10 December 2023 , 19:46
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A Jewish school received a threatening letter warning "no one is safe" amid a wave of anti-Semitic attacks across the UK.
The note sent to the school in Greater Manchester, which has not been named, read "your school is being targeted, no one is safe, no one should support killers, Palestine forever". According to charity Community Security Trust (CST), the vile communication is one of 326 cases of anti-Semitism recorded in Greater Manchester alone since October.
Hamas breached the Gaza–Israel barrier in October and fighters proceeded to massacre hundreds of civilians at a music festival in kibbutz Be'eri, Kfar Aza and other Israeli villages. In total, around 1,194 people have been killed in Israel, making this the deadliest attack by Palestinian militants since the foundation of Israel in 1948.
Amanda Bomsztyk is Community Security Trust's northern regional director (LinkedIn)Other incidents in the UK during this period include a sticker saying "Zionism is Nazism" being left at a Christmas market. Posters of Jewish hostages captured by Hamas have been removed and defaced at various places across the UK, including in Mornington Crescent, near an area in north London with a large Jewish community.
CST has provided updates on similar incidents every week since Hamas started its attack on October 7. In the past week, 33 anti-Semitic attacks have happened across Greater Manchester. The county is home to the UK's largest Jewish community outside London, and has seen the most number of anti-Semitic incidents outside the capital since the war started.
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Palestinians began this week to migrate to central parts of Khan Yunis (Anadolu via Getty Images)Amanda Bomsztyk, northern regional director at CST, said levels of anti-Semitism in Greater Manchester are now "just crazy". Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "It is absolutely the worst we've ever seen [in Greater Manchester]. The numbers speak for themselves. In Greater Manchester we're on an over 880% increase, which is just crazy really.' CST began recording incidents of anti-Semitism in 1984."
And nationally, the charity has recorded 1,890 incidents of anti-Semitism between October 7 and December 6. They include 80 assaults, 117 incidents of damage or desecration to Jewish property, 148 direct threats, 1,537 incidents of abusive behaviour (including verbal abuse, graffiti on non-Jewish property, hate mail and online abuse), and eight incidents of mass-produced anti-Semitic literature.
A charity spokesperson added: "CST will not stand for this anti-Jewish hatred and nor should anybody else. We urge everyone who experiences or witnesses antisemitism to report it to police and to CST so that those who are trying to intimidate and threaten our community can be investigated, arrested and prosecuted." Reports can be made to CST online. A 24-hour CST National Emergency Number is also available on 0800 032 3263.