to glorify the axis of violence to which they belong on our streets, their legal designation as a terrorist organisation, like their allies Hamas, has never been more important for the safety of Jews in Britain.

Recent arrests

Earlier this year, three Jews were physically attacked by ten men in Leicester Square, which resulted in serious injuries. No bystanders helped and police only showed up after half an hour, after the perpetrators had fled the scene.

One of the suspects involved in the alleged assault has now been arrested.

We are continuing to assist the victims during this time.

There are still more arrests to be made. If anyone has any further information, they should contact the Metropolitan Police.

On Monday evening, protesters were seen walking down Upper Street in Angel, London, chanting, “from London to Gaza, long live the intifada.”

An arrest was made shortly after a member of the public informed the police. We commend the Met for its swift action in this incident.

An individual believed to be involved with a violent attack in December has also been arrested.

The alleged assault was on a group of Jewish people in North West London on the bridge between Chalk Farm and Primrose Hill.

The group of five were putting up posters showing the faces of people taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. One of the members was an identifiably Jewish woman who wore a Star of David.

If you have any further information, please inform the Metropolitan Police.

Whilst the news of these arrests is welcome, prosecutions are few and far between, and the events of this week show serious weaknesses in our democracy. This is extremely alarming. We will continue to expose where our institutions fail to protect us from anti-Jewish hatred. We must demand better.

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What is happening to our democracy?

On Wednesday, as MPs gathered in Parliament to vote, antisemitic genocidal language was projected onto Big Ben, the symbol of our democracy and often of our nation. Inside Parliament, the Speaker of the House of Commons broke with convention over a ceasefire vote, apparently due to threats against MPs.

Today, the Prime Minister described the intimidation as “toxic for our society and our politics”.

Ben Jamal, Director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, encouraged thousands of protestors to “ramp up pressure on MPs” and flood into Parliament “so that they would have to lock the doors of Parliament itself”.

Then, on Saturday, they shut down Tower Bridge.

When will this count as sufficient “disruption to the life of the community” for Sir Mark Rowley to invoke his powers to ban this?

These scenes come just after Mike Freer, an MP for one of the most heavily-Jewish constituencies, decided to quit politics due, in no small part, to antisemitism and violence directed at him and his office.

We are offering free legal representation to MPs who have been subjected to antisemitic threats or intimidation, including obtaining court orders to unmask the authors of anonymous comments made online.

If our laws are now being made through the medium of threat and violence, our democracy itself is under attack, and those responsible for safeguarding it are in dereliction of their duty.

We have been raising the issue on television, radio, newspapers and social media, making clear our views on this important national debate. The events of this week must serve as a wake-up call.

Wiley Stripped of MBE

The Honours Forfeiture Committee has announced that is that it has stripped the antisemitic grime rapper Richard Kylea Cowie, known as Wiley, of his MBE, following calls to do so by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

In 2020, we wrote to the Honours Forfeiture Committee, which confirmed that, on our recommendation, it had opened a case against the artist, with a view to stripping Wiley of his honour, which he received in 2018. The case was opened following his antisemitic tirade in 2020.

It has taken nearly four years of perserverance and we have worked tirelessly to ensure that Wiley faces the full consequences of his unhinged antisemitic tirade.

Antisemitism has no place in the arts, and antisemites should not hold honours. We commend the Honours Forfeiture Committee for using its powers to hold Wiley to account. In doing so, it is declaring that anti-Jewish racists cannot be role models in our society.

This decision sets a precedent, which we hope will encourage more stringent scrutiny of individuals who are awarded our nation’s highest honours.

We continue to pursue legal action in relation to Wiley.

Home office contractor defaces Jewish birth certificate

A father received a copy of his six-month-old baby girl’s birth certificate back from the Home Office with his place of birth scribbled out and the paper torn. His place of birth was Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.

James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, swiftly responded to our call for an investigation, confirming that he has directed the Home Office to investigate and apologising on behalf of the Department.

It is understood that a major Home Office contractor, Sopra Steria, has suspended a number of staff members and is conducting an investigation.

This incident represents gross misconduct, and the company must remove the individuals responsible.

Throughout this ordeal, we have been supporting the family. The last thing any parent should have to worry about is their child’s birth certificate being vandalised just because their parent’s place of birth is the Jewish state.

Solicitor struck off and doctor who appeared on The Apprentice suspended

Farrukh Najeeb Husain, an immigration and employment solicitor, has been struck off.

A number of Mr Husain’s tweets were found to be antisemitic and offensive by a tribunal, following a case brought by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA).

The SRA claimed that Mr Husain’s conduct online was “offensive” and, in some cases, antisemitic. Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, gave expert witness testimony to assist the SRA in its case.

Meanwhile, Asif Munaf, a doctor who appeared on the current series of “The Apprentice” on the BBC has been suspended by the General Medical Council, following a complaint by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

His online rhetoric has included “slimy Zionist PR machine”, “odiously ogre-like Zionists”, “weaponising the Holocaust” and more.

These days, it seems that some people need reminding that supporting terrorist groups is a crime

Many of our supporters will be familiar with our digital vans, which we have previously used to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages held by Hamas.

This week, we decided to remind those who needed reminding that expressing support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which are proscribed terrorist organisations, is illegal under UK law.

After months of seeing expressions of support for these groups at weekly anti-Israel protests, we thought that we should make the message as plain and simple as possible. When we drove past one of these protests outside the Houses of Parliament, our van was attacked. It seems that not everyone was happy to be reminded.

Extreme advice

This week, there have been red faces at both the Met and the Ministry of Justice over taking advice from people with extreme views.

The Met has had to cut ties with Mohammed Kozbar, a member of an advisory body which helps to “shape police policy” over a year after an official extremism report found that he had described the founder of Hamas as “the master of the martyrs of resistance”.

We are enquiring quite how it took the Met so long to act, and what input the individual had on police policy, especially since the surge in antisemitic crime in the UK since 7th October.

Over at the Ministry of Justice, it turns out that for “World Hijab Day”, they invited Shreen Mahmood to speak. Her social media posts included saying that “Jews need to get in the queue behind Muslims” when a Jewish man complained about antisemitism, and reposting another account which had said n the wake of 7th October that Palestinians had “every right to defend” themselves, well before Israel had responded militarily to the mass rapes, murders and hostage-taking.

When exposed, she explained that Palestinians have the right to “struggle…by all available means” and that she would not want to “upset my valued brothers and sisters from the Jewish community”.

The Ministry of Justice plays an integral part of ensuring that the rule of law is maintained in our democracy, so why is it hosting someone who posted such views? We are writing to the Ministry to demand an investigation into how this was allowed to happen.

The events of this week have been extremely concerning for the health of our democracy. They must be a wake up call for us all. We will continue to do everything we can to draw attention to the threats that the Jewish community – and our country – is facing.

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Discrimination against Jews is no laughing matter

Since last weekend, we have been assisting Jewish guests who were reportedly hounded out of the Soho Theatre in London after comedian Paul Currie allegedly led his audience in targeted chanting.

According to a statement provided to us by one Jewish attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, the incident occurred last Saturday during the one-hour “Shtoom” show, attended by over 100 people.

Towards the end of the performance, Mr Currie introduced two props – a Ukrainian flag and a Palestinian Authority flag – and urged everyone to stand and applaud, apparently in support of the causes with which those flags have become associated, creating discomfort among some attendees in relation to the Palestinian Authority flag.

“When we all sat down again, [Mr Currie] looked towards a young man sitting in the second row and said ‘You didn’t stand, why? Didn’t you enjoy my show?’,” recounted the attendee. “The young man, who we discovered soon after was Israeli, replied ‘I enjoyed your show until you brought out the Palestinian Authority flag.’”

According to the attendee, the comedian then yelled at the young man: “Get out of my show. Get the f*** out of here. F*** off, get the f*** out of here.” This instantaneously escalated into the audience shouting “Get out” and “Free Palestine” until the young man left.

We publicised the story and worked with the victims to secure national media coverage of the incident. We are also dealing with the theatre, which has engaged with us positively and swiftly and issued an apology. It has banned Mr Currie, who has also reportedly been dropped by two Australian venues so far as well.

Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but hounding Jews out of theatres is reminiscent of humanity’s darkest days, and must have no place in central London in 2024. We are working with the victims and our lawyers to ensure that those who instigated and enabled it are held to account.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any further information is asked to contact us in confidence on +44 (0)330 822 0321 (option 2) or at [email protected].

In Rochdale, Labour gets it wrong before getting it right

The Labour Party’s candidate in the Rochdale by-election, Azhar Ali, was revealed to have suggested that Israel may have enabled the 7th October Hamas massacre in order to justify an incursion into Gaza. He was recorded making the remarks in a meeting in late October 2023.

But even as it became clear that this man, who had effectively propagated a blood libel, does not belong in a major political party, let alone in Parliament, the Labour Party, incredibly, continued to back his candidacy after a quick apology, wheeling out numerous figures to defend him.

It was then revealed that, at the same meeting, he blamed Labour’s suspension of Andy McDonald MP on “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters”. Labour then dropped its support for him.

It then emerged that Graham Jones, a former Labour MP who is also seeking a return to the Commons, was also recorded at the same meeting apparently making reference to “f***ing Israel” and saying (wrongly) that it is illegal for British Jews to join fighting against Hamas terrorists and that those who do so “should be locked up”. Labour immediately suspended him.

Sir Keir Starmer blotted an otherwise fairly admirable copy book by delaying the withdrawal of support from Mr Ali. Rather than appearing as a principled decision, it ended up looking as expedient as the failed attempt to defend him in the first place. However, in the case of Mr Jones, Labour did the right thing, and did it swiftly.

Now, Labour must reveal which other MPs, candidates and councillors were at that same October meeting and why they said nothing about the remarks that were made, and indeed if more such remarks were made. Labour must continue to put a line in the sand and declare that it will not tolerate extremist views. It is the least that we should be able to expect from all our political parties.

Throughout the week, as more and more revelations emerged, we led the media commentary, appearing in every major newspaper and on all the major radio and television broadcasters.

The Conservatives this week expelled the Mayor of Salisbury following reportedly “offensive and inappropriate comments” about Jewish people.

It is disappointing to see so many of these cases in our politics, but we commend parties for acting swiftly when they arise.

Police ask man hide Jewishness in Edinburgh

In Edinburgh, we are working with a Jewish man who was urged by police to hide his Star of David due to the proximity of an anti-Israel protest, to avoid “triggering” the protesters. The police officer was clearly worried that he and his colleagues were heavily outnumbered and that these protesters could pose a threat to Jews, but his response was effectively to stop a passing Jewish man and ask him to hide his identity before continuing on his way.

Watch the video, and ask yourself whose rights are actually being protected here, those of law-abiding people or those of mobs of extremists who might be “triggered” by people being Jewish in public?

The police have apologised to the individual, but an apology somewhat misses the point. If the officer believed that there was a potential threat to this Jewish individual, he should have focused on the threat.

What if arrests are made, but the courts fail us?

Our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit collected evidence from a protest outside Downing Street this week, in which antisemitic signs were on display.

The police acted in response to one of the pictures that we posted, announcing that they had arrested a woman on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.

However, an arrest is only the first stage in the criminal justice system. There must also be prosecutions and then trials in court, with appropriate sentences for those who are convicted.

On that score, the system has failed us this week.

You may recall that, in one of the first major anti-Israel protests in the wake of 7th October, three women were seen displaying images of a paraglider, a symbol that had come to be associated with the Hamas attack. They were identified and arrested, and have been convicted of terrorism offences.

However, Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram “decided not to punish” the trio. The court thereby sent the worst possible signal to the Jewish community at a time of surging antisemitism.

We then shared fresh evidence with the media that may suggest possible bias on the Judge’s part. We shared this with the media, and have written to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. A full and proper investigation must follow. The Jewish community deserves to be able to trust our legal system to act impartially and with zero-tolerance enforcement of the law.

This weekend’s anti-Israel march

We are continuing to monitor the weekly anti-Israel protests. This week, we publicised concerns from local Jewish community leaders in central London about the route and persistence of these marches. The Met Police tried to ensure that the marches would start at 13:30 on Saturday after synagogue services had finished, but the protesters gathered at midday anyway. The police bolstered security outside synagogues in the area and we have heard from parents who were afraid to walk home with their children.

Not only are the organisers of these marches refusing to respect local communities and the police, but neither are the protesters. Met Police officers who, rightly, were arresting a woman holding a sign that read “Long Live the Intifada” were confronted by angry demonstrators chanting “Shame on you”. The reason that these protests are so hard to police is because it is not just the overt criminals who cause disruption, but it is the criminals who walk alongside them and attack the police when they move in. This means dozens of police — who are considerably outnumbered to begin with — are required to effect one arrest.

Sir Mark Rowley has accepted that there is a threat to synagogues and Jewish people but has still not banned the marches or placed meaningful restrictions on them. He has sent 1,500 officers to police tens of thousands of people and they are getting beaten up doing their jobs.

For shame.

The above is just a sample of our work over the past week. We have also written to the University of Leeds over a spate of incidents in and around its campus; we have called out the BBC over a contestant on “The Apprentice” with a history of inflammatory rhetoric about Jews and offered assistance to BBC employees who are reportedly frightened at work; we are referring the General Medical Council to the Professional Standards Authority over a pitiful sanction for a doctor who has been found to be “quite comfortable with using discriminatory language” about Jews; we are assisting a Jewish nightclub owner in East London who has been forced to step down as a director following threats against him and his family; and more.

We are fighting antisemitism on every front – on the streets and on campuses, on television and in politics, in business and online, in our regulated professions and in our cultural institutions – and we are fighting it nationwide. We are only able to do so with your continued support.

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Social media activity of Judge in paraglider case suggests possible bias

The social media activity of the judge in case of three women who displayed images of a paraglider in an anti-Israel protest may suggests possible bias.

Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, were given twelve-month conditional discharges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday after being convicted of terrorism offences.

Ms Alhayek and Ms Ankunda attached images of paragliders to their backs; Ms Olayinka attached such an image to the handle of a placard.

They were arrested and charged with carrying or displaying an article to arouse reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of the proscribed antisemitic genocidal terrorist organisation, Hamas.

Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram reportedly said that there was nothing to suggest the group were supporters of Hamas, but, he added, “seven days earlier, Hamas went into Israel with what was described by the media as paragliders. A reasonable person would have seen and read that. I do not find a reasonable person would interpret the image merely as a symbol of freedom. You’ve not hidden the fact you were carrying these images. You crossed the line, but it would have been fair to say that emotions ran very high on this issue. Your lesson has been well learnt. I do not find you were seeking to show any support for Hamas.” He concluded that he had “decided not to punish” the trio.

Campaign Against Antisemitism can reveal that Judge Ikram’s social media activity may suggest bias (see picture below), and we are exploring legal options.

We are also looking at submitting a complaint to the Bar Standards Board in relation to barrister and political candidate Sham Uddin, over his social media output.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram’s social media activity suggests to us that there may be grounds to set aside his ruling in the case in which he decided ‘not to punish’ three women found guilty of terrorism offences, on the basis of actual or apparent bias. We are sharing our findings with the Crown Prosecution Service, which may wish to appeal the verdict, and we are considering various legal options. We are also submitting a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.”

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Three women who displayed paraglider images at anti-Israel protest have been convicted of terrorism offences

Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, have been given twelve-month conditional discharges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today after being convicted of terrorism offences.

Ms Alhayek and Ms Ankunda attached images of paragliders to their backs; Ms Olayinka attached such an image to the handle of a placard.

They were arrested and charged with carrying or displaying an article to arouse reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of the proscribed antisemitic genocidal terrorist organisation, Hamas.

Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram reportedly said that there was nothing to suggest the group were supporters of Hamas, but, he added, “seven days earlier, Hamas went into Israel with what was described by the media as paragliders. A reasonable person would have seen and read that. I do not find a reasonable person would interpret the image merely as a symbol of freedom. You’ve not hidden the fact you were carrying these images. You crossed the line, but it would have been fair to say that emotions ran very high on this issue. Your lesson has been well learnt. I do not find you were seeking to show any support for Hamas.” He concluded that he had “decided not to punish” the trio.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is right that these three women, who displayed an image of a paraglider – a symbol that immediately came to be associated with the Hamas attack of 7th October – at an anti-Israel protest, have been convicted of terrorism offences. What is inexplicable is that Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram has seen fit ‘not to punish’ them. The court has thereby sent the worst possible signal to the Jewish community at a time of surging antisemitism and glorification of terror, and we fully expect the CPS to now bring an appeal against this unduly lenient sentence.”

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UK government rebuked anti-Israel protesters with new laws

This week, James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, announced several proposed amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill, in a clear and targeted rebuke to anti-Israel marchers deliberately causing disruption in London and around the country and outraging the public over behaviour at war memorials and launching fireworks at police.

Mr Cleverly has proposed the following changes to the Criminal Justice Bill:

  • Creating a new offence of desecrating a war memorial punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment and a fine of up to £1,000;
  • Creating a new offence which would make it illegal for someone to have a pyrotechnic article in their possession during a procession or assembly. Offenders could receive a fine of up to £1,000;
  • Providing the police with new powers to arrest protesters wearing face coverings to conceal their identity. Offenders could receive a fine of up to £1,000 and a month in prison;
  • Modifying the reasonable excuse defence that is currently available concerning certain public order offences to prevent a minority of protesters from deliberately causing serious disruption while exploiting defences relating to the right to protest. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit has for months observed protesters causing severe disruption to the public during their weekly anti-Israel demonstrations, including launching fireworks at police officers; desecrating war memorials; and preventing members of the public from travelling.

A further effect of these weekly protests is that a staggering 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there.

With protesters using rhetoric like, “Zionists are like Nazis, and if that’s antisemitic then f*** it. I don’t care” in last week’s protests, that sentiment is not surprising.

You can watch interviews, captured by our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit and Communications team, here.

For months now, we have been asking for tougher restrictions to be placed on these protests, which have made our urban centres no-go zones for Jews. While the police have failed the Jewish community and law-abiding Londoners, the Government, to its credit, is listening.

These new laws will help address the mob mentality that we have observed in these protests. There is no justification for such scenes, and now, there will be no legal defence.

The people of this country expect the lawlessness on our streets to be brought firmly under control, and with these changes there are now even fewer excuses for police inaction.

The Prime Minister recently explained how the weekly protests prompted the Government to act.

What is happening on British campuses?

In the past week, Jewish students at Birmingham had to face signs reading “Zionists off our campus”.

Our most recent polling shows that only 6% of Jews do not consider themselves to be Zionists. The University of Birmingham claims that it offers a “welcoming and supportive environment”. It doesn’t look that way.

At the University of Leeds, the synagogue and Hillel Jewish student centre was vandalised with graffiti reading “IDF off campus” and “Free Palestine”, and there are reports that the Jewish chaplain has received death threats.

Less than a day later, students on the same campus voiced support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen at an anti-Israel protest. The motto of the Houthis is: “Allah is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, victory to Islam.”

When support for an organisation that openly parades its antisemitism goes unchallenged on a university campus, what message is this sending to its Jewish students? What message does it send when they chant “There are many, many more of us than you”?

This is not some sort of social justice movement. It is an attempt by thugs to intimidate Jews and drive them out of our universities. The reaction of the universities must be swift and severe.

What does the David Miller judgment mean?

The Bristol Employment Tribunal has published its judgment in the case of the University of Bristol’s termination of Prof. David Miller.

David Miller, a disgraced academic obsessed with anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, was fired by the University of Bristol in 2021 following a Jewish communal outcry and one month after Campaign Against Antisemitism commenced a lawsuit on behalf of students against the institution.

Prof. Miller has a long record of inflammatory statements about the Jewish community. He now regularly appears on the Iranian state propaganda channel, Press TV.

Prof. Miller later sued the University, and the Bristol Employment Tribunal has now handed down its judgment.

Until this case, the exact reasons for Prof. Miller’s sacking by the University of Bristol were kept from the public. It is now clear that, despite its adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism, Bristol’s failure to recognise that Prof. Miller’s comments constituted antisemitism, as well as its failure to consider some of his most egregious comments, opened the way for this judgment.

But even so, the tribunal found that Prof. Miller’s misconduct was “extraordinary and ill-judged” and deserving of disciplinary action, albeit that it did not warrant dismissal. He was found to be “culpable and blameworthy”, and, if he had been fired for the right reasons, the result at the tribunal may have been different.

Importantly, the tribunal drastically slashed Prof. Miller’s compensation, including due to his behaviour since being dismissed, which the tribunal found led to a ‘realistic chance that the claimant would have been dismissed’ anyway.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is deeply concerned by the way in which the University of Bristol has handled this matter over the course of years. We hope and expect that Bristol will appeal this decision. We are considering the matter with our lawyers.

To understand better what this judgment does and does not mean, watch this explainer here.

In the wake of the judgment, Kemi Badenoch, the Trade Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, told the House of Commons: “It is important to underline that this ruling does not change the fact that, while academics have the right to express views, they cannot behave in a way that amounts to harassment of Jewish students. Disguising this as discourse about Israel would be no more lawful than any other form of antisemitism.”

British universities cannot become places where students or academics attempt to intimidate Jews and drive them off campus. We will continue to do whatever it takes to stop that from happening and hold the thugs accountable.

If you are a student, academic, member of staff or chaplain at a university — or you know somebody who is and needs assistance — please contact us at [email protected].

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In rebuke to anti-Israel marchers, Home Secretary proposes criminalising desecration of war memorials and taking pyrotechnics to protests

Today, James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, has announced several proposed amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill, in a clear and targeted rebuke to anti-Israel marchers deliberately causing disruption in London and outraging the public over behaviour at war memorials and launching fireworks at police.

Mr Cleverly has proposed the following changes to the Criminal Justice Bill:

  • Creating a new offence of desecrating a war memorial punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment and a fine of up to £1,000;
  • Creating a new offence which would make it illegal for someone to have a pyrotechnic article in their possession during a procession or assembly. Offenders could receive a fine of up to £1,000;
  • Providing the police with new powers to arrest protesters wearing face coverings to conceal their identity. Offenders could receive a fine of up to £1,000 and a month in prison;
  • Modifying the reasonable excuse defence that is currently available concerning certain public order offences to prevent a minority of protesters from deliberately causing serious disruption while exploiting defences relating to the right to protest. 

Our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit has for months observed protesters causing severe disruption to the public during their weekly anti-Israel demonstrations, including launching fireworks at police officers; desecrating war memorials; and preventing members of the public from travelling.

A further effect of these weekly protests is that a staggering 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there. Our urban centres have become no-go zones for Jews.

In December, Campaign Against Antisemitism gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee regarding the policing of protests. During the hearing, Chief Executive Gideon Falter pointed out that there is no freedom to intimidate others, glorify terrorism or commit acts of hatred under the law, and contrasted how police at the March Against Antisemitism in November were there to protect marchers from criminality, whereas at the weekly anti-Israel marches they are there to protect the public from criminals among the marchers.

James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, said: “Recent protests have seen a small minority dedicated to causing damage and intimidating the law-abiding majority. The right to protest is paramount in our county, but taking flares to marches to cause damage and disruption is not protest, it is dangerous. That is why we are giving police the powers to prevent any of this criminality on our streets.”

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Public Order, Chief Constable BJ Harrington, said: “We welcome the proposal to create new offences relating to war memorials and flares, as well as making it clear that covering your face at a protest to conceal identity is not acceptable.

“These changes are in-line with conversations that we have had with the Home Office to ensure that we have the powers that we need to get balance right between the rights of those who wish to protest, and those impacted by them.

“Thankfully, the use of flares and pyrotechnics at public order events is rare, but they are still extremely dangerous. Safety is our number one concern when policing these events, and the effective banning of these items during protests can only help in our mission to ensure that they take place without anyone coming to any harm.

“As with all policing powers, these new powers will be used when appropriate, proportionate, and necessary to achieve policing objectives. Policing is not anti-protest, but there is a difference between protest and criminal activism, and we are committed to responding quickly and effectively to activists who deliberately disrupt people’s lives with reckless and criminal acts.”

Andy Marsch, Chief Constable at the College of Policing, said: “I welcome the new offences this legislation will provide the officers who are policing protests and working hard, in complex environments, to keep people safe.

“The safety of both those protesting and others nearby trying to go about their business is the top priority and our training and guidance focuses on balancing the rights of those protesting with the rights of those affected. The new legislation is now clear that protest is not an excuse for serious disruption.

“As with previous changes the College of Policing will work quickly to provide practical advice, training and support for policing to utilise these new powers.”

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “For months now, we have been asking for tougher restrictions to be placed on these protests, which have made our urban centres no-go zones for Jews. While the police have failed the Jewish community and law-abiding Londoners, the Government, to its credit, is listening. These new laws will help address the mob mentality that we have observed in these protests, including the use of fireworks against police officers, desecration of war memorials and severe disruption to travel. There is no justification for such scenes, and now, there will be no legal defence. The people of this country expect the lawlessness on our streets to be brought firmly under control, and with these changes there are now even fewer excuses for police inaction.”

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Enough, it turns out, is not in fact enough

After weeks of resisting calls to impose restrictions on the weekly anti-Israel marches coursing through London, this week the Metropolitan Police Service finally agreed that enough is enough, and ordered protesters not to pass through Whitehall.

Then, under pressure, the Met reversed its decision, deciding that enough is not, in fact, enough, and that the protesters could march down Whitehall after all.

So, among the other rhetoric and signage, a flag, popular with Islamists, once again passed through the UK’s seat of government.

This is a humiliation for the Met and its Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, and serves as a reminder to the rest of us just how far our top police officers are willing to go to appease the mob.

To understand better the powers available to the Commissioner of the Met, the Mayor of London and the Home Secretary, watch this video here.

For one MP, enough is enough

The news this week that a senior MP and Government Minister is stepping down out of fear marks a dark time for democracy and the rule of law in Britain.

While the motivation behind the recent arson attack on Mike Freer’s constituency office is not yet clear, what is known is that the MP, who represents one of the country’s largest Jewish communities, has long been violently targeted by Islamist radicals and other extremists over his views on matters of Jewish interest, so much so that he has now announced his retirement, observing that “there is an underlying antisemitic part of the attacks.”

Regardless of political views, it should be deeply alarming to all people who care about our democracy that such fears are not only valid but can reach the point of driving elected MPs like Mr Freer out of public service.

We wish to thank Mr Freer for his longstanding and continuing support for the Jewish community, the fight against antisemitism, and Campaign Against Antisemitism, of which he has served as an Honorary Patron.

Alleged knife attack in Golders Green

Mike Freer’s announcement came just days after an alleged knife attack in his constituency.

On Monday, brave staff members of a kosher supermarket in Golders Green defended themselves against a man said to be wielding a knife in an alleged antisemitic incident.

We spoke with a member of staff involved, who told us that the suspect – appearing from footage to be a male dressed in a grey hoodie and grey tracksuit bottoms – entered the shop demanding to know the staff’s feelings on what was happening “in Palestine”.

One staff member refused to engage, explaining that he did not wish to discuss politics. He and another staff member then escorted the suspect out of the shop.

The suspect, shortly after, allegedly attempted to grab at one of the staff members’ neck. Defending himself with Krav Maga moves he remembered learning as a youth, the staff member tried to restrain him before hearing people around him yell “knife, knife”.

At this point, the staff member quickly backed away, and the suspect began moving towards him.

Thinking quickly, he grabbed a nearby shopping trolley, pushing it into the body of the suspect in order to create distance.

The staff member told us that he retreated into the shop, where the suspect then followed, before leaving and making his way across the road into a building.

He is alleged to have then left that building approximately five minutes later in a change of clothes, apparently wearing traditional Muslim garb, and began walking up the road.

One of the staff members then ran ahead of him so that he could view his face to confirm that this was the same man from minutes earlier.

Shortly thereafter, the suspect was apprehended by Shomrim North West London and the Metropolitan Police, and arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage and racially-aggravated affray.

He was then taken into custody, and has been charged.

We are continuing to support the victims and follow the matter closely.

Roger Waters dropped by record label following CAA exposé

It has been revealed that the music rights company BMG dropped the controversial rockstar Roger Waters shortly after we published our exposé on the musician, where we revealed that Mr Waters wanted to put “Dirty k***” on an inflatable pig and impersonated a Holocaust victim, among other allegations.

The decision, taken by BMG in the closing months of last year, was not accompanied by an explanation at the time.

The company, which is based in Germany, signed a publishing agreement with Mr Waters in 2016 and was scheduled to release a newly recorded version of Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon last year, but withdrew and the re-recording was instead released by the UK-based record label Cooking Vinyl.

The split is reported to be unusual for a major publishing deal, and comes as Mr Waters’ reputation is in tatters following the release of our documentary. You can watch the film here.

The full documentary can be viewed at antisemitism.org/rogerwaters.

Vincent Reynouard to be extradited to France after action by CAA

Vincent Reynouard, a French Holocaust-denier, will be extradited from the UK after his application for leave to appeal was rejected.

Mr Reynouard, 54, a convicted Holocaust-denier, was awaiting a decision on his appeal after a court in Scotland granted an extradition request from France. Mr Reynouard was a fugitive in the UK who was caught following appeals from Campaign Against Antisemitism and our Honorary Patron, Lord Austin.

Mr Reynouard is a despicable Holocaust-denier who has repeatedly been convicted by French courts. For him to have evaded justice, only to settle in the UK as a private tutor teaching children, is intolerable, which is why we worked with French Jewish organisations to secure his extradition so that he faces the consequences of his abhorrent incitement.

We are delighted that those efforts have borne fruit, with the court granting the request to extradite Mr Reynouard and refusing his application for permission to appeal, so that he can face justice in France. This is not only the right judgement for the Jewish community, but also for the justice system. The UK cannot become a haven for those seeking to evade justice elsewhere. For antisemites in particular, the message is clear: you are not welcome in Britain.

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What Holocaust Memorial Day Is, And What It Is Not

Around the world, International Holocaust Memorial Day was marked with dignity and respect. But not everywhere.

Some, like Labour MP Kate Osamor, used the occasion to imply in a message to constituents that what is happening in Gaza is comparable to the Holocaust and, by strong implication, that Israel acts like the Nazis, a breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Her apology rang hollow, as if she was unaware of the meaning of her own remarks. Clearly, her understanding of antisemitism is deficient and not in accordance with that of her Party, which has adopted the Definition.

We have called on the Labour Party to suspend her, and she must be required to undertake antisemitism training by a reputable provider.

Meanwhile, at anti-Israel demonstrations in the UK, protesters desecrated the solemnity of the day, not only by equating Israel to Nazis as well, but also in providing a masterclass in how a phenomenon like Holocaust-denial begins, as they cast doubt on, played down or outright denied the Hamas atrocities of 7th October.

Leicester Square attack

Not only are the police failing to police the weekly anti-Israel demonstrations adequately, but they are also failing individual Jews under attack.

Last weekend, in the early hours of the morning, three Jews were physically assaulted by ten men in Leicester Square, resulting in serious injuries. Incredibly, not a single bystanders assisted.

Although the victims called the police while the attack was underway, and notwithstanding that it was taking place in the heart of London, police officers only showed up after half an hour, by which time the perpetrators had fled the scene.

The Metropolitan Police must identify and arrest the attackers. The victims are also calling on the police to apologise for failing them when they needed them most.

Watch the victims speak out here.

“Generation hate”: frightening new polling published

Campaign Against Antisemitism commissioned King’s College London to survey British adults’ attitudes towards Jews, using YouGov.

The polling has revealed worrying levels of anti-Jewish prejudice among the British public, with particularly frightening rates among young people aged between 18 and 24.

Published in the week of Holocaust Memorial Day, the polling raises serious questions about whether lessons about the antisemitism that motivated the Nazis have really been learned by British young adults.

  • A quarter of British people over 64 believe that Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews. Among 18-24 year olds, it is over a third.
  • Almost one fifth of the British public believes that Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media. Among 18-24 year olds, it is more than a quarter.
  • Compared to the general population (one in twenty), double the proportion of 18-24s (almost one in ten) do not believe that Jewish people are just as loyal to Britain as other British people.
  • Compared to the general population, more than double the proportion of 18-24 year olds are not as open to having Jewish friends as they are to having friends from other sections of British society.
  • While almost one fifth of the British public believes that Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on our democracy, that rises to over one quarter of 18-24 year olds.
  • 7% of Britons do not believe that Israel is right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it. That figure doubles to 14% of 18-24 year olds.
  • 14% of British people are not comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel. Among 18-24 year olds, that figure rises to 21% – more than one fifth of the young population.
  • More than one in ten young Britons do not believe that Israel has a right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people.
  • More than one in ten 18-24 year olds believe that Jewish people talk about the Holocaust just to further their political agenda.

Other findings from the survey:

  • More than one in ten British people believe that Jewish people chase money more than other people do.
  • Only three quarters of British people believe that Jewish people can be trusted just as much as other British people in business.
  • More than one in ten Britons believe that, compared to other groups, Jewish people have too much power in the media.

The rhetoric that we are seeing online, on television and on our streets is radicalising the British public, but it is the rates of antisemitism that we have discovered among 18-24 year olds that are most frightening. This is generation hate.

On the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day, our country needs an urgent rethink about how we teach about antisemitism. If young people cannot see the relationship between the genocidal antisemitism of the Nazis and the genocidal antisemitism of Hamas, and, as a society, we refuse to talk about how our attitudes towards Israel and its supporters are influenced by antisemitic prejudice, then we are clearly not talking about antisemitism properly.

Our education is failing the next generation, and our society is suffering as a result. It is British Jews who are paying the price.

The YouGov survey was designed and analysed by experts at KCL on behalf of Campaign Against Antisemitism. Total sample size was 2,084 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8th-11th December 2023 by YouGov plc. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). The full results, background information and methodology can be found here.

This weekend saw the memory of the Holocaust appropriated to abuse the Jewish community. What would the British soldiers who liberated the Nazi death camps make of Britain today?

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How do we remember the Holocaust?

This week we approach Holocaust Memorial Day, which marks the Allied liberation of Auschwitz and commemorates the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. But how should we remember the Holocaust – the event for which the term “genocide” was coined?

From graffiti in Glasgow to a library in Tower Hamlets, we are all seeing comparisons of Israel to Nazis everywhere, in a clear breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism. At yesterday’s weekly anti-Israel protest, leaflets were distributed in London purporting to explain the “Zionist Holocaust, backed by the West, aping Hitler.” Across the channel in the Hague, the Jewish state is being accused of implementing a genocide.

The brutality of the antisemitic genocidal terror group Hamas has quickly been forgotten, and reminders of its barbarism – such as pictures of baby Kfir, who this past week turned one year old in Hamas’s clutches – are torn from walls.

Evidently, the enemies of the Jewish people view the Holocaust and its legacy very differently from the rest of us. This week will be an opportunity to ask ourselves why we continue to remember the Holocaust, and what lessons it is supposed to teach.

If you are organising or attending a Holocaust Memorial Day event, make sure that the right lessons are being taught. If they are not, please let us know.

Manchester marches against antisemitism

Weekly anti-Israel rallies featuring antisemitic rhetoric and genocidal chanting have made our urban centres no-go zones for Jews. It is intolerable.

Today, Campaign Against Antisemitism was proud to join Jews and allies in Manchester to march against antisemitism!

“Filthy animals and Zionist control”

Our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit, together with our communications team, went out to a recent anti-Israel rally and asked protesters why they were demonstrating.

​Their repugnant responses were so voluminous that we couldn’t fit them all into one video. Here is Part One:

You can also watch Part Two and Part Three.

Are the police doing enough?

Sir Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, appeared on LBC to defend policing of the weekly anti-Israel protests. Challenged by a caller, he claimed: “We’re determined to do everything we can do within the law to create the frameworks around protest to make sure that we balance the rights of protesters with not having the centre of London as a place where people such as yourself are afraid to come into.”

Given that our polling shows that 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there, we question Sir Mark’s satisfaction that the right “balance” has been struck.

Pressed on whether his officers are being robust enough with demonstrators who hold antisemitic signs and presented with the claim that, when protestors shout the genocidal chant “From the River to the Sea”, his officers just stand and watch, he insisted: “That’s not true.”

​You can judge for yourself here.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been at the forefront of holding the Met to account, and we will continue to do so in the weeks to come.

Proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir

While the Met Police may not be listening, the Government showed that it is. This week, Home Secretary James Cleverly announced that the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is to be proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000.

When we discovered that Hizb ut-Tahrir had appeared to praise the Hamas attack of 7th October, we wrote to the Met to prevent the group from holding its demonstrations on the streets of London. The Met took no action and the rallies went ahead, in which there were calls for the armies of Muhammed to wage Jihad. Still, the Met refused to take action, making excuses to defend this rhetoric instead.

We therefore wrote to the Home Secretary calling for the controversial Islamist group to be proscribed.

​We commend the Home Secretary for this significant announcement. for which we have called over the past few weeks and with which, according to our polling, 90% of British Jews agree.

It is absolutely the right step, and shows that the Government is listening. The Met should take note.

This week, as we approach Holocaust Memorial Day, we must ensure that the right lessons are being learned. We owe it to the past, and we owe it to the present and the future.

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New year, same old hate – and where is the Mayor of London?

It may be a new year, but sadly what we are seeing on our streets is still the same old hate.

Last week, there was an illegal anti-Israel protest, which our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit captured on film, and during the week there were genocidal calls outside the Houses of Parliament. Yesterday, there was another large protest, which our volunteers also monitored.

But even as these demonstrations take place week after week, the Mayor of London has failed to speak out and take action. Perhaps Sadiq Khan did not want to provoke the ire of antisemites, as the Mayor of Bristol did when he expressed solidarity with the victims of Hamas terror.

But Mr Khan is also London’s equivalent of a police and crime commissioner. He is the elected official in charge of policing in our capital city at a time when 90% of British Jews say that they are feeling intimidated and bullied into staying out of city centres, according to our representative polling of the Jewish community.

This weekend, Campaign Against Antisemitism called on the Mayor finally to speak out against the marches on our streets that regularly feature antisemitism, glorification of terrorism and incitement to intifada.

The Mayor is not above criticism. After all, why is it that it is okay to criticise the Mayor over, say, knife crime but not okay to criticise him over antisemitic hate crime? Why do some people seem to think Jewish Londoners do not have a right to expect solidarity and action from their city’s mayor at a time of record antisemitism?

There seems to be a cynical double standard, which we do not accept. We will continue to hold politicians and police chiefs to account, without fear or favour.

100 days in captivity

Today, British Jews have gathered at Trafalgar Square to mark 100 days since the brutal Hamas terror attack.

Contrary to the claims of antisemites, Zionism and a strong connection to Israel are core to the identity of most British Jews. Over the winter break, we published polling that shows that a near-unanimous 97% of British Jews feel personally connected to events happening in Israel, and eight in ten British Jews consider themselves to be a Zionist. Only six percent do not. That is why so many turned out today.

For 100 days, the hostages taken by Hamas have been held in captivity by the terrorist organisation, in unimaginable conditions.

Among them is Kfir Bibas, who turns one year old this month.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is proud to join the call of the Jewish community and its allies to Bring Them Home!

Parliament acts

This week has seen a variety of welcome developments in the House of Commons:

  • The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill passed its third reading. Once it becomes law, it will ban public bodies from imposing their boycotts, divestment, or sanctions campaigns against foreign countries. Year after year, our polling has shown that an overwhelming majority of British Jews consider the tactics of the BDS campaign to be intimidatory.
  • MPs debated a proposal by Nickie Aiken MP relating to the contribution of British Jews to our country. Campaign Against Antisemitism provided a submission to all MPs in advance of the debate.
  • Andrew Percy MP raised the critical issue of antisemitism in schools. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed that “there is no place for antisemitism or the glorification of terrorism in Britain, especially not in our classrooms.”

Our volunteers also met with MPs this week, and our Policy Unit continues to engage with parliamentarians and the Government on a regular basis as part of our policy advocacy.

Wiley performance cancelled

You may recall that, in 2020, the rapper Richard Cowie, known as Wiley, published antisemitic and potentially criminal posts on social media. Numerous platforms suspended his accounts in response to the scandal.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to seek criminal prosecution against Mr Cowie in relation to these posts, which he published from abroad.

In the meantime, we have made every effort to prevent his hate from being normalised. This week, for example, we wrote to a venue that was due to feature him in a gig. Following our correspondence, he has been dropped from the lineup.

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Are these peace marches? We want to hear from you

This past week, all eyes were on the Home Affairs Select Committee, where the organisers of the weekly anti-Israel marches were grilled by MPs and antisemitism experts gave evidence before parliamentarians.

Notwithstanding the evidence gathered week after week by our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit, the organisers of the marches, including leaders of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Stop The War Coalition, insisted that these were peace marches, and that they not only “tolerate” the genocidal “From the River to the Sea” chant but actively chant it.

Are they really peace marches? Watch our video and decide for yourself.

After the organisers had their say, antisemitism experts had their turn answering the Committee’s questions.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, pointed out that there is no freedom to intimidate others, glorify terrorism or commit acts of hatred, and contrasted how police at the March Against Antisemitism were there to protect marchers from criminality, whereas at the anti-Israel marches they are there to protect the public from the criminals among the marchers.

This hearing was an opportunity to bring our polling results – your responses to our recent survey – to the attention of lawmakers. Thank you to the thousands of you who participated.

He also did not leave unchallenged Diane Abbott’s claim not to have seen any glorification of terrorism at these anti-Israel protests and her insistence that her Jewish constituents are unafraid to enter Central London during the demonstrations. (After we publicised her comments, members of the Stamford Hill Jewish community contacted us angrily to reject her assertions.)

Watch the exchange in the video.

Have you experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident?

We are looking to collect filmed testimonials from the Jewish community to capture how British Jews are coping at a time of surging antisemitism.

Please contact us so that we can get in touch about arranging filming.

Solidarity during Chanukah

During Chanukah, it is traditional to display the Chanukah lamp at the window, in order to publicise the miracles that were bestowed on the Jews of antiquity who successfully overcame their oppressors.

This year, particularly after last week’s march, that feeling of defiance is stronger than it has been in a while, and we anticipate that many of the Jewish community’s friends and allies will be looking for ways to continue to show solidarity against antisemitism.

We have created an image of a Chanukah lamp which you can print and place in your window during the eight-day festival, which begins this Thursday evening. We have also included a version that can be coloured in, in case you have children who would like to get involved!

We would love you to send us pictures of images of your Chanukah lamp or the picture of the lamp in your window, which we can share on social media.

“Acheinu” – “Our Brothers”

Campaign Against Antisemitism, in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Rabbi, is delighted to present Jonny Turgel’s “Acheinu”, an anthem for the National Solidarity March Against Antisemitism that took place in Central London on Sunday 26th November 2023.

We were thrilled to have the Chief Rabbi among the speakers at the National Solidarity March Against Antisemitism and to have such an accomplished chazan in Jonny Turgel to express the feelings of the crowd that day.

We are honoured to have worked with him and the Office of the Chief Rabbi to create this music video to immortalise that most extraordinary day and to be able to present it to the Jewish community and our many friends.

Please share the video widely. May it bring light to us all in this particularly dark period for the Jewish people and our wonderful allies.

Wishing our Jewish supporters a Happy Chanukah!

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CAA and the Office of the Chief Rabbi present Jonny Turgel’s “Acheinu”

Campaign Against Antisemitism, in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Rabbi Efraim Mirvis, is delighted to present Jonny Turgel’s “Acheinu”, an anthem for the National Solidarity March Against Antisemitism that took place in Central London on Sunday 26th November 2023.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We were thrilled to have the Chief Rabbi among the speakers at the National Solidarity March Against Antisemitism and to have such an accomplished chazan in Jonny Turgel to express the feelings of the crowd that day. We are honoured to have worked with him and the Office of the Chief Rabbi to create this music video to immortalise that most extraordinary day and to be able to present it to the Jewish community and our many friends.”

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As we approach Chanukah, this is how we fight antisemitism

As the dust settles following the 105,000-strong March Against Antisemitism of last week, the contrast could not be clearer between us, seeking to uphold our right to walk the streets proudly as Jews and allies in safety, and those whose fight makes our city centres no-go zones for Jews on a weekly basis.

During this season, as we approach Chanukah, we are particularly attuned to the fight against antisemitism, and how we can wage it in twenty-first-century Britain in accordance with our values. Last Sunday, we showed the country and the world how we do it: peaceably, with dignity and in good humour. We showed British values at their best – by being proud Jews and allies.

We have now uploaded a picture gallery of the march, as well as a video of all of the speeches in full.

We were privileged to speak to many of you who attended to ask why you felt it was so important to participate and the impact that being there had on you.

The march was peaceful. The march was unthreatening. The march was different from all other marches that London has hosted in recent weeks.

The contrast could not be clearer between those who fight against antisemitism and those whose fight makes our cities no-go zones for Jews.

Solidarity during Chanukah

During Chanukah, it is traditional to display the Chanukah lamp at the window, in order to publicise the miracles that were bestowed on the Jews of antiquity who successfully overcame their oppressors.

This year, particularly after last week’s march, that feeling of defiance is stronger than it has been in a while, and we anticipate that many of the Jewish community’s friends and allies will be looking for ways to continue to show solidarity against antisemitism.

For those interested, we have created an image of a Chanukah lamp which you can print and place in your window ahead of the eight-day festival, which begins this Thursday evening. We have also included a version that can be coloured in, in case you have children who would like to get involved!

We would love you to send us pictures of images of your Chanukah lamp or the picture of the lamp in your window, which we can share on social media. You can e-mail or Direct Message us on social media at the handle @antisemitism.

A solemn commemoration

140,000, 75,000, 135,000, 5,000, 38,000, 265,000, 30,000, 105,000, 63,000.

These are estimates of the number of Jews living, respectively, in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen in 1948.

Their numbers are now depleted to single digits in all but two of those countries, where they are a fraction of what they were. A similar pattern prevailed in other Muslim countries in the wider region as well.

This past week saw the annual Day to Mark the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from the Arab Countries and Iran. We remember the persecution and expulsion of these communities, and celebrate their immense contributions to the Jewish world and the countries that welcomed them.

The BBC

There were reports prior to the march that the BBC had either instructed employees not to attend or had referred those who asked whether they could attend to guidelines that seemed to discouraged attendance. Either way, it was very disappointing to see our national broadcaster not readily permit its staff to attend a march against racism. These reports served only to fuel suspicions among the community and much of the wider public about the Corporation’s impartiality.

We have offered free assistance to any BBC employee who is reprimanded or faces any consequences for having made a stand against racism by joining the march, including arranging legal support free of charge.

This is, of course, just the latest controversy relating to the BBC. Another has been its reticence to call Hamas “terrorists”.

If you have not yet signed our Parliamentary Petition, you can still do so. It calls for terrorism legislation to be amended to require all broadcasters regulated by Ofcom to describe all terrorist organisations proscribed in the UK and their operatives as “terrorists” and not by any other descriptor, which does not make their terrorist nature clear.

Unlike other petitions, if 10,000 people sign a Parliamentary Petition, the Government will issue a response, and if 100,000 people sign it, the topic will be considered for debate in Parliament. Please help us to right this wrong and urge lawmakers to act to ensure that television and radio audiences get the real facts in the news that they consume.

This year, Chanukah will carry more meaning than usual for many Jews. We wish our Jewish supporters a safe, joyous and defiant Chanukah. May it bring light in this particularly dark period for the Jewish people and our wonderful allies.

Image credit: Campaign Against Antisemitism/Stuart Mitchell

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The biggest gathering against antisemitism in a century

Week after week, London has become a no-go zone for Jews. Until Sunday, when 105,000 of you – British Jews and our allies from across the country – assembled to #MarchAgainstAntisemitism. It was the largest gathering against antisemitism in a century.

Even with the full page ads in all of the major national newspapers, extensive publicity in the Jewish press, a one-hour call in programme with our Chief Executive on LBC last Thursday, and significant additional coverage in newspapers and on television and radio, the turnout still exceeded all expectations.

We were honoured to be joined by the Chief Rabbi Sir Efraim Mirvis and rabbinical leaders from across the movements; former Prime Minister Boris Johnson; Ministers Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Halfon, Shadow Cabinet Minister Peter Kyle and numerous other MPs; peers including Lord Austin; actors Eddie Marsan, Dame Maureen Lipman, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Felicity Kendall; broadcasters Robert Rinder, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Vanessa Feltz and Trevor Phillips; historian Simon Sebag Montefiore; journalists Dan Hodges and Toby Young; the photographer and activist Laura Dodsworth; ambassadors and many more. Legions of public figures and social media influencers also attended and helped get the message out to millions, while our speakers expressed the demands of the moment and Israeli singer Rita and renowned cantor Jonny Turgel provided beautiful renditions of the national anthems and performed other songs.

The march was peaceful. The march was unthreatening. The march was different from all other marches that London has hosted in recent weeks.

So many of you have sent kind feedback and messages of thanks. But above all, your testimonials, some of which we shall be posting on our social media channels this week, have powerfully expressed the impact on you of weeks of surging antisemitism. There were a number of powerful testimonies from Jewish people on the march. Some revealed that they have not entered central London in almost two months, until Sunday, and felt relieved to be able to walk the streets of their capital city again. Others said how reassuring it was to finally be able to walk alongside so many other Jews and friends in safety. Others still related to us just how empowering it was to be a Jew, in open, once again, and how important it was to them to participate.

We wish to give particular thanks to those of you who travelled from far afield, some of you on coaches organised locally and others by public transport, sometimes leaving very early in the morning or staying overnight in hotels, because you rightly wanted your voice heard. Without you, this would not have been the truly national march that it had to be.

In addition, we are enormously grateful to those Jewish organisations and the non-Jewish groups that supported the march, which so many participants have told us was one of the most important Jewish events of their lifetimes. We could not have done it without that powerful coalition of organisations that stepped up when the Jewish community and its allies needed them.

We particularly wish to thank the Metropolitan Police Service for guarding the march, the CST for protecting us all with one of the largest ever deployments, and our many stewards who helped the march run so smoothly. Thank you for keeping us safe.

You can watch the full video of speeches here.

New Polling

We all felt that this march was essential. But now we can show empirically why it was so necessary. We can reveal to you the results of our survey of British Jews, which yielded the following alarming insights:

  • 69% of British Jews say that they are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism right now.
  • Almost half of British Jews have considered leaving the UK due to antisemitism, since 7th October.
  • More than six in ten British Jews have either personally experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident since 7th October or know somebody who has.
  • Only 16% of British Jews believe that the police treat antisemitic hate crime like other forms of hate crime, with two thirds believing that the police apply a double standard.
  • A staggering 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there. Our urban centres have become no-go zones for Jews.
  • A full 95% of British Jews believe that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should report statistics on prosecutions of antisemitic hate crimes.
  • 90% of the Jewish community believes that the British Government should proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir.

We will be discussing these extraordinary findings with relevant authorities.

Of our supporters more generally, 85% believe that the police do not treat antisemitic crime like other forms of hate crime, 97% agree that the CPS should report statistics on prosecutions of antisemitic hate crimes, and 92% believe that the British Government should proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir. (Unlike the survey of the Jewish community above, this supporters’ survey was not a representative poll.)

Thank you to everyone who participated in the surveys.

Last Saturday

Last Saturday may seem like an age ago, but it saw a very different type of march – the sort we have been seeing week after week. As ever, our Demonstration and Monitoring Unit was there. To see what they found, please watch the video.

Sunday’s march will not, on its own, stop the surge of antisemitism in its tracks. But because of you the voice of British Jews and our friends has been heard, and the march will amplify the impact of all of our work in the coming weeks, as we continue to do everything we can to hold the authorities to account and defend the Jewish community.

Image credit: Campaign Against Antisemitism/Stuart Mitchell

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Almost 70% of British Jews are hiding their identity and almost half have considered leaving Britain since 7th October, new CAA polling shows

New polling by Campaign Against Antisemitism has revealed a number of startling insights.

  • 69% of British Jews say that they are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism right now.
  • Almost half of British Jews have considered leaving the UK due to antisemitism, since 7th October.
  • More than six in ten British Jews have either personally experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident since 7th October or know somebody who has.
  • Only 16% of British Jews believe that the police treat antisemitic hate crime like other forms of hate crime, with two thirds believing that the police apply a double standard.
  • A staggering 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there. Our urban centres have become no-go zones for Jews.
  • A full 95% of British Jews believe that the Crown Prosecution Service should report statistics on prosecutions of antisemitic hate crimes.
  • 90% of the Jewish community believes that the British Government should proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir.
  • With regard to political parties, 62% of British Jews – almost two thirds – believe that the Labour Party is too tolerant of antisemitism among its MPs, MEPs, councillors, members and supporters. This is the lowest score for Labour in years, but still puts it firmly ahead of the next parties: the SNP (47%) and the Green Party (42%).
  • 86% of British Jews are not satisfied with the BBC’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas crisis. Only 4% are satisfied.
  • A near-unanimous 97% of British Jews feel personally connected to events happening in Israel.
  • Eight in ten British Jews consider themselves to be a Zionist. Only six percent do not.

Fieldwork was conducted between 12th and 17th November 2023. In total, 3,744 responses were obtained. The full results and methodology are provided below.

Full results

“Since 7th October 2023, I am less likely to show visible signs of my Judaism when I go out, for example a Star of David or a Jewish skullcap (kippah).”

  • Strongly Agree 40%
  • Agree 29%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 16%
  • Disagree 9%
  • Strongly Disagree 6%

“Since 7th October 2023, I have considered leaving the UK due to antisemitism.”

  • Strongly Agree 17%
  • Agree 31%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 18%
  • Disagree 20%
  • Strongly Disagree 14%

Have you or someone you know experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident since 7th October 2023

  • Yes 61%
  • No 39%

“Antisemitic hate crime is treated by the police in the same way as other forms of hate crime.”

  • Strongly Agree 5%
  • Agree 11%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 18%
  • Disagree 34%
  • Strongly Disagree 32%

“I would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there.”

  • Strongly Agree 74%
  • Agree 16%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 4%
  • Disagree 4%
  • Strongly Disagree 2%

“The Crown Prosecution Service should report statistics on prosecutions of antisemitic hate crimes.”

  • Strongly Agree 70%
  • Agree 25%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 4%
  • Disagree 1%
  • Strongly Disagree 0%

“The British Government should proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir.”

  • Strongly Agree 78%
  • Agree 12%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 9%
  • Disagree 0%
  • Strongly Disagree 0%

“Do you feel that any political parties are too tolerant of antisemitism among their MPs, MEPs, councillors, members and supporters? Please select all that apply.”

  • Conservative Party 14%
  • DUP 16%
  • Green Party 42%
  • Labour Party 62%
  • Liberal Democrats 32%
  • Plaid Cymru 21%
  • Reclaim Party 11%
  • Reform Party 12%
  • SNP 47%
  • Sinn Féin 32%
  • UKIP 16%
  • None 2%
  • Don’t know 26%

“Overall, I am satisfied with the BBC’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas crisis.”

  • Strongly Disagree 71%
  • Disagree 15%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 4%
  • Agree 3%
  • Strongly Agree 1%
  • I do not watch or listen to the BBC or read its website 6%

“I feel personally connected to events happening in Israel.”

  • Strongly Disagree 0%
  • Disagree 0%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 2%
  • Agree 19%
  • Strongly Agree 78%

“I consider myself to be a Zionist.”

  • Strongly Disagree 2%
  • Disagree 4%
  • Neither Agree nor Disagree 14%
  • Agree 23%
  • Strongly Agree 57%

Survey methodology

Our surveys of British Jews were modelled on the National Jewish Community Survey (NJCS) conducted by the Institute for Jewish Policy research. In common with the NJCS, the samples were self-selecting, and respondents were required to self-identify as Jewish and confirm that they lived in the United Kingdom. Like the NJCS, they were contacted primarily through ‘seed’ organisations, including religious bodies, Jewish online networks (including targeted advertising on social networks), and community welfare organisations, among others. In common with the NJCS, the seed organisations were used to initiate a ‘snowballing’ process which, in effect, created a non-probability convenience sample. It was not possible to use a random probability sampling approach for this study because a suitable sampling frame for the Jewish population is not available in the UK. Fieldwork was conducted between 12th and 17th November 2023. In total, 3,744 responses were obtained. As is the case with the NJCS, the number of unique respondents contacted cannot be determined due to the likely overlap between different ‘seed’ organisations’ supporter bases, thus we cannot estimate the survey response rate.

A key issue with an online survey is to ensure that respondents are not counted twice. To avoid this and other abuses that might affect the survey’s integrity, several measures were implemented. These included: carefully monitoring responses for unusual trends during the fieldwork phase, and assessing the completed dataset for the presence of extreme or unrealistic values (i.e. outlier diagnostics) and for the presence of unlikely combinations of values across variables (i.e. logical checks). Additionally, cookies were used to avoid respondents completing the survey more than once. Finally, respondents’ IP addresses were logged so that if a respondent deleted their cookies, multiple responses from the same IP address could still be identified. As a result, duplicate responses were kept to a minimum and ultimately, removed from the sample.

Our survey is modelled on best practice established by NJCS. All surveys have their shortcomings, and ours shares the shortcomings of NJCS. Even surveys that are based on probability sampling are typically affected by high levels of non- response. Surveys of populations lacking sampling frames, such as this one, are particularly challenging, as is establishing their representativeness. Nevertheless, because we have extremely high-quality baseline statistics available in the UK, it is possible to both accurately weight the data and make reasonable assumptions about where they may depart from the ‘true’ picture. In general, the survey samples reflect the diverse character of Jewish respondents in the UK across geographical, demographic and religious variables. Where the sample does depart from baseline characteristics, responses were weighted for location, gender, age and religious affiliation. Population estimates were based on responses to the 2021 Census in England and Wales and the 2022 Census in Scotland where that data is available, and otherwise on responses to the 2011 Census, and size estimates with regard to religious denominations were based on the NCJS 2013. The weights were calculated using random iterative method weighting by an external consultant.

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It Is Time For Our Voice To Be Heard. Please Join Us.

It is time for our voice to be heard. Please join us.

Week after week, London has become a no-go zone for Jews. But not only London. Rallies featuring antisemitic rhetoric have been held throughout the country over the past weeks, and this weekend the demonstrators doubled down on that strategy, launching micro rallies across the UK.

As you know, the police have refused to heed our calls to impose conditions on these weekly marches or ban them altogether, notwithstanding their obvious inability to police demonstrations that feature criminality on such a scale.

Our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit has helped to document and expose, week after the week, the hatred and glorification of terrorism at these rallies, including among the rank and file protesters.

Still, we believe that much of our country is with us, and next weekend it is time for us — the Jewish community and its allies — to finally have our voice heard.

That is why we are marching together in solidarity against antisemitism on Sunday 26th November, at 13:30 in central London.

Thousands of you have signed up already for updates about the route. If you have not yet done so, please register.

Among those friends backing the march are the stalwart allies of the Jewish community behind the October Declaration. We are proud to have friends like these, who are not afraid to call out antisemitism, speak up for the truth and love our country. You can read more about them, and sign the October Declaration on their website.

Meanwhile, this week has seen protests in London that target the MPs who make our laws. On Wednesday, Parliament was surrounded. Yesterday, they took the fight to MPs’ offices. Rule of law or mob rule? Watch and decide.

The hostages

Antisemitism in the UK is of course bound up with Hamas’ war on Israel, and we have been at the forefront of raising awareness in the UK about the plight of the Hamas’ hostages since the start of the war. You may recall that, last month, while failing to take action against demonstrators, the police nonetheless insisted on shutting down our van displaying the images of child hostages. Since then, we struggled to find other billboard van companies willing to work with us, for fear of police action.

So we bought our own van.

Thanks to generous donors, the images of the children are now back on our streets.

Although the police, along with demonstrators who hate to be reminded of the antisemitic evil of Hamas, have again attempted to shut the van down, this time we refused to acquiesce in the trampling of our rights, and we continued on our way. We will remember the hostages, and we will not be silenced. #BringThemHome

Broadcasters must call Hamas terrorists

We have all been appalled by the BBC’s refusal to call Hamas “terrorists”. And the BBC is not alone among broadcasters in, deliberately or otherwise, sanitising the terror group by having described Hamas’ murderous members by other descriptors, such as “militants”.

This weekend we are, therefore, launching a Parliamentary Petition calling for terrorism legislation to be amended to require all broadcasters regulated by Ofcom to describe all terrorist organisations proscribed in the UK and their operatives as “terrorists” and not by any other descriptor, which does not make their terrorist nature clear.

Unlike other petitions, if 10,000 people sign a Parliamentary Petition, the Government will issue a response, and if 100,000 people sign it, the topic will be considered for debate in Parliament. Please help us to right this wrong and urge lawmakers to act to ensure that television and radio audiences get the real facts in the news that they consume.

After suffering through weeks of hateful demonstrations that have taken over our capital and other cites across the country, it is time for our voice to be heard. Next weekend, please join us.



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Islamist extremists, the far-left and the far-right all at once: What a day to be a Jew in London

This weekend, some people in London honoured those who fought murderous antisemites in the past to protect our freedoms. Others paraded to glorify murderous antisemites in the present who want to kill all Jews and destroy the Jewish state.

Once again, the marches featured genocidal chants, Hamas headbands, antisemitic signs comparing Israel to Nazis and others caricaturing prominent minority politicians as coconuts, and the marchers who may not have engaged in these activities knowingly and readily marched alongside those who did. They are just as complicit.

We are also aware of Jewish families being targeted on their way out of synagogue and have received multiple reports of police having to escort congregants away in groups for their own safety.

Islamist extremists, the far-left, and the far-right were out on the streets, all on one day. What a day to be a Jew in London.

While we welcome the more significant number of arrests this week, the overall policing policy in relation to these demonstrations is woeful. This march should never have been allowed to go ahead, and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Sir Mark Rowley, yet again, has serious questions to answer.

The refusal of the Met to ban this march was not only a failing of its duty to law-abiding Londoners, including the Jewish community, but it was a disgrace to the heroes that we paused to remember.

The Met’s refusal was in spite of our calls, including on Newsnight and ITV, on the Met Commissioner and the Mayor of London, to ban the march under section 13 of the Public Order Act, and our urging of the Home Secretary to direct the Mayor of London to remedy the Met’s failures under section 40 of the Police Act. It also came despite evidence that we collected from last week’s march of open support for Hamas.

We need to hear from you

This weekend’s march – and the failure of the authorities to stand by the Jewish community – opens a new chapter in our campaign to defend British Jews. But now we need to hear from you.

We are running two surveys – one for Jewish people living in Britain, and another for all of our other supporters – which will help us in our dealings with Government, the police and media and will enable us to craft the right policies moving forward.

You can also tell us how these marches have impacted your life or routine by completing an Impact Statement.

We may contact you about the information that you give us and use it to make legal representations to the police in support of limiting or banning further demonstrations of this nature.

First-of-its-kind event with the BBC

Last Wednesday, courtesy of Campaign Against Antisemitism, two senior BBC executives addressed the Jewish community for the first time.

We are grateful to Rhodri Talfan Davies and David Jordan from the BBC’s executive team for joining us for this unprecedented event. It was the first time that BBC executives have spoken directly to the Jewish community.

The participation of over 300 of you ensured that the strong feelings of British Jewry regarding the BBC’s coverage were expressed, and that the BBC’s representatives were left in no doubt about the strength of that feeling.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been at the forefront of holding the BBC to account, not only over recent weeks but for the past several years since our inception, including rallies, projections and an ongoing legal complaint.

We believe that criticism and pressure are vital, and that they are complemented by a collaborative relationship. This event, in which senior BBC figures spoke with and heard directly from the community for the first time, was one of the fruits of that relationship.

This is a long process and faces many challenges, but it is essential if we are to pivot our national broadcaster to a fairer and more accurate representative of the issues that our community cares about.

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It is time for a ban, before the intifada comes here

Another weekend in which central London was turned into a no-go zone for Jews, with marchers happy to tell our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit that they support Hamas and with calls for a violent intifada ringing throughout the capital.

Past intifadas were campaigns of violence, including suicide bombings. We do not want one in London.

As we approach Remembrance weekend, where we remember the heroes who defended our freedoms and fought against antisemitic hatred, we must honour their memory by banning demonstrations that abuse those freedoms to call for violence against Jews.

We are therefore calling on Sir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, to use his powers under section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986 to ban next week’s march.

Section 13 powers allow the police to prohibit processions if other powers under the Act do no suffice to prevent serious public disorder. As we have seen over the past month, that threshold is now met.

Please take a moment to write to your MP in a few clicks to ask them to write to the Met Commissioner. Since these marches are billed as “national” marches, please write regardless of whether you live in a London constituency.

While some arrests are being made, the police are so outnumbered that they cannot ensure the safety of Londoners, in particular the Jewish community.

If you or your routine have been adversely affected by these marches, please let us know by completing this short form. It will help us to make legal representations to the police in support of limiting or banning further demonstrations of this nature.

Our legal team is processing hundreds of cases and making reports to the police, and our Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit is assisting in identifying suspects when the Met cannot. We will continue to do so, but this alone cannot stem the tide of criminality on our streets: it is time for a ban.

We continue to engage with the police, public bodies and political parties in a variety of ways:

  • More than 20,000 people have signed our petition calling on the police to reclaim our streets. You can join them by signing here: Sir Mark Rowley, give London back to Londoners. 
  • Leading lawyers, including 15 King’s Counsel, signed our open letter calling on the Met to impose restrictions on the weekly marchers.
  • We signed a letter to the Charity Commission calling for an immediate investigation into mosques with charitable status that have allowed sermons glorifying terrorism, inciting violence and propagating antisemitic tropes. We are also submitting specific complaints to the Commission.
  • Our Demonstrations and Monitoring Unit continues to capture evidence from anti-Israel protests across the country, including genocidal chanting outside Downing Street when the Prime Minister met with the US Vice President.
  • We have called for the proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir, and made reports of serious alleged offences to the police.
  • We have convened a letter from prominent figures to Sir Keir Starmer, urging him to direct unions affiliated to the Labour Party to end their association with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has organised many of these hate marches.
  • We have called out the double standards of football clubs prohibiting open support for Israel.
  • We continue to work with victims of antisemitism, including families at a North London school where “Kill the Jews” graffiti and a swastika were drawn in a toilet.
  • We spoke at a rally of thousands gathered in Parliament Square in support of the families of the hostages taken by Hamas, demanding with one voice: #BringThemHome.
  • We are making final preparations for a renewed campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages, after the police shut down our vans two weeks ago.

The intifada was a campaign of horrific violence that saw suicide bombings and brutal murder on a national scale. We cannot allow it to come here. The police must ban these marches now.

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Enough is enough: The police must act

Yesterday, for the third week in a row, central London was turned into a no-go zone. 100,000 people coursed through the centre of our capital. Last week they called for jihad, this week they called for a violent intifada, shouting “From London to Gaza we’ll have an intifada.”

Past intifadas were campaigns of violence, including suicide bombings. We do not want one in London. The law cannot be enforced in crowds as huge as the ones we are seeing. There is mass criminality on the streets of London.

That is why we are demanding that Sir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, uses his powers under section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 to bring this situation under control.

Section 12 powers allow the police to limit the size and duration of marches if they pose a serious risk. So far, Sir Mark has only opted to limit the route and the wearing of masks, but even that has not been enforced.

Londoners, including British Jews, are afraid to enter central London during these marches because there are people on the marches openly engaging in support for terrorism, extremist chanting, and incitement to religious hatred.

Police officers are outnumbered 100 to 1, and have even been hospitalised.

Sir Mark must use his section 12 powers to limit these marches to instead be static protests of no more than 20,000 people in a location such as Trafalgar Square, with sufficient police numbers to enforce the conditions without putting brave officers and Londoners in danger.

Enough is enough. Together we are calling on Sir Mark to make this the last week that masked extremists control our streets. Sign the petition now.

The situation is particularly severe because over the past three weeks, the Met has documented an unprecedented 1,350% surge in antisemitic hate crimes, and greeted it with lax policing, too few arrests, and excuses on social media — all to the incredulity of the Jewish community, the mainstream media and the Government.

As Jews, we are enormously grateful to the police for protecting our Jewish community and for keeping our cities safe. But over this recent period, our cities have felt less and less safe for Jews – and for many of our fellow citizens.

It adds insult to injury when the police take so little action against offenders spewing racist hate but still find the time to stop our digital vans from displaying the faces of children taken captive by Hamas, to raise awareness of their plight, from driving around London.

We therefore gathered on Wednesday outside New Scotland Yard to show the depth of feeling and call for the police to take action. Along with speakers including Lord Ian Austin, an Honorary Patron of CAA, the leader of Christian Action Against Antisemitism, and the Israeli author and activist Hen Mazzig, so many of you joined us and had your voice heard. We came as friends of the police, to ask the police to uphold the law. We need to see arrests, not excuses.

The next day, the Home Secretary chaired a meeting with us and other representatives of the Jewish community. Whilst we cannot reveal what was discussed, we can confirm that our focus remained on ensuring that arrests and prosecutions materialise, and that the Met use their section 12 powers.

Londoners cannot and will not tolerate a situation in which every weekend the streets become an exhibition of such extremism. The Met is creating the conditions in which not only London’s Jews but all Londoners could be placed in serious danger. Extremists rarely limit themselves to extreme language. We need action by the authorities responsible for keeping Britain safe.

The media

We continue to call out media outlets for their incorrect and inflammatory coverage, and we are among those at the forefront of the campaign to pressure the BBC to report accurately and impartially, including by calling Hamas what they are: terrorists. If you wish to join the tens of thousands who have signed the petition, please add your name.

It is time for the BBC to hear the strength of feeling directly from the Jewish community and to justify its appalling coverage. Courtesy of CAA, for the first time, a member of the BBC’s Executive Committee will be speaking at an open event for the Jewish community, and you are invited. To reserve tickets, please visit antisemitism.org/bbc.

Enough is enough: The police must act to defend the Jewish community against those who want to harm us, before it is too late.

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CAA rally tonight outside Scotland Yard calls on police to “Enforce the law” and “Make arrests, not excuses” as another “National March for Palestine” called for this weekend

The Metropolitan Police Service, like police forces across the country, has a responsibility to defend every community, including the Jewish community, which is all too familiar with the threats that face it.

What we have seen over the past two-and-a-half weeks, however, is an unprecedented 1,350% surge in antisemitic hate crimes met with relative inaction on the part of the police.

Too few arrests, lax policing, and excuses posted on social media for why certain chants and signs and phrases are not hate crimes — all to the incredulity of the Jewish community, the mainstream media and the Government.

As Jews, we are enormously grateful to the police for protecting our Jewish community and for keeping our cities safe. But over the past two weeks, our cities have felt less and less safe for Jews. It has hardly been reassuring to see such lax policing of demonstrations featuring genocidal chants, antisemitic signs, calls for Jihad against the Jewish state, and more. Given that a “March for Palestine” and other demonstrations are planned for this weekend and are likely to continue week after week, the Met must be seen to make urgent changes to its policing policy.

It adds insult to injury when the police take so little action against offenders on these marches but still find the time to stop our digital vans from displaying the faces of children taken captive by Hamas, to raise awareness of their plight, from driving around London.

Hundreds of Londoners of all faiths demonstrated this evening to show the depth of feeling.

Campaign Against Antisemitism Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, told the crowd: “Last Saturday saw an exhibition of Jew-hate as rarely seen before on the streets of London. Britain’s capital was effectively closed to Jewish people.” He further warned: “We cannot and will not endure weekly processions featuring terrorist sympathisers and antisemites through our streets. We are fortunate to live in a country with the freedom to demonstrate, but there are limits set by law and those laws must be enforced. The demands of an unlawful mob must not supersede the rights of law-abiding citizens.”

Lord Ian Austin, an Honorary Patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism, demanded that the forthcoming King’s speech be used to introduce new policing powers to strengthen the police response

The leader of Christian Action Against Antisemitism, Tim Gutmann, described his treatment by police as they repeatedly told him that he and his supporters would be in danger if they proceeded with two solidarity rallies for British Jews, leading to their cancellation

Israeli author and activist Hen Mazzig told the crowd: “My Israeli family asked if they should come to London for respite and safety after the terrorist atrocity, and I told them that I am not so sure that’s what they would find here.”

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “The volume of phone calls and messages coming into our service in the last two and a half weeks is unprecedented.”

In their speeches, the speakers covered:

• The sad fact that the Jewish community is in such need of police protection;

• What went wrong on Saturday and why we cannot tolerate a repeat of it at the march this coming Saturday;

• The need for ‘section 12 conditions’ to be imposed on the march this Saturday, which our lawyers requested from the Metropolitan Police today;

• The existing legislation that the police should avail themselves of and the need to use the forthcoming King’s speech to grant the police additional powers;

• The dangers of this moment becoming a conflict between politicians and the police;

• The failures of police to protect two major solidarity marches by Christian groups, which led to those marches being cancelled on police advice;

• The predicament faced by officers policing large protests, and the need to ensure that the desires of mobs do not supersede the rights of law-abiding citizens.

Thanks to this demonstration and the lead-up to it, the Met has increased its sensitivity to the concerns of the Jewish community. It is enhancing the already existing cooperation between the force and Campaign Against Antisemitism on a number of fronts.

Placards read “Make arrests, not excuses”, “Enforce the law”, “Zero tolerance for antisemites” and “Act against hate before it’s too late”.

Police had to intervene in a number of instances when passersby shouted at the rally, with two people arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences. A prominent far-right figure was spotted in the crowd by our stewarding team and hounded out to calls of “racist scum, off our streets”, as we have done in the past when the far-right have attended.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Last Saturday saw an exhibition of Jew-hate as rarely seen before on the streets of London. Britain’s capital was effectively closed to Jewish people and anyone else not prepared to brave Islamist flags, supporters of terrorist organisations. calls for Jihad, genocidal chanting, and signs comparing Israelis to Nazis.

“The police were practically invisible, as they have been throughout the past two-and-a-half weeks. Almost the sole exception was when they swooped on our digital vans displaying the faces of children abducted by Hamas. Apparently that, in contrast to almost everything that we saw this weekend, was the real risk to a breach of the peace.

“The Jewish community is grateful to the many ordinary police officers who work tirelessly throughout the year to protect our community, but the Met’s leadership must adapt policing policy to the scale of the present threat and use the powers already available to make arrests.

“Since we started calling out the force and advertised this demonstration, the Met has already begun indicating that it recognises that policing to date has been inadequate, but it must go further. Firm law enforcement is the only way to deter offenders and reassure all law-abiding citizens that they are safe in our nation’s capital.”

Photo credit: Nathan Lilienfeld

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The police must uphold the law, but they need to hear it from you

Since last weekend, we have been leading a campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages held by Hamas, including through billboards and digital vans that travel around London displaying the images of some of the child captives. We have also taken action against those who tear down or deface the leaflets and posters that have been put up around the city.

We expected that there may be pockets of opposition to the vans from terrorist-sympathisers and their fellow travellers in London. What we did not anticipate was opposition from the Metropolitan Police Service.

For the full story of this outrageous incident, join the millions who have watched our Chief Executive recount the episode, which was also covered across the national media.

Since the incident, we have engaged with the Metropolitan Police — in addition to our work with the Government — but the outcomes with the police have been unsatisfactory. This adds to our disappointment with current policing policy. It is time to take action.

The volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit continue to gather evidence from the demonstrations around the country, bearing witness to the Metropolitan Police’s own findings that antisemitic hate crime in London is up by a scandalous 1,350%.

Instead of arrests, however, the Met has been making excuses for hate. The force permitted a rally by Hizb ut-Tahrir to go ahead; it announced, contrary to the view of the Home Secretary, that the chant “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be free” is not hate speech unless it expressly targets a Jewish institution; and it ignores calls for “Jihad” and “Intifada” by demonstrators; among other shortcomings.

While failing to take action against those expressing sympathy for terrorists or calling for violence, as shown here, the Met did find the time to order that our vans shut down their display of the faces of children taken hostage by a proscribed terrorist group. The protesters hurling abuse at our volunteers, just feet from watching police officers, were not apprehended.

In 2014, Campaign Against Antisemitism was founded when the community witnessed that the authorities barely lifted a finger to combat antisemitism on our streets. We made our voices heard then outside the Royal Courts of Justice, but only towards the end of that surge in antisemitic incidents. This time, we must make our voices heard earlier, to shape how the Met polices our streets over the coming weeks.

We will be rallying outside New Scotland Yard this Wednesday at 18:30. The rally will be held at New Scotland Yard, London SW1A 2JL, and the nearest Underground stations are Westminster and Embankment.

The BBC

We have been among those at the forefront of the campaign to pressure the BBC to report accurately and impartially, including by calling Hamas what they are: terrorists.

The BBC must be made to understand that not only is it doing a disservice to viewers, listeners and readers by not reporting in accordance with its guidelines, but its coverage has a real-life, adverse impact on British Jews.

We co-sponsored a rally outside Broadcasting House, which was covered by all the major broadcasters and press, backed a petition signed by tens of thousands (please do sign if you haven’t already), physically projected a powerful message onto Broadcasting House itself to shame the BBC, and recorded a special episode of our podcast with Noah Abrahams, a courageous and principled young sports journalist who has quit the BBC in protest at its failure to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation (listen now).

We also called out the BBC for referring to the recent Brussels attack as terrorism while refusing to do the same for Hamas. After its hypocrisy was exposed, rather than accept that it must finally describe Hamas as a terror group, the Corporation quietly and disgracefully changed its Brussels coverage instead.

The BBC is not the only media outlet that we have held to account in recent days. Among the most egregious was the satirical magazine Private Eye. Perhaps appropriately, our response to its appalling front cover involved satirising their unfunny attempt at satire.

We have also reviewed material and submitted complaints relating to other broadcasters and newspapers, and continue to do so.

It is time for the BBC to hear the strength of feeling directly from the Jewish community and to justify its appalling coverage. Courtesy of Campaign Against Antisemitism, for the first time, a member of the BBC’s Executive Committee will be speaking at an open event for the Jewish community, and you are invited. To book tickets, visit antisemitism.org/bbc.

We are fighting back. Now it is the turn of the police to rise to the occasion in these challenging times and uphold the law against those who want to harm the Jewish community.

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CAA is mobilising, and the fightback has begun

As we continue to process the news in Israel and pray for the swift rescue of the hostages, antisemitism is surging in the UK.

On our streets, on campuses and online, in our workplaces, schools and even in the playground, we are seeing the glorification of terrorism and antisemitic hate, and on our television screens our national broadcaster cannot bring itself to call terror by its name.

At Campaign Against Antisemitism, we have been mobilising. The fightback has begun.

The volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit have gathered evidence from the demonstrations this weekend and over the past week. We have also heard from you in unprecedented numbers, receiving a constant flow of messages and tips. Our staff and volunteers have worked around the clock to monitor, document and process evidence, and we have referred a multitude of individuals and organisations to the police and regulatory authorities, and we continue to do so at a rapid pace. If they fail to act, we will hold them to account.

If you have information that you would like to share with us, please e-mail [email protected].

We have written to the BBC about its refusal to describe Hamas as “terrorists”, called for Ofcom to intervene, and led the national media campaign to pressure the broadcaster to call terror by its name. We have also requested that the Culture, Media and Sport Committee hold an urgent hearing, are promoting a petition and are co-sponsoring a rally on Monday evening outside the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London. To join the tens of thousands who have already signed the petition, please sign here.

We have also written to the FA and Premier League to express our disgust at the decision not to illuminate Wembley Stadium and to prohibit the waving of Israeli flags at matches this weekend.

We have launched a billboard campaign around London featuring the faces of infants and children taken hostage by Hamas, as part of a campaign to ensure that the public does not so quickly forget not only those murdered by the terrorists but also those still in their clutches.

It is a frightening prospect, but the same ideology that brought about the horrors in the south of Israel is present in the UK. Our fight here is part of the same war that our brethren are fighting in Israel: it is simply another front. We need the resources to fight back.

On top of it all, our regular work continues. In the past few days, for example, we secured the extradition of a fugitive French Holocaust-denier back to France, where he will now face the justice that he has evaded for too long.

As a volunteer-led organisation, our priority is manpower. This week, we have mobilised a huge number of new volunteers, to ensure that everybody who can play a part has the opportunity to do so. Thank you to the many of you who have stepped forward. To join them, please visit antisemitism.org/mobilise.

Still, we are a charity, and the surge in demand for our services means that we must raise funds to meet it. We must also prepare for what may come next: while the support from the Government and the authorities and the support that we are seeing for Israel and the Jewish community is welcome, history shows that it may be transient. We must have the resources in place now to ensure that their words translate into action over the weeks and months ahead.

To that end, we are launching an urgent crowdfunding appeal this week. We recognise that we are not the only worthy cause asking for your help at this time, and any support that you can contribute will go directly to the fight against those who mean harm to our people. To make a donation now, please visit antisemitism.org/donate.

This is the worst situation faced by Jews worldwide since 2014, when we were founded. As an organisation and as a community, we are incomparably better placed to wage it. But we need your help to do so.

Those who glorify terrorism and delight in the massacre of Jews, and those who use the events still unfolding as cover for antisemitic acts should be under no misapprehension: we will pursue justice against you.

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“From the river, to the sea” chant recited during annual London BDS walk

The chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was recited during London’s annual walk in support of the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign on Saturday.

Volunteers from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit were present at the protest to gather evidence.

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

While boycotting a country is neither illegal nor racist in and of itself, the problem with BDS is that it is no mere boycott. Supporters of BDS routinely engage the Definition by:

  • Setting political tests which Jews must pass, or face being treated as a pariah, especially by demanding that Jews renounce their cultural and religious ties to Israel, the physical centre of the Jewish religion, the world’s only Jewish state, and the country in which almost half of the world’s Jewish population lives;
  • Attempting to isolate and shame Israeli Jews, but not Israeli non-Jews, who do not support BDS when they visit Britain or come to study or teach at British universities;
  • Treating the entirety of the State of Israel as occupied land, and thereby asserting that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavour;
  • Working with genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisations;
  • Claiming that Israeli policy is to deliberately kill babies, or harvest the vital organs of non-Jews, which revives ancient blood libels;
  • Attempting to portray Israeli Jews as having created a Nazi state in the model of Nazi Germany, and of ‘using’ the Holocaust as political cover for purported Jewish crimes;
  • Defending against claims of antisemitism by proposing that the allegations are a ruse used by Jewish victims, not to call out racism but to silence criticism of Israel;
  • Projecting antisemitic conspiracy myths about nefarious Jewish power onto the Jewish state.

The walk was organised by the group Friends of Al Aqsa (FOA).

The founder of FOA told a cheering crowd in 2009 during a war between Israel and the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, Hamas: “Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. The reason that they hate Hamas is because they refuse to be subjugated to be occupied by the Israeli state and we salute Hamas for standing up to Israel.”

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CAA produces video about Just Stop Oil: “Just stop trivialising the Holocaust”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has produced a video about Just Stop Oil in which we say: “Just stop trivialising the Holocaust.”

The controversial environmental activist organisation, which gained notoriety for its public stunts intended to cause inconvenience to the general public as a means of bringing attention towards oil usage which has included throwing soup on rare artworks and hanging banners over motorway gantries, has a history of using Holocaust comparisons in their messaging.

Yesterday, the group compared the bosses of oil and gas companies to the architects of the Holocaust. Activists took to Parliament Square where they invoked the name of Adolf Eichmann, an SS officer in the Third Reich and an architect of the Final Solution — the industrial slaughter of six million Jews. 

Chloe Naldrett, a member of the group, said: “Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi, at his trial sought to defend himself by saying that he didn’t kill Jews because he was only in charge of transporting them to the death camps. The judges threw out this obscene defence and he was hanged.

“When those in charge today go to court in the coming years, they will claim that they only facilitated the continued use of oil and gas and coal. They will argue that they never directly killed the millions who are already dying and will continue to die of starvation, floods, drought, wildfires and deadly heat.”

When Zoe Cohen, a different member of Just Stop Oil, was asked by LBC about the comparison, she refused to apologise and instead doubled down, stating: “Forgive me for saying this, and I say this very sincerely, but it’s like we’re all trapped in a giant gas chamber. And we know that every single tonne of carbon dioxide makes this worse. And yet these people go on expanding oil and gas. Is that not genocide? Of course, it is.”

This evening, James Harvey, one of Just Stop Oil’s spokespeople, appeared on TalkTV where he was asked by Vanessa Feltz whether or not he defended those comments. He attempted to justify the comparison before stating: “At the time, in Germany, in the 1930s and 40s, we know that the government there facilitated the deaths of thousands and thousands of people.”

Ms Feltz responded to this comment by saying “That wasn’t facilitating”, to which Mr Harvey replied: “Or, they caused the deaths of thousands and thousands.”

Towards the end of the interview, after repeatedly being asked whether he apologised for the group’s Holocaust comparisons, he stated: “On a personal level, I am sorry if we have caused any offence to people.”

In June, the group took to Twitter to compare themselves to those who hid Jews during the Holocaust, writing: “We don’t deny we take action outside of current laws…It was illegal to free slaves. Illegal to hide Jews. Illegal for women to vote. Legality is not a guide for morality.” 

Last year, Just Stop Oil compared themselves to people who hid Anne Frank, drawing condemnation from several users. 

The comment was made on Twitter in reply to the former UKIP leader Henry Bolton. Mr Bolton, replying to a tweet posted by the activist group which stated that one of its members responsible for causing disruption to traffic on the M25 motorway would be imprisoned until her trial, wrote: “If you commit a crime, don’t complain if you’re arrested, prosecuted and and [sic] jailed.”

In response, the activist group wrote that “The people who hid Anne Frank during WW2 were criminals, Henry. So were the French Resistance.”

It added: “Obeying the law does not give you the moral highground [sic] — not when it’s still legal for our Government to greenlight enough oil and gas to kill millions. Good people break bad laws.”

The tweet drew the ire of several Twitter users with many denouncing the comparison.

It is reported that the group is led by Roger Hallam, the co-founder of the activist group Extinction Rebellion, who was disowned by his colleagues after he described the Holocaust as “just another f***ery in human history.” He later apologised for his “crass words”. 

Last week, Mr Hallam published a Twitter thread comparing Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer to Eichmann.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Just Stop Oil has a disturbing history of minimising the Holocaust in its messaging. In the latest example, a spokesperson for the group said on TalkTV that the Nazis merely ‘facilitated the deaths of thousands and thousands of people.’ This is historically ignorant, and that ignorance is dangerously combined with the group’s insatiable pursuit of attention at any cost. The result is the strange and inflammatory ubiquity of the genocide of the Jews in the group’s activism. Why can’t Just Stop Oil just stop trivialising the Holocaust?”

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Oxford Street protesters decry M&S as symbol of “British collaboration with the racist State of Israel”

The Oxford Street branch of Marks and Spencer was picketed by anti-Israel protesters bearing incendiary signs and calling for another intifada yesterday.

Volunteers from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit were present at the protest to gather evidence.

Video footage from the demonstration — organised by the Revolutionary Communist Group — shows someone delivering a speech in which they shout: “Victory to the intifada.” 

The “intifada” is widely understood as the campaign of Arab terrorist violence against Jewish Israeli targets in the early 2000s that claimed hundreds of civilian lives and brought an end to the peace process.

The same person can also be seen saying: “M&S is a symbol on our high streets of British collaboration with the racist, settler State of Israel.” 

Several inflammatory signs were also present at the protest, including one bearing the words “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

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

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

The speeches were made in front of a large tarpaulin that said “Zionism is racism”.

Another sign read “Break from the Zionist Labour Party”, whilst placards depicting further support for another intifada were also brandished. 

Additionally, support for Leila Khaled, a convicted terrorist, plane hijacker and member of the violent Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who took part in two terrorist hijackings in 1969 and 1970, was on display.

Last month, an anti-Israel protest outside the Embassy of Israel in London attended by hundreds featured calls for another intifada and the antisemitic “From the river to the sea” chant.

In May, an anti-Israel rally held outside Downing Street featured several signs comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. Similar signs and chants were on display at April’s “Al Quds Day” rally in central London.

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

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Demonstrators at London anti-Israel rally call for another intifada and recite antisemitic “From the river to the sea” chant

Last night, an anti-Israel protest outside the Embassy of Israel in London attended by hundreds featured calls for another intifada and the antisemitic “From the river to the sea” chant.

Volunteers from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit were present at the protest to gather evidence.

The chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was heard throughout the rally. 

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

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

Calls for another “intifada” were also heard, with the claim that there is “only one solution”. The “intifada” is widely understood as the campaign of Arab terrorist violence against Jewish Israeli targets in the early 2000s that claimed hundreds of civilian lives and brought an end to the peace process.

Incendiary signs were also present, including ones denouncing Zionism as “terrorism” and claims that Israel is a “terrorist state”. 

The event featured a variety of speakers, including antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) Director Ben Jamal, and National Education Union President Louise Atkinson.

PSC Chair Kamel Hawwash also spoke, where, in breach of the Definition, he claimed that Israel was “a racist state”.

A month-long investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst PSC supporters on social media. Earlier this year, a PSC branch published an Instagram post calling Zionists “brainwashed racists” who should be fired from their places of work.

In May, an anti-Israel rally held outside Downing Street featured several signs comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.

Similar signs and chants were on display at April’s “Al Quds Day” rally in central London.

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

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Massive riots in France feature antisemitic graffiti and chanting

The massive riots currently engulfing France have featured numerous instances of antisemitism.

The violent chaos that has spread across France and its overseas territories was sparked by the fatal shooting of a seventeen-year-old of Algerian origin by a police officer in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre. The officer has been charged with voluntary homicide and is in custody.

The riots have been particularly strong in neighbourhoods with large immigrant and Muslim populations, where cars have been torched and shops have been looted, with clashes with police, scores of arrests and hundreds of injuries.

But there has also been vandalism of Jewish sites and antisemitic chanting.

A monument in Nanterre commemorating the Holocaust and Jewish members of the French resistance to the Nazis was spray-painted with the phrase: “Police scum from Saint-Soline to Nanterre – don’t forget or forgive.” Not far from the monument, a building was graffitied with the words: “We are going to make you a Shoah.” The Shoah is the Hebrew term for the Holocaust.

The heavily-Jewish Parisian suburb of Sarcelles – nicknamed “little Jerusalem” for its large Jewish community – saw antisemitic chanting and the ransacking of Jewish businesses, along with non-Jewish businesses.

During a live broadcast of the riots by the Brut media group, chants such as “death to Jews” and “death to pigs” can reportedly be heard.

According to a report published by the French Jewish Community Security Service, antisemitic incidents in France have skyrocketed. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism in France and throughout Europe.

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Goyim Defence League members pictured holding swastika flags outside synagogues in Georgia 

Members of the Goyim Defence League (GDL) have been seen holding swastika flags outside synagogues in Georgia, United States.

The GDL has been described as an antisemitic hate group whose membership reportedly contains several neo-Nazis and is understood to be led by Jon Minadeo II. The group is divided into regional branches and regularly distributes antisemitic flyers across the United States. 

The incidents occurred on the Jewish sabbath (Shabbat), and were reportedly preceded on Friday by the distribution of antisemitic flyers in the city of Warner Robins.  

Stewart Levy, a member of the Chabad Lubavitch of Cobb County synagogue, said that it was “the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

According to the FBI, over 60 percent of hate crimes against a religious minority are motivated by antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout the United States.

Image credit: Facebook/Jennifer Caron Derrick

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Nazis flags displayed outside Disney World in support of Gov. Ron DeSantis

Nazi flags were displayed by a group demonstrating outside Orlando’s Disney World in support of Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Mr DeSantis, who announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been engaged in a public feud with Disney since early 2022. 

The group flying the Nazi flags reportedly also held up messaging in support of Mr DeSantis.

The Orange County Sheriff’s office stated: “We are aware of these groups that aim to agitate and incite people with antisemitic symbols and slurs…but people have the First Amendment right to demonstrate.”

Neither Mr DeSantis nor Disney have commented on the incident.

This is not the first time that Florida has seen protests in support of Governor DeSantis featuring Nazi flags. Mr DeSantis has never publicly endorsed their use or those who display them.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout the United States.

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German court upholds police ban of Nakba demonstration in Berlin over fears of antisemitic incitement 

A German court has upheld a police ban of the annual Nakba demonstration in Berlin, due to fears that it could incite antisemitism.

The police stated that the event could lead to “antisemitic incitement of the people, glorification of violence, the conveyance of a willingness to use violence and thus to intimidation and violence.”

The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg agreed, referring to similar recent events, and upheld the ban on the rally titled “demonstration for the fundamental right to freedom of assembly and expression on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba”, which 1,000 participants had registered to attend.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism in Germany, which have increased considerably.

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London anti-Israel rally featuring Nazi comparisons and calls to “End Zionism” attended by myriad of disgraced figures

Today’s anti-Israel protest outside Downing Street in London, believed to have been attended by thousands, featured a number of comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany.

Volunteers from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit were present at the protest to gather evidence.

One sign read “Free Palestine from German guilt,” while a large banner placed near the BBC’s headquarters made a comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany. A sign affixed to a bicycle presented a swastika next to the Israeli flag.

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

Signs calling to “End” and “Smash” Zionism were present, as were placards calling Israel a “racist” state. Examples can be seen here and here.

The chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was heard throughout the rally. Signs and clothing bearing the words of the chant were also on display.

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

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

Calls for another “intifada” were also heard. The “intifada” is widely understood as the campaign of Arab terrorist violence against Jewish Israeli targets in the early 2000s that claimed hundreds of civilian lives and brought an end to the peace process.

One prominent sign at the event, aimed at Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, read: “Racist Starmer supports Zionism without question”. 

Additionally, support for Leila Khaled, a convicted terrorist, plane hijacker and member of the violent Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who took part in two terrorist hijackings in 1969 and 1970, was on display.

The antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was one of the event’s featured speakers and issued “a huge thank you to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, not just for today, but for all the days that they’re campaigning.”

A month-long investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) supporters on social media. Earlier this year, a PSC branch published an Instagram post calling Zionists “brainwashed racists” who should be fired from their places of work.

Delia Mattis, a self-described “social justice activist” who claims to be the Founder of Black Lives Matter Enfield, also took to the stage to address the crowd. During her speech, she said that Zionism was “a psychotic ideology” and that Israel “stood for white supremacy.”

Attendees at the event included the disgraced Reverand Dr Stephen Sizer, who in January was handed a twelve-year ban by the Church of England after having been found to have “engaged in antisemitic activity” by a tribunal of the Church of England, and the controversial activist Jim Curran who was spotted holding a sign that read “The Nakba was a Holocaust”. Mr Curran has been seen with similar signs in the past and is a regular attendee at a group called Keep Talking, a group of far-right and far-left conspiracy theorists who come together to promote antisemitism.

The protest was also attended by the controversial environmental group, Just Stop Oil, whose founder, Roger Hallam, previously described the Holocaust as “just another f***ery in human history.”

Similar signs and chants were on display at last month’s “Al Quds Day” rally in central London.

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

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“From the River to the Sea” chanted at Berlin rally

Incendiary chants relating to Jewish people and Israel were chanted on the street in Berlin during a demonstration in Berlin. 

The 1st May anti-Israel rally in Germany’s capital featured the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was heard. This chant only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — and its replacement with a State of Palestine — and is thus an attempt to deny Jews, uniquely, the right to self-determination, which is a breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism. 

Demonstrators reportedly showed open support for the anti-Israel Samidoun group, an organisation that the Israeli Government has classified as a terrorist group. Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror stated that: “The Samidoun organisation was designated as a terrorist organisation as it is part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and was founded by members of the PFLP in 2012”. 

Berlin police estimated 12,000 protesters attended the protest, and have since banned two additional rallies planned by the Samidoun activists. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism in Germany, which have increased significantly.

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Disgraced figures speak at London’s “Al Quds Day” rally which featured Nazi comparisons and calls for Israel’s destruction

Yesterday’s “Al Quds Day” rally in central London saw numerous signs and chants that called for Israel’s destruction, as well as several comparisons to Nazis.

The “Al Quds Day” rallies are an Iranian-backed global event, but they have faced controversy over expressions of antisemitism and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. In previous years, for example, Berlin banned the parade from taking place, while footage of the protests this year in numerous German cities appeared to show participants shouting phrases like “Scheiße Jude!” (“S***ty Jew!”), “Drecksjude” (“dirty Jew”), and “Strike, oh Qassam, don’t let the Zionists sleep.”

Volunteers from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit were present at the protest to gather evidence.

One sign read: “Where did all the Nazis go after WW2? Israel!!!”

Another placard displayed a swastika alongside the Israeli flag alongside the words “Same mindset! Different era!”

A person was also spotted wearing a top bearing the words: “The world stopped Nazism. The world stopped apartheid. The world must stop Zionism.”

Our Monitoring Unit also captured evidence of a sign which implied that Pakistan should deploy nuclear weapons on “Nazi Israel”.

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

The chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was present and led by Nazim Ali, the march’s inflammatory leader who made antisemitic statements during the 2017 march. In addition, multiple signs, viewable here and here, bore the words of the chant.

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

Last year, the Court of Appeal refused Mr Ali’s request for permission to appeal the High Court’s ruling quashing a decision by the General Pharmaceutical Council’s Fitness to Practice Committee. The High Court ruling came after an appeal by the Professional Standards Authority against the original ruling by the Committee at the request of Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Speakers at this year’s rally included the disgraced Reverand Dr Stephen Sizer, who in January was handed a twelve-year ban by the Church of England after having been found to have “engaged in antisemitic activity” by a tribunal of the Church of England, and the former Labour Party MP Chris Williamson, who was suspended from Labour and then readmitted, only to be resuspended following a public outcry after claiming that Labour has been “too apologetic” over antisemitism. Mr Williamson has previously tweeted that “Zionist teachers around the country are violating children’s rights” and that Zionism is “a racist ideology.”

Mr Williamson’s speech at the rally included repeatedly talking about Israel killing “innocent children” and Zionism being inherently racist.

The inflammatory rapper Lowkey, whose real name is Kareem Dennis, also spoke at the rally. Lowkey’s songs include lyrics such as “nothing is more antisemitic than Zionism”. He is a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). A month-long investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst PSC supporters on social media. Lowkey has previously described Israel as a “racist endeavour” in direct and deliberate contravention of the Definition, described Zionism as “antisemitic”, and spoken of the “Zionist lobby” in the context of global capitalism.

An array of literature was available to attendants of the rally, including articles and books from Tony Greenstein, an expelled member of the Labour Party and founder of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who last year surrendered what remained of his claim against Campaign Against Antisemitism for calling him a “notorious antisemite”. 

One of Mr Greenstein’s available works present at the rally was entitled: “Zionism During The Holocaust. The Weaponisation of Memory in the Service of State of Nation.”

Also on display were images in support of high-ranking Iranian figures, such as the antisemitic Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps terrorist mastermind, Qasem Soleimani, and Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has said that the West is a mafia-like organisation under the control of “prominent Zionist merchants”.

The event also saw the burning of the Israeli flag, indicating support for the destruction of Israel.

Numerous flags were waved, including that of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella organisation of mostly Shiite militia groups, as well as a large red flag, which in Shiite tradition symbolises blood spilled unjustly and calls for vengeance, and is traditionally associated with the legend of Imam Hussein. The appearance of the flag at an “Al Quds Day” rally, where accusations of murder by Israel of innocents are repeatedly hurled, is reasonably understood as an indication of violent intent toward the Jewish state.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2021 showed that over 94% of British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be moderately or very serious.

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“Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar” and “From the river to the sea” chants recited during Luton demonstration

Two incendiary chants concerning Jewish people and Israel were recited on the street in Luton during a demonstration, online footage has shown.

In the video, the chant “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud” can be heard, which, translated in English, means “Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.”

The “Khaybar” chant is a classic Arabic battle cry referencing the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, now Saudi Arabia, in the year 628 CE. The chant has been heard in numerous anti-Israel rallies in Britain and abroad.

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

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues its robust engagement with social media companies over the content that they enable to be published, and we continue to make representations to the Government in this connection.

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Incoming NEU General Secretary under fire as Union insists his past remarks did not intend to convey encouragement for violence against Jews

The incoming General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) has come under fire over his past remarks and appearances.

Daniel Kebede, an activist and teacher based in north-east England, is due to become the leading teachers’ union’s new General Secretary later this year. He is replacing Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney. Mr Courtney has been a magnet for controversy relating to Jewish people during his tenure.

Mr Kebede appeared at a rally in Newcastle in 2021, where the chant “Khaybar, oh Jews” was heard, a reference to the antisemitic “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning” chant. The “Khaybar” chant is a classic Arabic battle cry referencing the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, now Saudi Arabia, in the year 628 CE. The chant has been heard in numerous anti-Israel rallies in Britain and abroad.

New video has emerged of Mr Kebede’s speech at the rally, which was organised by the inflammatory Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Although he is not seen in the video joining the chant, his remarks are caught on camera, in which he can be seen holding a microphone and saying that it is “time to stand together and oppose Apartheid, oppose occupation and fight for Palestinian liberation,” before going on to proclaim: “Let’s do it for Palestine, Ramallah, West Bank, Gaza – it’s about time we globalise the intifada.”

The “intifada” is widely understood as the campaign of Arab terrorist violence against Jewish Israeli targets in the early 2000s that claimed hundreds of civilian lives and brought an end to the peace process.

The rally took place in the same period as at least 25 members of the NEU from Jewish school JFS quit over concerns about antisemitism at the Union. At the time, Mr Courtney spoke at antisemitism-infested rallies, and Mr Kebede is now under scrutiny for having done so as well.

The new revelation comes after another union in the education sector, the National Union of Students (NUS), sacked its President late last year. She had a history of antisemitic and inflammatory comments. A ground-breaking report, into which Campaign Against Antisemitism and others provided input, was also published in January by Rebecca Tuck KC, finding that NUS created a “hostile environment” for Jews.

A spokesperson for the NEU said: “Daniel Kebede was present at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally in solidarity with Palestinians facing eviction in Sheikh Jarrah in 2021. In speaking to the rally Mr Kebede called for peace and justice in the Middle East and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“He used the slogan ‘globalise the intifada’ which is an expression of such solidarity, and of support for civic protests; it did not convey any support for violence. He wasn’t aware of the chanting of ‘Khaybar, oh Jews’ and both he and the National Education Union completely condemn such chants, all acts of antisemitism and any attacks on Jewish people.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “For the NEU to have to clarify that past remarks by its incoming General Secretary were not intended to encourage support for terrorist violence against Jewish targets around the world is hardly a promising start to his term in office. It would be a concerning development in any trade union, but we have helped Jewish teachers and staff who felt unable to turn to the NEU precisely because they do not feel that it is on the side of its Jewish members. Daniel Kebede’s inflammatory past rhetoric, and appearance at rallies where indisputably antisemitic chants were heard, will do nothing to stop the exodus of Jewish members or reassure those who remain.

“The NEU should follow in the footsteps of the NUS by admitting that it has historically had a dreadful relationship with its Jewish members and commissioning an independent investigation into its own conduct over recent years and that of its leadership.”

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Antisemitic chants heard outside Downing Street as Benjamin Netanyahu meets Rishi Sunak

The antisemitic “From the river, to the sea” chant was heard outside of Downing Street today as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

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

The footage was captured by an evidence-gathering team from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit.

A sign was also spotted that made reference to “Jewish terrorists”. 

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

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel 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.