The Rise of Antisemitism in the UK

The rise of antisemitism in the UK In 2014, antisemitic incidents in Britain reached a record-breaking high. In response to this, and the recent killing of four Jews in Paris, a new YouGov poll has measured the scale of antisemitism in Britain. The Antisemitism Barometer 2015 Commissioned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, the report collated data from two separate polls on attitudes towards, and reactions by, Jews in Britain. The results paint a bleak picture, suggesting that antisemitism is endemic among the British public. The British public's attitude towards British Jews of British adults agreed with at least one of the antisemitic statements shown to them 45% 26% felt at least two of those statements 39% 51% were true of women of men believed at least three of them 17% believed at least one statement Ukip voters consistently believed the antisemitic statements 9% more than average Of those polled, 25% iiii 20% i 17% feel that think believe that "Jews chase money more than other British people" "Jews' loyalty to Israel makes them "Jews think they are better than other people" less loyal to Britain than other British people" 17%iii 13% İ think believe that "Jews have too much "Jews talk about the power in the media" Holocaust too much in order to get sympathy" The Jewish community's reactions to antisemitism 58% III 25% ÜÜ 77% iiii Well over half of British Jews believe Jews may have no long-term future in Europe. One in four have considered leaving Britain in the past two years because of growing antisemitism. The vast majority have witnessed antisemitism disguised as a political comment about Israel. Over half of British Jews report witnessing more antisemitism in the past two years than they've ever known before. More than half of all British Jews feel that antisemitism now echoes the 1930s. Word association Participants in YouGov's survey were asked what single word they most associated with the word "Jew". The most common responses reveal lingering stereotypes and antisemitic sentiment among the British public: Unpleasant Greedy 8 Holocaust Israel War-like Zionist 28 17 8. Bigots Palestine Kosher Noses Nazis 4. Persecuted Business 5 5 Wealthy 11 9. Traditional 4 Beards Victim Miserly Bar Mitzvah Yid 3 3 Money 4 9 8 Shylock 2 Britain values tolerance and pluralism, but antisemitic prejudice appears to be growing across the country. With many Jews questioning their future in Europe, it's vital that every effort is made to eradicate both antisemitism through education and a zero-tolerance policy towards racism. Authors: David Maclean, Janneke Earl and Matthew Brown (2015) Sources All statistics obtained from Campaign Against Antisemitism. Campaign Against Antisemitism. (2015). Annual Antisemitism Barometer 2015: Full Report. Campaign Against Antisemitism. [Online]. Available at: http://antisemitism.uk