A record number of anti-Semitic attacks is “deeply troubling,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today. More than 924 reports of bigoted violence and abuse — 460 of which were in London — were received last year by the Jewish Community Security Trust. The charity, which monitors anti-Semitism in Britain, said the figures marked the worst year since records began in 1984. They included violent street attacks, arson, egg-throwing, racist graffiti, website hacking and hate mail.
Researchers said the surge was fuelled by the ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces last January. Almost a quarter of incidents (23 per cent) included some form of reference to the conflict. The fighting was marked by protests around the world, including ugly confrontations outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington.
