ANTISEMITIC incidents hit a six-month high a day after punk duo Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury gig.
A total of 26 were reported after rapper Bobby Vylan chanted “Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” during the set.
Antisemitic incidents hit a six-month high a day after punk duo Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury gigPA
PAPolice say inquiries are continuing in relation to Vylan’s chants at the gig, which the BBC chose to livestream[/caption]
The Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism in Britain, described the responses to events at the festival as “absolutely chilling”.
Police say inquiries are continuing in relation to the comments at the gig, which the BBC chose to livestream.
The CST said the next worst day so far this year was May 17 — a day after Israel said it was expanding military operations in Gaza — when 19 incidents were recorded.
A spokesman said: “Both of these cases illustrate how sentiment and rhetoric towards Israel and Zionism influence, shape and drive contemporary anti-Jewish discourse, online and offline, often around totemic events that grab mainstream public attention.”
Over the six months, there were 76 violent anti-Jewish assaults, three rated as “extreme”, the charity said.
There were 84 incidents of damage and desecration of Jewish property, 21 of mass-produced antisemitic literature and 1,236 of verbal or written abuse.
The six-month January to June total was 1,521, down on the 2,019 in the same period for 2024.
CST chief executive Mark Gardner said the figures demonstrate “extreme levels of Jew-hatred, committed in the name of anti-Israel activism”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the numbers “shamefully and persistently high”.
She said antisemitism “has a profoundly damaging impact on the individuals affected and the wider Jewish community” and said the Government was determined to “root out the poison”.
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