THE number of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes recorded by many of the UK’s largest police forces jumped sharply in the weeks following the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel conflict, new figures reveal.
South Wales Police described the crimes as “abhorrent” as they saw an increase in the number of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic offences from 2022 to 2023.
The figures have been obtained by the PA news agency from Freedom of Information requests sent to all forces in the UK.
They show a jump in anti-Semitic offences recorded by forces concentrated mostly in cities or across built-up areas, while the pattern for Islamophobic offences was more varied.
Some forces that operate across a mix of urban and less populated areas tended to show a similar pattern, although with lower volumes of offences.
Data obtained from smaller forces, or those covering areas with few towns or cities, typically showed low numbers of offences, often in single figures.
The Community Security Trust described the figures as “shocking” and said they made clear “the extent of the unacceptable rise in anti-Jewish hatred across the country since the Hamas terror attack on October 7”.
A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said the findings “provide further evidence of the huge upsurge in anti-Semitism following the Hamas massacre of October 7”.
The board told PA the rise in anti-Semitism had “caused enormous anxiety for Jewish people, particularly children and Jewish students on campus or indeed anyone easily identified as Jewish by their dress”.
The Muslim Council of Britain said: “Despite the extremely low reporting rate from Muslim communities, the huge increase in Islamophobic hate crimes recorded with the police reflects what we are seeing from third-party reporting groups.
“The Government’s laissez-faire attitude to Islamophobia contrasts strongly with its no-tolerance approach to antisemitism. We are hopeful this will now change.”
Superintendent Jason Rees, force lead for hate crime at South Wales Police, said of the figures: “Hate crime is a priority for me and all of us at South Wales.
“It is an abhorrent form of criminality which causes harm to individuals, families, and wider communities.
“We work hard to robustly target offenders who commit hate crime and with the support of partner agencies, we work hard to provide the necessary support to safeguard and reassure victims.
“It is important to remind everyone of the importance of reporting hate crime. It is important that if you are a victim of hate crime you contact us so we can seek to tackle this criminality head-on and provide you with the appropriate support.
“I would also encourage people who witness hate crime within their communities to also report matters so we can be proactive in dealing with this offending at the earliest opportunity.”
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