English Defence League Jewish division leader Roberta Moore quits

The hardline activist at the forefront of the "Jewish Division" of the extreme right-wing English Defence League has announced that she does not wish to be a part of it any longer because of Nazi elements within it.

Roberta Moore, who has led the Jewish Division since it was launched more than a year ago, was accused earlier this month of being a divisive figure in the EDL. Ms Moore had attempted to co-ordinate her efforts with those of the far-right American Jewish Task Force, whose leader Victor Vancier has been imprisoned for terrorism offences. The move, in February, was heavily criticised by the EDL leadership.

In a statement which she posted on Facebook, the Brazilian-born Ms Moore said she had been offered work on "an international level" elsewhere and so had decided to step down from the Jewish Division. Although she described the EDL as "doing a fantastic job" she said the party had been hijacked by elements who wanted to use it "for their own Nazi purposes".

Ms Moore said she still supported the EDL leaders and "all the genuine patriots out there who struggle to get their voices heard" but added that she no longer wished to be a part of it.

"I sincerely hope that the leaders will get the strength to squash the Nazis within," she said.

Mark Gardner, from the Community Security Trust, said: "This latest development shows, yet again, why Jews should not be involved in such circles. They will destroy this movement if allowed to remain."

Jewish Chronicle

Muslims call for action against hate crimes

Islamophobic attacks have been on the rise, with an increase in assaults, vandalised mosques and desecrated graves

Britain's largest mainstream Muslim organisation will today call for "robust action" to combat Islamophobic attacks amid fears of growing violence and under-reporting of hate crimes. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) will challenge the "ethnic profiling" of members of its community, claiming that minorities are 42 times more likely to be targeted under the Terrorism Act.

MCB secretary-general Farooq Murad will tell the council's AGM in Birmingham that there must be more monitoring of anti-Muslim crimes in response to incidents including violent assaults, death threats and the desecration of graves. He will also complain that not enough is being done to encourage communities to report crimes to the police.

The calls, supported by leading academics, a counter-terrorist think-tank and Muslim groups, come as the Metropolitan Police confirmed a total of 762 Islamophobic offences in London since April 2009, including 333 in 2010/11 and 57 since this April. A spokesman said the Met was aware of "significant" under-reporting of hate crime, and acknowledged "missed opportunities" to keep victims safe.

Despite rising concerns about the impact of hate crime on all communities, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said that data on such offences are not collated centrally as this would be an "overly bureaucratic process for local forces". Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, who leads the police on hate crime, was unavailable for comment.

In his speech, Mr Murad is expected to warn that attacks are increasing. "Islamophobic attacks, on persons and properties, are committed by a tiny minority, but the number of incidents is increasing. Robust action is necessary and this means we must have a systematic manner of recording, monitoring and analysing such attacks. Only a small number of police forces record anti-Muslim hate crimes."

He will claim that figures collated from only two police forces indicate 1,200 Anti-Muslim crimes in 2010, as opposed to 546 anti-Semitic crimes from all the police forces in the UK.

Muslims from across the country have reported attacks on imams and mosque staff, including petrol bombings and bricks thrown through windows, pigs' heads being fixed prominently to entrances and minarets, vandalism and abusive messages.

Mr Murad will tell the gathering at the Bordesley Centre: "It is not a piece of cloth on someone's head or face, the shape of someone's dress, a harmless concrete pillar on a religious building or even not speaking a common language that creates alienation."

Dr Robert Lambert, co-director of the European Muslim Research Centre and research fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter University, said a decade of research will report before the 10th anniversary of 11 September. His report will provide comprehensive figures on attacks on mosques, Islamic organisations and Muslim institutions, while avoiding confusion over race-related or random attacks.

Dr Lambert, a former counter-terrorism police officer, said problems over data collection stemmed from a lack of political will, rather than from the police efforts – and that the onus was on Muslim communities to emulate the "outstanding" data collection around anti-Semitic crimes conducted by the Community Security Trust.

He added: "When I was working in the police, some of the notable spikes in incidents came after terrorist events such as 9/11 and 7/7. We have more than 50 incidences of fire-bomb attacks and we have yet to reach the 10-year anniversary. But no leading politician has seen fit to stand shoulder to shoulder with mosque leaders. That is quite something."

Ghaffar Hussain of the counter-extremism think-tank Quilliam said: "Anti-Muslim bigotry is very real. It does exist. There are sections of our society who are deeply suspicious of Muslims, even of Muslims building mosques, and are threatened by the idea of Islamification across Europe."

Some 40 to 60 per cent of the mosques, Islamic centres and Muslim organisations in the UK have suffered at least one attack since 9/11.

Taji Mustafa, spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain, said: "Xenophobic attacks on Muslims have increased under successive governments. In a manipulative alliance with some sections of the media, they have demonised Islam as part of their foreign policy propaganda."

Case study: Community leader and diversity trainer

Mohammed Khaliel, 48, lives in High Wycombe and was among horrified families who discovered Muslim graves at a local cemetery had been desecrated on 20 April

"I am the community representative, but, equally, I'm a victim of it as well. My mother had been buried there four weeks earlier. This is not the first time that there has been desecration. This time it was much more severe, with more than 25 graves attacked. I've got photographic evidence of someone hammering them. It was a proper effort to deliberately do it.

It was pure hatred. You have a graveyard that is 200 years old that has a small section for Muslims, and only that section was attacked. It was clearly Islamophobia.

I'm on a number of advisory boards, including Scotland Yard, so I get notified as a courtesy on any Islamic issues relating to the community. On this one, they asked me to sit down before they told me.

A lot of the relatives belong to our mosque. We called an emergency meeting, and we had to calm people down. There was a stage at which, if we had not handled things properly, it could have turned into an expression of anger. But that didn't discount the hurt they felt for [their] loved ones to be attacked like that."

Independent

Jews against EDL launch unity voice

The first joint initiative to combat Jewish support for the English Defence League within the community has been launched.

The "Not in our name - Jews against the EDL" campaign is backed by more than a dozen organisations, including the Board of Deputies, Community Security Trust, the Israeli Embassy, and Jews for Justice for Palestinians. More than 500 people have already pledged their support.

But Roberta Moore, head of the EDL Jewish Division, claimed the campaigners had "betrayed the Jewish community" and challenged them to a filmed public debate. She said: "Let's have it all out in the open once and for all."

The initiative of the Union of Jewish Students, the campaign is a response to the creation of a "Jewish division" by the extreme right-wing anti-Islamic-fundamentalist group earlier this year, and the EDL's pro-Israel protest outside the Israeli Embassy last month, which was supported by American rabbi Nachum Shifren.

The "Not in our name" group's founding pledge states: "The Jewish community has always been at the forefront of anti-fascism. From Cable Street to defeating the BNP at the ballot box, we have been unafraid to speak out against those who seek to spread fear and hatred in our communities. Now our community faces a new threat. The EDL claims to be our allies in the fight against extremism. In reality, they are violent racists with BNP members and Nazi sympathisers among their ranks. It is time for the Jewish community to come together as one to expose the EDL as the racist thugs they are."

UJS campaigns director Carly McKenzie said: "We felt this was a prime opportunity to bring the whole community together with one loud voice."

Edie Friedman, director of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, which is backing the initiative, said: "It's terribly important for different sections of the community, as well as individuals, to stand up and say categorically, 'not in our name'. It's unbelievable that such an organisation can appropriate Jewish support."

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "At the HET we educate about the dangers of racism and discrimination and it is vital that we stand up against groups such as the EDL who preach hatred and division in our communities."

Ms Moore responded: "We are not bothered by their futile threats and attempts to silence us. We, and much of the Jewish community, know they lack the courage to address the issues we highlight. They have not been doing their job for a long time, and seem to have not only abandoned but betrayed the Jewish community in general."

Jewish Chronicle

Jewish leaders condemn the English Defence League

They accuse the far right group of "bigotry" and "Islamophobia"

The Jewish Chronicle reports that the English Defence League has established a Jewish division. The far right, anti-Islam protest group whose violent nature was exposed by the Guardian last week (and covered by the NS here) has professed support for Israel in the past and is now urging British Jews to "lead the counter-Jihad fight in England".

But its advances have been swiftly rebuffed by Jewish leaders. Mark Gardner, communications director for the Community Security Trust, told the Chronicle:

'The EDL intimidate entire Muslim communities, causing tension and fear. Jews ought to remember that we have long experience of being on the receiving end of this kind of bigotry.'

Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said:

'The EDL's supposed 'support' for Israel is empty and duplicitous. It is built on a foundation of Islamophobia and hatred which we reject entirely.

Sadly, we know only too well what hatred for hatred's sake can cause. The overwhelming majority will not be drawn in by this transparent attempt to manipulate a tense political conflict.'

The Staggers

Anne Karpf: Anti-Semitism is at the limits of irony

Racism against Jews is on the rise, but some of it masquerades as comedy, and that makes it complex to address

Is the closed season on Jews over? Are English Jews facing rising levels of violence and abuse? Anthony Julius certainly thinks so. The lawyer, best known for representing the late Diana, Princess of Wales in her divorce, but also the author of a book on T S Eliot and anti-Semitism, has written a capacious history of anti-Semitism in England, Trials of the Diaspora, out next week. In it he expresses his "provisional judgement" that the situation facing Anglo-Jewry "is quite bad, and might get worse".

Coincidentally, the report on anti-semitic incidents in 2009 by the Community Security Trust (CST), was published last week. At first view, it makes alarming reading, and seems to confirm Julius's worst fears. CST recorded 924 anti-Semitic incidents in 2009, the highest annual total since it began recording such incidents in 1984, and - after two years of falling numbers - an increase of 69 per cent from 2008.

But peer closely and the picture is more complicated. The main reason for the surge, CST noted, was the unprecedented number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in January and February 2009, during and after the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Of course, this is no reason to rejoice: if someone is trying to thump you, the fact that they're screaming that it's revenge for what Israel is doing in Gaza isn't going to make you feel a whole lot better. It didn't help that during Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon, the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: "I believe that this is a war that is fought by all the Jews." If the Israeli government (wrongly) elides Israel with all Jews, it's hardly surprising if anti-Semites do too.

These days you rarely hear the kind of unthinking middle-class anti-Semitism current in, say, 1961, the year in which An Education, the film based on Lynn Barber's memoir, was set. Philip French, in The Observer, wondered if the real-life counterpart of the headteacher (Emma Thompson), given to sneering rants about the Jews killing Jesus, would have been really so strident. Yet only a few years earlier, a teacher in my primary school declared one week that all Jews were rich, and the next that the Jews killed Jesus. (My Holocaust survivor parents, angry but also anxious, wrote anonymously to the headteacher. By the following week, the teacher was gone.)

If anti-Semitism of this kind seems to have disappeared altogether, we live in postmodern times where some of what looks like anti-Semitism isn't, but, conversely, some of what doesn't look like anti-Semitism in fact is. Consider the "philo-Semitism", for instance, of Michael Gove and Julie Burchill ("the Jews are my favourites"; "Jews do things so well"). Burchill's philo-Semitism is a form of anti-Semitism, I'd suggest, because it bunches all Jews together, as though we were a single, uniform entity. The idea that all Jews are wonderful is little different from all Jews being hateful: in both cases Jews are stripped of individual characteristics, and are nothing except Jewish - a view to which most racists happily subscribe. If Burchill, as is rumoured, converts to Judaism, she'll discover that some Jews are nice and others not - rather like the rest of the human race.

Today racism, it seems, can be ironic. I've heard of campuses where non-Jewish students josh their Jewish friends with comments like: "Stop hoarding the milk, you Jew." Is this too close to the bone, or is it fatally unsatirical to take offence? Some young Jews find it amusing, yet recognise that such playing with stereotypes can only be done between consenting adults - close friends with licence to shock one another.

It is also, they recognise, a dangerous game which, under the guise of playfulness, might also allow the venting of real prejudice. How far is it from Tottenham supporters calling themselves the Yid Army, to Chelsea fans chanting "Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz", as they do when the teams meet? Some non-Jewish Tottenham fans argue that, on the contrary, their happy embrace of the "Yiddo" label is a way of neutralising anti-Semitism.

But there are limits to irony. Last Monday, a new page opened on Facebook, called "Hi, I'm a Jew. I don't care about COD [Call of Duty, a video game mostly played by boys] or Periods, I just want your gold". By Thursday it had 3,040 fans, peddling the hoariest stereotypes of money-grabbing, wealth and noses. Another Facebook page is called "Racist Jokes". This includes such gems - hold on to your hats - as "What's the difference between a pizza and a Jew? A pizza doesn't scream when you put it in the oven", and "What's the difference between a Jew and a boy scout? The boy scout came back from the camp.'

That some of these postings are poorly spelt and written is no reassurance. There's bravado here, of course: teenagers thinking it's cool to be outlandish, following in a long tradition of crudely anti-Semitic jokes charted by Julius. These latest, though, are amplified by the internet's reach and anonymity, which not only allows you to reinvent your own identity but see other people's as equally fictitious.

Those young Jews who have protested have, of course, been accused of lacking a sense of humour (though one young Jew expressed disgust about "Racist Jokes" by commenting: "The person who made it is probs a fucking Paki who needs to go back to their own country"). Yet when a Jewish teenager directly confronted friends who'd signed up to the pages, they apologised and professed themselves ashamed. They'd made no connection between cyber anti-Semitism and the feelings of real, embodied Jews.

Modern anti-Semitism is a complex phenomenon, but Anthony Julius, for all his often thoughtful analysis, ultimately falls back on the elision of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, and the notion that the Zionist is the Jew by another name. Perhaps the best way of countering such reductionism is to reverse it: the BNP's Nick Griffin and the Polish MEP Michael Kaminski have shown that neo-Nazi anti-Semitic sentiments and support for Israel are quite compatible.

We should never be complacent about anti-Semitism, but neither should we allow some Jews to exaggerate it, regard it as inevitable, use it to try and delegitimise criticism of Israel or see it as an altogether different kind of animal from other more socially accepted kinds of racism such as Islamophobia. Those who hate are rarely so discriminating.

Anne Karpf is the author of a family memoir, The War After: Living with the Holocaust (Faber Finds) and co-editor of A Time to Speak Out: Israel, Zionism and Jewish Identity (Verso)

IoS

EDL and SIOE opposed by Christians and Jews

Anti-Muslim groups SIOE and EDL say they have Jewish supporters, but leading members of the Jewish community have condemned the SIOE protest against Harrow Mosque, planned for Dec 13. Rabbis Kathleen Middleton, Frank Smith, Aaron Goldstein, Hillel Robles and Mike Hilton sent a letter supporting Harrow Mosque, saying SIOE use "outrageous lies" to try and divide Harrow's community. SIOE protests have also been condemned by Harrow's (Jewish) Tory councillor Jeremy Zeid, by the Jewish Chronicle newspaper and the Community Security Trust (who monitor racist activity on behalf of the Jewish community).

When SIOE re-scheduled a cancelled EDL protest against Harrow Mosque on Sept 11, SIOE used their protest to slander an entire community by false association with 9/11. On the day however, less than 15 EDL hooligans, half a dozen known BNP goons and lone SIOE activist Stephen Gash were opposed by over 1,000 Anti-Fascists.

Believing the police were protecting the same racists who'd fire-bombed Luton Mosque, a handful of anti-SIOE counter-protestors played into the hands of the SIOE by throwing stones and bottles at the police, before they were stopped by other Anti-Fascists and by Mosque stewards. Few TV reports showed that (despite alot of footage of people simply running around) the counter-protest had been overwhelmingly peaceful. BNP leafletting teams visited Harrow soon after, to try to capitalise on the problem SIOE attempted to create - proving the link between provocative right-wing protests and the BNP. To prove the link between SIOE and extremism once and for all however, SIOE also support the Serbian mass-murderer Radovan Karadzic.

In this video Harrow Mosque officials are seen meeting with local Hindu and Christian leaders, and inviting SIOE to visit the Mosque to discuss their grievances - let's see whether Stephen Gash has the courage to accept!

PLEASE COUNTER-PROTEST PEACEFULLY against the SIOE on Dec 13 (Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Mahajiroun etc please do what you asked your supporters to do and STAY AWAY).

BNPInfo

CST warns Jews against joining anti-Muslim demo

The Community Security Trust has urged the Jewish community not to lend their support to the group “Stop the Islamisation of Europe”.

SIOE have been canvassing support from British Jews to attend their forthcoming demonstration at Harrow mosque. Emails have been circulated by SIOE, including one sent to the Jewish Chronicle, asking for support. SIOE have urged Jews to bring Israeli flags to the demonstration on December 13, and have said their aim is to recruit 1,000 Jews to join the protest.

The group’s motto, according to their website, is “Racism is the lowest form of human stupidity, but Islamophobia is the height of common sense”. A statement on their website declares: “If you do not attend this demonstration then you are prepared to see Israel wiped off the map. Vile antisemitism is being preached in mosques across the world and almost certainly the one in your neighbourhood.”

The CST has drawn attention to the Islamaphobic comments on SIOE’s website, and compared the group to the English Defence League, and the BNP’s Nick Griffin, who have attempted to gain support from Jews through pro-Israel and anti-Muslim statements.

The blog singled out a central image on the SIOE’s website [pictured, top-left], which shows a skull with blood dripping from its mouth on the front of a mosque, where the minaret and crescent moon and star symbol is also covered in blood. On its blog, the CST says: “This image tells us everything we need to know about SIOE and Islamophobia. If a Jew cannot understand why the image is racist, or hateful, or bigoted then they should try imagining it as a synagogue: with blood dripping from a Star of David; with blood dripping down the rabbi’s pulpit; and with blood dripping from the mouth of a skull that wears an Israeli army helmet.”

The CST emphasises that while the Jewish community should be concerned about extreme Islamist groups. Jews had a duty to stand up to prejudice and hatred

“The fact that Muslims are the current target simply means that it is Muslims who should be the recipients of anti-racist solidarity. Hatred, division, cycles of inter-communal violence, intimidation and polarisation feed the extremists on every side. They encourage social division and leave all minorities vulnerable. Anti-Muslim bigotry is a vital recruiting sergeant for both the far right, and its Islamist extremist counterparts.

“It generates votes for the BNP and, at the furthest ends of this political spectrum, it even provides the fuel for terrorism. British Jews should have no part of it.”

JC

'Record rise' in UK anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitic attacks in the UK doubled in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to new figures.

The Jewish Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism, says it recorded 609 incidents between January and June - up from 276 last year. Most incidents were abusive behaviour, but there were also 77 violent acts.

The trust said the rise had been driven by anger over Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. That conflict, between December 2008 and January 2009, was followed by an almost immediate rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK.

According to the CST, the total number of incidents for the first six months of this year was worse than the previous record of 598 incidents for the whole of 2006. Some 286 incidents occurred in January alone - but the security body said that a disproportionately higher monthly number of attacks and abuse continued into the spring. The attacks recorded so far include 77 acts of physical violence and two life-threatening assaults, one of which was an attempt to run somebody over with a car.

The CST says there have also been 400 incidents of general abuse, including hate mail to synagogues, along with 62 attacks on property that can be clearly defined as having a religious role. The CST uses definitions of violence which are broadly in line with the way police record incidents elsewhere in society. It stresses that it has also discounted more than 200 reports where it could not work out if the incident was anti-Semitic or anti-Israel.

Mark Gardner, of the CST, said: "British Jews are facing ever higher levels of racist attack and intimidation that threaten the wellbeing of our otherwise happy and successful Jewish community. There is no excuse for anti-Semitism, racism and bias, and it is totally unacceptable that overseas conflicts should be impacting here in this way."

Earlier this year, Muslim leaders issued a joint statement denouncing anti-Semitism, amid fears that violent elements from within their own communities were responsible for the increase in attacks.

Cohesion minister Shahid Malik, one of two Muslims in government, said: "This rise in anti-Semitism is not just concerning for the British Jewish communities but for all those who see themselves as decent human beings. The fight against anti-Semitism is a fight that should engage us all. This country will not tolerate those who seek to direct hatred towards any part of our community. It may be legitimate for individuals to criticise or be angry at the actions of the Israel government but we must never allow this anger to be used to justify anti-Semitism."

BBC

UK anti-semitism 'surge' since Gaza attack

Anti-Semitic attacks in Britain have risen since the upsurge of hostilities in Gaza, a group which protects Jewish people said today.

The Community Security Trust (CST) has noted 24 incidents since 29 December, of which 19 were in the capital. They included an arson attack on a synagogue in north west London on Sunday night.

CST spokesman Mark Gardner said: "There has been a significant rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents, especially when compared with what is usually a very quiet time of year for racist, anti-Jewish attacks. It is a pattern with which we and the police are now sadly familiar, whereby hysteria is whipped up against Israel, and British Jews then suffer a wave of anti-Semitism. This is how racist attacks work. You have a grinding level of however many you expect in a year, then these trigger events lead to a sudden surge."

In the attack on the synagogue, in Brondesbury, arsonists tried to smash a window, but failed because of the toughened protective glass.

Mr Gardner said: "Having been thwarted they then appear to have attempted to set the front door alight with petrol, causing some damage to the exterior of the premises. Police, CST and fire brigade attended the scene."

On New Year's Eve, a gang of youths alarmed people in Golders Green, north west London, by trying to enter Jewish shops while shouting "Jew" at individuals. Nearby, a Jewish man was pulled from his car and assaulted by three men, but not seriously hurt.

The CST has also noted anti-Semitic graffiti in Jewish areas across London, with slogans sprayed on walls including "Kill Jews".

Most of the five incidents outside London were in north west England, including graffiti on one synagogue, anti-Semitic hate mail sent to another one, and "Hamas HQ" graffiti on a Jewish building in Manchester.

Independent

Anti-Semitic incidents 'rise 9%' in UK

Desecrated Jewish graves

There was a 9% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year, a charity has reported.

There were 266 incidents up to June, compared with 244 last year, according to the Community Security Trust (CST). Some 166 were incidents of abusive behaviour, including verbal abuse, hate mail and anti-Semitic graffiti.

CST admitted that improved contact with smaller Jewish communities "goes some way to explaining the overall rise".

Incidents involving Jewish students or academics and at colleges rose 88%, from 26 to 49. There were also 29 incidents involving Jewish schools and schoolchildren. Violent assaults were down, from 54 in the first six months of 2007, to 42.

Outside the biggest Jewish communities in London and Manchester, CST recorded 98 incidents in 38 different areas. This included 21 incidents in Leeds, up from 13 a year before, and a rise from six to 10 in Liverpool. In the first half of 2007, CST had recorded 70 incidents in 25 locations outside London and Manchester.

"This is partly explained by efforts made by CST to improve contact with smaller Jewish communities beyond the main urban centres, and goes some way to explaining the overall rise in incidents," the charity said.

John Mann MP, chair of the parliamentary group against anti-Semitism, said the report showed improved reporting of incidents involving students and smaller communities.

"By knowing the scale of the problem we can deploy strategies to combat anti-Semitism from our streets and our campuses," he said. "Every anti-Semitic attack is a blight on society."

BBC

Anti-Semitic violence nears record level

The number of anti-Semitic attacks in Britain has reached its second-highest level ever, MPs have been told. Figures from a charity show 547 such incidents were recorded last year, of which a record 114 were violent assaults.

The Community Security Trust (CST), which works to protect the Jewish community from persecution, collated the figures by counting every recorded anti-Semitic assault, threat, act of abuse, mass-produced literature and damage and desecration of Jewish property across the country.

Just this week, anti-Semitic graffiti was daubed across the pavements and walls of the orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Stamford Hill in north London. CST say similar incidents happen in Britain every day.

Mark Gardner, a spokesman for CST, said: "We have over twice as many incidents being reported to us per annum now than in the 1990s. We're concerned that what we're seeing is not merely because of a difficult time internationally and in the Middle East, but that it's becoming more endemic and we're really, really concerned about that."

Mr Gardner said the usual allies of British Jews fear showing support would further the Zionist cause. "In the 1990s, when Jews faced attacks from the far right there was a lot of sympathy from the liberal left establishments, but today the same voices simply see anti-Semitism as something useful to Zionists.

"Jewish people are feeling increasingly isolated in this struggle as far as traditional allies are concerned. It's disappointing that people who accept fears expressed by other minority groups are so quick to slap down fears expressed by the Jewish community." In a Commons debate on the issue this week, the Cohesion minister Parmjit Dhanda said the number of incidents of anti-Semitism was worryingly high, and called on the Government to continue to bear down on the problem. "We do recognise that there is no room for complacency," said Mr Dhanda. "The number of such incidences in the UK remains far too high. The Community Security Trust recorded 547 incidents during the course of 2007. Although this represents an 8 per cent fall over the previous year, it is still the second-worst actually on record."

Jon Benjamin, the chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said they were "extremely encouraged" by the Government's response. He said anti-Semitism had been a reality in the Jewish community for years in Britain, but there had been further signs it was getting worse.

"We know our community buildings have to be secure, and our schools need security," he said. "The quality of life for Jews here is good, but there are perceptible changes, such as the graffiti this week. People wearing head coverings to synagogue on a Saturday morning can feel somewhat vulnerable."

The total of incidents is slightly down on last year's record, but the most alarming change is the number of these that were violent assaults. This figure has risen to 114, the highest since CST records began in 1984.

The Conservative MP Paul Goodman said that while many places of worship were targets for hate crime, synagogues were becoming singularly dangerous. "Only one religious institution in Britain is under threat to such a degree that those who attend are advised not to linger outside after worship, namely the synagogue," he said.

Independent