The government has acknowledged the rise in antisemitism across multiple sectors of society. In the past six months, it has launched reviews into anti-Jewish hatred and other forms of racism within the NHS, external, in schools and colleges in England, external, and into whether existing laws protect communities at protests, external.
“I think that hatred in the public sphere towards Jews has made them more acceptable as a target for terrorism,” says Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terror legislation.
“The whole debate between freedom of speech and preventing hate cuts to the heart of what the government is now considering.”
The specific review into public order and hate crimes – due to be completed next month – is looking at the balance between the right to protest and the need to protect communities, external.
Hall says existing laws are adequate and the challenge is for the police and Crown Prosecution Service to enforce them. There has been, he says, “undue caution”.
Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, told Panorama he was “acutely aware” of concerns from members of the Jewish community and “where people do break the law, we will put all our investigative effort into dealing with that”.
Tens of thousands of people, including some Jews, have taken to UK streets to protest against Israeli military action in Gaza and show support for Palestinians.
Some chants and placards have left many British Jews feeling under threat. According to some protestors, the phrase “Globalise the Intifada” is a call for an uprising against injustice. But for many Jews, it is seen as a call for violent action against them wherever they are.