A hatred normalised: antisemitism in Britain

In the months since October 7th 2023, the monthly average of antisemitic incidents in Britain has doubled. A series of attacks—stabbings in a Jewish neighbourhood, an arson attempt on a disused synagogue in East London, four volunteer ambulances set on fire in Golders Green—has left the country’s Jewish community, which numbers fewer than 300,000 people according to the most recent census, feeling increasingly unsafe. The Economist’s Shira Ovide has been investigating why this is happening and what can be done about it.

A hatred that sits at the centre of a Venn diagram

Several of the recent attacks have been claimed by a group called Harakat Ashab Ali Amin al-Islamiya, whose online presence overlaps heavily with what is known about Iran-linked social media activity. But this is not simply an Islamist problem. As Sir Mark Rowley, head of the Metropolitan Police, has noted, hatred of Jews sits at the centre of a kind of Venn diagram: it is adopted by the far left, the far right, and by Islamists alike. Antisemitism, Ovide explains, is a “mutable conspiracy theory” that different extremist groups can weaponise for their own ends.