Greater Manchester saw 284 antisemitic incidents in 2021, an increase of 86% from the 153 incidents recorded there in 2020.
Figures from the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors antisemitism saw record levels reported across the country with shows 2,255 anti-Jewish hate incidents reported nationwide in 2021.
This is the highest annual total that CST has ever recorded and is a 34% increase from the 1,684 antisemitic incidents reported in 2020.
This is the first time CST has ever recorded over 2,000 incidents in a single year and is 24% higher than the previous record annual total of 1,813 incidents in 2019.
The record figure of 2,255 was driven by the significant spike in anti-Jewish hate reported during and following the escalation in violence in Israel and Gaza last year. In May 2021, the month when the conflict in the region intensified, CST recorded a record 661 antisemitic incidents, and in June CST recorded the fifth-highest ever monthly total of 210 incidents.
If there was a single type of incident that became emblematic of how this hatred was communicated, it included people driving through Jewish neighbourhoods in towns and cities across the UK, in vehicles draped with Palestinian flags or waving them out of the windows, while shouting “Free Palestine” and anti-Jewish abuse at random Jewish pedestrians who were singled out for being Jewish.
“These record levels of anti-Jewish racism, reported by our Jewish community to CST and police, show how difficult last year was for Jews across Britain,” said Mark Gardner, the chief executive of CST, which also provides security for Jewish people and properties.
“These hatreds boil away, taking any excuse to publicly burst out against Jews. This is exactly what happened during and after the Israel-Gaza war of May 2021, from schools and universities, through to the carloads of people who repeatedly drove to Jewish areas and yelled vile abuse at anyone who looked Jewish.”
