Depressingstats

Another year, another depressing set of statistics from the Community Security Trust. Only these latest figures, covering 2016 are of a different order of magnitude from any that have come before. Not just the highest ever in absolute terms — 1309 recognised incidents of Jew hatred in the year — but the highest ever yearly increase, up 36 per cent on 2015. Violent assaults are up by 29 per cent. And, perhaps most worrying of all, there is no one obvious factor that helps explain a rise. It seems that Jew hate is simply becoming more prevalent and more open. This will come as no surprise to anyone who looks at Twitter, which is often a cess pit of antisemitic abuse. Social media appears to be revealing thoughts which previously lay buried. An obvious question is whether social media encourages antisemitism or reveals it. The most likely answer is a bit of both, but it seems unlikely that those who take to social media to abuse Jews were somehow free of such thoughts until Twitter came along. But whatever other explanations lie behind the rise, it is certainly not helped when world leaders engage in a form of Holocaust denial by issuing statements for Holocaust Memorial Day that deliberately omit all mention of Jews. Be clear: this is the modern form of denial that seeks to denude it of its real meaning by removing its purpose as the genocide of the Jewish people. It would be wrong to exaggerate the threat we face as a community. We have — and have long had — a government that places our security as a high priority, and live in a country which is tolerant and instinctively protective of minorities. But it would also be wilfully blind to ignore the worrying trends that are now becoming increasingly and dangerously prevalent.