Anti-Semitic attacks up in UK
2004-02-20 09:27
London - The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain last year rose to reach the second-highest level since records began being kept two decades ago, a leading Jewish community group said Friday.
A total of 375 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded across Britain during 2003, 7% up on the previous year, said the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors anti-Semitism for the country's Jewish population.
Within this figure, 54 anti-Semitic assaults were reported, a 15% rise on 2002, while there were 31% more incidents of damage or desecration to Jewish property.
According to the CST, the level of incidents "fluctuated in response to events in the Middle East", with October, a period of particular violence in the region, seeing the second-highest monthly number of British incidents since records began being kept in 1984.
"This increase in anti-Semitic incidents is very concerning," a CST spokesperson said.
"We continue to see incidents stimulated by events in the Middle East, and this has been highlighted by the number of anti-Semitic incidents that showed specific anti-Zionist motivation."
On Thursday, the European Union held a seminar designed to find answers to anti-Semitism, attended by leaders including German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Natan Sharansky, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and Jewish leaders.
- AFP