Not many JC readers will be surprised by CST’s latest antisemitic incident report.
You may be shocked by the new high of 1,805 incidents reported to CST during 2019, but I doubt you will be surprised, because Jews and antisemitism never seemed to be out of the news all year.
December summed it up for me. The rejection of Jeremy Corbyn in the General Election brought unprecedented communal relief, but just over two weeks later it seemed to come crashing down again, with outrage and upset caused by antisemitic graffiti daubed one night in Hampstead and Belsize Park.
Superficially, this was just an idiot or two with a paint pot: but it was much more than that.
First, there was what the graffiti evoked. The imagery of Stars of David painted on shop fronts will always hold a far deeper meaning. Seventy five years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, that collective trauma is still there.
Secondly, there was what it said about antisemitism today. The numbers 9 and 11 alongside our Star of David: the conspiracy allegation blaming Jews for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
It is a modern blood libel, variously found in far left, far right and Muslim circles.
This is what happens when the internet and social media are everywhere, with hateful conspiracy theories now the largest single type of antisemitic discourse reported to CST, featuring in 370 of the incidents.
