JEWISH FEARS OVER HATE CRIMES SURGE
Communities report more attacks
Scotland’S Jewish community has suffered an 85 per cent increase in hate crimes in the last three years.
Figures released by Police Scotland last week showed 49 complaints of antiSemitism in 2021, rising to 57 in 2022 and 91 last year.
There was also a surge of religious abuse in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the counter-offensive by the Israel army.
Twenty reports were made to police that month by Jewish people, the highestt monthly figure onn record, and another 199 in November.
Overall 197 complaintsts of religious hatred haveve been made in the lastst three years by Scotland’sd’s Jews, an average of moreore than five every month.
Sammy Stein of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council said there has been a growing trend in recent years of abuse towards the country’s Jewish population.
He added: “There has been a marked increase in anti-Semitism since October 7.
“Some of these incidents have been in schools, others in the street.”
At the end of last year police increased patrols around Scotland’s only Jewish school – Calderwood Lodge in Newton Mearns, near Glasgow – over concerns about anti-Semitic abuse against Jewish pupils in London.
Sammy said many Jews in Scotland are now living in daily fear of attack. He added: “People are very afraid. Some have removed any obvious signs of
JudJudaism from their home or front doors.
“Many are no longer wewearing a head covering or Star of David.”
The Police Scotland ddata also details 67 ccomplaints of racial hatredhatre against Jews in the last three years,ears 118 in 2021, 25 in 2022, and 29 last year, though some figures are included in the religious hate reports. The Community Security Trust, a charity monitoring anti- Semitism, recorded 4103 cases last year, up from 1662 in 2022. More than 2400 were in London. The figures included 266 violent assaults on Jews, the highest figure in 40 years. Police Scotland was unable to say how many reports had been received about anti-Semitic abuse since new hate crime laws came into force last month. Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain said: “Anyone reporting a crime should expect to be listened to and treated in line with our values. Hate crime is deplorable, can cause deep psychological harm, and victims are often vulnerable.”
Some have removed signs of Judaism from their homes
SAMMY STEIN GlasGow Jewish RepResentative CounCil membeR