Yahoo News Greater Manchester Police record huge surge in anti-Semitic hate crime following Hamas attack
There has been a huge increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes recorded by Greater Manchester Police in the months following the Hamas attack, new figures show.
Between October 2023 and February 2024, GMP recorded 228 anti-Jewish hate crimes - up 231 per cent from 69 crimes recorded during the same period the previous year. It comes amid heightened political tensions across the UK surrounding the war in Gaza.
The figures, obtained by Freedom of Information requests, showed no significant increase or decrease in Islamophobic hate crimes compared with the previous year. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the force said they are 'dedicated to tackling hate crime' and investigate all reports 'thoroughly'.
However, overall numbers collected by LegalExpert show that there were almost triple the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes than anti-Semitic crimes between October 2022 and February 2023.
Superintendent Mike Russell, GMP's lead for Hate Crime, said: “Greater Manchester Police is dedicated to tackling hate crime by working with all of our communities and providing the best possible service to victims.
"Neighbourhood officers are continuing to work closely with community groups, third-party hate crime reporting centres and strategic partners to ensure that hate crime is tackled efficiently, impartially and effectively.
"Our officers are trained to help and will investigate all reports of hate crime thoroughly, keeping victims updated throughout. If you have been a victim, please do get in touch with us and report any incidents.
"Some people may not know what to do if they have been the victim of a hate crime - you can contact us on 101, via gmp.police.uk, or if you feel more comfortable doing so, by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Hate crime can also be reported online – anonymously – through the True Vision website: www.report-it.org.uk.”
Recent Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) data shows prosecutors charged 10 per cent more hate crime cases in the final three months of 2023 than the three months before. Between October and December, there were 294 more hate crime-flagged referrals, of which 240 were racial or religiously flagged hate crimes.
Religious charity leaders from both the Jewish and Islamic communities spoke of how heightened political tensions surrounding the Gaza war had affected their communities following the October 7 attacks.
Dave Rich, Director of Policy, Community Security Trust (CST), said they had seen an 'appalling increase in anti-Jewish hate crime across the country', and it was 'essential' for their community to see this being tackled through arrests and prosecutions.
"Given this backdrop, the increase in charges for hate crimes in the last quarter of 2023 is a welcome development," he added. "We hope to see these numbers increase further as more cases work their way through the system, and we encourage anyone who is targeted by hate crime to report it to police and CST so that action can be taken.”
Iman Atta OBE, Director of Tell MAMA, said: “From community feedback and the large number of cases that have come into Tell MAMA, it is clear that the recent Gaza crisis has caused a sharp rise in anti-Muslim hate cases.
"Our work with police forces and engagement with the CPS, shows that partnership working at this time is the cornerstone of better outcomes for victims of hate crimes. We are also heartened to hear about the increase in charging in cases that can ensure access to justice for victims of anti-Muslim hate and the fact that all partners in this process place the rights of victims front and centre in their work."
