Police forces see sharp spike in Islamophobic and antisemitic hate crimes in past 18 months
Police forces see sharp spike in Islamophobic and antisemitic hate crimes in past 18 months
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Numbers jumped after start of Israeli war on Gaza last year and following Southport attacks this summer. Some of the largest police forces in the UK have seen a double spike in types of religious hate crime in the past 18 months, with numbers jumping after the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in autumn 2023 and again following the Southport attacks this summer, figures reveal.
Antisemitic offences recorded by forces including Greater Manchester, West Midlands and the Metropolitan Police, rose sharply in the weeks following the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East in October last year. The same forces then logged an increase in Islamophobic offences in the wake of the stabbings in Southport in July this year and the subsequent violent disorder in towns and cities.
A Jewish charity called the findings “unacceptable”, while campaigners against anti-Muslim abuse said they were “not seeing the action to tackle this problem”. The government said it was “determined to stamp out the toxic vitriol which is spread by a minority of people”.
The figures have been obtained by the PA news agency using Freedom of Information requests. They show that:. - Greater Manchester Police recorded an average of 13 antisemitic offences per month from January to September 2023, then spikes of 85 in October and 68 in November, falling back in following months; Islamophobic offences averaged 35 a month in 2023 and 39 a month from January to July 2024, before a sharp jump to 85 in August then 21 in September.
