The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain, both violent and nonviolent, has risen, according to a report published Sunday by the Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism.
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The group, under the auspices of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office and the Jewish Agency, stated that its figures were based on reports received from Jewish communities themselves.
The data show that 310 anti-Semitic incidents occurred in Britain in 2004, of which 77 were violent, as opposed to 163 anti-Semitic incidents in 2003, of which 55 were violent.
Most of the incidents occurred near or inside synagogues, some of which were set on fire or were targets of attempted arson.
Over the past four years 100 synagogues were desecrated in Britain alone. In one incident a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the car of a London rabbi.
The report cited "years of hostile reporting and commentary in the British press" as a central cause for the steep rise in anti-Semitic incidents, in apparent reference to coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The report also said that in the former Soviet Union - especially in the Ukraine and in Russia - there is a rise in the scope of anti-Semitism. In 2004, 295 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded, as opposed to only 146 the previous year. Of these, 110 were violent incidents, compared to only 35 violent incidents in 2003.
On the other hand, in France, where there has been a dramatic rise in anti-Semitism over the past few years, the number of incidents didn't increase last year.
But Tehila Nahlon, adviser on anti-Semitism to Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky, noted that despite significant efforts invested by the French government in fighting and educating people against anti-Semitism and the arrests of some Islamist activists, there has not been a decline in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in France either.
Amos Hermon, who chairs a committee in the Zionist Federation devoted to combating anti-Semitism, said that over the past year, 282 violent incidents were recorded, mostly in Europe, compared to 234 incidents during the previous year.
Most of the attacks were carried out by Arabs and Muslims, some of whom were Palestinian; only a small number were carried out by members of the extreme right.
The incidents included damage to Jewish institutions, attacks with weapons against Jews, and desecration of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries.
Most of the violence, the Global Forum report says, was directed last year at private Jewish targets and less at community targets - for the most part because of the intensification of security around communal sites such as Jewish school and synagogues.
Two additional countries mentioned in the report were Sweden and the Czech Republic. In Sweden, certain left-wing groups and other organizations connected to the Church have apparently adopted a radical anti-Israel line, with anti-Semitic overtones.
In the Czech Republic, 16 violent anti-Semitic incidents were reported last year, as opposed to none in 2003.
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