The recorded attacks against Jews and Muslims are up 1,353% and 140% respectively, police said
Metropolitan police officers patrol the ultra-Orthodox jewish communities in Stamford Hill, north London on October 13, 2023. © Daniel Leal / AFP
Hate crimes against Jews and Muslims have skyrocketed in the British capital amid the dramatic escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Metropolitan Police revealed.
“Regrettably, despite the increased presence of officers we have seen a significant increase in hate crime across London,” the Met said in a statement on Friday. They added that 218 anti-Semitic offenses recorded between October 1 and 18 as opposed to 15 during the same time last year. In the meantime, the Islamophobic offenses rose from 42 to 101.
“These [figures] represent percentage rises of 1,353% and 140% respectively,” police said.
A total of 21 people have been arrested, including a man suspected of defacing posters of Israelis captured by the Palestinian militants and another man suspected of drawing Islamophobic graffiti on bus stops.
The Met stressed that they were working closely with both the Jewish and Muslim communities to “provide reassurance and to investigate offenses in the vicinity of faith schools, places of worship and in those communities where we know the levels of concern are highest.”
Read more
The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that is aimed at protecting British Jews, said on Friday that it recorded at least 533 anti-Semitic incidents since the fighting in the Middle East erupted on October 7, which is the highest ever total within a 14-day period.
The surge of hate crimes was also reported in other countries, including Germany, Canada, and the US, where President Joe Biden urged everyone on Friday to condemn both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
On October 7, Hamas and allied militant groups attacked Israel, prompting retaliatory airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Over 1,400 Israelis and more than 4,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting.
