A leading charity dedicated to protecting the Jewish community has issued a stark warning, stating that antisemitism is being allowed to “flourish” in the UK due to inaction from politicians and wider society.
Dave Rich, policy director at the Community Security Trust, claimed that incitement has been “off the charts” in mosque sermons since the 7 October attacks.
He further criticised social media platforms, regulators, and political figures for their collective failure to address the proliferation of antisemitic messaging.
Mr Rich told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The levels of anti-Jewish hatred and extremism and incitement have been allowed to grow over the last few years.
“I think that’s where the outrage should be directed.
“I think there are a lot of people who could step up and do better. I think you look across government and police is where people first look.
“But I think you could look at regulators as well. I think you could look at some of the sermons in mosques after October 7, which were really off the charts with the incitement.
“I think you could look at what goes on on social media every single day.
“If people knew how much, how many people went online every single day to talk about killing Jews, they’d be absolutely horrified. And social media platforms do less now than they even did in the past to deal with that.
“I think more broadly, across civil society and across parts of industry, there is an inability to recognise antisemitism or a reluctance to deal with incitement in ways that have just allowed it to grow.
“I think the anger is directed there and I think a lot of Jewish people will be saying, ‘OK, the sympathy is great, but where’s the action?’”
