Antisemitic Discourse in Britain 2023

Today, CST releases its latest report, Antisemitic Discourse in Britain 2023, a review of antisemitism in mainstream media and politics last year. 

The report shows that antisemitism played a major and significant role in the national discourse in Britain following the Hamas-led terror attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. 

The attack, the single biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, triggered not only a major spike in antisemitic hate crimes but also feelings of fear and anxiety amongst a large segment the UK Jewish community. It caused many Jews to question their place within UK society. 

Extremists in the UK from various ideological directions took advantage of the horrific events to push antisemitic narratives, and antisemitic language was present and visible on anti-Israel demonstrations. 

In the aftermath of the attack, politicians from across the political spectrum, as well as senior police officers, expressed their solidarity with the Jewish community and a hope that events in the Middle East would not lead to hate crimes on the streets of the UK. 

Some media companies, including the Guardian and GB News, had to deal with allegations of antisemitism by staff or contributors. After the events of 7 October, the BBC faced numerous accusations of antisemitism or bias in its news coverage.  

Social media platforms saw the amount of antisemitic and hate speech content online increase dramatically after the 7 October attack. 

There are continuing concerns at how Iran is using media and social media, for example through Press TV and the programme Palestine Declassified, to promote antisemitic narratives. 

Rebecca Tuck KC published her independent report into allegations of antisemitism within the National Union of Students. The report gave examples of antisemitism experienced by Jewish students and made a number of recommendations so that they could once again feel welcomed within NUS spaces or roles. 

In the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, the Union of Jewish Students set up a student welfare hotline, which received a large volume of calls from Jewish students with concerns amid a large rise in reports of antisemitic incidents on campus. 

Jewish students in schools also experienced a post-7 October spike in antisemitism. The government and opposition both responded quickly to call for swift and decisive action against any threats to the welfare of Jewish students. 

There were also concerns expressed by the Jewish Medical Association about rising antisemitism directed at Jewish healthcare professionals in the wake of 7 October. 

The government published the Independent Review of Prevent, carried out by William Shawcross CVO. Shawcross highlighted that antisemitism is central to both Islamist and Extreme Right-Wing ideologies and called on Prevent to better understand and tackle antisemitism.  

Download the full report, Antisemitic Discourse in Britain 2023.