Hate crimes against Jews in London have more than doubled, according to
the latest figures from Scotland Yard.
The statistics showed there were 299 hate crimes against Jewish people
between the start of April and the end of December.
That represented a rise of 128 per cent on the same period in 2013, when
there were 131 hate crimes.
The period in question included the months during the Gaza conflict last
summer which led to a substantial increase in antisemitic incidents in Britain.
Police said last week that they were increasing patrols in areas with
large Jewish communities following the terror attacks in Paris. Scotland Yard
said officers were continually liaising with the community.
They said they were also reviewing overall security measures and looking
at the safety of other minority communities including Muslims, as well as the
force’s own officers.
Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said: “The global picture of
terrorist activity does give us heightened concern about the risk to the Jewish
community in the UK.
“We are seeing continuing antisemitic rhetoric from extremists and
attacks on this community in France and elsewhere.”
The new data shows overall hate crime was up 22 per cent to 9,103
incidents between April and the end of December.
