Today sees the publication of CST’s Antisemitic Incidents Report covering the first six months of 2012 .

 

The report shows that antisemitic incidents remained at a similar level in the first six months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.

 

CST recorded 299 antisemitic incidents across the country in the first half of 2012, compared to 294 during the first six months of 2011. A further 214 reports of potential incidents were received by CST, but were not deemed to be antisemitic and are not included in this total. CST has recorded antisemitic incidents in the UK since 1984.

 

Greater London saw a 48% rise in recorded antisemitic incidents, from 100 during the first half of 2011 to 148 this year. This rise occurred due to increased reporting to CST via a new incident exchange programme between CST and the Metropolitan Police Service, whereby the two agencies swap incident data that has been fully anonymised to comply with data protection requirements.

 

In Greater Manchester, where CST and Greater Manchester Police have successfully operated an incident exchange programme since the beginning of 2011, the number of antisemitic incidents recorded by CST fell by 38%, from 125 in the first six months of 2011 to 78 in the first half of 2012. This may reflect a genuine fall in the number of incidents, as there has been no apparent change to incident recording patterns or services during that period.

 

The breakdown of the incident types shows that there were 33 violent antisemitic assaults in the first six months of 2012, including one classified as ‘Extreme Violence’; 28 incidents of Damage & Desecration of Jewish property; 217 incidents of Abusive Behaviour, including verbal abuse, antisemitic graffiti and one-off cases of hate mail; 18 direct antisemitic threats; and 3 cases of mass-mailed antisemitic leaflets or emails.

 

 

CST spokesman Mark Gardner said:

 

The increase in recorded incidents in London, following the successful model of CST- Police incident exchange in Manchester, demonstrates the value of CST’s partnership with the Police.

 

Although it is too soon to draw firm conclusions about the fall in reported incidents in Manchester, we hope that it may reflect the good work done by Greater Manchester Police in prosecuting and convicting offenders.

 

Both situations show the importance of reporting antisemitic incidents and the determination of the Police and CST to tackle hate crime and support the Jewish community against bigotry and hatred.