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.”

Following action from Campaign Against Antisemitism, the former barrister Ian Millard was convicted on Friday at Southampton Magistrates’ Court of five offences contrary to section 127(1)(a) Communications Act 2003 in relation to the posting of grossly offensive material relating to his assertions regarding the Jewish race on his blog.

However, Mr Millard was only prosecuted following seven years of work by Campaign Against Antisemitism, due to a reluctance to prosecute from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The charges relate to five blog entries dated between May 2021 and April 2022. Mr Millard posted the entries to his website.

In one post on 10th May 2021, Mr Millard wrote: “Where Jews exist in any but very small numbers, non-Jews will always be exploited, and can never be free. That is as true in Europe (and including the UK) as it is in the Middle East.”

On 15th May 2021, Mr Millard wrote: “I lived on and off in the USA, mostly in the early 1990s though I did also spend time there in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Many Americans are fine people, but the mass media there is almost, not quite, 100% owned and operated by Jews. TV, radio, film, newspapers, magazines, book publishing. Americans have little choice but to see the world largely through the Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli lens. Fact. They are also brainwashed from childhood with ‘holocaust’ propaganda and fake history.”

In another, dated 20th November 2021, Mr Millard posted an image of an arm — which had a Star of David emblazoned on the sleeve — holding a hammer above a computer with the words “free speech” on it. Above the image, text read: “Wherever Jews have power, non-Jews eventually become victims or slaves. Look at history. The ridiculous thing is that, in the UK, many of those who oppose Jewish supremacism in Israel or occupied Palestine, effectively support the Jewish lobby in Europe, eg in the UK itself; they pay lip-service to the ‘holocaust farrago’, in particular, and applaud the Zionist efforts to destroy free speech.” 

Defending himself in court, Mr Millard admitted to ownership and editorial control of the blog, but did not admit to posting the offending posts. He did, however, state that he agreed with all the sentiments expressed in the posts. 

During the course of his time on the stand, Mr Millard attempted to portray himself as the victim of a Jewish plot to crush free speech, telling the court that the CPS had been able to highlight only five blog posts out of more than 1,600 that he had published. A cursory glance at his blog reveals that it is strewn throughout with antisemitic conspiracy theories and imagery glorifying Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. 

He went on to brag about how he had visitors to his blog from all over the world. 

When confronted with the opinions expressed in his posts, he maintained that they were “perfectly acceptable”.

Attempting to defend his Holocaust-denial, he said: “There’s history and there are views of history and people are entitled to adopt whichever view they want.”

He further professed that there were “a great number of hoaxes” around the Holocaust, going on to lament: “It’s the only history that’s acceptable and I disagree with that.”

Mr Millard told the court that “Jewish control of media is pervasive.” 

He also made the claim that British politics is controlled by Zionists, citing as evidence of this the fact that the Star of David — the flag of Israel — had been projected onto 10 Downing Street as a display of solidarity with the Israeli public following the 7th October Hamas terror attacks.

Parroting the far-right antisemitic Great Replacement conspiracy theory, he asserted during his cross-examination that “They [Jews] are trying to get more immigrants into the country and the truth is coming out.” 

While insisting that he could not recall if he had written any of the posts, owing to the fact that he allegedly blogs daily, he also said: “It’s not about whether I’m right or wrong. It’s about freedom of expression.”

He maintained that he had never set out with an intent to offend and that while some of the posts were “shocking”, they were not against the law and in fact merely satirical. 

CPS Prosecutor Philip Allman noted that the offending was “at the high end of culpability”, while Judge Peter Greenfield condemned the posts as “Grossly offensive to Jews and a multiracial society.”

“This is antisemitic…it’s Holocaust-denial, and therefore it is grossly offensive,” Judge Greenfield said. 

While Campaign Against Antisemitism is pleased that justice has finally been delivered, the road to it was made less easy resulting from repeated setbacks by the CPS.

In October 2016, the Bar Standards Board found Mr Millard to be guilty of professional misconduct due to his extensive use of Twitter as a vehicle to publicise his antisemitic and extreme right-wing views, leading to him being banned from the profession. Following the hearing, Campaign Against Antisemitism carried out a detailed investigation of Millard’s Twitter account. It was found that over a lengthy period he had tweeted a large quantity of opinions and images that were virulently antisemitic and promoted Nazi ideology.

In November of that year, Campaign Against Antisemitism reported Mr Millard to Essex Police, providing a substantial dossier of evidence in support of the complaint and by the following May, the police sent a file to the CPS, recommending that Mr Millard be charged with inciting racial hatred. 

Seventeen months later, in October 2018, the CPS instructed the police to obtain Mr Millard’s Twitter account in its entirety, rather than just the antisemitic tweets that were included in the complaint. By this time, his account had been terminated by Twitter, and he had transferred his social media activities to Gab — a US-based platform used heavily by the far-right and which has a policy of non-cooperation with requests for information about its users. Given that it was now impossible for the police to provide the evidence requested by the CPS, the investigation was closed. 

By this point, Mr Millard had subsequently turned his attention to his personal blog. In April 2021, based on the content of the blog, Campaign Against Antisemitism, for the second time, handed a dossier of evidence collected from Mr Millard’s blog to Hampshire Police.

However, nine months later, we were informed that the CPS would be taking no further action, citing “evidential difficulties which have arisen which present a conflict of evidence.” 

In January 2022, we challenged this decision via the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme. Six months later, Lord Austin, an Honorary Patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism, wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions about the matter and subsequently received a reply stating that our VRR submission was being taken seriously and had been handed to counter-terrorism police, which had requested further evidence from the police.

In April of this year, fifteen months after the VRR submission, we were informed that the CPS intended to prosecute Mr Millard.

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We are pleased that, after seven years, Ian Millard has finally been found guilty of these crimes. Holocaust-denial and antisemitic conspiracy theories have no place in decent British society. British Jews are under assault from antisemites in real life and online, and the fact that a former barrister could commit acts of anti-Jewish racism is utterly abhorrent. 

“It is lamentable that, not for the first time, the CPS initially tried to avoid prosecuting and then dragged its feet after we brought criminal antisemitic behaviour to its attention. What hope are Jewish people in this country supposed to have if the CPS refuses to prosecute individuals spewing antisemitic bile? Justice has been served, albeit much later than it should have been. The reluctance of the CPS in prosecuting individuals like Mr Millard sadly just reinforces the importance of our work.”

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

A court in Scotland has granted an extradition request for the convicted Holocaust-denier Vincent Reynouard, a French fugitive in the UK who was caught following appeals from Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Mr Reynouard, 54, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today for his extradition hearing, which followed several preliminary hearings and false starts over the past year, to allow time for the content of videos, alleged to have been made by Mr Reynouard, to be translated into English, as well as other delays due to ill health on his legal team.

Mr Reynouard continued to post updates on his far-right blog, Sans Concession, despite being incarcerated as he awaited his extradition hearing.

Today, the extradition request has been granted, as the court considered that the postings for which Mr Reynouard was found guilty in France would also be crimes in the UK under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.

In a different case in 2018, Campaign Against Antisemitism secured a legal precedent that Holocaust-denial is “grossly offensive” and therefore illegal when used as a means by which to hound Jews. When it is delivered via a medium of communication, it can fall within the purview of the Communications Act. That English precedent has now been replicated in Scottish law today as well.

He will be extradited within ten days of the seven-day period in which he can appeal.

Mr Reynouard was sentenced to jail for four months on 25th November 2020 by a court in Paris and again in January 2021 for six months, in addition to fines. His latest conviction is in relation to a series of antisemitic postings on Facebook and Twitter and a 2018 YouTube video for which fellow French Holocaust denier, Hervé Ryssen (also known as Hervé Lalin), received a seventeen-month-jail term earlier that year.

However, Mr Reynouard fled the country before serving his sentence and settled in the UK, where he reportedly worked as a private tutor teaching children mathematics, physics and chemistry. Private tutors are not required to undergo background checks.

In November last year, he was finally arrested near Edinburgh. In the intervening months, Campaign Against Antisemitism has been cooperating with French Jewish groups seeking Mr Reynouard’s extradition to France. Along with Lord Austin, an Honorary Patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism, we have corresponded with police forces and prosecutors in the UK and Interpol in an effort to locate Mr Reynouard and bring him to justice.

Scottish police arrested him at an address near the Scottish capital, where he was apparently living under a false identity. He was brought before a judge on the same day and refused extradition to France.

Earlier this year, Mr Reynouard appeared in court where he was served with a second arrest warrant, as the French authorities had allegedly made an error in their application for the initial arrest warrant. Paul Dunne, Mr Reynouard’s lawyer, said of Mr Reynouard: “He does not consent to his extradition to France.”

Mr Reynouard faces a sentence of almost two years in a French prison, in addition to any further sentence in relation to other ongoing proceedings.

The Office Central de Lutte Contre les Crimes Contre l’Humanité, les Génocides et les Crimes de Guerre (OCLCH) — the arm of the French gendarmerie that specialises in hate crime and war crimes — has been leading the investigation.

Mr Reynouard’s first Holocaust denial conviction was in 1991 for distributing leaflets denying the existence of the gas chambers at concentration camps. Holocaust denial has been a criminal offence in France since 1990. He has been convicted on numerous occasions and his subsequent sentences include multiple prison terms and a €10,000 fine.

Mr Reynouard is alleged to have ties to Catholic fundamentalist groups that deny the Holocaust. In a recent analysis of the French far-right, the newspaper Liberation claimed that Mr Reynouard and Mr Ryssen are key members of a network of propagandists dedicated to the denial and distortion of the Holocaust.

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Vincent 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 today, with the court granting the request to extradite Mr Reynouard 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. Good riddance, Mr Reynouard.”

Following the release of Campaign Against Antisemitism’s documentary last week showcasing disturbing e-mails and allegations relating to the musician Roger Waters, another former associate, appalled by the testimony in the documentary, has now come forward to cast further light on Mr Waters’ conduct.

The new interview can be viewed at antisemitism.org/rogerwaters.

In this new interview, lighting director Marc Brickman, who has worked with music legends from Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen to Carol King and Duke Ellington, speaks out.

He explains the conversations around the “dirty k*ke” e-mail and how he demanded to know why, if the purpose was to confront hateful phrases, it was only a racist epithet that targets Jews that was due to be included on the pig and no other offensive terms.

He also reveals that the reason that the swastika confetti idea never materialised was only because nobody would make it, and that he was called out by Mr Waters for expressing his reservations.

These incidents and others that he recounts – including the proposed inclusion of an image of “a menacing Hasidic Jewish boy” alongside “an angelic Palestinian girl” – drew Mr Brickman to the conclusion that Mr Waters’ “definition of antisemitism is totally different than anyone else’s”.

Regarding venues, such as the London Palladium, that host Mr Waters, Mr Brickman says: “They don’t care; all they care about is their bottom line.”

Mr Waters’ views on Jews have long been of concern to the Jewish community, with a number of well-documented controversies.

Mr Waters is playing at the London Palladium on Sunday 8th and Monday 9th October.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has orchestrated a number of activities to protest these performances, including delivering thousands of letters from members of the public to the theatre, parking an advertisement outside the theatre to raise awareness of Mr Waters’ record, driving a van around London drawing attention to the controversy, and picketing the venue.

We will be holding a demonstration outside the London palladium at 18:00 on Monday 9th October. Please register attendance at eventbrite.co.uk/e/protest-against-roger-waters-at-the-london-palladium-tickets.

Mr Waters has always insisted that he is not an antisemite, but our investigation has revealed e-mails from Mr Waters in which he proposed writing “Dirty k***” on the inflatable pig habitually floated above his concerts and suggested “bombing” audiences with confetti in the shape of swastikas, Stars of David, dollar signs and other symbols, among other incidents and revelations. The full documentary can be viewed at antisemitism.org/rogerwaters.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s investigation has been led by John Ware, the BBC Panorama veteran and one of the UK’s foremost television investigative journalists, who has worked on exposés whose focus has ranged from IRA terrorism to antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Following the release of The Dark Side of Roger Waters, this latest interview corroborates the account of Waters’s views given by the people who worked with him over many years.

“It took more than a decade for Marc Brickman to speak out, and now that he has, it is hard to look at Waters in the same light. Waters comes across as a cold-hearted bully who picks on Jews. You can’t help but flinch listening to a person as gentle as Brickman recount how he had to stand alone against Waters’ repulsive interventions in the artistry of the show.

“Taking this new interview together with the revelations in last week’s documentary, it is all the more astounding and disturbing that one of London’s most iconic venues will roll out the red carpet to Waters this weekend, having so far stayed resolutely deaf and silent in the face of thousands of letters of complaint. Brickman suggests it’s because the Palladium’s owner only cares about the bottom line, and so far it seems that might be true.”

If you wish to add your name to our petition calling on venues to stop hosting Mr Waters owing to his long history of baiting Jews, or learn about other ways to get involved in this campaign, please visit antisemitism.org/rogerwaters.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has today released a documentary which showcases disturbing e-mails that were gathered during an investigation into allegations of antisemitism by rockstar Roger Waters, as well as interviews with former associates of the Pink Floyd frontman.

Mr Waters’ views on Jews have long been of concern to the Jewish community, with a number of well-documented controversies.

Mr Waters has always insisted that he is not an antisemite, but our investigation has revealed e-mails from Mr Waters in which he proposed writing “Dirty k***” on the inflatable pig habitually floated above his concerts and suggested “bombing” audiences with confetti in the shape of swastikas, Stars of David, dollar signs and other symbols.

The documentary also includes interviews with Norbert Stachel, Mr Waters’ former saxophonist, and legendary music producer Bob Ezrin, who produced The Wall, as well as hits for talent from U2 to Kiss to Taylor Swift.

Among various incidents, Mr Stachel says that Mr Waters lost his temper over vegetarian food at a restaurant and demanded that waiters “Take away the Jew food”, that Mr Waters mocked Mr Stachel’s grandmother who was murdered in the Holocaust, and that a colleague warned him not to react if he wanted to keep his job.

Mr Ezrin recounts an incident in which Mr Waters sung him an impromptu ditty about then agent Bryan Morrison, the last couplet of which ended with words to the effect of “Cos Morri is a f***ing Jew”.

The full documentary can be viewed at antisemitism.org/rogerwaters.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Roger Waters has repeatedly used his enormous platform to bait Jews, but he always claims that he is not antisemitic. We believed that there was further evidence out there to the contrary, and the release of The Dark Side of Roger Waters now puts the evidence we obtained in the hands of the public.

“It is hard to imagine a rockstar emblazoning the N-word above their concerts, but Mr Waters demanded that his crew do exactly that with the K-word. Not only that, but he seems to have spent time humiliating and harassing his Jewish staff.

“One cannot help but watch this film and wonder what kind of person uses their power to this effect. Is Roger Waters an antisemite? Now people can make up their own minds.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s investigation has been led by John Ware, the BBC Panorama veteran and one of the UK’s foremost television investigative journalists, who has worked on exposés whose focus has ranged from IRA terrorism to antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party.

Mr Waters is due to play the London Palladium on 8th and 9th October. Campaign Against Antisemitism has contacted the Palladium’s owner, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Live Nation Events, the organiser.

If you wish to add your name to our petition calling on venues to stop hosting Mr Waters owing to his long history of baiting Jews, or learn about other ways to get involved in this campaign, please visit antisemitism.org/rogerwaters.

The disgraced former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and former Labour councillor Pamela Bromley, have now withdrawn their legal proceedings against the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) at the High Court.

Mr Livingstone and Ms Bromley were both named in the EHRC’s report into antisemitism in the Labour Party. The report came about following the EHRC’s years-long investigation in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the originating complainant, having made the original referral to the EHRC.

Mr Livingstone and Ms Bromley brought a claim for judicial review against the EHRC in order to overturn the EHRC’s landmark 2020 report which concluded that the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership had engaged in unlawful antisemitic harassment of its Jewish members. These proceedings were a final attempt by the far-left supposedly to undermine the report, and much was pinned on this case, with those supporting the claimants having said that this judicial review could lead to the report’s worst allegations being entirely discredited. 

Had they been successful, they would have set back the fight against antisemitism and antisemitism-denial by years. To prevent such an eventuality, Campaign Against Antisemitism sought to intervene in the case, and defeated Mr Livingstone’s and Ms Bromley’s opposition, with the High Court granting our application to do so earlier this year.

At the time, Mrs Justice Lang ruled: “In my judgment, the Court is likely to be assisted by CAA’s intervention…It made the complaint to [EHRC], and requested that an investigation took place. It provided substantial evidence, conceptual framework analysis and legal submissions to support the investigation. It has been particularly concerned with antisemitism denial as a form of harassment. As a Jewish community charity, it is rooted in the Jewish community and it has built up a longstanding expertise on the nature of modern antisemitism. Because of its expertise, it is likely to be able to contribute information, analysis and context more effectively than the other parties [the EHRC and the Labour Party].”

The EHRC supported Campaign Against Antisemitism’s application to intervene, while the Labour Party neither supported nor opposed it, remaining neutral.

Mr Livingstone and Ms Bromley have now withdrawn the claim, surrendering and withdrawing the judicial review proceedings without testing the EHRC’s report at all, thereby giving up the chance to have their much-vaunted day in court, for which they had crowdfunded large sums of money from their trusting supporters.

The EHRC’s report cannot now be subject to further review, and its critical findings about the Labour Party and the nature of antisemitism – including about the so-called ‘Livingstone Formulation’, whereby allegations of antisemitism are dismissed as attempts to silence criticism of Israel or as motivated by some other ulterior motive – are no longer at any risk of being overturned.

The EHRC report is now unimpeachable and every finding in it stands, final and binding, including those about Mr Livingstone’s and Ms Bromley’s conduct. The Labour Party, through their conduct as its agents, was found to have created an intimidating or hostile environment for Party members and prospective members, particularly those who were Jewish. Their statements were unwanted conduct related to Jewish ethnicity, which had the effect of harassing Labour Party members. In other words, their conduct amounted to harassment of Jewish members of the Labour Party on the basis of their Jewishness.

The EHRC found that, in addition to use of antisemitic tropes, antisemitism-denial – that is, dismissing complaints as ‘smears’ and ‘fake’ – can be a form of antisemitic conduct that amounts to unlawful harassment, and that it was in the cases of both of these individuals. The EHRC described these examples of antisemitic conduct as the tip of the iceberg of the issues that it identified in the Labour antisemitism investigation. That finding is now unimpeachable.

In a bizarre display of Humpty Dumpty’s Theory of Meaning, Mr Livingstone and Ms Bromley have sought to portray as a brilliant victory their withdrawal of the case, which cost their supporters so much yet achieved not one of their objectives in court. Nobody will be persuaded by this laughable attempt at rationalising their capitulation. Meanwhile, their claim that these proceedings cost Campaign Against Antisemitism some astronomical figure is comically lacking in foundation, thanks to the generosity of our legal team.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “This is a significant victory for the Jewish community, as it means that the EHRC’s groundbreaking report into antisemitism in the Labour Party stands. Ken Livingstone has been at the heart of Labour’s antisemitism scandal for years, so it is apt that he is also at the centre of this final failure of the antisemitism-denying far-left to overturn the EHRC’s findings.

“Recognising that Campaign Against Antisemitism originally referred the Labour Party to the EHRC and is an expert body in combating antisemitism, the High Court granted us intervener status in the case. We were keen to defend in court the EHRC’s findings of antisemitism in the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. Our only disappointment at the dropping of this specious claim is that we will not have the opportunity to demolish the claims made by apologists for Mr Corbyn and his acolytes.

“This is a humiliating end for Mr Livingstone and his co-complainant, and one that their supporters, whose funds were squandered, will surely question. They are now reduced to crowing that they cost the EHRC hundreds of thousands in taxpayers’ money and delighting in their amusingly false assumption that they cost us vast charitable funds. Having seen off Mr Livingstone, we will continue our work to advocate for zero tolerance of antisemitism in all political parties, without fear or favour.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism was represented by Derek Spitz and Adam Wagner, of counsel, instructed by Asserson solicitors Shimon Goldwater and Joshua Battat. We are extremely grateful to our highly-capable legal team, which has been working on this matter with us since we first referred the Labour Party to the EHRC five years ago.

Shimon Goldwater, partner at Asserson, said: “Mr Livingstone has acted sensibly for the first time in these proceedings and abandoned his judicial review application. The EHRC’s findings are now final and not subject to further challenge, which is materially due to the strong stand taken in this case by Campaign Against Antisemitism.”

A spokesperson for the EHRC said: “We firmly stand by our robust and fair investigation, the findings of which were accepted in full by the Labour Party. We welcome the decision to withdraw this judicial review claim, with disappointment at the valuable time and resources that we have had to expend on defending it.”

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

A group sparked backlash after attending a local festival dressed as Nazis.  

The festival, where attendees are encouraged to wear period dress, is an annual 1940s-themed event, held in Sheringham, Norfolk.

Attendees of the event confronted the group, which reportedly met at a local pub before beginning their march, by shouting to them that they were not welcome. Some members of the group were seen to be wearing swastikas, whilst others wore clothing that indicated an affiliation with the SS. 

Marshalls at the event reportedly attempted to get the group to leave before local police stepped in and escorted the group away from the festival. 

An anonymous group member said: “There was no offence intended… and we left when asked to do so.” He also claimed that the men in the group were from a history group. 

Of the costumes, Guy Walters, a historian and author of books relating to the Second World War, said on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter: “People who dress like comedy SS clowns from ‘Allo Allo’ teach us nothing, absolutely nothing, about the Second World War. They’re just flabby Nazi wannabes, who deserve the utmost ridicule.”

Mike Keller, a witness to the event, said: “It was a lovely family atmosphere and very friendly, when suddenly from nowhere there were ten-fifteen men dressed in authentic SS uniform literally marching in unison. It was deeply offensive.

“These men were not milling about and blending in among people. They were marching and making a demonstration. It was frightening. My father was from a Jewish family who lost his parents and brothers and sisters in death camps. He was fortunate to escape with my uncle via Kindertransport, so having to see this with my son was mortally offensive and a disgraceful act.”

A spokesperson for Sheringham Town Council said: “Sheringham Town Council has been made aware that on the Saturday there was an incident in the town that was managed by the police. Sheringham Town Council will consult with the police, North Norfolk Railway and others to determine what happened and what action may be taken to prevent a recurrence.”

A spokesperson for Norfolk Police said: “A police officer on patrol in Sheringham came across a confrontation in the high street on Saturday at about 5.30pm, involving a man and a group of people who had been attending an event. The officer intervened and quickly resolved the incident. One man reported being assaulted and this is being investigated further. No one was injured during the incident.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Guy Walters

A BBC Arabic article has linked “fanatical Jews” to the 9/11 terrorists while appearing to play down Islamism.

The Arabic-language article on the Corporation’s website purports to recount the “story of suicide attackers throughout history”, claiming that the tactic originated with a Jewish group fighting the Roman occupation of ancient Israel, and tracing the history through the Middle Ages, Japanese Kamikaze pilots and into the current era of Islamist terrorism and 9/11.

The article reads: “It is believed that the first suicide attacks…were by a group of Jewish fanatics who spread fear…during the Roman occupation.”

It goes on to suggest that, since the end of WWII, suicide attacks were “almost” non-existent until Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon in 1982, for which no context is provided.

While ancient Jews are described as “fanatics”, the word “terrorist” appears nowhere in relation to modern Islamist and Arab terror organisations. Indeed, other than the ancient Jews who targeted the Roman military, no other faction is censured in the article at all, even though some limited their attacks to combatants while others specifically target civilians.

The history is also dubious, with the mass Jewish suicide at Masada somehow presented as an example of the use of suicide attacks.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Of all the suicide attackers over the past two millennia, the only ones described by BBC Arabic as ‘fanatics’ are the Jewish assassins of ancient Judea who attacked the occupying Roman military. All others appear to escape any form of censure, including the modern Islamist terror groups. Moreover, this latest incarnation of Middle Eastern suicide attack is still blamed on the Jews, with the article alleging that the suicide strategy was only adopted because of Israel’s incursion into Lebanon.”

According to the JC, BBC Arabic has issued more than 130 corrections following complaints of bias and inaccuracy in reports about Israel and Jewish affairs since the beginning of 2021 — an average of more than one every week.

A spokesperson for BBC Arabic said that it “offers independent and impartial news and information. As with all content produced by the BBC, their output is subject to the BBC’s rigorous Editorial Guidelines. We reject any notion that there are wider issues with the service’s 24-hour, multi-platform output.”

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

Chelsea Football Club has created a supporters group for its Jewish members.

According to a statement on the Club’s website, “the creation of the group builds on the work Chelsea FC and Chelsea Foundation have delivered over the last five years,” going on to state: “In January 2018, the club and Foundation launched Say No To Antisemitism – a consolidated campaign and programme focusing on education, support and awareness with the message that antisemitism, or any form of discrimination, has no place in our club or society.”

Stephen Nelken, founder of the Jewish Supporters Group, said: “As a life-long Chelsea fan, I have been impressed and proud of the work the club has done to combat antisemitism and discrimination.” 

He added: “The intention in founding this group is to celebrate Jewish identity, support the excellent work the club is doing and encourage like-minded fans to come together to support Chelsea.”

Hollie Varney, Kick It Out COO, said of the group: “We’re delighted to see Chelsea FC and their community of Jewish supporters working together to create a space for Jewish fans to express and celebrate their culture and identity. ‘Chelsea FC has been at the forefront of the drive to combat antisemitism in football and this announcement is a fantastic step to creating an inclusive and welcome environment for the club’s Jewish fanbase.”

Earlier this year, Arsenal Football Club announced the launch of a new affiliate called “Jewish Gooners”, partly in response to antisemitism among supporters.

James Cleverly, the UK Foreign Secretary, has said that Mahmoud Abbas must stop spreading antisemitic tropes. 

The comments came during an address to the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, ahead of Mr Cleverly’s meeting with officials from the Palestinian Authority, which Mr Abbas heads.

Referring to Mr Abbas’ recent speech, which contained a tirade of antisemitic tropes, Mr Cleverly said: “When I meet with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, I will make it clear that rather than spreading disgusting antisemitic tropes and outrageous distortions of history, they should be clear in their denouncement of violence.”

He continued: “The PA [Palestinian Authority] should be clear that there is no acceptance for brutality and terrorism. It should be clear that there is no excuse to target Israelis, particularly Israeli civilians, because that is the only way that peace is possible.”

Mr Cleverly also said during his speech that Israel’s “right to self-defence belongs exclusively to Israel’s security forces who operate within the line of international law”.

Referring to Iran’s involvement in attacks on the Jewish state, Mr Cleverly said: “Iran refuses to take responsibility for their complicity in these attacks, but we in the UK are under no illusion about Iran’s maligned role.”

Mr Abbas’ speech was given on 24th August to the Revolutionary Council of Fatah. In the speech, Mr Abbas claimed that Jews were not “Semites” and were actually descendants of the Khazars. The Khazar myth is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims that Jews are descended from a Central Asian people and have no connection to the Land of Israel. He did, however, make the distinction that, in his view, Sephardi Jews are Semites “because they originated in the Arabian Peninsula”.

Mr Abbas also said in his speech: “They say that Hitler killed the Jews for being Jews and that Europe hated the Jews because they were Jews.”

He added, “It was clearly explained that [the Europeans] fought [the Jews] because of their social role, and not their religion. Several authors wrote about this. Even Karl Marx said this was not true. He said that the enmity was not directed at Judaism as a religion, but to Judaism for its social role.” 

Referring to Hitler, Mr Abbas continued: “He said he fought the Jews because they were dealing with usury and money. In his view, they were engaged in sabotage, and this is why he hated them. We just want to make this point clear. This was not about semitism and antisemitism.”

Following Mr Abbas’ speech, Paris revoked his Medal of the City of Paris. The medal was awarded to Mr Abbas in 2015 in “recognition of his actions towards finding peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

A teenager from Swindon who promoted antisemitic and racist views has been convicted of terror offences. 

Yesterday, after a two-week trial, Malakai Wheeler, 18, was found guilty at Winchester Crown Court of six offences relating to the possession and dissemination of terrorist material.

Mr Wheeler was arrested in 2021 following an investigation, which was conducted by Counter Terrorism Policing North East, into users in a Telegram group whom police suspected to be sharing extreme far-right content. 

Following his arrest, police found the Terrorist Handbook in Mr Wheeler’s bedroom. The Terrorist Handbook is a publication which instructs readers on how to make bombs and other explosives. 

Mr Wheeler was found to be frequently sharing material in the chat, including antisemitic content and instructions on how to make explosives. 

The defendant said in court that he had downloaded the explosives instructions as they would be useful should there be a case of “social disorder”. 

He added: “Weapons could be useful if there was a serious emergency. Covid showed things could come out of the blue. It could be an economic problem or a foreign invasion, things can just pop out of nowhere.”

Mr Wheeler told the court that he downloaded material with the intent to make an archive if the documents were deleted from Telegram. He also said that he had obtained videos, which show people being murdered, from ISIS out of “morbid curiosity”. 

The court heard that the defendant was interested in Nazism and anti-Zionism. Mr Wheeler also told the court that he had a swastika as part of his profile picture on Telegram and admitted to being in a photograph whilst doing a Nazi salute in a skull mask. 

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “Although only sixteen at the time of his arrest, Wheeler was deeply entrenched in a Telegram chat group committed to extreme right-wing ideology. He was not simply curious, or a passive observer within the group. He clearly shared the same mindset as other members and was very active when it came to promoting racist and antisemitic views and propaganda. It is important young people recognise the potential impact of their online activity, before they cross a line into criminality, or engage in harmful or dangerous behaviours.”

Mr Wheeler remains in custody until his sentencing in November.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Contrary to his assertions, Mr Wheeler’s obsession with violence went far beyond ‘morbid curiosity’. His anticipation of ‘social chaos’ is indicative of the very real threat that is posed by the far-right. Cases such as these shed light on the kind of rhetoric that is utilised to recruit young people and mobilise them against the Jewish community. We hope that Mr Wheeler’s sentencing will reflect the serious danger that he poses to society.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Wiltshire Police

The Labour Party has reportedly reached a settlement with nine whistleblowers who had brought legal proceedings against the Party after their names appeared in a leaked report about antisemitism.

The nine individuals sued the Party after their names were included in a leaked 850-page report produced in the waning days of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, titled ‘The work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in relation to antisemitism, 2014 – 2019’.

The report, which was a last ditch attempt to discredit antisemitism allegations in the Party, was intended to be sent to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which the new leadership of the Party declined to do, but it was leaked.

That leak is at the centre of another, ongoing lawsuit. It is understood that this settlement does not affect that case.

Campaign Against Antisemitism called at the time for the report to be sent to the EHRC as part of the evidence of antisemitism-denial and diminishment within the Party.

It is understood that the nine whistleblowers and the Labour Party have reached a settlement out of court, with a notice of discontinuance having been filed with the High Court.

The whistleblowers claimed that the Party had breached their rights to data privacy and exposed them to attacks online.

In a separate case, 21 claimants are suing Labour over alleged breaches of their data privacy rights and defamation.

There are estimates that the various cases could cost the Labour Party several million pounds.

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “We are pleased to be able to move forward in a positive manner. The Labour party is committed to continuing its work on combating antisemitism.”

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

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

Rory Stewart, the former Conservative MP and candidate for the Party’s leadership, has defended his view that it was “disgusting” that Sir Keir Starmer withdrew the Labour whip from Jeremy Corbyn, before apologising today.

In an interview last week with the controversial far-left activist-journalist Ash Sarker on the far-left Novara Media blog, Mr Stewart said: “I think it’s disgusting he was thrown out of the Labour Party. I mean, it’s mad. Jeremy Corbyn, whatever you think of him, is a major figure who represents a very significant part of Labour history and heritage. He was the leader of the party.”

Mr Corbyn had the whip removed from the Parliamentary Labour Party and was suspended from the Labour Party but was subsequently readmitted to the latter, which means that he is a Labour member but sits as an independent MP.

Mr Stewart, who previously served as International Development Secretary, was asked about his comments by the JC, in view of Mr Corbyn’s record on antisemitism, and said: “I’m making a narrow point but I may have been over influenced by my own experience. There was horrifying antisemitism in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, I had friends who witnessed it directly and they expressed to me how disgusting it was. I absolutely believe it and it was a very good reason why people turned against Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. However, I am concerned about the trend of MPs being expelled from political parties. Parties with serving MPs in Parliament should have broad coalitions.”

However, in an opinion editorial in the Jewish News today, Mr Stewart clarified: “My point was not to exonerate Corbyn but to oppose the principle of leaders  barring fellow members from standing as candidates as happened here. In a first past the post system like the US or the UK this operates – as I discovered personally – as a de facto expulsion from Parliament.”

He added: “None of this is to excuse the horrifying antisemitism that existed and was not addressed in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. I heard about it directly from many friends who I trust. Corbyn has a great deal to answer for. I also feel very uncomfortable trying to maintain a constitutional point over an issue which was so deeply hurtful and offensive and disturbing to so many. And I realise Corbyn is not the constitutional hill I would have wanted to choose to die on.

“Seeing the passionate responses to my original comments, I wanted to express many many apologies for stepping into this so insensitively. I don’t believe Starmer was right to expel Corbyn from Parliament, but Starmer has done the right thing in demonstrating that antisemitism will not be tolerated in his party.”

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

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

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

Matt le Tissier, a retired footballer, has reportedly shared content which claims that Osama Bin Laden was a Mossad agent.

The post, which was published by a different user on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter, was accompanied by an inflammatory thread that said: “Who is Osama Bin Laden, well it may come to shock you that his actual name is Tim Osman, or Colonel Tim Osman, a CIA asset and Mossad agent who worked with the Justice Department.”

It continued: “The establishment media complex wants you to believe that the highest ranking terrorist known in America was simply assassinated after decades of failure to find him, then put on board an old Vietnam-era chopper only to be thrown into the sea thus eliminating all evidence.”

Alongside the post published the other user, Mr le Tissier wrote, “what a thread”.

Included in the thread of the post was a video featuring James Fetzer, an American academic who is known to promote Holocaust-denial and conspiracy theories. Mr Fetzer previously wrote: “My research on the Holocaust narrative suggests that it is not only untrue but provably false and not remotely scientifically sustainable.”

In the video, Mr Fetzer reportedly appears to describe accounts of the 9/11 attacks as “not just false but provably false”. He also allegedly claimed: “This whole project emanated in the fertile imagination of [Israeli Prime Ministers] Bibi Netanyahu and Ehud Olmert…to promote the Israeli agenda by drawing American forces into the Middle East.”

One of the posts in the thread appeared to reference the ‘dancing Israelis’ conspiracy theory: “Even though being suspects in the largest terror attack in our nation’s history, they were released.”

‘Dancing Israelis’ is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that alleges that five Israeli Mossad agents were witnessed by police to be dancing and celebrating the 9/11 attacks on a rooftop when they took place. It also alleges that the Israelis were involved in the attacks and that Jewish people were pre-warned to stay away from the buildings that day. 

It is understood that other comments in the thread denied the plausibility of the attacks entirely. 

In 2020, Mr le Tissier apologised for comparing rules on mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic to the Holocaust in a highly controversial and ill-considered social media post.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to report on and act against instances of anti-Jewish racism in all sports.

Members of the far-right met for an event in Samlesbury, Lancashire on Saturday which hosted Patriotic Alternative speakers and honoured fascist Sir Oswald Mosley.

The event was organised by Heritage and Destiny, which meets annually. According to the group’s website, Heritage and Destiny “reflects a cross-section of 21st century racial nationalist opinion”. 

According to Heritage and Destiny, a total of eighty people attended the event and was chaired by Keith Axon, a former National Front and British National Party (BNP) organiser.

Several individuals were due to be commemorated at the event, including: Sir Oswald, who founded the British Union of Fascists; Ian Stuart Donaldson, a musician for the band, “White Power”; Derek Beackon, a former councillor for the British National Party; and Andrew Brons, a former Chairman of the National Front who was also a British National Party Member of European Parliament. 

Speaking at the event were Mark Collett and Laura Towler, who are respectively the Leader and Deputy Leader of the far-right group, Patriotic Alternative. Patriotic Alternative is a UK-based group headed by Mr Collett, the former leader of the youth wing of the BNP. Mr Collett is reported to have dabbled in Holocaust-denial, is regularly heard as a guest on the radio show of the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke, and has described the Holocaust as “an instrument of white guilt”.

Patriotic Alternative is known for its efforts to recruit youth to its white nationalist ideology. Previously, the far-right group published an online “alternative” homeschool curriculum condemned as “poison” and “hateful” and attempted to recruit children as young as twelve through live-streaming events on YouTube, according to The Times.

Other speakers at the event included Isabel Peralta, Ken Schmidt, Benny Bullman, Ian Stuart, John Kersey, Stephen Frost, Mark Cotterill and Peter Rushton.

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

In the coming days, Jews around the world will celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, a festival that has the theme of justice at its core. At this time of the year, we reflect on the achievements of the past year and rededicate ourselves to our mission of fighting for justice for British Jews.

In just the past few weeks, Abdullah Qureshi has been sentenced for violent antisemitic assaults against religious Jews in North London. This was only possible after we exposed a plea deal that he had agreed with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), as part of which the antisemitic element of the hate crimes was dropped. Only after we and other groups made representatives to the CPS did the court agree to reinstate the charges, and, two years after the attacks, he has finally been sentenced for the full horror of his crimes.

He is not the only illustration of a system that tries to downplay antisemitism. After six years of action by Campaign Against Antisemitism – including a private prosecution, a judicial review and a complaint to his regulator – the pharmacist Nazim Ali has finally been found to have made antisemitic comments at the pro-Hizballah ‘Al Quds Day’ march in London in 2017. An earlier hearing determined that the comments had not been antisemitic, and only after we and others appealed the matter, ultimately to the High Court, was that decision quashed and a new hearing held which made an opposite finding.

We have also been involved in the prosecution of a Tik Tok influencer who was invading the homes of the Jewish families in London, the antisemite Alison Chabloz lost an appeal in her latest case following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, and, in Scotland, the French far-right fugitive and Holocaust-denier Vincent Reynouard was finally arrested following appeals by Campaign Against Antisemitism, aided by our Honorary Patron Lord Austin. He now faces an extradition hearing, and, if he is extradited, he faces immediate imprisonment in France.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has also been granted intervener status in a High Court case brought by the disgraced former mayor Ken Livingstone against the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) over the EHRC’s investigation into Labour antisemitism, in which we were the complainant.

In the workplace, we continue to help victims in cases that do not make the headlines but make a big difference in the lives of ordinary Jews facing discrimination, for example in the case of a young Jewish employee whose employer we helped to sue for unfair dismissal, and a teacher, who, with our help, reached a settlement following multiple instances of antisemitism at their school.

On campuses, we continue to work with students, staff, administrators and other stakeholders to challenge antisemitism when it arises at universities around the country. For example, at Birkbeck, a professor is no longer working at the institution following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, and we have also made a detailed submission to the independent inquiry into antisemitism at Goldsmiths.

Meanwhile, a major independent report into antisemitism at the National Union of Students (NUS), to which Campaign Against Antisemitism contributed and which leaned on our research, found that NUS allowed the development of a “hostile environment” for Jewish students, with instances in which Jewish students were “subjected to harassment” likely to be in breach of the Equality Act 2010, in addition to NUS’s own code of conduct. The report rightly recognised that there has been a “poor relationship” between NUS and Jewish students for a long time. During the investigation, NUS took the unprecedented step of removing its President, Shaima Dallali.

Our communications work has also yielded tremendous successes over the past year. Retail giant Adidas ended its partnership with the rapper Kanye West after almost 200,000 people signed Campaign Against Antisemitism’s petition, which was backed by celebrities David Schwimmer, Chelsea Handler and others. We have also sustained international pressure on the musician Roger Waters, secured the cancellation of an antisemitism-denial propaganda film at Glastonbury Festival and many other venues around the country, and made videos exposing individuals and activist groups such as Just Stop Oil.

We also launched the first ever national antisemitism billboard campaign, highlighting the fact that Jews are 500% more likely to be the victims of a hate crime than any other faith group. These billboards were in dozens of locations across multiple cities including London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Birmingham and Edinburgh. The campaign was featured in major locations such as Leicester Square, Heathrow airport, Westfield Shopping Centre and Manchester One. Among the models was a Holocaust survivor who has been left sickened by modern antisemitism, and, it is believed for the first time ever on a British billboard, a member of the Charedi Jewish community, which bears so much of the brunt of violent antisemitic crime.

Our work holding traditional media organisations to account has also borne fruit. For example, Ofcom finally rebuked the BBC over its coverage of the antisemitic Oxford Street incident, which followed action by Campaign Against Antisemitism and many others in the Jewish community. We have also been at the forefront of action against The Guardian, the BBC over other issues, and others.

We continue to be active in policy-making as well. We ensured that the new draft online safety bill would retain a key legal provision to enable the fight against antisemitism on the internet, and we have called on the British Government to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, providing a dossier of research to the Home Secretary, Security Minister and all MPs.

We also launched a first-of-its-kind study surveying in real-time the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities across the UK. It is the only such resource, and complements our existing similar database for universities. We made a submission to a Parliamentary committee calling for tougher punishments against racist local councillors, and we recently revealed that over 40 British universities have yet to adopt the Definition, despite calls from the Government and the Jewish community to do so. We have also urged the United Nations finally to adopt the Definition.

The only way to inoculate against the virus of antisemitism is through education. That is why we continue to offer educational classes in Jewish and non-Jewish schools and synagogues, a curriculum for non-Jewish schools that is also featured on BBC Teach, events for the public, and regular training for corporations, charities, regulators, police forces, university societies and others. Our annual internship programme grows in popularity every year, and our podcast – the only podcast in the world dedicated to antisemitism – is in the top five percent most shared podcasts globally on streaming giant Spotify, and is in the top ten percent most followed podcasts. Guests have included David Baddiel, Eddie Marsan, Robert Rinder, Simon Brodkin, Elon Gold, Modi Rosenfeld, Ben M. Freeman, Eve Barlow, Natan Levy and numerous other celebrities, influencers, rabbis, academics, activists and authors.

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

Please help us to keep achieving our goals.

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

From everyone at Campaign Against Antisemitism, we wish you a happy and healthy Jewish new year ahead!

Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Charity Commission last month over a charity that hosted senior commanders from the antisemitic Islamist terrorist group, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

It was reported last month that several IRGC leaders gave lectures to students nationally. It is believed that some of the talks have been held at the registered address of the Al-Tawheed Charitable Trust.

The Al-Tawheed Charitable Trust is understood to be under investigation already by the Commission due to “serious concerns regarding events held at its premises” after the charity reportedly held an event to celebrate and commemorate Qasem Soleimani, an IRGC terrorist mastermind who was assassinated by the United States in 2020. 

The lectures were reportedly organised by the Islamic Students Association of Britain. 

The Islamic Students Association of Britain reportedly has branches on university campuses in Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Cambridge.

Saeed Ghasemi, reported to be a former general in the IRGC, allegedly told British students that the Holocaust was “fake”.

“The one that the Jews say happened is fake. The real Holocaust happened in my country in the First World War, 1917-19, when the UK occupied Iran,” he reportedly said during an online talk.

He also is reported to have encouraged his audience of students to join “the beautiful list of soldiers” who would fight and kill Jews in a coming apocalyptic war. 

Hossein Yekta, another figure believed to be a high-ranking IRGC official, is said to have accused Jews of having “created homosexuality”. He allegedly told students that they should view themselves as “holy warriors”, promising them that the “era of the Jews” would soon be at an end. 

Earlier this year, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to all MPs calling on them to back the Government’s reported proposal to proscribe the IRGC under the Terrorism Act 2000.

We provided the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and the Security Minister, Tom Tugendhat, and all MPs with a dossier on the IRGC, detailing its horrendous record of antisemitism and violence against Jewish people.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has a long and appalling record of promoting antisemitic propaganda, including Holocaust-denial, and funding and orchestrating violence against Jews. This is in addition to being the world’s biggest state-sponsor of terrorism more generally, the effects of which are not only profound in the Middle East but felt on every continent in the world. According to our nation’s security chiefs, Iran directly threatens the UK.

But what is less known is that it is specifically the IRGC that is one of the principal instruments through which the Iranian regime carries out these endeavours.

Founded in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the IRGC is a paramilitary force that answers directly to the radical regime. Its purpose is to serve as a praetorian guard for the theocracy at home and to advance its interests abroad. That includes training, arming and supporting terrorist groups and encouraging strategic acts of terror against targets deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic.

The IRGC has a paramount role in cultivating antisemitic sentiment, giving succour to antisemites and backing terrorism against Jews.

The IRGC is a vital organ pumping out antisemitic propaganda in Iran and through the Middle East, it emboldens those who wish harm to Jewish people in the name of extremist religion, and it is the indispensable patron of such antisemitic genocidal terrorist groups as Hizballah and Hamas, both of which are proscribed by the UK.

The BBC Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) has admitted that its presenter’s baseless accusation that “Israeli forces are happy to kill children” was not impartial. 

The outrageous and unfounded claim came during an interview on BBC News in July with the former Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, about Israel’s military operation in Jenin, which has now concluded.

When speaking on the topic of the targets of the operation, Anjana Gadgil, the presenter who conducted the interview, stated: “The Israeli forces are happy to kill children.” 

Mr Bennett robustly rejected the baseless assertion, including by noting that the seventeen-year-olds in question were armed combatants.

The notion that the military of the state of Israel – the Jewish state – is “happy” to kill minors draws on the symbolism of the blood libel.

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

The original antisemitic blood libel dates to 1144, when Jews in England were falsely accused of the murder of a boy known as William of Norwich.

Incidents of blood libel grew in the Middle Ages, with Jews accused of murdering Christian children in order to use their blood in Passover rituals. In 1290, it was a pretext for the confiscation of all Jewish property and the complete expulsion of Jews from England. They were not permitted to return until centuries later. The blood libel has been a case of much persecution and murder of Jews ever since, including up to the present day.

In the modern era, updated versions of the blood libel continue to pervade antisemitic discourse.  Contemporary manifestations include the accusation that Jews or the Jewish state steal human organs, drink or utilise the blood of non-Jews, or willfully and readily murder non-Jewish – particularly Arab – children.

After Campaign Against Antisemitism and many others complained to the BBC about the comments, the broadcaster apologised. Now the ECU has also published the results of its investigation.

A spokesperson for the ECU said: “The ECU accepted that, as phrased, the statement might have given viewers the impression that they were hearing the presenter’s personal view on a controversial matter, and that it therefore fell below the BBC’s standards of impartiality.”

The spokesperson also said that BBC News had “already acknowledged a problem with the interview” on its corrections webpage and that it, therefore, considered the complaint resolved. 

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

The BBC is reportedly set to work on a film with the expelled Labour member and controversial filmmaker Ken Loach.

The film, entitled, “Downtrodden”, is reportedly in partnership between the BBC and Mr Loach’s production company, Sixteen Films, according to The Telegraph. 

Mr Loach was expelled from the Labour Party in August 2021 without public explanation. Mr Loach had been a leading ally of other controversial figures in Labour’s antisemitism scandal, especially those who denied that there was such a scandal of antisemitism. He said at the time of his expulsion: “Labour HQ finally decided I’m not fit to be a member of their party, as I will not disown those already expelled,” adding that he was “proud to stand with the good friends and comrades victimised by the purge. There is indeed a witch-hunt…Starmer and his clique will never lead a party of the people. We are many, they are few. Solidarity.”

Mr Loach’s voice was among the loudest of those who attempt to dismiss Labour’s antisemitism crisis as non-existent and a right-wing smear campaign. He claimed that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was subjected to a “torrent of abuse” that was “off the scale” and that regardless of what he did, the “campaign” of antisemitism accusations was “going to run and run”. He described the BBC’s Panorama investigation into Labour antisemitism as “disgusting because it raised the horror of racism against Jews in the most atrocious propagandistic way, with crude journalism…and it bought the propaganda from people who were intent on destroying Corbyn.”

He was also reportedly behind a motion passed by Bath Labour Party branding the Panorama programme a “dishonest hatchet job with potentially undemocratic consequences” and asserting that it “disgraced the name of Panorama and exposed the bias endemic within the BBC.” John Ware, the programme’s reporter, is apparently considering legal action against Mr Loach for his comments.

In 2017, Mr Loach caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust-denial. The International Definition of Antisemitism states that “denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)” is a manifestation of antisemitism. Although Mr Loach later sought to clarify his remarks, he has continued to make inflammatory and provocative statements about Labour’s antisemitism scandal.

While speaking at a meeting of the Kingswood Constituency Labour Party, Mr Loach advocated the removal from the Party of those Labour MPs, some of whom are Jewish, who have taken a principled stand against antisemitism. Shortly after that incident, the Labour Party announced that it would no longer use Mr Loach as a producer of their election broadcasts.

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

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is a terrible lapse in judgement which we will discuss with the BBC. Ken Loach has been just appalling in his antisemitism-denial, not only during the years of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, but long after the Equality and Human Rights Commission found evidence of illegal antisemitism and the Labour Party admitted it. Even the Labour Party has ditched him, so why would anyone think he’s still an acceptable partner for the BBC?”

Mr Loach has denied that he is involved in the production of “Downtrodden”, reportedly telling the PA news agency:  “This is unfounded abuse from a pressure group. I have answered such allegations many times. There are important questions to put to the CAA [Campaign Against Antisemitism] when it makes these unpleasant attacks. They have a political agenda and they clearly do not represent all Jewish people, maybe only a minority. They never challenge me directly, simply seek to cause professional damage and personal distress.”

Mr Loach reportedly described himself as a “target” for pressure groups such as Campaign Against Antisemitism, purportedly because he is “known to be of the left” and someone “who supports Palestinian rights”. He added: “In this instance, the CAA has its facts wrong. I am not a producer of the film Downtrodden, nor involved in its production. Sixteen Films is a production company that works with several directors.”

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

The Labour Party has spent over £500,000 in legal costs as part of its case against former staffers who are accused of leaking an internal antisemitism report. 

The costs, reported to be at least £503,260, are understood to relate to a recent hearing in which the Party tried to gain access to Laura Murray’s e-mails. Ms Murray is a disgraced former aide to Jeremy Corbyn who was appointed to lead the Labour Party’s disciplinary process during his tenure as leader of the Party.

The hearing is part of a wider counterclaim against the Party’s former staffers who were criticised in a controversial internal report into the handling of antisemitism cases by the Party. The report, which was a last ditch attempt to discredit allegations of antisemitism in the Party, was intended to be sent to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as part of its landmark investigation into Labour antisemitism in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the originating complainant.

In the counterclaim, four other former staffers are named: Karie Murphy, a trade unionist and Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff, whose nomination for a peerage was blocked; Harry Hayball, a staffer in Labour’s Governance and Legal Unit and former Head of Digital Communications at the pro-Corbyn Momentum pressure group, who was reportedly labelled as the author in the report’s metadata; Seamus Milne, the far-left journalist who served as Mr Corbyn’s Executive Director of Strategy and Communications; and George Robertson, who worked in Labour’s communications team.

Last year, it was reported that Labour could face up to £5 million in claims and counterclaims relating to the leaked report. 

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

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “The party has conducted a wide-ranging and appropriately thorough investigation following the leak and is confident of the case it has presented to the court. That remains the case.”

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

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

The Green Party has announced that Jo Bird, a controversial expelled Labour Party councillor, has been selected as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Party.  

A post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for the Wirral Green Party read: “We’re pleased to announce our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Birkenhead, Cllr Jo Bird. #JoBird4Birkenhead #GetGreensElected”. 

Cllr Bird then retweeted the post and wrote, “Birkenhead deserves better,” before continuing to list various policy issues. 

Cllr Bird, who re-joined the Labour Party in 2015 when Jeremy Corbyn was running for the Party’s leadership, has a long history of controversy relating to Jews, including renaming ‘due process’ in the Labour Party as “Jew process”, for which she was suspended; supporting the expelled Labour activist and friend of Mr Corbyn, Marc Wadsworth, who was thrown out of the Party after a confrontation with Jewish then-MP Ruth Smeeth; and worrying about the “privileging of racism against Jews, over and above — as more worthy of resources than other forms of racism.”

Elected to Wirral Council in August 2018, Cllr Bird has been a member of Jewish Voice for Labour, the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, and she has described Labour’s institutional antisemitism as based on mere “accusations, witch-huntery and allegations without evidence”.

Cllr Bird appears to have been expelled from Labour for her association with the proscribed antisemitism-denial group, Labour Against the Witchhunt.

Cllr Bird then joined the Green Party last year, after Campaign Against Antisemitism warned of the danger of controversial activists who have left the Labour Party joining the Greens instead.

Earlier this year, the Jewish Greens appointed Cllr Bird as a senior officer. 

Our polling of British Jews found that the Greens were second only to Labour in how many respondents felt that the Party was too tolerant of antisemitism (43%).

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

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

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

The Government has pledged to halt public funding of mosques that host hate-preachers. 

An investigation by the JC revealed that four mosques that have hosted inflammatory speakers in Britain have received substantial public grants in recent years. 

The investigation found that Finsbury Park Mosque in North London received almost £300,000 from Islington Council between 2017 and 2022. 

Earlier this year, the mosque’s General Secretary, Mohammed Kozbar, reportedly wrote on Facebook that he was “honoured” to meet the antisemitic former Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad. 

In 2015, Mr Kozbar allegedly visited the grave of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and described him as “the master of the martyrs of resistance, the mujahid [holy warrior] sheikh, the teacher.” Mr Yassin is known as one of the founders of Hamas, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist group.

Mr Kozbar has also reportedly met senior Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud al-Zahar.

In 2021, the UK banned Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist group following calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.

Mr Kozbar also hosted Egyptian cleric Omar Abdelkafi. Despite Mr Abdelkafi’s record of quoting from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and a Facebook post that included a prayer to “liberate the al-Aqsa mosque from the filth of the Jews,” Mr Kozbar reportedly described him as “our beloved preacher”.

In 2011, Mr Kozbar was reportedly caught on video speaking at an anti-Israel rally, where he allegedly said that he looked forward “to the end of Israel, inshallah.”

He has also reportedly given public support to the disgraced Bristol University academic David Miller and to Shaima Dallali, who was removed from her position as President of the National Union of Students amidst allegations of antisemitism.

Days after the investigation was published, Jeremy Corbyn, the former Leader of the Labour Party, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter: “Finsbury Park Mosque offers a place of peace, hope and solidarity to so many people in our community. We will not be divided by those in our media who seek to sow hatred and fear. It is love for our neighbours, whatever their faith, that unites us all.”

According to the investigation, Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre in Birmingham was reported in August to have received a grant of £2.2million from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). 

The funding is understood to come from a Government Youth Investment Fund and is for the mosque to build a centre for young people. The centre would host courses provided by the mosque on topics such as “how to empower marginalised communities” and “critical thinking”.

The decision to award the mosque money was reportedly made by the Social Investment Business (SIB). SIB is a foundation that is contracted by DCMS to help with decisions in social investment. 

A spokesperson for SIB said that the distribution of the grant has been “paused”. A “pre-construction” grant of £600,000 however, has already been paid to the mosque. 

In terms of SIB’s vetting processes, the spokesperson said: “Prior to any decision to award beneficiaries funding, due diligence checks are conducted.” 

The spokesperson added: “This includes information publicly available via the Charity Commission and Companies House, as well as extensive assessments of project bids and documentation.” 

In 2021, Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem, the mosque’s Head Imam and Head of Education, reportedly said in a recorded talk that female adulterers should be killed and that “there must be a hole dug in the earth and she [the adulterer] must be covered up to half her body.” 

In 2019, Shaykh abu Usamah at-Thahabi, who is known to be a regular speaker at Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre, appeared in a video that was posted to the mosque’s YouTube channel in which he said that he was stopped from entering Israel as he was considered a “threat to public safety”. He later reportedly remarked in the same video that he was not a threat and that his visit was to see holy sites in Jerusalem before comparing Israel to a “concentration camp”. 

In another video, Mr Thahabi allegedly said that “the Jews made a lot of trouble for the Arabs in Medina, a lot of trouble.”

He has also reportedly expressed homophobic beliefs publicly which included saying, “you make sure you kill the one who is doing it and the one who it is being done to,” after suggesting that Shariah law permitted killing LGBTQ+ people. 

It is also understood that the mosque hosted a speaker who claimed that Jews are “people of envy” who “killed the prophets and the messengers”. 

Another video appeared to show a leading imam of the mosque saying that women who are adulterous should be stoned to death. 

A spokesperson for Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre claimed that the video “lacked context” and was “taken from a wide-ranging theological discourse that included the recounting of events in Arabia over 1,400 years ago…he did not suggest that these practices have a place in UK society.”

The investigation also found that Lewisham Islamic Centre in South London received nearly £540,000 between 2015 and 2022 in “local authority grants”. 

In 2016, the mosque’s Head Imam, Shakeel Begg, was determined by a High Court judge to have “promoted violence in support of Islam” during his unsuccessful libel claim against the BBC.

It is also understood that Mr Begg told young Muslims to “go to Palestine and fight the Zionists.”

Lewisham Council has reportedly said that it has no record of the grants made between 2015 and 2022.

Michael Adebolajo, who murdered British soldier Lee Rigby, used to be a member of the Lewisham congregation and attended a speech by Mr Begg at the mosque in 2021. During the speech, Mr Begg reportedly showed support for the use of rockets against Israel. Mr Adebolajo described the speech as “inspiring”. 

Mr Begg said that he was “appalled” by the murder of Mr Rigby. 

In the centre’s 2022 Annual Report, there is an endorsement by Ellie Reeves, the Labour MP for Lewisham West, which says that the centre does “absolutely brilliant work for the Lewisham community”. In the same report, Damian Egan, the Labour Mayor of Lewisham, described it as “a source of guidance, community and friendship”. 

Another mosque was revealed to have received over £850,000 between 2017 and 2022. Jamia Islamia Ghousia in Luton is believed to have received the funding locally from its town council. 

In 2021, Jamia Islamia Ghousia allegedly backed a rally where the speaker, Attiq Malik, reportedly claimed that Israel was committing “genocide” and said that this was underreported in the media due to “global censorship by Zionists”.

It is understood that the mosque’s Chief Imam attended the rally. 

At the same rally, another speaker reportedly said that “Israel is a disease that needs to be cut out,” before leading a chant that said: “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.

It is understood that following the investigation, Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, and Michael Gove, the Communities Secretary are pushing for better “due diligence” checks to be conducted by the Government and local governing bodies.

Rachel Hopkins, the Labour MP for Luton South, attended the rally and said to local media afterwards: “I was proud to speak at today’s Luton demo against the abuses in Israel and Palestine. There’s no justification for such violent, traumatic attacks.” 

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

A former prison officer who shared neo-Nazi rap songs was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on Thursday. 

Ashley Podsiad-Sharp, 42, from Barnsley, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on the charge of being in possession of material likely to be of use to a terrorist contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000. 

Mr Podsiad-Sharp formerly worked as a prison officer at a men’s prison in Armley, Leeds. 

The material in question was the White Resistance Manual. According to law enforcement authorities in California, the White Resistance Manual is “basically a guerrilla warfare manual instructing people on different types of weapons, on creating weapons, on police investigations, basically how to conduct covert urban operations.”

The manual states: “No longer will we allow the Jews to live like parasites upon the body of our race. No longer will we tolerate any Jewish influence in our political system, our legal system or our mass-media.” 

Following an investigation into Mr Podsiad-Sharp’s online activity, he was arrested by Counter Terrorism Policing North East with the assistance of South Yorkshire Police, in May 2022.

In May, he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court where he faced accusations of running an online fitness club in which he promoted terrorism through the use of neo-Nazi rap music.

Said to be the founder of the White Stag Athletic Club, Mr Podsiad-Sharp described the club as “nationalist boy scouts for grown-ups”, which he said was “something beautiful, a brotherhood among a lot of men who have none — white working-class men”. As part of the process for new recruits for the club, members were asked if they were of Jewish or Muslim heritage, mixed race or LGBTQ+. 

Judge Richardson said during Mr Podsiad-Sharp’s sentencing: “The simple fact of the matter is you created a cauldron of self-absorbed neo-Nazism masquerading as a low grade all-male sports club. This sought to camouflage your real purpose to incite violence against those you hated with a vengeance. Those individuals were inadequate, ill-educated, unsuccessful, and dangerous. The terrorist manual was an integral part of this scheme. Sooner or later that violence would have eventuated.”

“You place Hitler and his henchmen as idols in your life,” Judge Richardson later added.

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Counter Terrorism Policing North East

A former RAF (Royal Air Force) cadet admitted in court on Friday that he was responsible for far-right graffiti.

An unnamed seventeen-year-old boy appeared in court at the Old Bailey and admitted two separate acts of vandalism in 2022 on a Windrush memorial in Port Talbot. The graffiti consisted of a swastika, text that read, “Nazi zone” and “1488”, and a racial slur. 

1488 is often used as a coded reference to the neo-Nazi fourteen-word oath, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” a slogan initially devised by David Lane, a member of the white supremacist terrorist group “The Order”, which was responsible for the murder of Jewish radio host Alan Berg. The number 88 refers to the eighth letter of the alphabet, H, and is intended as a code for “Heil Hitler.”

The Court heard about the teenager’s troubling history of engagement with far-right ideology, which included: Being banned from Instagram for posting Nazi content; owning a copy of Mein Kampf, which was bought for him by his mother; and having an internet history of extreme far-right material. 

According to the prosecution, police also found knives, a gasmask, a KKK flag, a swastika flag and an air rifle among the defendant’s possessions. 

A video was shown in Court where the teenager posed with the air rifle and called himself, “Hitler’s strongest soldier”. Another video showed him wearing a swastika necklace and talking about “white power”.

It was also found that the defendant wrote “check my art out” on Telegram after the mural was vandalised. 

The Court heard that the defendant was referred to the Government’s Prevent programme last year by his RAF cadet group. He was later expelled from the group when he shared an image of himself with a swastika on his chest with other cadets. 

Lucy Jones, prosecuting, also presented content from the defendant’s diary, which included an entry that expressed desire for a “race war”. 

Another entry included a to-do list that detailed items such as “burn a building down, maybe bomb it”, “kill someone”, “join a Nazi militia”, “get a gun or make one” and “get buff as hell”.

The teenager previously pled guilty to two charges of possessing a terrorist document, three charges of distributing a terrorist document and three charges of criminal damage in June. 

The defendant is due to be sentenced in September and will remain on unconditional bail until then. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Following six years of dogged action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has finally admitted that comments by the pharmacist Nazim Ali were antisemitic, but has still let him off with just a warning.

The GPhC’s Fitness to Practise Committee ruled that Mr Ali’s conduct while leading the pro-Hizballah ‘Al Quds Day’ march in London in 2017 brought his profession into disrepute due to comments made over a public address system that the Committee found to be antisemitic.

Today’s hearing comes after a previous decision by the GPhC to let Mr Ali off with a warning was quashed following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, which, along with others, took the matter to the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Campaign Against Antisemitism has also brought a private prosecution, launched a judicial review, and submitted the initial complaint to the GPhC, in our efforts to secure justice.

Ultimately those efforts have succeeded today, much as the final sanction is unacceptably weak.

At the hearing in London today, two of the four comments made by Mr Ali at the ‘Al Quds Day’ march in London on 18th June 2017 were found to have been antisemitic, based on how a “reasonable person” would have understood the comments.

The two comments, made before a crowd holding Hizballah flags and placards proclaiming “We are all Hizballah” were: “Any Zionist, any Jew coming into your centre supporting Israel, any Jew coming into your centre who is a Zionist, any Jew coming into your centre who is a member of the Board of Deputies, is not a Rabbi, he is an imposter”; and “They are responsible for the murder of the people in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party,” referring to the tragic fire in which seventy-two people had perished four days prior to the march. The Committee found that it was “proved” that the comments were antisemitic.

The Committee made reference to the International Definition of Antisemitism, and determined that a reasonable person could find that the first comment “conveyed [that] there are certain categories of persons who are not [a] proper representation” of Jews, and that the use of the word “imposter” was antisemitic because it “displayed hostility to the Jewish people”.

With regard to the second comment, the Committee found that, given that Zionism had nothing to do with the tragic Grenfell Tower fire, a reasonable person could view “Zionist” in this comment as a synonym for Jews, and that this engaged the Definition, according to which “Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews” is an example of antisemitism. The Committee found that, in this instance, “‘Zionist’ connoted antisemitic tropes.”

The sanction of a warning was considered suitable by the Committee even though it found that Mr Ali’s remarks were given greater “salience” by the fact that he led the rally, rather than merely participating in it, and that his claims about the Grenfell Tower tragedy were made soon after the fire when emotions would have been at their “rawest”. Despite these findings, the next level of sanction — suspension — was not even sought by the GPhC’s counsel.

Disappointingly and inexplicably, an additional two comments, “It’s in their genes. Zionists are here to occupy Regent Street. It’s in their genes. It’s in their genetic code”; and “European alleged Jews. Remember brothers and sisters, Zionists are not Jews,” were “not proved” to be antisemitic. Regarding the first comment, in this case “Zionists” was not deemed to be synonymous with ‘Jews’, and the second comment about Zionists not being Jews was supposedly ambiguous, and the Committee understood it to mean simply that ‘Zionists are not the same as Jews,’ and concluded that that was not an antisemitic comment.

Nevertheless, the Committee deemed that the “nature of what was said amounted to serious misconduct” and that it constituted an impairment to practise “on public interest grounds”, and that it was “entirely likely he would be identified as a pharmacist,” and indeed Campaign Against Antisemitism did identify him as such. It was found that he “did not lead by example,” as is required by all in the pharmaceutical profession, and his “comments brought the [pharmaceutical] profession into disrepute.”

While the Committee did not feel that Mr Ali posed a risk to patients, and even though he did not repeat his comments in subsequent years, the Committee concluded that he had brought the profession into disrepute with his comments, and that his words “had caused damage to the public’s confidence in the pharmaceutical profession.”

Despite the damage to the profession that the Committee found that Mr Ali’s comments caused, the Committee nonetheless decided to issue Mr Ali with only a warning, a weak sanction that a reasonable person would interpret as indicative of an unseriousness toward racist conduct as it pertains to Jews.

In 2020, the GPhC’s Fitness to Practise Committee found that Mr Ali had brought the pharmaceutical profession into disrepute. Although the Fitness to Practise Committee had found that Mr Ali’s words were offensive, it did not find that the words had been antisemitic, and the panel let him off with only a formal warning.

Following the GPhC’s ruling, Campaign Against Antisemitism and others made representations to the PSA, which oversees disciplinary decisions made by the GPhC. We asked the PSA to use its statutory power to appeal the GPhC’s decision to the High Court under the National Health Service Reform and Healthcare Professionals Act 2002, on the grounds that the decision made by the GPhC panel was insufficient to protect the public because it was “irrational and perverse”.

In particular, we asked the PSA to review the GPhC’s ruling that Mr Ali’s statements were not antisemitic, including by attempting to distinguish between “antisemitism” and “antisemitic”. We asked the PSA to consider the International Definition of Antisemitism, which has been adopted by the British Government, and the Guidance to all Judiciary in England and Wales produced by the Judicial College that makes clear that the word “Zionist” or “Zio” as a term of abuse has no place in a civilised society.

The PSA made the referral that we requested, opening the way for the High Court to decide whether to quash the GPhC panel’s decision. Subsequently, the GPhC itself also agreed with Campaign Against Antisemitism and declared that it would not oppose the appeal at the High Court, leaving Mr Ali to do so himself. The High Court allowed the PSA’s appeal, ruling that the case was to be remitted to the Fitness to Practise Committee to redetermine whether Mr Ali’s comments had been antisemitic. Mr Ali subsequently sought leave to appeal the High Court’s ruling in the Court of the Appeal, but permission to appeal was refused.

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Today’s ruling marks the culmination of more than six years of work by Campaign Against Antisemitism to secure justice against the leader of the infamous 2017 pro-Hizballah ‘Al Quds Day’ march. It has finally been ruled that Nazim Ali’s address to the crowd contained antisemitic invective, an obvious conclusion that has been resisted for years.

“Despite this admission at long last by the GPhC, Mr Ali has only been given a warning, a slap-on-the-wrist sanction that shows a disturbing lack of seriousness toward racist conduct as it pertains to Jews.

“The road to justice in this case has proved long and winding, but we always said that we would not allow this injustice to stand and we are pleased that this ruling that the comments were antisemitic has at long last vindicated our efforts, even as the sanction shows that enforcement remains unacceptably weak in many cases. British Jews can be assured that we will always be unrelenting in pursuit of justice, and we will be meeting with the GPhC about its approach to antisemitic hate.”

As the new academic year approaches, Campaign Against Antisemitism can reveal that 43 universities in Britain have still not properly adopted, or have expressly refused to adopt, the International Definition of Antisemitism.

The number of universities that have adopted the Definition in full, including the eleven integral examples, and have not adopted any other qualifying or competing language, is 134. However, the rate of adoption is slowing, with our research indicating that the most recent adoption may have been as far back as March 2022. The latest information, which is updated in real time, can be found at antisemitism.org/universities.

Among those universities that have not adopted, some have not provided any cogent reasons, such as the University of Brighton and the University of Wales Trinity St David.

Brighton University, for example, told us: “A Race and Faith commission was set up following discussions at the Academic Board and Board of Governors on the subject of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. The Commission recommended that the University should not adopt the definition.”

This Commission relied on work by the UCL Academic Board, which even the UCL leadership has not followed (UCL has adopted the Definition), input from the University and College Union (UCU), which is a staunch opponent of the Definition and whose reputation in the Jewish community is in the gutter, and Prof. David Feldman, a former Deputy Chair of the whitewash Chakrabarti Inquiry into antisemitism in the Labour Party and whose advocacy against the Definition has been grossly counter-productive to the fight against antisemitism.

Some universities claimed that, while they have not adopted the Definition, they nonetheless ‘use’ it, including Cardiff University, Edinburgh Napier University and the University of South Wales.

Others insisted that their existing policies already cover antisemitism and therefore adoption is not necessary, such as Kingston University, Robert Gordon University and SOAS University of London.

SOAS, for example, told us: “While SOAS University of London has not adopted the IHRA definition, we stand firmly against antisemitism, as we do against all forms of discrimination. Our SOAS Charter on Racism, Antisemitism and All Forms of Cultural, Ethnic and Religious Chauvinism makes a clear, demonstrable commitment to every member of staff and every student that we will not tolerate any form of racism or religious chauvinism, and that we will maintain an inclusive space for every member of our community.”

Readers will draw their own conclusions as to the strength of SOAS’s commitment to standing against antisemitism, in light of its appalling record.

Some universities have not adopted the Definition, because it does not cover all faith groups. These include Ravensbourne University London, Swansea University and the University for the Creative Arts.

The University of St Andrews has decided not to adopt the Definition because it believes that it is polarising to adopt only this definition of antisemitism. The University of Greenwich has gone further, adopting both the Definition and the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. The Jerusalem Declaration is a wrecking document intended to undermine the globally-recognised Definition. Any university that has adopted it alongside the Definition or an amended version of the Definition (for example by omitting the eleven integral examples), such as Greenwich University or Goldsmiths, University of London, cannot be said to have adopted the Definition. Campaign Against Antisemitism recently submitted evidence to an inquiry into antisemitism at Goldsmiths.

The arguments that these universities have deployed to justify their failure to adopt the Definition do not hold water. Those that claim that their existing policies render the Definition unnecessary misunderstand its purpose: the Definition is not a policy on antisemitism but a definition of antisemitism. Existing policies can detail how antisemitism is treated; they cannot identify it. For that, the Definition is needed.

The claim, meanwhile, that the Definition can have a “chilling effect” on freedom of expression or inhibits criticism of Israel are also baseless canards. The Definition, which is context-specific, states clearly that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.” Moreover, as Campaign Against Antisemitism has shown, the Definition does not at all conflict with freedom of expression under law, and indeed a 2023 report into antisemitism in higher education found that, of 56 universities asked, none knew of a single example in which their adoption of the Definition had in any way restricted or chilled freedom of expression or academic research.

These excuses are wearing thin, particularly as antisemitism on campuses is rising. CST reported at the beginning of this year that there has been a 22% increase in university-related reported antisemitic hate incidents over the past two academic years, while polling conducted in 2021 by Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that 92% of British Jews believe that antisemitism in British universities is a problem.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We commend the vast majority of British universities that have chosen to show solidarity with Jewish students and do their part in the fight against anti-Jewish racism by adopting the International Definition of Antisemitism. It is appalling that a minority of universities continue to take the opposite course, and it is astonishing that they persist in providing excuses that have already been debunked years ago. These universities are bowing to pressure by those who either fail to appreciate the gravity of contemporary antisemitism or do not have the interests of British Jews at heart. It is cowardly. They must urgently revisit their positions.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism will continue to monitor the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities.

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

A comedy agent reportedly berated a Jewish comedian about how “Jews exaggerate antisemitism”.

The alleged incident occurred in a bar on the last day of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, also known as the Edinburgh Fringe, the world’s largest annual performing arts festival.

Bennett Arron, a Welsh comedian and writer who in 2018 performed at a Campaign Against Antisemitism comedy fundraiser, wrote of his “upsetting” experience on X, formerly known as Twitter, where he said the incident had “really spoilt what had been a wonderful Festival”.

“Bit upsetting. The Agent of some well known comedians decided to scream at me in a bar, in front of my family who had come to celebrate my success at the Fringe, that Jews exaggerate antisemitism and that other minority groups have real justification for complaint but not Jews,” he said.

Continuing, he wrote: “He also went on to scream that Jews should never have been given Israel and that Jews smeared Jeremy Corbyn. When I asked if we could discuss this another time as he was upsetting my family, he shouted “See THEY always do this!” It really spoilt what had been a wonderful Festival.”

Mr Arron was met by support from other comedians.

Geoff Norcott posted that it was “Horrible to read of these kind of comments in 2023,” while Felicity Ward wrote: “This is so awful. The confidence of the abuse given the time and place is even more upsetting. To feel bold enough to do it publicly without fear of any real reprimand is disgusting. I’m really sorry you and your family had to endure this.”

Robert Popper, creator of the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner, said: “Nasty. Sorry this had to happen to you. I wonder if his clients know. And what they’d think about it.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Jewish comedians should not have to live in fear about being harassed by antisemitism-deniers. It is utterly appalling to hear that Bennett Arron was subjected to such vile abuse, and it is even more concerning to learn that someone within his own industry might be responsible. Individuals working in comedy would do well to remember that racism against Jews is no joke. We have since been in touch with Mr Arron to offer our support.”

Blake Flayton, a columnist for the Jewish Journal and a social media commentator on American-Jewish and Israeli political issues, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he spoke about anti-Zionist antisemitism.

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

“There’s a lot of misconceptions about Zionism, whether they come from within the Jewish community or outside the Jewish community,” he said. “The Jews have a right to live in the land in which they’ve always been associated with. We have been known as Jews, and in different languages, it’s just a variation on the word ‘Jew’. We have been named after this piece of land for the last 2,000 years, if not more so.”

Mr Flayton explained how, during the first 30 years of Israel’s existence, neighbouring Arab countries would denigrate the country, even going as far as to assert that they would “push the Jews into the sea” and that “Jews are cockroaches.” 

The activist said how that in the shadow of the just-passed Nazi era, these statements were ones that “nobody in the West who could ever call themselves ‘liberal’ or ‘progressive’ could support”.

“Standing up for the Jews was a good, progressive cause overseas. And then, the Soviet Union enters stage-left somewhere in the mid-to-late ‘70s and basically flips the language of anti-Zionism in order to make it more palatable to people in the West, to journalists and academics and activists,” Mr Flayton said.

The Soviet Union would then “make the language of anti-Zionism sound as though it was a progressive fight for justice, a call for righteousness, and it’s been going ever since because it’s believable,” he said.

“They use the lingo, they use the words, that connect with people who style themselves as activists. In reality, it’s the same Nazi-like war against the Jewish right to self-determination that’s been going on since 1948. The goal is the same, and that’s from the river to the sea, there will not be a Jewish state.”

When asked why university campuses have seen an increase in anti-Zionist rhetoric, he said: “This is actually in-line with how antisemitism has worked forever, because the antisemites take advantage of the hot-button issues of the day, and they connect Jews with those hot-button issues in order to whip up outrage among their supporters and get closer to their goals on campus.”

Elaborating on the goals in question, Mr Flayton said that some examples might be the “passing of BDS resolutions or isolating Jewish organisations, or simply just making individual Jews feel uncomfortable.” 

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

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

Two identifiably Jewish men were reportedly accosted whilst they were on their way to attend a Sabbath service at a synagogue in Finchley on Saturday 26th August.

The alleged victims were two men in their 70s and were both wearing kippot (skullcaps) and and carrying bags containing tallit (prayer shawls). Whilst the men were walking down Chessington Avenue towards Finchley United Synagogue, also known as Kinloss Synagogue, a car, believed to be a small black hatchback, stopped beside them. 

The driver, described as being a man of Middle Eastern appearance wearing a baseball cap who was approximately 30 years of age, was said to have rolled down his window before asking one of the men if he could ask them a question.

He then allegedly proceeded to show them a photograph on his phone of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before asking: “You know who this is?” 

One of the men responded to the driver by saying “I haven’t a clue….never seen him before,” before asking his friend to take a look who then gave the same reply.

Seemingly infuriated, the driver apparently began shouting at the pair before speeding off.

If you have any information about this incident, please e-mail [email protected].

A woman from Oxford has been revealed as a contestant for a ‘Miss Hitler’ beauty pageant. 

Sarah Mountford, 42, is alleged by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to be a participant in the inflammatory pageant, under the alias ‘Miss Aryan Angel’. Originally from Brighton, Ms Mountford is now understood to be living in Oxford with her three children. 

The competition is hosted by VKontakte, a Russian social media platform. Contestants are encouraged to use pseudonyms when they enter the pageant, in which users can vote for their favourite competitor. 

Ms Mountford has reportedly described herself in a statement on her competitor’s page as, “straight, white, pure-blood female with a longing to return to traditional ways. In accordance with nature. Blood and soil. Ancestors and honour. Our people matter.” 

Photos of Ms Mountford alongside swastikas and other Nazi symbols were also found on her page. 

When Ms Mountford was contacted about her involvement in the competition, she reportedly said: “It was just a bit of fun, really, a spur of the moment thing. I didn’t set out to upset anyone. It’s not like I’ll get a crown – it’s more of a poll. I’ll try to get it taken down. My views aren’t extreme, you hear the same at every bus stop.”

She also said: “He [Adolf Hitler] has been dead a long time. I didn’t think of the impact his name still has.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is not the first time that we have encountered so-called ‘Miss Hitler’ pageants. There is nothing beautiful in the grotesque idealisation of Adolf Hitler, who oversaw the murder of millions of Jews and a world war that brought about immense suffering. The far-right continues to find new ways to attract and engage new and existing adherents, and will readily appeal to people’s baser instincts, in this case their vanity. Participants in these far-right activities should be warned: they cannot hide behind pseudonyms, and they will be found and shamed.”

In 2020, Alice Cutter, a woman who entered a “Miss Hitler” beauty pageant in order to attract new members to the British neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action, was found guilty of membership in the proscribed organisation and sentenced to three years in prison.

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

A man has been arrested in connection with vandalism of a cemetery at a Jewish cemetery in Kent. 

The suspect, a 41-year-old man, was arrested in relation to alleged criminal damage to the cemetery adjacent to Chatham Memorial Synagogue, in Rochester, Kent. 

Headstones in the cemetery were found knocked over and smashed earlier this month. 

Kent Police have confirmed that an investigation is still ongoing and encourage anyone with further information relating to the incident to contact them. 

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is not the first time that Chatham Memorial Synagogue has been attacked. It is a sober reminder that we are in a time when Jews, including their institutions, are five times likelier to be targeted in a hate crime. We commend the police for acting swiftly and making an arrest, and expect that any perpetrators will be punished to the full extent of the law. If anyone has any information about the attack, please urgently contact us or the police.”

If you have any more information, please contact Kent Police on 101, quoting crime reference number 46/152042/23, or Campaign Against Antisemitism at [email protected] or on 0330 822 0321.

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.

An artist with a history of inflammatory social media posts about Jews is once again exhibiting her work in London.

Anna Laurini is currently showing her art at the Fitzrovia Gallery, having also exhibited elsewhere in London in 2022.

The Italian painter has a history of sharing inflammatory conspiracy theories about Jews on social media.

In one Instagram post, for example, a figure, which appears to be Ms Laurini, poses on a rooftop with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City in the background. The caption reads “Imagine a world without #Israhell”, a reference to the conspiracy theory that Israel was responsible for the terrorist attacks on New York City on 11th September 2001.

In a Facebook post, Ms Laurini appears to have shared an article apparently from the publication, Palestine Voice, which seems to have featured Ms Laurini in a 2020 edition. Ms Laurini captioned the post with the words “From the river to the sea”, part of the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. 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.

Another online post apparently shared by Ms Laurini features a black and white image of the gates to what looks like a Nazi concentration camp, but replaces the infamous words above the entrance gate, “Arbeit macht Frei” (“Work sets you free”), with the words “Green pass macht Frei”, which compares COVID-19 restrictions to Nazi ideology.

Ms Laurini appears to have repeated the sentiment in this post in another, which features a version of the flag of Nazi Germany. In this instance, the post shows the flag with a green background and the words “green pass”, again apparently comparing Nazism and anti-coronavirus measures put in place by European governments.

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

Additionally, Ms Laurini appears to have retweeted a post that features the image of Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, who is Jewish, with captions that seem to suggest that the Rothschild family are responsible for a conspiracy that involves the “geo-engineering” of the weather and its “rebranding” as climate change, which allegedly leads to the erosion of democratic freedoms around the world.

The Rothschilds appear in many anti-Jewish conspiracy theories as a sinister, controlling force.

In a further post, she also reportedly appeared to link the Rothschild family to the 9/11 attacks, alleging that the Israeli shipping company, Zim, “broke [a] lease it had held for 30 years and moved out of the World Trade Center.” She continued: “Zim is half owned by the Rothschilds.” The notion that the Jews had advance notice of the attack on the World Trade Centre, often purportedly because the Israeli foreign intelligence service, Mossad, was involved in orchestrating the attack, is a popular antisemitic conspiracy.

In another Instagram post, Ms Laurini reportedly shared photos of herself posing with the conspiracy theorist and antisemitic hate preacher, David Icke.

She has also reportedly shared material on Gab, a social-media platform that was founded in 2016 with a claim to “champion free speech,” and has become a haven for supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory and other far-right groups and individuals banned from mainstream platforms.

She reportedly shared a cartoon there that showed a man asking “how are they connected?” as he stands in front of a board on which topics including “pornography”, “banking” and “Hollywood” are connected by string in the shape of the Star of David. The post adds: “If you ignore the JQ you are politically illiterate.” “JQ” is a reference to the “Jewish Question”.

Another post reportedly shared by Ms Laurini described the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a “billionaire Jew pal of the rich and powerful,” and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell as a “rich Jew”.

Asked by the JC about some of these posts, Ms Laurini reportedly said: “I cannot now recall the content of the postings that you claimed I share on social media [sic].” She reportedly added that the account on which those posts appeared “closed down over two years ago” and that the comments “do not represent” her views.

In a statement, the Fitzrovia Gallery told the JC: “We simply hire the gallery space for artists and/or their agents to exhibit. We do not get involved with any of their artwork or selection of it. We are simply a space for hire. We have not ‘arranged’ her show.”

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

Waterstones has removed from sale a “Deluxe” edition of Mein Kampf after Campaign Against Antisemitism alerted the bookseller to the listing on its website.

Mein Kampf was the Magnus opus and manifesto of the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

The retailer explained that it receives title information for its website through an automated feed from Nielsen. Although Nielsen and Waterstones both provides a level of scrutiny for the books that come through, the size of the catalogue reaches tens of millions of titles and some undesirable books make it through the filters.

Waterstones concluded: “This listing has now been removed from our database and the title will not be available to purchase via our website or our bookshops. Once again, thank you for highlighting this issue.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We commend Waterstones for immediately removing the ‘Deluxe’ version of Mein Kampf from its website after we contacted them. Such vile antisemitic rhetoric has no place on the virtual shelves of a major retailer, let alone being marketed as a superior collector’s item. With websites relying more and more on automations, it falls to groups like ours to ensure that online filters work and that sellers are held to account. To its credit, Waterstones has repeatedly taken antisemitism seriously and removed racist propaganda from sale.”

In 2020, Waterstones agreed to remove all books by the conspiracy theorist and antisemitic hate preacher David Icke.

A Jewish cemetery in Kent was discovered to have been vandalised. 

Several headstones at the cemetery adjacent to Chatham Memorial Synagogue in Rochester were found last week to have been smashed and knocked over. 

Dr Dalia Halpern-Matthews, a Trustee of the synagogue, said: “We shouldn’t be having to put up with the mass destruction of something that should be sacred,

“The cemetery is very special obviously in terms of every individual grave, but when you consider that it is the only shul [synagogue] with a cemetery attached in the country, it is a very significant shul. It has been Grade II listed for many years.”

This is not the first time that the synagogue has been the target of such attacks. According to Dr Halpern-Matthews, the cemetery itself has been attacked five times over the past ten years.

Last year, an attack on the cemetery is understood to have cost the synagogue £19,000 in repairs. 

Other attacks on the synagogue have included graffiti that reportedly depicted “genitalia” with “something about ‘f***ing religion’”. On another occasion, faeces was found smeared onto the building. 

Incidents such as these have reportedly left some of the synagogue’s congregants fearful of attending services in person.

The most recent incident has been reported to Kent Police and is under investigation. 

In a statement, Kent Police said: “At around 12pm on Friday 18th August 2023 Kent Police received a third-party report of criminal damage at a synagogue in Rochester. Officers have since spoken to representatives of the synagogue and this incident is being treated as a hate crime. Enquiries to locate those responsible for the damage are ongoing.”

If you have any more information, please contact Kent Police on 101, quoting crime reference number 46/152042/23, or Campaign Against Antisemitism at [email protected] or on 0330 822 0321.

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.

Following correspondence with Campaign Against Antisemitism, a music venue in Newcastle has cancelled a screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The screening of the film Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie was due to be shown earlier this month at The Lubber Fiend, but the booking is understood to have been made by a third party, and not by the venue itself, which we understand was not made aware of the nature of the film.

The news comes shortly after, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Glastonbury FestivalYMCAUnite unionBasildon CouncilNorth Ayrshire Council, the national pub retailer Greene KingTolpuddle Village HallYeovil Labour Club, a Nottinghamshire church, Ludlow Assembly Rooms and independent venues around the country, have cancelled screenings of the film.

The film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.

The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.

Also featured in the film is the disgraced academic and conspiracy theorist, David Miller, who was fired by the University of Bristol in 2021 over comments he had made about Jewish students, a month after Campaign Against Antisemitism commenced a lawsuit on behalf of current students against the institution and amidst a Jewish communal outcry. More recently, he tweeted that “Jews are not discriminated against” before going on to write: “They are over-represented in Europe, North America and Latin America in positions of cultural, economic and political power.”

Another contributor involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration. However, Mr Murray has since sought to distance himself from the film.

The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends the venue for its swift and decisive action to cancel the screening as soon as we brought it to its attention.

Additionally, we received confirmation from the Widcombe Social Club that a planned screening of the film, at which Mr Loach was also due to speak, was cancelled, as has one at Havant and Emsworth United Reformed Church, the independent book retailer, October Books, and Leicester Students’ Union.

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

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to a Berwickshire-based shop over the sale of Nazi memorabilia. 

Walk This Way Surplus, a militaria shop in Coldstream, lists several Nazi-era items on its website, including Nazi party triangle pennants, listed for £100.

Also for sale are an assortment of Third Reich knives, including a bayonet and a utility knife, that range from £139 to £1,800.

In its on-site shop, it is understood that there is a bronze Hitler bust, listed for £150; a German merit cross with a swastika, listed for £250; an SS helmet, listed for £300; and a Totenkopf [death skull] SS pin, listed for £135. 

Earlier today, we wrote to Richard Winterton Auctioneers Ltd over the sale of Third Reich items. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to a Lichfield-based auctioneer over the sale of Nazi memorabilia. 

Richard Winterton Auctioneers Ltd will be hosting a “Toys and Militaria” auction in Tamworth on 30th August. 

In the auction, an array of items, including Third Reich daggers and an assortment of metal swastika badges, will be sold. 

The auction also features bayonets, swastika and eagle decorations for caps, uniform patches, a belt buckle, and a letter from the senior Nazi figure, Heinrich Himmler, all from the Nazi era.

Campaign Against Antisemitism understands that the sale of the Nazi items has prompted a member of the local Jewish community to withdraw their own listings from the auction house.

Last week, we wrote to Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood over their sale of Nazi-era items.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We wish to express our solidarity with the local member of the Jewish community who is seeking to pull her items from sale by Richard Winterton Auctioneers. The sale of Nazi memorabilia is always repugnant, but here it is in the starkest relief. Such sales are an affront to those who died fighting the Nazis and those who were murdered at their hands. We shall be writing to the auction house.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted evidence to an inquiry examining antisemitism at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Last year, the University announced that it would launch an investigation into racism against Jews at the institution, and earlier this year it was announced that senior barrister Mohinderpal Sethi KC would lead the investigation.

The Inquiry, billed as an “independent review into antisemitism at the College”, invites current and former University students and staff to come forward with their own experiences.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted a dossier of evidence, incorporating the testimony of students and details of incidents, as well as recommendations.

The Inquiry’s report is expected to be presented by next year.

The investigation was announced last year after Dr David Hirsh, a sociologist at the University, was called a “far-right white supremacist” by Goldsmiths’ then-Students’ Union President.

Initially, the Students’ Union refused to investigate Sara Bafo over the social media post, despite being requested to do so by the University.

Ms Bafo’s alleged tweet was said to have been written in response to a tweet from Dr Hirsh, a prominent and highly-respected antisemitism expert, which said: “There is an antisemitic edge to official, institutional, university campaigns to ‘decolonise’ education.”

In response to the University’s request for the investigation, Ms Bafo tweeted that the University “has tried to get the SU trustee board to investigate me for a tweet I made in response to a Zionist Goldsmiths academic’s explicit racist history & his delegitimisation of ‘Decolonisation’ campaigns,” adding: “This was a dirty tactic from the institution to silence me further as I was leaving.”

However, despite the Students’ Union denying the investigation on grounds of “free speech”, the University announced that an independent probe will take place.

Dr Hirsh said of the probe: “I am really pleased that the leadership of Goldsmiths is taking this difficult and courageous step. I have been clear that there is a hostile environment at the College for scholars and students who refuse to embrace anti-Zionism.”

Dr Hirch featured in a recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism, in which he shared more information about the incident and the investigation.

Last year, the University also announced that it would adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism but “without the case studies”, and that it would be adopting in addition the Jerusalem Declaration, which is a wrecking document intended to undermine the globally-recognised Definition, owing to the fact that the University’s “academic community” favoured it.

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].

Following correspondence with Campaign Against Antisemitism, Ludlow Assembly Rooms has cancelled a screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The screening of the film Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie was due to be shown earlier this month, but the booking is understood to have been made by a third party, and not by the venue itself, which we understand was not made aware of the nature of the film.

The news comes shortly after, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Glastonbury FestivalYMCAUnite unionBasildon Council, North Ayrshire Council, the national pub retailer Greene KingTolpuddle Village HallYeovil Labour Club, a Nottinghamshire church and independent venues around the country, have cancelled screenings of the film.

The film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.

The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.

Also featured in the film is the disgraced academic and conspiracy theorist, David Miller, who was fired by the University of Bristol in 2021 over comments he had made about Jewish students, a month after Campaign Against Antisemitism commenced a lawsuit on behalf of current students against the institution and amidst a Jewish communal outcry. More recently, he tweeted that “Jews are not discriminated against” before going on to write: “They are over-represented in Europe, North America and Latin America in positions of cultural, economic and political power.”

Another contributor involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration. However, Mr Murray has since sought to distance himself from the film.

The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends the venue for its swift and decisive action to cancel the screening as soon as we brought it to its attention.

Additionally, we received confirmation from the Widcombe Social Club that a planned screening of the film, at which Mr Loach was also due to speak, was cancelled, as has one at Havant and Emsworth United Reformed Church, the independent book retailer, October Books, and Leicester Students’ Union.

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

A judge has described Abdullah Qureshi’s crimes as “terrible events for the entire Jewish community” before handing down his sentence in relation to racially aggravated assaults that Mr Qureshi committed against religious Jews two years ago.

On 7th April 2022, Mr Qureshi, 30, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates’ Court to two counts of assault by beating and one count of grievous bodily harm with intent. The charges related to a series of assaults on 18th August 2021 in Stamford Hill in which five religious Jews in the North London neighbourhood were violently attacked.

In one incident at 18:41 on the day of the attacks, an Orthodox Jewish man was struck in the face with what appeared to be a bottle. In another at 19:10, a child was slapped on the back of the head, and in yet another at 20:30, a 64-year-old victim was struck and left unconscious on the ground, suffering facial injuries and a broken ankle. Two further incidents were also alleged.

The incidents received significant media attention at the time, and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, condemned “this appalling attack,” adding: “Let me be clear, racist abuse and hate crime, including antisemitism, have absolutely no place in our city.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism then revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had dropped the racially/religiously aggravated element of those charges as part of a plea deal with Mr Qureshi. After we, Shomrim, CST and other communal organisations made representations to the CPS, it agreed to reinstate the aggravated elements, but Mr Qureshi appeared in court to resist the reinstatement of the aggravated element. In August last year, Stratford Magistrates’ Court agreed to reinstate the racially/religiously aggravated element to the charges against Mr Qureshi, and, at a further hearing at Thames Magistrates’ Court, he pleaded not guilty. In November 2022, Mr Qureshi was found guilty of the reinstated racially/religiously aggravated charges that the CPS initially dropped, before intervention by Campaign Against Antisemitism and other groups.

In December, Mr Qureshi was expected to be sentenced, but this was postponed following concerns surrounding his mental health. The court heard that Mr Qureshi suffered from anxiety and depression and that he had been hearing “internal voices” which ordered him to carry out the attacks. In February of this year, His Honour Judge Noel Lucas QC ordered an interim hospital order under Section 38 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Such an order is given when a person has been convicted but a court has been advised by doctors that the person has a mental health issue that requires hospital treatment before sentencing should occur. 

On 29th June, Mr Qureshi appeared at Wood Green Crown Court, where the court heard the first of two medical reports on his condition, with a view to hearing the second in August.

Today, Mr Qureshi appeared at the same court via video link. He was asked if he wanted representation and declined, as he has done on previous occasions.

Also appearing by video from elsewhere was Dr Purvesh Madhani, who reported that he and a second doctor had considered sentencing options under the law and concluded that a prison sentence would not be appropriate in view of Mr Qureshi’s mental illness. Instead, they recommended an order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act order, along with a section 41 restriction. Dr Madhani said that “I have come to the conclusion he has symptoms…[namely] delusions and hallucinations that make me feel that a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia [is appropriate].”

Mr Qureshi argued against the s.41 restriction on the basis that he had not reoffended since the original incidents (albeit that much of that time has been spent in hospital). Dr Madhani accepted this but also noted that on one occasion Mr Qureshi had to “receive treatment without your consent”. The doctor also observed that Mr Qureshi does not understand the link between his mental health issues and the crimes that he committed.

Nicki Roberson, appearing via video link for the CPS, revealed that, at the time of Mr Qureshi’s arrest, his father expressed concerns about his mental health. She also read out victim statements. One victim not only suffered trauma himself from the assaults at the hands of Mr Qureshi, but his four eldest children also had to attend therapy for a year. Another victim – a fourteen-year-old who cannot be identified – said in his victim statement that “I felt scared…I said nothing as I was shocked” and that “this must not happen to anyone.” Yet another victim related in his statement that he had been punched by Mr Qureshi in his right ear “with tremendous power” and his ear was “burning for months”, leaving him in “excruciating” pain. He is still “jumpy at the slightest noise” and his GP has diagnosed him with PTSD and referred him to a specialist. One of the victims suffered financial loss due to being unable to work for a period.

It also emerged that Mr Qureshi has two previous convictions, including one under the Public Order Act in relation to violence outside a nightclub in Swansea City Centre. Once locked in a prison cell, he had also grabbed the throat of a police officer.

Ms Roberson described Mr Qureshi’s attacks in Stamford Hill as having involved a “significant degree of planning” and argued that the crimes possessed a “high level of religious aggravation”. She sought a restraining order for an indefinite period for the victims, barring Mr Qureshi from contacting them by any means, prohibiting him from coming within 100 metres of them, and also banning him from the London Borough of Hackney.

Mr Qureshi denied travelling from his home in Yorkshire just to commit the offences, insisting that “there was no planning.” He also expressed contrition several times, saying. “I am deeply sorry for any harm that I have caused” and “My actions were totally unacceptable.” However, he also claimed that “I was drunk and I was angry.”

Judge Kalyani Kaul KC observed that there has been widespread coverage of the attacks in the Jewish media, and that this must have caused “a deep sense of shock and insecurity” for the Jewish community. She said that “these sorts of attacks make waves” that are ultimately greater than the attacks themselves, describing the crimes as “terrible events for the entire Jewish community”. The Jewish community, she said, “should not be subject to discrimination or hurt,” adding that attacks such as these “encourage divisiveness…[and] mistrust…from Jewish people to wider society”. She declared that these attacks affect not only the Jewish community “but all of us”.

She noted of one of the victims that “his life has been changed forever, both in terms of his physical health and how he conducts his life” and, with regard to another victim, that it was “only by the good grace of G-d” that he was not injured further. The judge was also not persuaded by Mr Qureshi’s contrition, concluding that “I’m not convinced you fully take responsibility,” and rejected his drunkenness defence: “[it was not] simply a question of being drunk, hitting out and not really knowing what you’ve done.”

Judge Kaul declared that she would have liked to issue a prison sentence but was unable to under law. “If it had been a sentence I could pass,” she said, it would have been in the region of five years’ custody, but “I’m not passing that sentence because I can’t.” Instead, she ruled that “I am satisfied you are suffering from a mental disorder” specifically “paranoid schizophrenia”, and issued orders under section 37 with a section 41 restriction, because “there is a great risk you will commit further offences if you are not detained.” She also granted the restraining order for a period of ten years.

Under this hospital order, Mr Qureshi will be sent to hospital and can only be discharged with the consent of the Justice Secretary.

We are grateful to Nicki Roberson and District Crown Prosecutor Varinder Hayre for helping to bring about today’s outcome.

Varinder Hayre, District Crown Prosecutor and London North’s Hate Crime Lead, said: “Qureshi, who travelled from West Yorkshire, carried out a series of antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community. The only thing which connected his victims was their Jewish faith. Hatred of any kind has no place in society. This sentence should serve as a strong deterrent to those thinking of committing similar crimes.

“I would like to thank the three victims for coming forward and supporting the prosecution. I am very pleased that we have achieved justice for the victims who were badly affected by this unprovoked, antisemitic, religiously aggravated hate crime. Indeed, no one in our society should be targeted because of who they are or what they do. Hate crimes – including antisemitism – have a corrosive effect on society. We will always prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We are very satisfied that Abdullah Qureshi has finally been sentenced for crimes committed almost two years ago. Justice requires perseverance, and we worked to help ensure that Mr Qureshi was identified and caught, the correct charges were brought against him, he was prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and he was sentenced appropriately. This sentence helps to redress the serious harm caused to his victims by these awful crimes.

“Today’s sentence also vindicates efforts made by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Shomrim, CST and others to pressure the Crown Prosecution Service into reinstating the aggravated charges after they were initially dropped. The CPS claimed that it did not have sufficient evidence to make out the antisemitic element of the crimes, but we disagreed and the court found that we were right to do so. We are grateful to the CPS for making the case forcefully since then and bringing about this outcome.

“Today a judge has robustly reiterated the impact of these abominable crimes both on the victims and on the Jewish community more widely. The CPS must recognise that victims of antisemitic crimes cannot be made to accept deficient legal outcomes, and perpetrators are on notice that we will not stop until Jewish victims have justice.”

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.

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to an Exeter-based auctioneer over the sale of Nazi memorabilia. 

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood will be hosting a two-day “Sporting & Collectors” auction with an array of items, including an assortment of Third Reich daggers and a metal swastika pin

The auction also features swastika and eagle armbands, swords, a bronze Gothe medal and a belt buckle, all from the Nazi era.

Earlier this year, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Emporium and Canterbury Auction Galleries over the sale of Third Reich items. 

Image credit: Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood

LinkedIn has refused to remove a number of antisemitic posts following complaints from its users. 

One of the posts that the social media platform reportedly failed to remove read: “Basically it’s all about money… the Jews have cemented themselves into USA politics and business.” Although the post was reported by one of the platform’s users, LinkedIn did not remove the content, saying that it did not breach its community policies. 

Another user received a similar response after reporting a post that read: “Jews/Zionists are pigs say the Qur’an [sic].”

Another reported post read: “Zionazi criminals on $tolen Palestinian land [sic],” LinkedIn again said that the post did not breach its policies, but suggested that the user unfollow or mute the account which had posted it. 

According to its Professional Community Policies, LinkedIn does not allow “content that attacks, denigrates, intimidates, dehumanises, incites or threatens hatred, violence, prejudicial or discriminatory action against individuals or groups because of their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin”. 

In response to the complaints, a spokesperson for LinkedIn said: “While we cannot comment on another member’s account for privacy reasons, antisemitism and other forms of hate speech do not belong on LinkedIn or in our communities. 

“We’re committed to setting a high standard for safe conversations on our platform, and we’ll take action on any content or behaviour that goes against our professional community policies. 

“This is deeply important and we’ll continue to invest in the features and tools that keep our platform safe.”

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

Image credit: LinkedIn

Alma Hernandez, a Jewish Mexican-American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives for the 20th district, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where she passionately addressed how she brought Holocaust education to Arizona.  

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

In 2021, a bill that Rep. Hernandez introduced requiring Holocaust education in Arizona public schools was passed by the State Legislature. This made Arizona the sixteenth state in the United States to make Holocaust education mandatory.

“The process was very long. It took about three years to get it done,” she said. “Not because it wasn’t a good policy, and not because I was doing anything wrong. It was really politics, that’s what it came down to. We had people on both sides using this bill to play politics.”

She revealed that certain politicians intentionally held up the process in order to ensure that Rep. Hernandez would cast her vote on specific policies, even if they did not align with her own views. However, Rep. Hernandez refused.

“I said, ‘Look, we can get it done this year. This is what the ask is of me,’ and I had many [Holocaust] survivors tell me, ‘We will wait as long as we need to wait so that you do what you need to do and what is right,’ so at the end of the day, I didn’t have to compromise my values and I didn’t have to do something I was going to feel morally wrong for doing,” she said.

While the bill was eventually passed, the length of time that it took, unfortunately, had severe consequences.

“We were able to get it done, but it took three years. It was a long process…at the forefront of all of this were the survivors. We had three survivors that passed away, unfortunately, during the three years who were very involved but didn’t get to see it happen.

“That was very difficult because I really wish that they could have all been here to be able to witness a historic moment, but because of politics, we couldn’t get it done.” 

Despite this, Rep. Hernandez’s sense of achievement over such a monumental accomplishment was clear, stating: “I’m just really grateful we finally got it done. I’m really proud of it.”

Many of the survivors were close with the Arizona representative even prior to her election, with one in particular — Theresa Dulgov — who was not only a “friend and a mentor” to Rep. Hernandez, but was also her first-grade teacher.

She said: “She used to teach about the Holocaust when we were younger. She was my brother’s and sister’s reading teacher as well, and I just never forgot her story, and as I got older, we kept in touch. I found her on Facebook.

“She had such a big impact on my life because I met her when I was so young and we just kept in touch over the years. We reconnected through the Holocaust survivor’s network here in Tucson and she was able to come testify on behalf of my bill, and that was really moving for me; having her support and knowing that she’s someone who I personally have known literally my entire life now, and has supported me throughout the years…just seeing her, how happy she was to finally see this done, was really rewarding.”

Speaking on how the implementation of Holocaust education in Arizona has been going, Rep. Hernandez said: “I know that the schools have been implementing different curriculums. They’re allowed to select the curriculum that works best for them through the Department of Education…It’s going to start with the children and educating the future generation, because they are the ones who are hopefully going to be breaking the cycle of hate and bigotry in our communities.”

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

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

Antisemitic graffiti has been found in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. 

The vandalism was discovered on a sign on Inkersall Green Road, Inkersall, on Sunday. 

The identifiably Jewish member of the public who reported the incident to the police has previously spoken about his experiences of antisemitism in Chesterfield. On one occasion, he reported seeing swastika graffiti and, on another, he said that a young man approached him shouting, “Hitler”.

Of the graffiti in Inkersall, he said: “It’s not the only incident and now I have been diagnosed with PTSD after an incident involving verbal abuse in February. It all is really having an impact on my health and making me ill.

“I saw the Star of David graffiti first time last year and I felt a little bit shaken, but it didn’t really get to me [sic]. The fact that it’s been happening consistently is what really concerns me. I started to wonder if I belong here.”

Derbyshire Constabulary has confirmed that it is investigating the incident. It has advised that anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area between 12:00 and 13:30 on 13th August should contact the police on 101 or via social media and quote the crime reference number: 23*501421.

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.

The Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has faced antisemitic abuse online over the impending transfer of a key player. 

Daniel Levy has been the target of antisemitic posts online following the negotiation over Tottenham’s Harry Kane with FC Bayern Munich. 

On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, users have said that “Levy is such a Jew,” and “Daniel Levy what a Jew.”

Yet another user said “Daniel Levy is the worst owner ever, just f***in move on and accept the current conditions you fat bald jew [sic].”

Other users wrote “This is the Jew in Levy coming out,” and “Levy my friend this is prime Jew.”

A post on a Bayern Munich fan account read: “Kane wants to join us. We would never sent the bid to that Jew had Kane not cleared to Bayern bosses that he wants to join…even [football journalists] Plettenberg and Fabrizio have confirmed that personal terms are clear. It’s just Levy being a p**** now [sic].”

One user reported on X that they had experienced similar rhetoric from a customer who described Mr Levy as a “Jew boy”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to report on and act against instances of anti-Jewish racism in all sports.

Individuals linked to an Islamist group that describes Jews as “monstrous” have reportedly been speaking at British universities. 

According to a report by The JC, the speakers have ties to Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist group that reportedly issued a statement on 11th May 2021 that said: “The monstrous Jews are spreading their brutal aggression on all parts of Palestine.”

In 2004, the group was banned by the National Union of Students (NUS) from British university unions and their societies on the grounds it was “responsible for supporting terrorism and publishing material that incites racial hatred”.

Last month, one of its previous leaders, Anjem Choudary, was charged with three terrorism offences.

Hizb ut-Tahrir was also mentioned in a report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change titled “Narratives of Division: The Spectrum of Islamist Worldviews in the UK,” which found that a number of UK Islamic activist groups promote views that align with proscribed extremist groups.

The speakers were hosted by a number of Islamic society events at universities including the University of Birmingham, the London School of Economics (LSE), and the University of Bradford; all of which have adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism in full. 

The links to Hizb ut-Tahrir with the speakers were reportedly not publicised during the events and it is unclear whether the societies knew about the connection. 

One of the speakers, Luqman Muqeem, is understood to have shared extremist content online, including a video of himself that incites Muslims to murder Jews and videos of other activists associated with Hizb ut-Tahrir.

He also reportedly shared a video of Belal Mohammed, a Hizb ut-Tahrir activist, calling for a jihad to “wipe out the Zionist entity”.

In February, Mr Muqueem spoke at the University of Birmingham, where he was joined by alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir activist, Taha Hanif. Mr Hanif is said to have tweeted “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud”, a common chant that can be translated in English as “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.

Omar Kaykhusrau, who is said to be a Hizb ut-Tahrir speaker studying for a PhD in economics at Kings College London that spoke at Birmingham City University and LSE, is alleged to have asked Allah to “purge the Zionist scum from Palestine” in a now-deleted Facebook post.

Another of its speakers, Rupon Shahidul Haque, reportedly called for the “liberation of filistin [Palestine] via jihad” in 2021 on Facebook. 

He also posted photographs to Facebook of a meeting he had with imam Sheikh Abu Oma Sara, who in 2016 was jailed by Israel after he issued a video saying: “I say to the Jews clearly: it’s time to slaughter you. It’s time to fight you. It’s time to kill you.”

A 1999 leaflet, distributed by Hizb ut-Tahrir, described Jews as “cowards” and called on Muslims to “purify yourselves against the deceptions of the Jews”. It added: “Know that the Jews and their usurping state in Palestine will, by the Help and Mercy of Allah, be destroyed, until the stones and trees will say: ‘O Muslim, o slave of Allah, Here is Jew behind a tree so come and kill him.’” 

A spokesperson for Hizb ut-Tahrir said that he did not know why “university student union societies would choose not to advertise that invited guests are members of Hizb ut-Tahrir,” and “could not speak on behalf of them”, but suggested NUS’ ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir was part of a wider “cancel culture”. He added that “in such an environment of cancelling debate, it takes no great leap of the imagination to determine why organisers may decide to do so.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2021 showed that almost eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.

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]

A comment made by an LBC host has resulted in a complaint being made to the media watchdog Ofcom.

According to the JC, during a conversation in April about whether Jews count as a race, Richard Spurr asked a listener: “Are Jews a race, would you say?”

The listener replied: “I believe so because…” 

However, Mr Spurr interrupted, stating: “They come from many different countries, don’t they? There’s no such place as ‘Jewland’”. 

The listener replied: “Well, it’s called Israel.”

Mr Spurr continued: “But Jews historically have lived in many countries and have been almost to an extent nomadic.”

Last week, during a conversation with a different listener, Mr Spurr said: “You’re right in saying that in parts of North London – St. John’s Wood, Golders Green, up that way – you do see large groups of Orthodox Jews walking around in their traditional dress and you could describe it maybe as a ‘ghetto’ but certainly as an area concentrated with Jews.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “To describe areas of London that have larger populations of Jewish residents as ‘ghettos’ is tactless, at best. Richard Spurr should apologise and be sure to avoid such crass comparisons in the future.”

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.”

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

It has been revealed that the Conservative Party received fourteen complaints of antisemitism in 2022.

The revelation comes a year after an independent report conducted by Prof. Swaran Singh.

A newly published report has been tasked with reviewing “the implementation by the Conservative Party of the Singh Investigation recommendations”.

The review revealed that 55 complaints were made in relation to protected characteristics; of the complaints that cited religion and belief, 43% cited Judaism. 

The review noted that, whilst the Conservatives had provided a new “transparency and reporting policy”, the Party did not “include a breakdown of the outcomes of investigated complaints citing protected characteristics”. 

Last year, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Party in relation to a disturbing pattern of incidents in the Bury North and South Conservative Association. The Conservative Party is yet to respond to us. 

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

Following the latest Jew-baiting outbursts from the disgraced academic David Miller, Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to University and College Union (UCU) demanding clarification on its previous statements of support for him.

Mr Miller was fired by the University of Bristol in 2021 over comments he had made about Jewish students, a month after Campaign Against Antisemitism commenced a lawsuit on behalf of current students against the institution and amidst a Jewish communal outcry.

He is a conspiracy theorist with a history of controversy relating to Jewish students. In one outburst, he asserted that “Zionism is racism”, declared his objective “to end Zionism as a functioning ideology of the world” and accused the Bristol University Jewish Society of being part of a worldwide Zionist conspiracy, adding that it is “fundamental to Zionism to encourage Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism”. At the same online event, Mr Miller also observed that the Jewish Society and the Union of Jewish Students are Zionist, thereby implying that Jewish students (and the wider Jewish community) inherently “encourage Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism”.

He also portrayed the International Definition of Antisemitism as an attack on free speech and accused the Israeli Government of engaging in an “all-out attack” on the global Left as part of an “attempt by the Israelis to impose their will all over the world”. In comments reminiscent of the darkest years of the United Nations, Mr Miller insisted that “Zionism is racism” and asked how “we defeat the ideology of Zionism in practice”, “how is Zionism ended” and about the way “to end Zionism as a functioning ideology of the world”.

Earlier this week, Mr Miller tweeted that “Jews are not discriminated against” before going on to write: “They are over-represented in Europe, North America and Latin America in positions of cultural, economic and political power.”

He also responded to a Twitter user who asked if could provide “a detailed list with names/positions [Jews] hold re. their being members of an over-represented group” by saying: “Coming shortly!”

His comments drew criticism from Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, who stated that his comments were “unacceptable” and had “crossed a line”.

JVL has previously published numerous articles in defence of Mr Miller.

In June, Jeanette Findlay, President of UCU Scotland, nonsensically claimed that the Union is committed to fighting antisemitism just seconds before rejecting the International Definition of Antisemitism and defending the disgraced academic Mr Miller.

Ms Findlay said: “We are very clear in UCU Scotland in our opposition to the treatment of David Miller by the University of Bristol. I was personally horrified and shocked when I heard that he had been sacked.”

She described Mr Miller as the victim of a “vicious and sustained assault” before stating that “it is [the Union’s] greatest wish that he will be reinstated.”

UCU has a horrendous reputation in the Jewish community, and this is not the first time its Scotland branch has defended Mr Miller. 

In a 2021 statement, UCU Scotland showed little regard for the anxieties of the concerned Bristol University students, dismissing them at the time as “Zionist lobby groups”. 

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “David Miller’s latest outbursts are yet further proof that we were right to launch a lawsuit against Bristol University on behalf of brave Jewish students, following which he was fired. We were heavily criticised by Mr Miller’s supporters, but now many of his erstwhile defenders are recognising him for what he is. UCU must explain whether it maintains its stance of staunch support for Mr Miller. If it is changing that stance, it should answer whether the price of alienating its Jewish members was worth it to defend such a vile individual.”

Judy Gold, a Jewish comedian, actor, writer, and podcaster whose comedy addresses antisemitism, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where she spoke about fighting antisemitism through comedy.

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

“You can joke about anything,” the Netflix and Comedy Central comedian said. “I have jokes about the Holocaust, but they’re good, well-thought-out, well-crafted jokes that make you think.” 

On the difference between comedians who joke about antisemitism in a considered way versus those who mock Jews and incidents of antisemitism in a cheap and tactless way, she said: “If you’re going to take the easy way out and just disparage just to disparage people and get a laugh, that’s not comedy to me.”

The comedian and actress addressed the idea that comedians should always “punch up” rather than “punch down”, meaning that a comedian’s jokes should be aimed at those in power carrying out harm rather than the victims of it.

“Punching up, to me, is real comedy…Jews have used comedy as a weapon, as a coping mechanism, as a way to disarm people. It’s a powerful weapon. Mark Twain said ‘Under the assault of laughter, nothing can stand,’ because you can have whatever weapon you want but humiliation is extremely powerful.

“I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but during the rise of the Third Reich, it was comedians who were getting on stage and telling the truth about what was really happening in Germany. They were speaking the truth to power, which is one of the things a comedian does, so Hitler passed the Treachery Act — those jokes weakened Nazi propaganda — Hitler passed the Treachery Act of 1934, which made telling or listening to an anti-Nazi joke an act of treason punishable by imprisonment or death.” 

“That is how powerful comedy is,” she added. “It’s a huge part of our culture.”

Ms Gold said: “It is a tool, and people who are full of hate don’t want to be disarmed, because their hate is their armour.”

However, Ms Gold is careful about how she intertwines antisemitism into her act.

Asked about her own craft, she told us: “When I’m doing material, especially about Jews and antisemitism, and I think [the audience] is laughing for the wrong reason, that’s my line. People are like ‘How can you tell?’ You can tell, believe me.

“There’s ways of talking about antisemitism in a way that is hilarious and enlighting.”

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

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

A man who downloaded bomb-making material was sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment on Monday. 

David Bodill, 29 from Buxton, was convicted and sentenced at Manchester Crown Court after being charged with one offence under section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.  

Mr Bodill was initially arrested on 2nd March 2022 after police discovered that he attempted to buy potential explosive-making materials.    

Following his arrest, police found chemicals that could be used to make explosives at his home, along with a notepad that contained instructions on how to make such explosives. 

Police also found concerning material on Mr Bodill’s laptop, which contained videos from extremist Islamist terror groups and far-right groups that featured beheadings and bomb-making instructions. 

Mr Bodill was due to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 22nd October the same year but failed to attend. 

It was then discovered that he had fled to Bulgaria, when he told police that he had no intention of returning to the UK. Mr Bodill was arrested by the Bulgarian authorities in January, earlier this year, and was subsequently extradited to the UK. 

Of the conviction, Detective Sergeant Frank Fraser of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands said: “The substances and downloaded bomb making materials possessed by David Bodill are very concerning. Not only had he researched and written his own notes on bomb making but had also searched for and downloaded extreme footage from various terrorist groups.

“While he did not appear to have any significantly extreme political views his interest in such matters – combined with his bomb making materials and handbooks – makes for a dangerous individual.”

He added: “We welcome both the verdict and sentence and hope it sends a clear message that we will do all we can to ensure the safety of our communities. We have seen an increasing number of people being exposed to extremist material online and I would urge anyone who has any concerns about any of the family or friends who may be exhibiting concerning behaviour to report it.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Derbyshire Constabulary 

Following reports that a psychiatrist has posted numerous incendiary tweets about Zionists, Israel, and Nazis, Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to the General Medical Council (GMC).

According to GnasherJew, British-Libyan psychiatrist Dr. Ahmed Sewehli — a director and co-owner at Youmna Services Limited who may be treating NHS patients — has posted tweets in which he has compared the Nazis to Israel.

A screenshot appears to show a tweet from 26th Feb in which Dr Sewehli wrote: “Hitler also had a democratically elected government. So please don’t go there. Democracy does not stop fascism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. All occurring in Israel.”

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

Dr Sewehli also made several other incendiary tweets relating to Israel.

Campaign Against Antisemitism shall be submitting a complaint about the doctor to the GMC, the regulator of the medical profession.

Earlier this year, we submitted complaints to the GMC in relation to a prominent junior doctor with a history of inflammatory posts on social media and a doctor who made references to “Jewish supremacy”.

Image credit: Brett Jordan via Canva.com

Comments parroting antisemitic tropes about Jewish wealth and greed were hurled at a barrister on Friday afternoon.

Barrister and author Jamie Susskind stated on Twitter that he experienced an antisemitic incident in a dry cleaner in the North London area of Highbury, which left him “shaking with anger”.

According to Mr Susskind, as he requested the cost of an alteration, a man in the shop shouted: “You’ve all got enough money haven’t you?” 

Mr Susskind said that the man then said: “And you lot already own half of Manhattan. That not enough?”

When Mr Susskind asked if the man was referring to Jewish people, he “responded by making the shape of a large hooked nose with his hand”.

Mr Susskind wrote of the incident on Twitter but implored people not to assume which shop it was.

“There are two dry cleaners in that stretch of road so please do not leap to conclusions about which one it was. If you live locally and would prefer to know, so you can avoid it, please DM me,” he tweeted.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has worked with Mr Susskind in the past.

Earlier this year, we assisted a Jewish victim of unfair dismissal to vindicate his complaint against his former employer and achieve a major compensation package. The victim was assisted by Jamie Susskind, as counsel, and by Asserson Law Offices, as solicitors.

In 2018, the neo-Nazi leader Jeremy Bedford-Turner was sentenced to twelve months in prison after being unanimously convicted by a jury of incitement to racial hatred over a speech he gave in 2015 at a demonstration called to protest against the “Jewification” of Golders Green.

The verdict was a humiliation for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after they blocked Mr Bedford-Turner’s prosecution for two years, forcing Campaign Against Antisemitism into a long legal battle which culminated in the CPS having to reverse its decision not to prosecute. Campaign Against Antisemitism was represented pro bono by Mr Susskind, as well as leading counsel Brian Kennelly QC and solicitor David Sonn, to whom we are immensely grateful, and without whom Mr Bedford-Turner would have escaped justice.

A man from Weston-super-Mare is facing terrorism charges which police have said are linked to extreme right-wing ideology.

Gabrielle Budasz, 23 of Drove Road, appeared in Westminster Magistrates Court on Saturday where he was charged with collection of information containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 (1)(b) of the Terrorism Act 2000 and dissemination of terrorist publications to encourage people to engage in terrorism, or provide information that could be useful to terrorists, contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Mr Budasz is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 1st September.

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

A Chelsea Football Club supporter who sent antisemitic tweets to a Jewish journalist has been given a lifetime ban by the club.

Kerry Hardwell, 35 from Bognor, was found to have targeted fellow Chelsea supporter Dan Levene with abusive tweets. 

Mr Hardwell pleaded guilty at Worthing Magistrates’ Court to three charges of sending communications with offensive messages and one charge of sending an offensive message by a public communication network. 

The tweets were sent during a ten-year span from 2012 to 2022.

Mr Hardwell was handed a three-year Football Banning Order by the court, which restricts his access to attending professional football matches in England. However, the Club has confirmed that he has received a lifetime ban from attending Chelsea games.

He was also ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work, which was uplifted from 120 hours owing to the religiously/racially aggravated nature of the crime.

According to Mr Levene, an investigation revealed that Mr Hardwell had published over 50 antisemitic Twitter posts, which included referring to Jews as ‘vermin’ and ‘parasites’. In one tweet, he allegedly called businessman and television personality Alan Sugar a “Yid c***”.

In his witness statement read out to the court, Mr Levene said: “The ‘Y-word’ is three letters that are often thrown away by people who may claim they don’t fully appreciate their collective meaning; with some football fans among that number.

“But everyone, most notably the defendant here, should be aware that it is a racially offensive word – and its use in a pejorative sense, as in this case, is a hate crime. This word, and variants of it, have been used throughout history by extremists to demonise and persecute a minority. My minority. This history is relevant, because it explains the pernicious nature of the word’s usage today.”

A spokesperson for Chelsea Football Club said: “Chelsea FC condemns antisemitic abuse and hate speech in all its forms and we have no tolerance for it at our club. As soon as Sussex Police made us aware, Mr Hardwell was suspended pending the outcome of criminal proceedings. 

“Subsequent to Mr Hardwell’s conviction, we can confirm that he has been issued with a lifetime ban from Chelsea FC. We commend Dan Levene for coming forward. Nobody should have to be subject to the type of disgusting abuse he has had to endure.”

Sussex Police’s Dedicated Football Officer PC Darren Balkham said: “The vitriol in the messages were sent in the belief that because the person was behind a keyboard, they wouldn’t be identified. The defendant was wrong, and Harding will now have learned this lesson. There is no place for antisemitic and racist abuse, either in football or in society.”

Douglas Mackay of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “These antisemitic tweets were extremely upsetting and deeply offensive not only to the victim, but also to all those within and outside the Jewish community. Hatred of any kind has no place in society. Wherever there is sufficient evidence and in the public interest, the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute those who engage in such abhorrent and reprehensible behaviour.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Jewish football fans deserve to enjoy the beautiful game free of vile antisemitic abuse. We commend Chelsea Football Club for giving a lifetime ban to this racist online troll, and also Dan Levene for having the courage and tenacity to report this case and see it through.”

In 2021, the Club announced that it had banned Sam Mole, an abusive online troll, from its matches for ten years after he hounded Mr Levene who came forward and received support from Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to report on and act against instances of anti-Jewish racism in all sports.

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

A teenager who allegedly conducted online research into the Hove Hebrew Congregation synagogue has pleaded not guilty to the charge of possessing an article for terrorist purposes.

Mason Reynolds, eighteen from Brighton, has been charged with eleven terrorism offences comprising five counts of collecting information which could be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, five counts of dissemination of terrorist publications, and one count of possessing an article for the purpose of terrorism.

Mr Reynolds, appearing at the Old Bailey earlier today via video link, denied the charge of possessing a “note detailing a plan to attack a synagogue” between 7th May and 27th June.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, presiding, set a provisional trial at Winchester Crown Court for 10th April 2024.

A spokesperson for Counter Terrorism Policing Southeast said the charges against Reynolds were linked to an “extreme right-wing ideology.” 

In a statement, the CST said: “The threat of terrorism faced by Jewish communities is the reason why security remains an essential part of Jewish communal life. 

“We have been working closely with counter-terrorism police, Hove Hebrew Congregation and Sussex Jewish Representative Council to ensure appropriate measures are in place.” 

Senior commanders from the antisemitic Islamist terrorist group, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), have been addressing students across university campuses, it has been revealed.

The JC has reportedly discovered eight IRGC leaders who, since 2020, have spoken to students nationally, using the Islamic Students Association of Britain to arrange the lectures. 

The Islamic Students Association of Britain has branches on university campuses in Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Cambridge.

Saeed Ghasemi, reported to be a former general in the organisation, allegedly told British students that the Holocaust was “fake”.

“The one that the Jews say happened is fake. The real Holocaust happened in my country in the First World War, 1917-19, when the UK occupied Iran,” he reportedly said during an online talk.

He also is reported to have encouraged his audience of students to join “the beautiful list of soldiers” who would fight and kill Jews in a coming apocalyptic war. 

Hossein Yekta, another person believed to be a high-ranking IRGC member, is said to have accused Jews of having “created homosexuality”. He allegedly told students they should view themselves as “holy warriors”, promising them that the “era of the Jews” would soon be at an end. 

In the wake of the shocking revelations, numerous politicians have voiced concerns. 

Alicia Kearns, the Conservative Party MP for Rutland and Melton and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: “In organising such despicable talks, the Islamic Students Association of Britain acts at best as a willing propaganda arm of the Iranian regime, and at worst as an agitator for state sponsored terrorism. To broadcast the jihadist and deeply antisemitic ideas of senior members of the IRGC to students across Britain is a brazen act of radicalisation. We must pursue and prosecute those responsible trying to incite violence here in the UK.” 

David Lammy, the Labour Party MP for Tottenham and Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, said: “The invitation of IRGC commanders and other speakers who glorify its actions to speak to British students is incredibly concerning. Robust action is needed now.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The reports that IRGC commanders are addressing students on British campuses are alarming. This is an antisemitic Islamist terrorist organisation that has repeatedly targeted Jewish people and institutions in Britain and around the world and sponsors practically every major terror group in the Middle East. The IRGC cannot be allowed to disseminate its propaganda in the UK and radicalise impressionable students. What further evidence does the Government need to see before it heeds calls from us and others to ban the IRGC once and for all?”

A statement from the Union of Jewish Students stated that the group was “disgusted” by the news.

“UJS is disgusted that senior members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps have been speaking on several campuses across the UK,” the statement said. 

“These commanders boasted that the Holocaust was ‘fake’, that they trained al-Qaeda terrorists, and urged students to join ‘the beautiful list of soldiers’ who would fight and kill Jews in an apocalyptic war. We are deeply concerned for Jewish student welfare. This can never be allowed to happen again. We will seek urgent meetings on behalf of Jewish students with senior university leaders and the Government to ensure Jewish students can be safe on campus, free from this hatred that has no place in our society.”

Earlier this year, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to all MPs calling on them to back the Government’s reported proposal to proscribe the IRGC under the Terrorism Act 2000.

We provided the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and the Security Minister, Tom Tugendhat, and all MPs with a dossier on the IRGC, detailing its horrendous record of antisemitism and violence against Jewish people.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has a long and appalling record of promoting antisemitic propaganda, including Holocaust-denial, and funding and orchestrating violence against Jews. This is in addition to being the world’s biggest state-sponsor of terrorism more generally, the effects of which are not only profound in the Middle East but felt on every continent in the world. According to our nation’s security chiefs, Iran directly threatens the UK.

But what is less known is that it is specifically the IRGC that is one of the principal instruments through which the Iranian regime carries out these endeavours.

Founded in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the IRGC is a paramilitary force that answers directly to the radical regime. Its purpose is to serve as a praetorian guard for the theocracy at home and to advance its interests abroad. That includes training, arming and supporting terrorist groups and encouraging strategic acts of terror against targets deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic.

The IRGC has a paramount role in cultivating antisemitic sentiment, giving succour to antisemites and backing terrorism against Jews.

The IRGC is a vital organ pumping out antisemitic propaganda in Iran and through the Middle East, it emboldens those who wish harm to Jewish people in the name of extremist religion, and it is the indispensable patron of such antisemitic genocidal terrorist groups as Hizballah and Hamas, both of which are proscribed by the UK.

David Hirsh, an expert in antisemitism and the Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he spoke candidly about his experiences of being called a “far-right white supremacist” by the University’s then-Students’ Union President.

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

Initially, the Students’ Union apparently refused to investigate Sara Bafo, its now-former President, following allegations of antisemitism, despite being requested to do so by the University.

She is to said to have tweeted: “D*vid H*rsch is a far right white supremacist. All you have to do is read his work and tweets and that’s all the confirmation needed.” 

Ms Bafo’s tweet was said to have been written in response to a tweet from Mr Hirsh which said: “There is an antisemitic edge to official, institutional, university campaigns to ‘decolonise’ education.”

Ms Bafo later tweeted that the University “has tried to get the SU trustee board to investigate me for a tweet I made in response to a Zionist Goldsmiths academic’s explicit racist history & his delegitimisation of ‘Decolonisation’ campaigns,” adding: “This was a dirty tactic from the institution to silence me further as I was leaving.”

Shortly after, an “independent review into antisemitism at the College” was announced by the University.

Mr Hirsh revealed on the podcast that when he brought up the incident to his department’s union at Goldsmiths, little was done about it.

“There was a little bit of sympathy and warmth and support. I mean, there’s always a little bit, there are always people who are solid. It’s not unanimous by any means.” he said. 

However, he added that after department representatives said that they would speak to members of the union branch, a period followed “where there was a fight going on about whether it was legitimate to say David Hirsh is a far-right white supremacist or not.”

He said: “Just the fact that there’s a fight going on between my colleagues about that is already utterly humiliating, and even more humiliating is that my department colleagues in the union lost, and the union stood firm and refused to do anything about it.

“When I’m at a union meeting now, I’m sitting there thinking, ‘The official position of this branch is that I’m a Nazi’.”

When the topic of mental health arose, he stated that “evidently, it must have” had an impact on him.

“I’ve been dealing with this stuff for twenty years now, for the main part of my adult life, and the main part of my career, and sometimes it’s really hard,” he said. “Sometimes, I get treated with great respect. Sometimes I get treated with nothing but contempt.”

Speaking on the University’s antisemitism investigation, led by senior barrister Mohinderpal Sethi KC, he said that it was “really interesting” and “a real surprise”.

“We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see what evidence emerges. We’ll see what the report says. I hope that people who have had experiences of antisemitism at Goldsmiths make submissions,” Mr Hirsh urged. 

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

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently delivered training at Claremont Senior School in East Sussex.

The training came in response to a request from the parent of a child at the school after their child had experienced a number of incidents of antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism delivered the training in two sessions: one for staff and one for students. The sessions covered Jewish identity; the origins of antisemitism; how to recognise antisemitism; conspiracy theories; and how antisemitism might find expression in the classroom and how it can manifest in daily life. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism regularly provides antisemitism training to schools, university societies, police forces, regulators and public bodies, and recently gave training to the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.

If you would like to arrange antisemitism training for your organisation, please e-mail [email protected].

If you wish to report an incident of antisemitism at your child’s school, please e-mail us at [email protected] or call +44 (0)330 822 0321.

A man who called for the extermination of Jewish people and whose house was adorned with Nazi paraphernalia, including a portrait of Adolf Hitler, has been jailed.

Samuel Doyle, 40, had also called for the extermination of the LGBTQ+ community online, and had Nazi flags and fridge magnets and fascist and racist manifestos and books, as well as the Hitler portrait, at his home in Glossop, Derbyshire.

Mr Doyle was arrested in February 2022 after his online activity was uncovered. He was charged and later pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing or publishing written material to stir up racial hatred.

He was jailed for three years at Manchester Crown Court.

DI Chris Brett, of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands, said: “Freedom of speech is an important part of our shared British values – and something that is enshrined in law. However, those freedoms are not without limit and it is clear that the views Samuel Doyle expressed online stepped well over the line into criminality.

“The posts he wrote are abhorrent – calling directly for violent action to be taken against a number of minority groups. Some may say that posting online is different to expressing these views in person, but that is absolutely not the case. We have seen across the world how online posting of this nature has had serious ‘real world’ outcomes – including, sadly, fatalities.

“In recent years we have seen an increasing number of cases involving people who have been pulled into online hate speech and extremist views, and I would urge people who are concerned about family, friends or colleagues to come forward and report their behaviour.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Derbyshire Police

It has been revealed that Homeland, a splinter group of former Patriotic Alternative (PA) members, has applied to become a political party. 

According to The Ferret, the Home Office contacted the Electoral Commission to alert it that the group was attempting to register with the Commission “by stealth”. 

It is understood that the Home Office has said that if it obtains any “relevant intel” about Homeland and its methods of application in the future, the ministry will contact the Electoral Commission.

Kenny Smith, Homeland’s leader, is alleged to have said in a secret meeting in April that members of the group who are not “on the radar” of the authorities were applying for party status under a different name on behalf of Homeland.

Homeland reportedly made its application under the name, “Homeland Party”; it is understood that the application remains under review. 

Homeland is said to comprise every former Scottish member of PA, as well as a number of former members from across the UK. The group’s leader, Mr Smith, the former organiser for PA’s Scottish branch, has allegedly claimed that over half of PA’s membership has now defected to Homeland. 

PA is a UK-based group headed by the former leader of the youth wing of the BNP, Mark Collett. Mr Collett is reported to have dabbled in Holocaust denial, is regularly heard as a guest on the radio show of the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke, and has described the Holocaust as “an instrument of white guilt”.

PA is known for its efforts to recruit youth to its white nationalist ideology. Previously, the far-right group published an online “alternative” homeschool curriculum condemned as “poison” and “hateful” and attempted to recruit children as young as twelve through live-streaming events on YouTube, according to The Times.

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

A Labour Party MP is facing a backlash after inviting Jeremy Corbyn to speak at an event.

Kate Osamor, the MP for Edmonton, has been criticised following a post on her Facebook page about her “political summer school”.

The post read: “Really pleased to be joined by Jeremy Corbyn at my Political Summer School. Without exception the students remain inspired and excited by Jeremy and the politics of hope that he represents.” 

It is understood that a number of Ms Osamor’s constituents have written to the MP to express their concerns. One constituent said: “There are still pockets in the party who are problematic. Kate should be helping fight back against these people, rather than pandering to someone like Corbyn who can’t bring himself to fully accept the recommendations of the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] report.”

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

Meanwhile, two Labour councillors have come under fire following accusations of denying or engaging in antisemitism. 

Cllr Raymond Moon, of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, has been suspended from the Labour group on the Council after he sponsored the screening of Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie at the Tunbridge Wells Forum.

The antisemitism-denial propaganda film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.

The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.

Also involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration. However, Mr Murray has since sought to distance himself from the film.

The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.

Of his suspension, Cllr Moon said: “I was extremely upset and it’s my own party members that have instigated it. It was a blow, not having been a councillor very long. I try to represent people and this was nothing to do with the party as far as I saw it, it was just giving a personal view.”

Another councillor was suspended from the Labour Party for allegedly sharing antisemitic content online.

Even after his suspension, Cllr David Morton, who sits on the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, liked a tweet questioning the number of Jews who died during the Holocaust, although he claimed that he had misunderstood it and has since blocked the account that had originally tweeted it.

Cllr Morton said of his suspension: “I’m absolutely stunned by this. I do not hold any antisemitic views and I’m certainly not racist. I was shocked because of the allegations of antisemitism and racism. I am probably the last person to be accused of that. My father-in-law was Jewish and I was involved in the report on Kindertransport.”

Labour reportedly opened an investigation, and in the meantime, Cllr Morton resigned from the Party, citing a disagreement within the Council regarding the Clean Air Neighbourhood project as the reason for his departure.

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

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

A Holocaust centre has apologised for the language that it used in a press release for a managerial training course that it offered. 

The Holocaust Centre North, in Huddersfield, launched a programme last month which is designed to teach “modern leaders” how to learn from twentieth-century dictators about office culture and inclusion.

In a press release, the charity said of the course: “Exploring the leadership traits of Hitler, Stalin and others, as well as the dangers of being a bystander, the half-day course highlights the dangers of ignoring inclusion. It offers a challenging look at equality, diversity and inclusion at a time when cases of toxic workplace culture are rarely out of the headlines.”

Hannah Randall, Head of Learning at the organisation, is quoted in the press release as saying: “Participants are shocked to see that some of their leadership traits are similar to dictators. Stalin was an extreme micro-manager and this style is familiar to a lot of people. So too is Hitler’s hands-off and unaccountable approach that relies on his force of personality to get things done. It’s very much the blueprint of populism.

“We are using extreme scenarios but it serves a dual purpose. It makes people question their leadership style and it makes them confront relatable experiences that some would rather forget. So, for example, most people have seen discrimination in their organisation, which is stage three on the ten stages of genocide. A good number of people have seen colleagues not allowed to share their ideas or be valued because they’re a woman and some have seen colleagues wearing a hijab openly mocked and singled out for abuse.”

The organisation’s Director, Alessandro Bucci, said: “It’s now widely accepted that modern leaders must embrace EDI [Equality, Diversity, Inclusion], and organisations cannot afford to pay lip service to it. By exploring the grey areas of the Holocaust – and recognising that it’s too simple to reduce it to just good and bad guys – we are having real success in getting people to think about how they can create more inclusive workplaces. In the last year alone, allegations of bullying in employment tribunals have risen by 44 per cent to a record high – so there’s clearly a need for a more forceful approach to make people think about what they can do differently.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism subsequently wrote to the charity. 

The Centre has now apologised for the language that was used in the press release.

In a letter to Campaign Against Antisemitism, the charity said: “At Holocaust Centre North we pride ourselves on working tirelessly to make sure the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten. With this in mind it is with genuine remorse that we apologise for the plainly inappropriate language used in the press release about our equality and diversity course.”

The Holocaust Centre North was founded in 2018 by the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association, a group of refugees and survivors who have delivered education about the Holocaust since 1996. Its permanent exhibition and learning centre is based on the University of Huddersfield’s campus, and receives funding from the Association of Jewish Refugees, the Pears Foundation, and the Department for Levelling Up.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We commend the Holocaust Centre North for its unreserved apology over its poor and insulting choice of language. We hope that future communications from the Centre will reflect a more considered approach to marketing the important educational work that it carries out.”

Image credit: Holocaust Centre North

Campaign Against Antisemitism has produced a video addressing the television personality and YouTuber Pearl Davis, who recently posted and deleted a song to Twitter in which allusions to antisemitic conspiracy theories were expressed.

You can watch the video here.

Pearl Davis, a content creator with over one million YouTube subscribers who has been called the “female Andrew Tate” by TalkTV owing to her condemnatory views on feminism, posted a song in which she sang: “Why can’t we talk about them without getting kicked off of YouTube?”

She continued: “Now, I’m not saying Hitler was a good guy, but I kind of want to know why.

“Now, there’s all these conspiracy theories and the more they talk I think maybe they’re right. But I can’t even listen to the convo, I can’t even have the conversation, without getting cancelled by the left and the right.”

The YouTuber finishes the song by singing: “Now really, I’m not trying to be rude, but why can’t we talk about the J- I didn’t say it.”

The white supremacist and Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes, who has previously argued that Jews should not be allowed in politics, endorsed the song, claiming that Ms Davis “dropped a diss track on the Jews.”

Ms Davis then appeared on ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ where, after being given the opportunity to apologise, she refused and joked about the situation, claiming that she simply wanted to have a discussion about “cancel culture”.

Following this, she took to Twitter where she doubled down on her excuse, this time going on to defend the antisemitic rapper Ye, who has said that Adolf Hitler was “a cool guy” who “didn’t kill six million Jews.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Pearl Davis barely attempts to hide her disdain for Jews in this song. The frequent allusions made to the age-old trope of Jewish control and power are disturbing in themselves, but even more so when sung with a smile. The endorsement of the song by Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes tells you all you need to know.”

Avraham Vofsi, a Jewish artist based in Melbourne, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he described how his art had been influenced by his experiences of internal antisemitism.

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

“I always knew I was Jewish,” he said, “but I think the way [internalised antisemitism] manifested for me was that I literally couldn’t be around other Jews. There was something about it where some part of it was too hard to face.”

He continued: “When it was just me, I could control it in a way, like, ‘This is what it means to be Jewish,’ and that’s how I’d present myself. But as soon as I’m around other Jews, or I’m doing Jewish programmes, or I’m going to synagogue, or whatever it is, all of a sudden…did I have these feelings of animosity? I don’t know.”

Mr Vofsi went on to describe how at his school, he was one of four Jewish students in his year, a source of great anxiety. Judaism as a subject was understood to be taboo among them. 

“We never talked about being Jewish with each other. Ever. And I don’t know if any of us were friends, because we all had to distance ourselves,” he said. 

Taking off his glasses to rub his eyes, he said: “Sorry, it just makes me a bit uncomfortable to think about. There was something really intense about it in this hard-to-articulate way…I was so terrified all the time.”

At one point, he considered whether his anxiety about being with other Jews stemmed from the idea that “the more Jews I was around, the more possible it was that [antisemitic incidents] would happen.”

In his most recent art exhibit, B’Aretz: Portrait of a Land, Mr Vofsi used his experiences to focus on Jewish identity and building a connection to Israel, where he spent five months honing a connection with the country for inspiration.

“The show is six portraits and four landscapes…I was like, ‘I need to explore my Jewish identity’,” he told us, adding that the process of creating his newest exhibition was what helped him work through much of his internalised antisemitism.

Mr Vofsi is one of those interviewed in the book Reclaiming Our Story: The Pursuit of Jewish Pride by author Ben M. Freeman, the second instalment of his seminal manifesto of the modern Jewish Pride movement.

Earlier this year, Campaign Against Antisemitism hosted a first-of-its-kind sold-out event, “CAA presents…An evening with Ben M. Freeman”, which attracted a room full of Jewish young professionals to an east London venue to watch a live interview with Mr Freeman, followed by a question and answers session.

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

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

Image credit: Avraham Vofsi

Following correspondence with Campaign Against Antisemitism, North Ayrshire Council has cancelled a screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The screening of the film Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie was due to be shown tonight at the Harbour Arts Centre in Irvine, but the booking is understood to have been made by a third party, and not by the venue itself, which we understand was not made aware of the nature of the film.

The news comes shortly after, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Glastonbury FestivalYMCAUnite union, Basildon Council, the national pub retailer Greene KingTolpuddle Village HallYeovil Labour Club, a Nottinghamshire church and independent venues around the country, have cancelled screenings of the film.

The film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.

The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.

Also involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration. However, Mr Murray has since sought to distance himself from the film.

The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends the Council for its swift and decisive action to cancel the screening as soon as we brought it to its attention.

Additionally, we received confirmation from the Widcombe Social Club that a planned screening of the film, at which Mr Loach was also due to speak, was cancelled, as has one at Havant and Emsworth United Reformed Church, the independent book retailer, October Books, and Leicester Students’ Union.

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

Following action from Campaign Against Antisemitism, a popular app allowing people to design their own graphics has removed an antisemitic meme from its platform.

The “Happy Merchant” meme, also known as the “Smirking Merchant”, is believed to have been created in 2001 and depicts a Jewish man with heavily stereotyped facial features who is greedily rubbing his hands together. The image has become widely used online by white supremacists and antisemites.

The Art Lab app, which has over 100,000 downloads on Google Play, is branded as “a versatile free graphic design app,” with its website stating: “Art Lab makes photo & design editing amazingly simple and fun. Design everything you need quickly and effortlessly. Design posters and banners for social media marketing, Instagram story & highlight cover, logos, business cards, birthday invitations & wedding invites.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The antisemitic ‘Happy Merchant’ meme is often used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Such repugnant imagery has no place on an app like this. We understand that the owners of the Art Lab app were unaware of the graphic’s presence on its platform, and we commend them for their swift and decisive action to remove the image as soon as we brought it to their attention.”

T-shirts featuring the meme have reportedly been sold by Jon Minadeo II, the founder of the Goyim Defence League (GDL). The GDL has been described as an antisemitic hate group whose membership reportedly contains several neo-Nazis. The group is divided into regional branches and regularly distributes antisemitic flyers across the United States. 

Last year, a former Belfast City Councillor posted the well-known antisemitic meme on Gab, a platform favoured by the far-right.

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.”

A vegan activist compared the slaughter of animals to the Holocaust in an interview on TalkTV on Friday.

Tash Peterson, an Australian activist, appeared in an interview with Piers Morgan wearing a t-shirt that showed a caged pig below text that read: “End this Holocaust.” 

In response to a question about her history of controversial protests, Ms Peterson said: “I think it brings more attention to the animal Holocaust.”

Mr Morgan then asked: “Why use the word Holocaust? Holocaust is the mass extermination of more than six million Jewish people by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.”

Ms Peterson responded: “Well, that is one Holocaust in history.”

When challenged further and asked, “Why would you use that very emotive language, knowing that it would offend a lot of people?”, the activist doubled down and said: “Well it’s just a factual statement…non-human animals can be subjected to the same atrocities as humans can. In fact, it’s the largest Holocaust in history.” 

Comparisons between the animal-slaughter industry and the Holocaust are often seen to minimise the deliberate and industrial genocide of six million innocent Jewish men, women and children.

In an interview on Podcast Against Antisemitism, Ben Rebuck, a Jewish vegan chef and activist, criticised fellow activists who make such comparisons. He commented that “people being killed in gas chambers and firing squads” is “far worse than animals being killed,” adding that the comparisons are “absurd.”

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

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

A man accused of sharing terror documents online pleaded guilty to terror charges at the Old Bailey on Friday. 

Alfie Stevens, 24 from Surrey Quays, pleaded guilty to three charges of dissemination of a terrorist document. 

Mr Stevens was alleged to have sent the material to two groups called “Band of Brothers” and “White Race Camp” on 27th January 2021. It is understood that one document, named “How To Start And Train A Militia Unit”, was sent to both groups and that another document, entitled the “White Resistance Manual”, was sent to one of the groups. 

According to a prosecutor in California, the White Resistance Manual is “basically a guerrilla warfare manual instructing people on different types of weapons, on creating weapons, on police investigations, basically how to conduct covert urban operations.”

The manual states: “No longer will we allow the Jews to live like parasites upon the body of our race. No longer will we tolerate any Jewish influence in our political system, our legal system or our mass-media.” 

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, presiding, granted Mr Stevens continued unconditional bail. 

The defendant is due to be sentenced on 13th October whilst a psychological and pre-sentence report is being prepared. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Anjem Choudary, one of Britain’s leading Islamists, has been charged with three terrorism offences.

The news comes after he was arrested last week.

He has been charged with directing a terrorist organisation, being a member of a proscribed organisation, and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation.

Anjem Choudary, born in the UK and of Pakistani descent, failed his first-year medical exams at the University of Southampton due to his party lifestyle, but eventually graduated in law, later becoming Chairman of the Society of Muslim Lawyers. He became radicalised in the 1990s, launching al-Muhajiroun in the UK – later banned under terror laws – in 1996 with Syrian-born Islamist, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed.

The Jihadist group became linked to international terrorism, antisemitism and homophobia as it sought a world subject to Sharia law, and praised the 9/11 highjackers. The group disbanded in 2004 following its proscription but is believed to have continued to operate under different aliases. According to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Choudary was involved in recruiting Muslims to undergo weapons training in the UK in order to fight for Osama Bin Laden’s International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, and in 2010 he was linked to those involved in an al Qaeda plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange.

Mr Choudary praised the murderers of Drummer Lee Rigby in 2013, in response to which comments then-Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Let’s be clear about Anjem Choudary: he does have absolutely despicable and appalling views, an absolutely classic case of that poisonous narrative of extremism and violence that we need to confront and defeat.”

In 2016, Mr Choudary was convicted of supporting the Islamic State in connection with speeches posted on YouTube. He was jailed for five years and six months. At the time he was jailed, he had reportedly been linked to fifteen terror plots dating back approximately twenty years, and had connections to hundreds of British jihadists who had travelled to Syria to fight.

He was released from Belmarsh prison after serving half of his sentence, although he remained subject to some 25 licence conditions.

In 2021, he was reported to have suggested that the MP Sir David Amess may have been murdered because of his “rumoured pro-Israel views”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2021 showed that almost eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.

Following correspondence with Campaign Against Antisemitism, the Unite union has cancelled the screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that was due to be shown alongside a book signing and talk from Asa Winstanley.

Mr Winstanley, a controversial activist and the author of the book Weaponising Anti-Semitism, is a former Labour member who quit the Party after being suspended pending an investigation. He has called accusations of antisemitism under the Party a “smear” and has referenced “Labour’s manufactured antisemitism crisis”. He has also tweeted repeatedly in promotion of the conspiracy theory that Israel is to blame for the racist killing of George Floyd. 

The event description stated that there would be a launch of the book which apparently “shows how Labour’s antisemitism crisis was manufactured by those who feared Jeremy Corbyn’s support for the Palestinian cause and a broad progressive agenda.” A book signing and talk from Mr Winstanley was then supposed to take place.

This was due to be followed by a screening of the film Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie. However, following contact from Campaign Against Antisemitism in which we pointed out that the scheduling of the event appeared to be contradictory to the reports that the film has been banned in all of Unite’s buildings, it was cancelled.

The news comes shortly after, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Glastonbury FestivalYMCABasildon Council, the national pub retailer Greene KingTolpuddle Village HallYeovil Labour Club, a Nottinghamshire church and independent venues around the country, have cancelled screenings of the film.

The film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.

The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.

Also involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration. However, Mr Murray has since sought to distance himself from the film.

The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends Unite for its swift and decisive action to cancel the screening as soon as we brought it to its attention.

Additionally, we received confirmation from the Widcombe Social Club that a planned screening of the film, at which Mr Loach was also due to speak, was cancelled, as has one at Havant and Emsworth United Reformed Church, the independent book retailer, October Books, and Leicester Students’ Union.

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

Campaign Against Antisemitism 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?”

Dame Melinda Simmons, who has served as the British Ambassador to Ukraine since 2019, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where she spoke on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “denazification” comments, and gave advice to those looking to fight antisemitism.

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

“Call it out,” she said when asked how people can tackle Jew-hatred. “That’s the one thing they can do, is to call it out. And when they ask what that means, what I say is, if you think there is a march going on, join the march. If you see something on social media, and you’re an active part of social media, you say on your social media that it’s not okay, or you’re not comfortable with it. If you see something really bad, you report it.”

Commenting on the perceived difference between antisemitic abuse in real life and online, Dame Melinda said: “If you saw someone being beaten up in the street, you would probably want to report that to the police.”

If you see the same sort of bullying going on online, you probably should be doing the same, and I’m interested that people see a distinction there because I don’t. Most of our life is lived online, in terms of that interaction now.”

Dame Melinda also spoke about how many Ukrainian Jews view President Putin’s remarks of “denazification”, one of Russia’s prominent justifications for its invasion of Ukraine.

President Putin has claimed throughout the invasion that he needed to “denazify” Ukraine, a stance that was reinforced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and apparently also adopted by China.  

Asked last year why Russia needed to “denazify” Ukraine, given that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish, Mr Lavrov answered: “Zelenskyy a Jew? Even Hitler had Jewish origins, the main antisemites are Jews themselves.”

Speaking on how Ukrainians have viewed this claim, Dame Melinda said: “Denazification has not been an objective for Russia. It is a narrative. In general, it’s not received with any kind of credibility here.

“Among Jews, it’s the same, and I can’t speak for all Jews in Ukraine. I have not met all Jews in Ukraine, and it’s a very disparate range of communities, but I will say that among those that I have met in Kyiv, there is the same skepticism, but there is also a thread of fear about it. 

“That has a lot to do with the fact that Ukraine is the epicenter of the Holocaust. This is a country that lost nearly all of its Jews in the Holocaust. I’ve been here four years. Every town I go to, every town has a killing field. Every forest has a shooting site.”

Dame Melinda, a British Jew with Ukrainian roots who was born and raised in London’s East End, found her experiences in Ukraine eye-opening.

She said: “It’s unbelievable for someone from Western Europe to be walking around finding so much consistent evidence of killing of Jews, and that is something that runs deep even though the country has not come to terms with the same conscious, coming-to-terms with what has happened, as many Western European countries have.

“Ukraine hasn’t done that, most of Eastern Europe, frankly, hasn’t really done that yet. So for Jews who are here, who have that memory, there is always a twinge of fear about what that means.”

Considering what could happen were Russia to invade areas of Ukraine with large Jewish populations, she stated: “If [Russia] were able to come to urban centres and able to occupy, it would very quickly translate itself into the sort of antisemitism that we have seen inside Russia.”

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

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

One of Britain’s leading Islamists has been arrested on terrorism charges.

Anjem Choudary, born in the UK and of Pakistani descent, failed his first-year medical exams at the University of Southampton due to his party lifestyle, but eventually graduated in law, later becoming Chairman of the Society of Muslim Lawyers. He became radicalised in the 1990s, launching al-Muhajiroun in the UK – later banned under terror laws – in 1996 with Syrian-born Islamist, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed.

The Jihadist group became linked to international terrorism, antisemitism and homophobia as it sought a world subject to Sharia law, and praised the 9/11 highjackers. The group disbanded in 2004 following its proscription but is believed to have continued to operate under different aliases. According to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Choudary was involved in recruiting Muslims to undergo weapons training in the UK in order to fight for Osama Bin Laden’s International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, and in 2010 he was linked to those involved in an al Qaeda plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange.

Mr Choudary praised the murderers of Drummer Lee Rigby in 2013, in response to which comments then-Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Let’s be clear about Anjem Choudary: he does have absolutely despicable and appalling views, an absolutely classic case of that poisonous narrative of extremism and violence that we need to confront and defeat.”

In 2016, Mr Choudary was convicted of supporting the Islamic State in connection with speeches posted on YouTube. He was jailed for five years and six months. At the time he was jailed, he had reportedly been linked to fifteen terror plots dating back approximately twenty years, and had connections to hundreds of British jihadists who had travelled to Syria to fight.

He was released from Belmarsh prison after serving half of his sentence, although he remained subject to some 25 licence conditions.

In 2021, he was reported to have suggested that the MP Sir David Amess may have been murdered because of his ‘rumoured pro-Israel views’.

Now, he has reportedly again been arrested in connection with terrorism.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “Counter-terrorism detectives have arrested two men as part of an investigation into suspected terrorism offences. The officers arrested a 56-year-old man from east London in the area at approximately 05.40am. They arrested a 28-year-old Canadian national at Heathrow airport at approximately 12.35pm after he arrived on a flight from Canada. Both were arrested on suspicion of membership of a proscribed organisation, contrary to section 11 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The men are currently being held under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at a west London police station. Police searches of three addresses in east London are ongoing.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2021 showed that almost eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.

The Roald Dahl Museum is to add a plaque apologising for the author’s antisemitism.

The museum, which was founded in 2001 by the author’s widow, Liccy, said in a statement: “The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologise for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by Roald Dahl’s antisemitic statements. Those prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us and stand in marked contrast to the man we knew and to the values at the heart of Roald Dahl’s stories, which have positively impacted young people for generations. We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his absolute worst, Roald Dahl can help remind us of the lasting impact of words.”

The apology will be displayed on a panel at the entrance to the museum in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire.

The famous children’s author made numerous inflammatory comments about Jews, such as: “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity… even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.” He also said of the Jews that nobody had ever “switched so rapidly from victims to barbarous murderers,” an apparent breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism, which considers “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” to be an example of antisemitism.

He also claimed that the Jews owned the media and that positive American relations toward Israel was because of excessive Jewish power.

In 2014, the Royal Mint declined to issue a commemorative coin to celebrate the centenary of Mr Dahl’s birth because of his antisemitism.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We commend the Roald Dahl Museum for installing this plaque. Mr Dahl’s stories entertain and delight millions of children and should continue to do so. At the same time, it is important that a museum and website dedicated to the author present the full story of his life and work, and that includes its darker side.”

Following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, a TikTok user who made videos in which he targeted members of Stamford Hill’s Jewish community has been banned from the app.

The user, who went by the name of @1dailyactive before later changing it to @mractive101, uploaded numerous videos in which he filmed himself harassing identifiable Jews in Stamford Hill. 

The TikTok user recorded himself entering synagogues, apparently without the permission or knowledge of the Jewish people inside, and often whilst they were praying.

After being alerted to the user by the Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol, Campaign Against Antisemitism collated evidence which was then sent to TikTok.

In one , the person recording can be seen entering a synagogue whilst saying “let’s see where this takes me,” before walking in on people praying. In the of the video, he is heard interrogating people about Judaism. After disrupting those praying, he agrees to leave before shouting “I will come back, I will come back here.”

In an attempt at entering a different synagogue, he can be circling the outside of the building in order to find a way in. He then stopped a Jewish couple and : “How do you get inside there?” After they left, he approached a Jewish man walking alone and directed his line of questioning at him.

In a follow-up about the same synagogue, the TikTok user seemingly manages to gain entry to the synagogue. As he walked past the gates, he immediately approached a Jewish man and said: “Can I learn about you lot here?” As the Jewish man tried to get away from the interaction, the TikTok user persisted in following. 

The video then cut to inside the synagogue, with the user shouting and again disrupting people praying. He proceeded to embark on a long conversation with a Jewish person who requested he leave.

Another video shows the TikTok user driving and playing loud music outside of a building whilst he yells at two Jewish men: “Do you know this song?”

On at least two occasions, he uploaded videos denigrating Jewish drivers. One video saw him utlise TikTok’s text-to-speech feature so that the phrase “Jews can’t drive to save their lives” was spoken over footage of a Jewish person driving. In another video, viewers hear the person recording refer to the driver in front of him as a “dumb f***ing Jew”. 

A in which the TikTok user enters a mosque, apparently in order to learn more about Islam, devolved into him speaking disparagingly about Jewish people. He can be heard telling someone: “I watched something on YouTube a little while ago, a documentary…within their religion, their belief is that other people, non-Jewish, they’re like slaves to them…like we are nothing, they’re superior than everyone else.”

In a voiceover the user recorded afterward and later inserted into the video, he said: “That came out of a Jew’s mouth.”

We are grateful to TikTok for acting so promptly after we reached out to them.

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.

A staff member of Stop Funding Hate, a group that encourages advertisers to boycott media that the organisation considers to be hateful, has been accused of sharing inflammatory content online. 

Amanda Morris, a community organiser for Stop Funding Hate, shared posts with the hashtag “FromTheRiverToTheSea”. 

The full line from which that phrase is taken, “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.

It has been reported that Ms Morris also previously described Israel as “genocidal”. 

In a report, published by the Centre for Media Monitoring in 2021, Ms Morris allegedly disputed the description of the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, Hamas, as an “Islamist group”. 

In the same report Ms Morris suggested that journalists should “differentiate between Hamas the political party, and their military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigade” and argued that spokespeople for Hamas should be “given a platform to respond to allegations”. 

In 2021, the UK Government proscribed Hamas as a terrorist organisation in full following several months of advocacy from Campaign Against Antisemitism. 

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is hard to square Amanda Morris’ history of comments, posts and associations with Stop Funding Hate’s philosophy of ‘open, inclusive and participatory campaigning’.

“Promoting antisemitic phrases like ‘From the River to the Sea’, which calls for the destruction of Israel; urging the media to give a platform to spokespeople from Hamas, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist group banned by the UK; and defending inflammatory politicians whose views have been rejected by their own political parties, are all red flags.

“How could Jewish people possibly feel included in any of SFH’s campaigning led by such an individual? And how on earth SFH could work with her?”

Stop Funding Hate has previously been accused of having “militant prejudice” after it was revealed that one of its strategic advisors had defended inflammatory tweets made by others.

Amanda Morris said: “I do not consider that the retweets in question are antisemitic. I have been critical of some of the actions of the state of Israel, but that does not mean that I am antisemitic – on the contrary, I am an opponent of all forms of racism including anti-Jewish racism.” 

A GB News presenter took to Twitter yesterday where she shared a conspiracy theory about COVID-19 and Ashkenazi Jews.

Beverley Turner, the mid-morning co-host of the To The Point programme, wrote on her Twitter: “Sas cov 2 virus causes less harm to certain ethnicities – east Asians, and Ashkenazi Jews (Fauci anyone?) than to European, S Asian & African… Just let that sink in.”

She continued: “This is looking increasingly like a bio weapon to destroy the west.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Stating that COVID-19 poses less of a risk to Ashkenazi Jews would be stupid enough, but simultaneously suggesting that the virus is a ‘bio weapon to destroy the west’ implies that Jews collaborated in creating the pandemic and feeds a classic trope that Jews spread disease to harm others and not themselves. It is astonishing that someone who tweeted such dangerous nonsense could be a host on GB News.”

Last week, presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr made similar comments at a dinner in New York when he said: “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese…We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted at that or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential of impact for that.”

The comments were roundly condemned, including by members of his family. Mr Kennedy has since refuted all accusations of antisemitism.

Last year, Mr Kennedy was forced to apologise after he invoked Anne Frank’s name in comparing COVID-19 mandates to laws in Nazi Germany. During his speech at an anti-vaccination rally in Washington, he remarked: “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.”

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

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to the University of West of England over reports that a staff member published numerous incendiary tweets relating to the Holocaust, Zionists, and Israel, many of which breach the International Definition of Antisemitism.

According to Gnasher Jew, Siamak Alimi, a Senior IT Instructor in the Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries, and Education, posted tweets under the account ‘@Salimi’, which has now been deleted.

A screenshot appears to show that on 21st July 2014, the account wrote: “Fed up with feeling sorry for Zionists who hide behind holocaust industry whilst committing atrocities.” 

A tweet from 19th March 2016 asserts that “powerful Jews were not the only ones engaging in slave trade and other forms of exploitation,” before continuing: “The more we emphasize the uniqueness of the role of ‘the jew’ in global exploitation and atrocities rooted in their culture and religion, the more we legitimize the idea of tribalism and ‘chosen-ness’ which people like Gilad [Atzmon] try to negate.”

On 22nd November 2020, the account tweeted: “Zionism is a racist ideology and the creation of Israel was a racist endeavour.”

Similar sentiments appear to have to been expressed on 10th and 11th July of this year when Mr Alimi allegedly wrote that “Zionism is based on racism and Jewish exceptionalism” and that “it is a form of tribal/racist/supremacist nationalism based on National Socialism.” 

Additionally, the account appears to have published tweets comparing Israelis to Nazis, with one tweet referring to “Nazi and Zionist states committing similar atrocities.” 

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)” and “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” are both examples of antisemitism. 

The University adopted the Definition in June 2021. Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the Definition by universities.

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

Image credit: Brett Jordan via Canva.com

Employees of the fast-food chain McDonald’s have made disturbing allegations that widespread incidents of racism, including antisemitism, sexual assault, and bullying have been taking place at locations across the country.

Following this, a new, confidential e-mail hotline has been created.

The hotline has been set up by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Its website states: “We are concerned to hear of these new allegations of sexual and racial harassment. We will look at them closely in the context of our current legal agreement with McDonald’s to tackle sexual harassment of staff in its restaurants.”

Those affected can e-mail the hotline at [email protected].

The BBC reported that an investigation found that after speaking to McDonald’s workers over a five-month period, they heard of more than 100 allegations from employees. Of these allegations, 31 related to sexual assault and 78 related to sexual harassment. Eighteen allegations of racism were made, while six people made allegations of homophobia.

A current McDonald’s employee in Essex said that she faced antisemitic abuse whilst working at the restaurant. 

Other examples of racism included an Indian employee based in Oxfordshire, who said that her colleagues spoke in “gibberish” to imitate her. She also said that her colleagues called a Pakistani colleague a terrorist.

Many of the sexual assault and harassment accusations have been made by sixteen and seventeen-year-olds.

McDonald’s has said of the allegations that the company had “fallen short” and it “deeply apologised”.

Image credit: Google

The Shadow Home Secretary has announced that a Labour Government would apply a full ban to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an antisemitic Islamist terrorist group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has previously written to all MPs calling on them to back the Government’s reported proposal, as yet unimplemented, to proscribe the IRGC under the Terrorism Act 2000. We have provided Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, and all MPs, with a dossier on the IRGC, detailing its horrendous record of antisemitism and violence against Jewish people.

Now, Yvette Cooper has confirmed that a Labour Government would amend existing terror legislation to “ban hostile state-sponsored organisations who are undermining our national security” as she warned that the UK faces “continued challenges from Islamist and far right extremists, radicalised online, in prison or in the community.”

She argued that, “Instead of trying and failing to use counter terror legislation to proscribe groups like Wagner or IRGC, we’ll introduce a bespoke proscribing mechanism to address state sponsored threats.” She also noted “the persecution of Iranian journalists by the IRGC – including fifteen threats to kidnap or kill on British soil.”

Her speech at the Royal United Services Institute think tank yesterday came after the Government applied an enhanced sanctions regime on Iran but failed to ban the IRGC.

Ms Cooper also observed that “we can’t tackle online radicalisation without stronger action from social media companies,” in an apparent reference to the Government’s Online Safety Bill.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We commend Yvette Cooper for committing a Labour Government to do what this Government has declined to do so far, namely proscribe the antisemitic Islamist IRGC. However, the ban cannot wait for a general election, and we continue to urge the Government to proscribe the state-sponsored terror group now.”

Numerous leading British Muslim organisations have welcomed an antisemitic former Malaysian Prime Minister on his visit to the UK.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad is a proud antisemite: in 2012 he insisted that he is “glad to be labelled as antisemitic…How can I be otherwise, when the Jews who so often talk of the horrors they suffered during the Holocaust show the same Nazi cruelty and hard-heartedness towards not just their enemies but even towards their allies should any try to stop the senseless killing of their Palestinian enemies.”

His record bears out this antisemitism:

  • In 2019, he declared in a speech to the UN General Assembly that the “Because of the creation of Israel, there is now enmity towards the Muslims and Islam.” He also reportedly claimed: “If you are going to be truthful, the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of Israel. That is the truth. But I cannot say that.” 
  • In 2018, he said in a BBC Hard Talk interview that “If you are going to be truthful, the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of Israel. That is the truth. But I cannot say that.”
  • In 2012, he claimed in a speech to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference that “The Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.”
  • He also described sympathy with Jewish victims of the Holocaust as “wasted and misplaced.”
  • In 2003, he argued at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit in Kuala Lumpur that “1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews…There must be a way. And we can only find a way if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategize and then to counterattack. We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million.”
  • In 1994, during his premiership, he oversaw a ban on the film Schindler’s List by Malaysia censors, reportedly saying in response to claims that the film was banned due to antisemitism: “I am not antisemitic but I am anti-Zionist expansionism and the conquest of Arab territories by the Zionists.”
  • In his 1970 book The Makay Dilemma, he said that “The Jews are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively” and that “they are hook-nosed. Many people called the Malays fat-nosed. We didn’t object, we didn’t go to war for that.”

Speaking to the Oxford Union in 2019, he was pressed on his views on Jews and said: “We talk about freedom of speech, but yet you cannot say anything against Israel, against the Jews, why is that so? If we are free to say what we like, we can say something that is regarded as antisemitic by the Jews, that is their right, to hold such an opinion of me. It is my right to tell them, also, that they have been doing a lot of wrong things.”

In 2019, at the Cambridge Union, Dr Mohamad said when asked about his past comments about Jews: “I have some Jewish friends, very good friends. They are not like the other Jews. That’s why they are my friends.” On his views on the Holocaust, he said: “The Israelis should know from the sufferings they went through in the war not to treat others like that.” He denied previously stating that only four million died in the Holocaust, although he had made that comment on the record. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism. On antisemitism, he said: “Of course if you say anything against the Jews, you are labelled antisemitic. No other race in the world labels people like that, why is it forbidden to criticise the Jews when other people criticise us?” He added that: “The Jews do a lot of wrong things, which force us to pass comment.”

Notwithstanding his record, Dr Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister who was in office for 22 years from 1981 to 2003 and then again between 2018 and 2020, was greeted as an honoured guest on his UK visit last month. He delivered an “exclusive private briefing” at the Asia House think tank and attended an event with British Muslim community and business leaders.

The schedule was organised by the UK-based Islam Channel, which was fined £20,000 by Ofcom in 2020 for broadcasting a programme that included “antisemitic hate speech”. The channel said: “We were all inspired by the insightful conversations and impactful moments shared by one of the world’s esteemed leaders.” Its founder, Mohamed Ali Harrath, who interviewed Dr Mohamad, told him: “We can’t see you passing by London without seizing the opportunity to speak to you and benefit from your wisdom.”

Dr Mohamad also reportedly held a meeting to discuss “governance, development, civilisation, leadership” with a group that included Mohammed Kozbar, who is the Chairman of the Finsbury Park Mosque and a former Vice President of the Muslim Association of Britain, which courted controversy last year when it mourned the death of the antisemitic Islamist cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Mr Kozbar reportedly wrote on Facebook that he was “honoured” to meet the Malaysian leader. He added: “What an inspirational figure, a fruitful and constructive dialogue about Muslims in the West, I really benefited from his wisdom and experience.”

The former Prime Minister also held a “lunchtime lecture” at the Dar Ul-Isra Mosque in Cardiff, hosted by the Muslim Council of Wales, which said that it was “honoured” by his visit and his “inspiring” lecture.

At the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK at Cardiff University, he was presented with a Welsh translation of the Quran etched onto slate.

A Cardiff University spokesperson told the JC: “A roundtable event attended by the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad was held at Cardiff University in June. The event was jointly organised by the Muslim Council of Wales, Perdana Foundation, and the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK and attended by a range of civil society Muslim leaders from across Cardiff. It’s important to stress that the event was focused on a variety of subjects including development and leadership. At no point were such comments made nor were they a focus of any discussion. For the avoidance of doubt, the hosting of the former Prime Minister is not in any way an endorsement of the antisemitic comments attributed to the former Prime Minister and we condemn such comments in the strongest possible terms.”

The controversial elected Mayor of North of Tyne, who has been described as the “last Corbynista in power”, has resigned from the Labour Party after complaining that the Party barred him from standing for a new regional role.

Jamie Discroll, a former Chair of Momentum in Newcastle, has quit Labour, observing in his resignation letter that the Party “barred me from running,” a reference to the race for the first North-East Mayor.

Mr Discroll, who has reportedly described the “Corbynista tag” as an attempt to “define us by London Westminster politics,” did not make it into the final three shortlisted for the Party’s candidacy.

Although he previously claimed that “no explanation had been given” about the Party’s decision not to include him in its candidate shortlist, it was reported that the exclusion stemmed from his appearance at an “In Conversation” event with the outspoken film director Ken Loach at a Newcastle theatre in March.

Mr Loach was expelled from the Labour Party in August 2021 without public explanation. Mr Loach had been a leading ally of other controversial figures in Labour’s antisemitism scandal, especially those who denied that there was such a scandal of antisemitism. He said at the time of his expulsion: “Labour HQ finally decided I’m not fit to be a member of their party, as I will not disown those already expelled,” adding that he was “proud to stand with the good friends and comrades victimised by the purge. There is indeed a witch-hunt…Starmer and his clique will never lead a party of the people. We are many, they are few. Solidarity.”

In the past, Sir Keir Starmer has promised to sanction Labour members who share platforms with expelled members, but has generally not fulfilled this pledge.

The decision to bar Mr Driscoll was greeted with a backlash, including by the far-left Unite union, which warned of “serious consequences” of the decision, and, reportedly, by thousands of supporters. In addition, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram also criticised the decision to bar Mr Driscoll.

Asked in an interview, Mr Driscoll said that he has not read the full report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) into antisemitism in the Labour Party. Campaign Against Antisemitism was the originating complainant in the investigation that led to the report.

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

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

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

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.

Sainsbury’s has issued an apology after two of its branches were found to have stocked copies of a conspiracy newspaper that has previously come to the defence of Holocaust-deniers.

The Light is an independently-distributed newspaper that was founded in 2020. It has regularly promoted conspiracy theories relating to COVID-19 and vaccines, and has made comparisons between lockdown and vaccine regulations to those of Nazi Germany.

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

The newspaper has also, on at least two occasions, targeted Campaign Against Antisemitism in relation to successful prosecutions against antisemites.

In 2021, it defended the Hitler-loving radio host Graham Hart, who was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to eight counts of inciting racial hatred after action by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism revealed that Mr Hart repeatedly claimed that Jews are “filth”; questioned whether six million Jews were really murdered in the Holocaust; praised Adolf Hitler as “the greatest man of the twentieth century”; said that “is isn’t just the white people who hate the Jews…it’s everyone hates the Jews. Everyone”; claimed that the Jews “run everything”, are “evil” and are “not of this world”; and argued that the Jews have “got to go down, they’ve just got to go down”.

The Light wrote of the sentencing: “While his opinions may seem radical, surely he is entitled to them? How does it harm anybody else for him to have a different view of history?”

Last year, the newspaper expressed support for Tahra Ahmed, a prominent Grenfell Tower volunteer aid worker who, after being reported to the police by Campaign Against Antisemitism, CST and others, was sentenced to eleven months in prison after being found guilty of publishing written material in order to stir up racial hatred.

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

Her trial was described by the newspaper “a political stitchup.”

Additionally, according to the BBC, The Light published an article by blogger Lasha Darkmoon, in which she argued that individuals should be able to question the Holocaust.

The Light’s website also lists one of its “proud sponsors” as the antisemitic hate preacher and conspiracy theorist David Icke, who has been banned from entering several European countries.

It has also been reported that The Light has endorsed content by the far-right organisation Patriotic Alternative, a UK-based group headed by the former leader of the youth wing of the BNP, Mark Collett. Mr Collett is reported to have dabbled in Holocaust denial, is regularly heard as a guest on the radio show of the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke, and has described the Holocaust as “an instrument of white guilt”. Last month, one of its members who said that Adolf Hitler did “nothing wrong” was jailed.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said that the newspaper was left in its Warlingham and Newhaven branches without its knowing, stating: “We do not stock this newspaper and it is removed from any stores where it’s left. We apologise for any upset caused”.

Image credit: Google

Graffiti bearing a swastika and the words “Seig Heil [sic]” has been found in a children’s park in Nottingham. 

The incident was first posted by Nottingham Chabad’s Twitter account.

Lillian Greenwood, the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Nottingham South, condemned the vandalism as “dreadful” and “not something I would ever expect to encounter in our city.”

Last week, we reported that graffiti containing swastikas and messages in support of Hitler, as well as anti-Muslim rhetoric, have been scrawled across vehicles in Finsbury Park.

A training course provided by a Holocaust centre is inviting managers to “curb their inner Hitler” in the workplace.

The Holocaust Centre North, in Huddersfield, launched a programme earlier this month which is designed to teach “modern leaders” how to learn from twentieth-century dictators about office culture and inclusion.

In a press release, the charity said of the course: “Exploring the leadership traits of Hitler, Stalin and others, as well as the dangers of being a bystander, the half-day course highlights the dangers of ignoring inclusion. It offers a challenging look at equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at a time when cases of toxic workplace culture are rarely out of the headlines.”

Hannah Randall, Head of Learning at the organisation, is quoted in the press release as saying: “Participants are shocked to see that some of their leadership traits are similar to dictators. Stalin was an extreme micro-manager and this style is familiar to a lot of people. So too is Hitler’s hands-off and unaccountable approach that relies on his force of personality to get things done. It’s very much the blueprint of populism.

“We are using extreme scenarios but it serves a dual purpose. It makes people question their leadership style and it makes them confront relatable experiences that some would rather forget. So, for example, most people have seen discrimination in their organisation, which is stage three on the ten stages of genocide. A good number of people have seen colleagues not allowed to share their ideas or be valued because they’re a woman and some have seen colleagues wearing a hijab openly mocked and singled out for abuse.”

The organisation’s Director, Alessandro Bucci, said: “It’s now widely accepted that modern leaders must embrace EDI [Equality, Diversity, Inclusion], and organisations cannot afford to pay lip service to it. By exploring the grey areas of the Holocaust – and recognising that it’s too simple to reduce it to just good and bad guys – we are having real success in getting people to think about how they can create more inclusive workplaces. In the last year alone, allegations of bullying in employment tribunals have risen by 44 per cent to a record high – so there’s clearly a need for a more forceful approach to make people think about what they can do differently.”

The Holocaust Centre North was founded in 2018 by the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association, a group of refugees and survivors who have delivered education about the Holocaust since 1996. Its permanent exhibition and learning centre is based on the University of Huddersfield’s campus, and receives funding from the Association of Jewish Refugees, the Pears Foundation, and the Department for Levelling Up.

The course was discovered by Labour Against Antisemitism.

Mr Bucci further said: “Our equality and training course uses case studies of various 20th century dictatorships to help attendees learn how individuals have historically and unknowingly contributed to racism, violence and extremism. It considers how different dictatorships thrived in contexts of populism, violence and lack of accountability before looking at contemporary times, current EDI practice in the workplace and how everyone has a responsibility to promote equality.

“The programme explores how we all have responsibility to become active allies rather than bystanders. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from people who have attended the course. They said they valued the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust alongside considering how they could make their organisations more inclusive, accountable and transparent.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to the Centre.

A spokesperson from Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is one of those initiatives where you wonder how on earth anyone could have thought it was a good idea. To compare management approaches to the leadership style of Adolf Hitler is utterly ludicrous. That a ‘Holocaust Centre’, of all places, thinks it is appropriate to use the Shoah as a metric for conduct in the workplace, is astounding.

“The promotional material, which urges participants to ‘recognise it’s too simple to reduce the Holocaust to just good and bad guys’ is breathtakingly insulting and historically ignorant, and the notion that such an appalling insight ‘can create more inclusive workplaces’ exemplifies how contemporary inclusivity programmes too often leave Jews behind. This training needs an urgent rethink, and we shall be writing to the centre.”

Image credit: Holocaust Centre North

A man has been sentenced to four years in prison, with an extended licence of one year, after being found guilty of preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

Luke Skelton, nineteen from Washington, was convicted at Teesside Crown Court in May. The jury’s decision came after a previous panel failed to reach a decision.

The court heard that Mr Skelton absorbed far-right ideology whilst researching bomb-making. The student, between the dates of October 2020 and October 2021, carried out a “hostile reconnaissance” of Forth Banks police station in Newcastle, in which he would take photographs and conduct searches for CCTV cameras, whilst he was a student at Gateshead College.

Nicholas De La Poer KC, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Skelton had professed an admiration for Adolf Hitler and Oswald Mosley, and that searches for neo-Nazi content were discovered on his devices. The prosecution said that Mr Skelton posted antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, and other racist and sexist comments online. 

Judge Paul Watson KC, the recorder of Middlesbrough, stated that Mr Skelton was “a committed and active rightwing extremist” who was believed in white supremacy and promoting racial hatred. 

Mr Skelton, who was said to be obsessed with nazism, “made heroes out of those who carry out atrocities in the name of fascism and other extreme rightwing ideologies”.

Judge Watson KC said: “Your fantasy was to turn back the pages of history books to times when such xenophobic and hateful views were tolerated and even admired…Your objective was to cause explosions to provoke what you saw as a coming race war…This was no spur of the moment or impulsive conduct.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Counter Terrorism Policing North East

Rep. Ritchie Torres, the United States representative for New York’s 15th congressional district, acting for the Bronx, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he spoke candidly of his dedication to fighting antisemitism and acting as an ally to Jewish people, which includes his commitment to the International Definition of Antisemitism.

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

Rep. Torres told our podcast host: “One need not be Jewish to condemn antisemitism, any more than one need be Black to condemn anti-Black racism. I operate under the belief that we all have a moral obligation to fight extremism.”

Rep. Torres, who at 25 became the youngest elected official in New York City, said that he was reminded of a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He said: “‘History will record that the greatest tragedy was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people,’ and at a time of rising antisemitism, we are all confronted with the simple moral choice; either we remain appallingly silent, or we speak out. Either we remain part of the problem, or we become part of the solution, and I feel deeply that I have a moral obligation to speak out and become part of the solution.”

However, the Congressman revealed that his activism on behalf of the Jewish people has led to his share of detractors, though he remains undeterred. 

“I do have critics who claim that I speak out too often about antisemitism, but the problem is not that I speak out too often but that society does not speak out often enough,” he said.

Recent FBI Hate Crime Statistics revealed that antisemitic incidents comprised 51.4% of religion-related incidents in the United States, despite the Jewish population making up less than 3% of the population. 

“There has certainly been a tidal wave of antisemitism that has swept American society, British society, and elsewhere in the world…There is a long and ugly history of scapegoating Jews,” he said. “We see that scapegoating rear its ugly head, sometimes against the Jewish community, sometimes against the State of Israel, and we have to speak out against it.”

The representative for the Bronx turned his attention to antisemitism in his home city of New York. According to police data, New York City saw 263 antisemitic attacks in 2022, which translates as one every 33 hours on average.

He said of the attacks: “New York City is supposed to be a cosmopolitan city, where everyone is welcome, where more than 200 languages are spoken, and I consider the prevalence of antisemitic to be a stain of the soul of our city, to be a moral indictment.

“All of us have a human right to live freely without fear of intimation and harassment and violence.”

Rep. Torres commented on how the media’s portrayal of Israel can influence antisemitic incidents, an issue on which he has been outspoken. Recently, in addition to Campaign Against Antisemitism and other Jewish groups, he called out a BBC journalist who said that Israel is “happy to kill children.” Following the complaints, an apology was issued by the Corporation.

Rep. Torres said: “I find that anti-Zionism in the real world often rises to the level of antisemitism, and one clear-cut example is the BBC anchor who casually said that Israel is happy to kill children, which to me is a modern manifestation of the medieval blood libel, and we know that the blood libel has a long history of provoking antisemitic violence.

“Casual antisemitism permeates our culture so deeply it appears under the guise of objective journalism. I have found that Israel is often a blank slate on which antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes are projected.” 

The International Definition of Antisemitism has been another topic on which Rep. Torres has vocalised his support. Britain was the first country in the world to adopt the Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism worked hard over many meetings with officials. Since then, numerous national, state and local governments have adopted the Definition.

“I not only accept, but I embrace, the Definition as the most complex definition of a complex phenomenon that is antisemitism, and it ought to command universal acceptance. I find that the attempt to discredit the Definition is based more on a caricature than a fair characterisation of the Definition,” he said. “Questioning the right of the Jewish state to exist, questioning the legitimacy of the Jewish state, holding the Jewish state to double standards, that’s not mere criticism, it’s extremism. That’s the nuance that the Definition is attempting to capture.

“If the majority of leading Jewish organisations are telling me that the most comprehensive definition of antisemitism is [the Definition], then I’m going to be deferential. I’m not going to presume I know what’s best. I happen to believe that on my own, but who cares what I believe? I care more about ‘What does the leadership of the Jewish believe?’ And that warrants deference and respect from allies like myself.”

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

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

Amazon has removed an inflammatory book listing from its website which makes reference to the “subversive activities” of Jews carried out against the Catholic church.

The Amazon listing of The Plot Against the Church, reportedly written in 1961 by a group of Mexican priests under the pseudonym Maurice Pinay, featured a description that referred to Judaism as an “enemy” of the Catholic church.

It added that “Jews, Masons and Communists” are using the Catholic church to further the aims of “atheistic communism” and referred to the “subversive activities” of Jewish people.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Selling a product whose sales pitch includes references to the ‘subversive activities’ of Jews is repugnant and has no place on Amazon. We are pleased that the retailer removed this unashamedly racist material from its platform following our call to do so.”

An Amazon spokesperson said: “We’re always listening to feedback and take these concerns very seriously. The title flagged is being removed from sale. We have policies governing which books can be listed and invest significant time and resources to ensure our guidelines are followed. We remove products that do not adhere to our guidelines and also promptly investigate any book when a concern is raised.”

An academic serving as an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London and as a Teaching Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London has reportedly been trolling Jewish individuals and groups online. 

According to Gnasher Jew, Dr Ray Campbell, who works in the Department of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths and in Humanities at Royal Holloway, has been using the account ‘@buddy_hell’ to target Jews on Twitter. 

The account shares its name with Dr Campbell’s stage name as a comedian, ‘Buddy Hell’. The tweets accuse the State of Israel of practising forced sterilisation on women, and assert that Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and David Hirsh, a fellow Goldsmiths academic who is also a prominent and highly-respected antisemitism expert, are racist. 

Goldsmiths is currently conducting an internal investigation into antisemitism after Mr Hirsh was reportedly called a “far-right white supremacist” by its then-Students’ Union President. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism was also the target of numerous tweets. The Twitter account accuses us of “hoping to achieve what the National Front, British Movement and the BNP [British National Party] failed to do: start a ‘race war’”. 

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “These tweets exhibit an extremely alarming pattern of targeting Jews and falsely accusing them of a hidden agenda. The accusations made against us and other groups combatting antisemitism are not only conspiratorial but repugnant, and we wholly reject them.

“This deliberate trolling of Jews has no place in civil discourse, and especially not at an academic institution. Goldsmiths University must immediately investigate these posts and, if the allegations are borne out, take swift and decisive action.”

Last year, Goldsmiths announced that it would adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism but “without the case studies.” 

In addition, it said that it would also adopt the Jerusalem Declaration, which is a wrecking document intended to undermine the globally-recognised Definition, owing to the fact that the University’s “academic community” favoured it. 

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].

A man in his twenties known only as LXB, who has become the first alleged neo-Nazi to be placed under special government measures, has pleaded guilty to breaching the terms of the act.

According to the Home Office, the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIM) Act “protects the public from individuals who pose a real terrorist threat, but whom we cannot prosecute or, in the case of foreign nationals, deport.”

Those placed under the measures are provided with legal anonymity and referred to using a cipher. The individuals may be required to wear an electronic tag or relocate to different parts of the country. They might also face bans or limitations on who they can meet, where they may travel, and internet usage.

Details of those placed under the TPIM Act are reportedly only ever divulged when they appear in court over breaches or for High Court reviews of the measures.

LXB is the 29th person to be placed under the act, with the 28 others all being reported for Islamist-related terrorism. 

The man appeared at the Old Bailey via video link on Friday where he pleaded guilty to two breaches of the TPIM Act by having a video camera and memory card without prior approval from the Home Office.

LXB has had “serious previous convictions”, according to Kate Wilkinson, prosecuting.

He is due to be sentenced in August.

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

An Arsenal Football Club supporter who shouted “Hitler should have finished the job” was sentenced today at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.

Daniel Down, 29, pleaded guilty and was sentenced for using threatening, abusive, distressing words at a football match on 15th January 2023 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

The charges, which were racially or religiously aggravated, were brought against him by the Crown Prosecution Service after he shouted “Hitler should have finished the job” at a match between Arsenal Football Club and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

The prosecution noted that the victim, who reported the incident to the police, had immediately told Mr Down that he took “great offence” at what Mr Down said and explained that members of his family had died in the Holocaust. 

The prosecution also noted that Mr Down had apologised to the victim immediately and had attended a police interview without legal counsel. 

Upon sentencing, the Judge said: “Mr Down, what you did was egregious in the extreme…You are a young man of 29, you ought to have known better.” 

In light of his plea and apology to the victim, the Judge gave Mr Down a court order that bans him from attending football matches in the UK for three years. He was also ordered to pay a total of £471 in fines, which includes a victim surcharge of £110. 

Earlier this year, Arsenal Football Club launched a new affiliate called “Jewish Gooners”, partly in response to antisemitism among supporters.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to report on and act against instances of anti-Jewish racism in all sports.

Two neo-Nazi podcast hosts who made antisemitic statements and encouraged their listeners to commit acts of violence during episodes of their programme have been convicted of terror offences. 

Christopher Gibbons, 38, and Tyrone Pattern-Walsh, 34, were found guilty of encouraging acts of terrorism on Friday at Kingston Crown Court. 

They were both arrested on 18th May 2021 and then charged on 21st August the same year, after they were identified as the hosts of the neo-Nazi podcast. 

On the podcast, “Black Wolf Radio”, Mr Gibbons described Archie, the son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as an “abomination that should be put down.” 

The pair recorded 21 episodes, during which they were found to have produced antisemitic, homophobic, misogynistic and Islamophobic content. 

Among the content were descriptions of the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing as “sluts” and praise for the Christchurch mosque shooter, Brenton Tarrant.

Following their arrests, Mr Gibbons was found to have an online library titled “The Radicalisation Library”, which contained over 500 pieces of extreme right-wing material. 

Anne Whyte QC, prosecuting, said of the defendants: “[They] are men who hold extreme right-wing views. They are dedicated and unapologetic white supremacists. They thought that if they used the format of a radio show, as good as in plain sight, they could pass off their venture as the legitimate exercise of their freedom of speech. 

“In fact what they were doing was using language designed to encourage others to commit acts of extreme right wing terrorism against the sections of society that these defendants hated.”

Of the conviction, Commander Dominic Murphy, who works for the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism command, said: “Gibbons and Patten-Walsh thought that the fact they were airing their hateful views and advocating terrorist acts in plain sight, on a radio and podcast platform, somehow gave them some legitimacy and meant they wouldn’t face any consequences.

“They were wrong, and both our investigation and a jury has found that they sought to encourage terrorism in how they expressed their abhorrent extreme right-wing views.”

Both Mr Gibbons and Mr Pattern-Walsh are due to be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on 26th September. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Metropolitan Police 

A teenager who allegedly conducted online research into the Hove Hebrew Congregation synagogue has been charged with eleven terrorism offences.

Mason Reynolds, eighteen from Brighton, has been charged with five counts of collecting information which could be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, five counts of dissemination of terrorist publications, and one count of possessing an article for the purpose of terrorism.

Mr Reynolds is due to appear at the Old Bailey next week.

A spokesperson for Counter Terrorism Policing Southeast said the charges against Reynolds were linked to an “extreme right-wing ideology.” 

In a statement, the CST said: “After his arrest this week, we were informed by the police that the defendant had allegedly conducted online research into Hove Hebrew Congregation (Holland Road Synagogue). The defendant has been remanded in custody and at this stage, there is no indication that anybody else was involved. The threat of terrorism faced by Jewish communities is the reason why security remains an essential part of Jewish communal life. 

“We have been working closely with counter-terrorism police, Hove Hebrew Congregation and Sussex Jewish Representative Council to ensure appropriate measures are in place.” 

The BBC has apologised in response to a multitude of complaints – including from Campaign Against Antisemitism – after a presenter made the baseless accusation that “Israeli forces are happy to kill children.”

The outrageous and unfounded claim came during an interview on BBC News yesterday with the former Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, about Israel’s military operation in Jenin, which has now concluded.

When speaking on the topic of the targets of the operation, Anjana Gadgil, the presenter who conducted the interview, stated: “The Israeli forces are happy to kill children.” 

Mr Bennett robustly rejected the baseless assertion, including by noting that the seventeen-year-olds were armed combatants.

The notion that the military of the state of Israel – the Jewish state – is “happy” to kill minors draws on the symbolism of the blood libel.

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

The original antisemitic blood libel dates to 1144, when Jews in England were falsely accused of the murder of a boy known as William of Norwich.

Incidents of blood libel grew in the Middle Ages, with Jews accused of murdering Christian children in order to use their blood in Passover rituals. In 1290, it was a pretext for the confiscation of all Jewish property and the complete expulsion of Jews from England. They were not permitted to return until centuries later. The blood libel has been a case of much persecution and murder of Jews ever since, including up to the present day.

In the modern era, updated versions of the blood libel continue to pervade antisemitic discourse.  Contemporary manifestations include the accusation that Jews or the Jewish state steal human organs, drink or utilise the blood of non-Jews, or willfully and readily murder non-Jewish – particularly Arab – children.

In response to a multitude of complaints, the BBC summarised the position: “We received comments and complaints concerning an interview with the former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about recent events in the West Bank and Israel. The complaints raised relate to specific interview questions about the deaths of young people in the Jenin refugee camp.”

In its response, the BBC said: “Across the BBC’s platforms – including the BBC News channel – these events have been covered in an impartial and robust way. The United Nations raised the issue of the impact of the operation in Jenin on children and young people. While this was a legitimate subject to examine in the interview, we apologise that the language used in this line of questioning was not phrased well and was inappropriate.”

Ms Gadgil has also deleted her Twitter account.

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

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to Camden Council over an incendiary sign that was seen this week in the window of a Kentish Town residence.

The sign claims that Zionism “is an amoral political belief based on racist and supremicist [sic] (not a religion).”

It goes on to say that the “Israely [sic] State cows and corrupts our political class and media.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” and “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” are both examples of antisemitism.

The sign also draws upon the pseudoscientific idea of “originol Semetic [sic] peoples.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that Jews are a “gift” to the countries in which they live and that antisemitism is the “taproot of all racism.”

At an event this week at the Bevis Marks synagogue in London this week, Justin Welby said that “There is no question that a country with a large Jewish community will be a better country. It will flourish in almost any area you care to name.” He challenged antisemites, asking why Jewish communities were “seen as a problem, not as a gift.”

In conversation with the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, Archbishop Welby described antisemitism as the “taproot of all racism.”

Referring to his study of churches in Germany under Nazi rule, he observed: “You saw there that the moment you don’t push back against antisemitism, it becomes so engrained – and antisemitic laws or antisemitic attitudes become permissible, and everything becomes permissible. It’s a cancer of extraordinarily rapid growth, which you can’t deal with if you leave it for any time.”

Reflecting on his childhood, Welby recalled that after he had been sent to boarding school at the age of eight, he had become friendly with a Jewish boy called Myers. “My father heard about this. He said, ‘Don’t play with him. He’s Jewish.’ I still remember, I must have been nine, thinking, ‘I am not going to obey that. He is my friend. So what if he is Jewish? I couldn’t care less.’ And we continued to play together. I just didn’t talk about it at home. From then on, I thought this was ridiculous. How can anyone live thinking that because someone comes from a particular group, that they are intrinsically bad or lesser or other?”

He later discovered that his father was Jewish, while his mother was secretary to the Nobel Prize-winning Jewish scientist Sir Ernst Chain.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Under Archbishop Welby, the Church of England has made huge strides in confronting its past and in its relations with the Jewish community. One only needs to contrast his recent comments with the policies of the Church in past centuries to be grateful for the era in which we live. There is still more to do, but Archbishop Welby has made a real commitment to strengthening interfaith ties, and we commend him.”

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