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The NEW Anti-Semitism
...an End Time Factor?
Violent attacks on British Jews hit
record high
By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) - Violent anti-Semitic attacks in Britain have reached
"alarming" record levels, according to a report, prompting calls by
Jewish leaders for more to be done to protect their community.
The Community Safety Trust, which represents Britain's 290,000-strong
Jewish community on security matters, said on Thursday there had been
532 "anti-Semitic incidents" -- defined as malicious acts toward Jews --
in 2004, including a record 83 assaults.
The total, which included abuse and threats, was a rise of 42 percent
from the CST's 2003 figure, and well above the previous record high of
405 in 2000.
"This increase is extremely alarming. The transfer of tensions in the
Middle East to the streets of Britain has resulted in an unprecedented
level of anti-Semitic incidents," said Michael Whine, director of
communications for the CST.
The Trust said 100 incidents were reported in March 2004 alone. In the
worst incident, a Jewish teenager had his jaw shattered in the English
south coast city of Southampton.
Last month London police said they were hunting a group of black and
Asian men said to be behind a string of racist attacks on orthodox
Jewish men in the capital.
A few days earlier, vandals daubed swastikas and other Nazi symbols on
10 gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in Aldershot, southern England, the
second time it had been targeted.
Britain's Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks, said the figures were a cause
for concern. "The single most important thing is for our community to
enlist others to join in the protest against the attacks," he said in a
statement.
"Jews must not be left to fight anti-Semitism alone."
The government described the rise as "totally unacceptable" and said
action was being taken. "We have strengthened the law against racism,
including raising the maximum penalty for incitement to racial hatred,"
leader of the House of Commons Peter Hain told parliament.
The leaders of Britain's Anglican and Catholic Christian communities
said the findings were disturbing and condemned anti-Semitism.
Rob Beckley, the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on
faith matters, said that "...any anti-Semitic incidents are a matter of
great concern to the police service ... All hate crime is insidious and
destructive and we are committed to taking positive action against those
perpetrating such offences."
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