Six months.

This weekend marked the six-month anniversary of the 7th October atrocity, the bloodiest day in Israel’s history and the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

In the wake of the attack, as Israelis and Jewish communities worldwide grappled with the trauma, a distressing contrast emerged: while grief and shock engulfed many, expressions of support for Hamas erupted in various forms of jubilation and celebration across the globe, some within hours of the massacre.

Some chose to turn a blind eye to the atrocities.

Others attempted to rationalise the unjustifiable.

And, shockingly, some even found inspiration in this heinous act.

For the Jewish people, with hostages still in captivity and justification, glorification and celebration of antisemitic terrorism still ongoing around the world, October 7 is 24/7.

Al Quds Day: a tale of two cities

Every year, on the last Friday of Ramadan, the Al Quds Day march takes place in cities around the world, including in London. Since it was established in Iran in 1979, following the Islamic Revolution, Al Quds Day marches are displays of support for the antisemitic Islamist theocracy that rules Iran, kills its opponents and supports Jew-hating terrorist groups across the world, and for its terror proxies.

In the UK, for example, participants in the marches used to fly Hizballah flags and hold placards stating “We are all Hizballah”, until we and others secured the proscription of Hizballah.

In the days prior to this year’s march, which took place on Friday, the organisers had the audacity to complain about occasional arrests at recent anti-Israel marches in London notwithstanding that their own march was in support of a foreign regime that murders protesters.

Our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit was present at the march on Friday. What they saw was predictably despicable, including a woman screaming “Zio-Nazis” at people, flyers emblazoned with Hitler’s face, and more.

As the march proceeded, what became clear was that London on Al Quds Day was a tale of two cities: the hateful marchers in one tale, and, in the other, our digital van displaying the images of hostages and peaceful counter-protesters, some of whom were wearing our “Hamas are terrorists” hoodies.

The Met Police posted on social media that they had identified particular placards that appeared to incite violence in a vehicle that they had proactively stopped near the starting point of the march. “As a result,” they triumphantly declared, “we don’t believe they have been distributed.” Still, they were firm: “Should they be displayed in the crowd, action will be taken.”

But after so many months of policing-by-tweet, it should come as no surprise that our volunteers observed plenty of these placards on display during the march, very often within the sight of police officers. To our knowledge, no action appeared to be taken. This was just the latest example of questionable policing.

The week before, during the anti-Israel demonstration on Easter weekend, a woman reported a placard featuring a swastika to a police officer, who appeared to try to explain that the meaning of a swastika would depend on the context, in echoes of Met Police policy on other antisemitic rhetoric.

Apparently the context of an anti-Israel demonstration rife with analogies of Israel to Nazis and other antisemitic signs, calls for violent intifada, support for Houthi attacks on British vessels and glorification of Hamas terrorism, was not clear enough context of what a swastika might portend.

The Met claimed that it arrested someone in relation to this incident. If so, it raises even more questions about why the police reflexively make excuses instead of taking action in real time.

Extremism in the UK: we want to hear from you

If you could poll the British public on antisemitism or extremism, what questions would you ask?

Click here to let us know.

It is time for Sir Alan Duncan to be expelled

Sir Alan Duncan, the former Conservative MP and Minister, and a particularly unpopular figure in the Jewish community, suggested in an interview on LBC that certain peers in the House of Lords are working for Israel, invoking classic tropes of Jewish power and disloyalty. He later went on to victim-blame Israel for the 7th October Hamas attack.

This is not the first time that he has made accusations of parliamentarians being controlled by Israel. But we believe that it should be the last time that he does so as a member of the Conservative Party.

We called on the Party to investigate, which they have announced that they are now doing. He is not the only Conservative figure that we have been following recently.

We also called for the whip finally to be withdrawn from Baroness Warsi, after she spoke at a Muslim Council of Britain event with Ghada Karmi. The MCB is a controversial group, and Dr Karmi has previously said: “What you saw on October 7th was breaking out from the cage of Gaza by a resistance movement.” Dr Karmi also previously told George Galloway on Al Mayadeen television: “It’s wonderful really and admirable that the Hamas fighters exploded this whole rotten structure.”

We called in addition for the suspension by the Labour Party of another attendee, Afzal Khan MP, of “mass murdering Rothschilds Israeli mafia criminal liars” infamy.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Azmat Husain, the Chairman of the Salford Conservative Federation and the Conservative candidate for Eccles in Salford in the May elections, has withdrawn his candidacy after a Facebook post emerged in which he appears to have written “Jew pigs”. He had claimed that the post was fake.

This is not the first time that there have been serious concerns relating to antisemitism within local Conservative associations in Manchester. The Party has yet to investigate transparently.

We also exposed the social media history of the independent MP, Angus MacNeil, who used to sit with the SNP.

Furthermore, we called out the crossbench peer Lord Bird for saying in a debate in the House of Lords that “The amount of antisemitism you see around the world is because of the fact that Israel is not thinking about the next five or ten years but is only thinking immediately.”

No, Lord Bird, the amount of antisemitism that we are seeing is not because of the Jews or their state. It is because there are antisemites.

The effect of antisemitism on British Jews

Our two-week nationwide billboard campaign spotlighting what it is like to be Jewish in Britain today has concluded. On the billboards, online and on our digital van, we highlighted a number of scenarios to give viewers pause, including:

• “How would you explain guards outside your child’s nursery?”
• “Imagine your family feeling unsafe every time they leave their place of worship.”
• “Do you know how it feels to hide your school blazer so you won’t be attacked?”

Thank you to all of you who have got in touch about the campaign. To quote just one response from Glasgow: “I saw an ad about your campaign in Glasgow today at Finnieston Quay and I wanted to get in touch to say that it really spoke to me. I have been appalled by what I have been reading about antisemitism in the UK. The words on the billboard about guards at nurseries and abuse at a football stadium were really powerful. I hope it helps to make a difference.”

So do we.

Great Ormond Street Hospital

Last December we began discussions with Great Ormond Street Hospital, at the initiative of members of their staff, about providing antisemitism training. This is the same training that we have delivered for years to other NHS trusts, police forces, industry regulators, academic institutions, local authorities and others.

Discussions were proceeding smoothly until approximately six weeks ago, when we were informed that the Hospital’s Muslim Network had expressed concerns about Campaign Against Antisemitism as a provider. We addressed in writing the issues that were raised and offered to meet with the relevant members of staff, with a view to hearing and allaying any concerns.

Unfortunately, the offer was ignored and, apparently without regard for the views of its Jewish staff, the Hospital decided that the Muslim Network should have a veto in relation to antisemitism training, and withdrew from the discussions.

The Hospital assured us that it will still be arranging the provision of antisemitism training, but with a different provider. We replied to the Hospital to say that that is acceptable to us, provided that it uses a reputable trainer that will not compromise on the material to appease anyone at the Hospital who may be ideologically opposed to learning about certain contemporary manifestations of antisemitism.

The Hospital not only failed to provide us with this assurance, but has not responded to us at all for several weeks.

We continued to await contact from the Hospital, but in view of the length of time since our last correspondence, we had no choice but to make this public last week.

If non-Jewish staff at institutions are given a veto over the delivery or content of antisemitism training, such an institution simply cannot be said to be upholding its commitment to equality and diversity. Jewish people and the racism that they suffer cannot be ignored. That is itself antisemitic.

After we revealed the incident, the Hospital released a statement that was wholly unsatisfactory, and we have submitted a Freedom of Information request in order to release more information.

In addition to the victims whom we are assisting and other incidents that we are responding to, here are some of our other high-profile recent cases:

• We submitted complaints to Ofcom about Matthew Wright for comments on two LBC programmes.
• We wrote a letter to the Scottish Funding Council regarding the election of Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah as Rector of the University of Glasgow.
• We called on UK Border Force to suspend officers involved in potential mistreatment of Israeli survivors of 7th October visiting the UK.
• We publicised appalling footage from the Refectory at Goldsmiths, which is also midway through an inquiry, to which we have contributed, regarding antisemitism on its campus.
• We reported a man appearing to make serious threats in a TikTok video to Counter-Terrorism Police, and were in touch with the victim.

It has been six months.

Six months of war. Six months of hostages in captivity. Six months of weekly anti-Israel protests and antisemitic rhetoric on our streets. Six months of surging antisemitism — on campuses and online, in workplaces and in our public life. Six months of police failures.

But we are resolute, and we will continue to fight for justice for the Jewish community, no matter how many more months or years it takes.