Antisemitic crimes in the London Borough of Hackney have increased by 87 per cent according to latest figures from the Metropolitan police.

In the previous year, a total of 122 incidents of hate crime were committed, up from 65 during the same period of the previous year. Across London, 483 incidents were recorded across London, making Hackney a target for one quarter of all anti-Semitic crime.

The main targeted area is Stamford Hill, which contains one of the largest Orthodox Communities in Europe, being home to 30,000 Jews. The area is known for being populated with Holocaust survivors and their family members and descendants.

Recorded incidents in the last year include a Nazi swastika graffitied onto a fence outside Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls School in Hackney, anti-Jewish leaflets handed out on the streets and racist abuse hurled at passers- by from self-proclaimed Neo Nazis.

In one notorious case last month, a man was sentenced to three years and four months in jail for inciting racial hatred. Joshua Bonehill-Paine planned a rally entitled, “An Urgent Appeal: The Jewification of Great Britain”, and appealed on Facebook to “liberate Stamford Hill”.

Rabbi Herschel Gluck, President of the neighbourhood watch group Stamford Hill Shomrim, told Eastlondonlines: “Hackney has a large and vibrant Jewish community. However, there has sadly been a more negative attitude towards minorities, and in certain quarters a greater tolerance regarding this, which has led to certain people thinking that they can get away with behaving negatively towards Jewish people.”

Hackney Police Borough Commander, Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Laurence, said: “All forms of hate crime are unacceptable and at Hackney we work hard to bring offenders to justice and support victims of this type of crime.

“With antisemitic crime we work in partnership with the Shomrim and the Jewish community to prevent, deter and detect crime.”

Source: East London Lines


 

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