Anti-Semitic offences have soared in London by more than 1,353 per cent compared with last year, Met Police say

Anti-Semitic offences have soared in London by more than 1,353 per cent compared to last year, the Met Police have revealed in the wake of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The horrifying murder of 1,400 Israelis on October 7 ignited a significant spike in hate crime across Britain, with 218 anti-Semitic offences reported in London between October 1 and 18, compared with 15 during the same period in 2022.

And the Union of Jewish student’s welfare hotline has had more than 150 calls since October 7, from people reporting offences including verbal abuse and intimidation. 

Islamophobic offences during the same period are up 140 per cent, from 42 last year to 101. So far, officers have made 21 arrests for hate crime offences in London. 

‘It is not acceptable and I promise we will investigate,’ Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan told Sky News.

It comes as the capital awaits another massed protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the city centre tomorrow. Pictured: People take part in a demonstration in support of Palestine in London on October 14

More than 1,000 officers are set to be deployed, with mounted and dog units supporting public order officers and roads policing teams. Pictured: People take part in a Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration near the Israeli Embassy in London on October 9

Arrests this week include one man who is suspected of defacing posters of missing Israelis in Camden and another man in relation to ten incidents of Islamophobic graffiti on bus stops in New Malden and Raynes Park.

Officers are investigating both incidents. 

It comes as the Met Police is  bracing itself for an even larger rally than last weekend’s which saw tens of thousands descend on the capital, with nine officers injured and 15 arrests made.

A spokesman for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said 200,000 people were expected to march in what is likely to be the biggest rally for Palestinian rights in British history.

And director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Ben Jamal, said he expects similar protests to take place every week for the next few months as the conflict rages on and Israel continues its assaults on Gaza. 

Police chiefs said there would be ‘zero tolerance’ for hate crimes and shows of support for Hamas and other proscribed organisations – but pro-Palestine chanting would be permitted. 

More than 1,000 officers are set to be deployed, with mounted and dog units supporting public order officers and roads policing teams.

Representatives from Jewish and Muslim communities will also be in the Met’s operations room to give advice. 

Met Police deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan, who is gold commander for today’s rally, said people singing the controversial chant ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ would not be committing an offence.

This is despite home secretary Suella Braverman’s condemnations of the slogan as a ‘staple of antisemitic discourse’ and a ‘demand for the destruction of Israel.’

The chant was also cited as a reason why police in Vienna banned a pro-Palestine march earlier this month.

It comes after the Met Police said they would step up patrols in London amid fears of anti semitic attacks and protests after the largest conflict for years between Israel and Palestinian militants broke out last Saturday. Pictured: A protester climbs a lamp post as people take part in a Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration near London’s Israeli Embassy on October 9

The Pro-Palestine protest in London last week turned ugly as activists started hurling objects at police

Police officers arrest a protester in Trafalgar Square during a March for Palestine in London on Saturday October 14

DAC Adelekan said: ‘We are well aware of the strength of feeling in relation to it [the chant].

‘[But] while can see scenarios where chanting these words would be unlawful, such as outside a synagogue or a Jewish school of the other Jewish person or group intending to intimidate – it is likely that its use in a wider protest setting would not be an offence and would not result in arrest.

‘This is just one example of difficult decisions facing officers.’

The Met said there were examples of ‘unacceptable criminality’ at last week’s rally, including from two women who were photographed wearing images of Hamas paragliders on their jackets.

A barrier has been erected around the Israeli embassy in Kensington, and police have warned protesters not to deviate from the planned route through the capital or face arrest. 

Downing Street urged pro-Palestine campaigners to ‘consider the fear and distress’ they are causing to Jewish communities in the UK.A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister told reporters that demonstrators are ‘free to peacefully express their views’.But she urged protesters to consider to ‘be mindful’ of the trauma caused by the slaughter of civilians by Hamas terrorists.

‘We’re clear that people must remain free to peacefully express their views, and protest is an important part of our democracy, but we also recognise that this is clearly a deeply distressing time for many,’ she said.’We would appeal to everyone across the country and those who are considering joining these protests to be mindful of that – and to consider the fear and distress felt by many families in this country over the distressing events that we’ve seen.’

She added: ‘With regard to clamping down on antisemitism and any forms of hatred and abuse, we’re very clear that the police should take the strongest action where they see that and use the full extent of the law to crack down on criminality.’

A vandal hurled red paint over Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls’ School in Hackney, which police are investigating as a ‘hate crime’

Commander Dominic Murphy, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said police remained conscious that conflict overseas could ‘inspire events in the UK’.

There have been almost 1,400 referrals to the force’s counter terror unit, with more than 100 requiring further investigation, he added.

There were fears last night that a splinter pro-Palestine protest would take place in Golders Green, London’s largest Jewish community, following a number of social media posts.

But a source said nothing formal had been arranged and the posts were likely the work of a few ‘rabble rousers with little wider support.’

In a release from the force, they said: ‘We will police this demonstration impartially, protecting the right to protest while intervening or gathering evidence for subsequent investigation where offences take place.

We will not stand by if we see examples of hate crime taking place. We will intervene.’

So far officers have visited 445 schools and 1,930 places of worship to investigate offences in the vicinity, to provide reassurance or because the area has been identified as a place where the level of concern is particularly high. 

It comes after the Met Police said they would step up patrols in London amid fears of anti semitic attacks and protests after the largest conflict for years between Israel and Palestinian militants broke out last Saturday.

Protesters let off smoke canisters in central London as they gather in support of Palestinians

Scotland Yard said it would increase the presence of officers in response to a ‘number of incidents’ – some shared on social media – of people celebrating the attack on Israel which has put the Middle East on the brink of all-out war.

The Met said that ‘an appropriate policing plan’ will be put in place as the force anticipates ongoing protests.

Conversations have also been held between the Home Office and the Community Security Trust (CST), which provides safety, security, and advice to the Jewish community.

It led to the decision to increase footfall to reassure local communities across Britain, the charity confirmed to MailOnline.

During the 2021 Gaza-Israel conflict, which began in early May, the CST documented a record 628 hate incidents directed towards British Jews between early May and early June, a fourfold increase on the same period the previous year.

The latest statistics on hate crimes, released this week, show a rise in religious-based hate crimes in 2022-23 in the UK.

Jewish communities are the second-most hit by religious-based hate crimes, accounting for 17 per cent of all those recorded.

German police have recorded more than 1,100 offences in relation to the Israel-Gaza conflict since Hamas launched its deadly attack earlier this month, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has revealed.

‘These are preliminary figures… and investigations are underway everywhere,’ Faeser told journalists in a press conference at the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in Wiesbaden.

The recorded offences included ‘bodily harm… breaches of the peace, incitement to hatred and damage to property’, BKA deputy chief Juergen Peter said at the same press conference.

In all, a ‘low three-digit’ figure of violent crimes had been recorded, Peter said.

Berlin had become a ‘hotspot’ for offences, he said, with the majority occurring in the capital, where clashes between protesters and police were fiercest.

Police had made ‘hundreds of provisional arrests’ in Berlin, Faeser said, adding that this was ‘the right response’.

‘Over 100 police officers have been injured by thrown bottles and fireworks’ in the city, Faeser said, adding that ‘this violence… is in no way acceptable.’

In all, 46 gatherings related to the conflict had been prohibited by authorities since October 7, Faeser said.

By contrast, 211 pro-Israel events and 129 pro-Palestinian events had taken place in that period, Faeser said.