The stabbing of two Jewish men in London led to a surge in anti-Semitic attacks in the UK over the following days, new figures show.
The Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism, has revealed that there was a 21 per cent increase in incidents in the first six months of this year, on the back of the Middle East war and Tehran-orchestrated attacks on Jewish targets.
The CST said the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green on April 29 caused the highest daily totals of anti-Semitic incidents, with 71 in the three days after the attack.
There was a sharp rise in anti-Semitism after the Middle East war began on February 28, with 89 incidents reported in the following week, a 71 per cent increase from the preceding week.
The CST says that a pattern in previous years is that high-profile assaults on the Jewish community inspire “more anti-Semitic acts from those who are emboldened and excited by seeing such hatred”.
An organisation calling itself Harakat Ashab Al Yamin Al Islamia, which translates as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand, claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Jewish targets in London. The group is suspected of being a front for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The first of these was the firebombing of vehicles belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer ambulance service. The attack was followed by attacks on synagogues, the office of a Jewish charity and the Israeli embassy.
On the same day as the ambulances, CST recorded 25 anti-Semitic incidents, which at the time was the joint-highest daily total in the first half of the year.
“These attacks should concern everyone who cares about Britain and the threats against it, whether state-directed from Iran, or internally driven by Islamist, far right, far left, or other ideological extremes,” the CST's chief executive Mark Gardner said.
The incidents this year followed an attack on a synagogue in Manchester last October, which left two Jewish worshippers dead.
Earlier this month, the British government said it would spend £250 million ($336.45 million) over the next three years to better protect Jewish communities, providing additional officers to help protect schools, synagogues and community centres.
“Anti-Semitism goes against our country's values and I will do everything in my power to protect our Jewish communities,” said Policing Minister Sarah Jones.
Mohammad Al Saadi, 32, a dual Iranian-Iraqi citizen who is alleged to be behind Harakat Ashab Al Yamin Al Islamia, has been charged with terrorism offences in the US.
He was arrested in Turkey in April and extradited to the US to face charges in a New York court.
Mr Al Saadi faces eight charges of orchestrating nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks throughout Europe and the US.
