Shneor Crombie on Thursday told The Independent he was considering not sending his children to school. He and Jewish parents like him in the UK say they are “terrified” about their children’s safety as a result of Hamas’s murderous attacks in Israel.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat said on Wednesday that he was “very concerned” after antisemitic incidents in the UK were up by 324% since Saturday.
The Community Security Trust, whose purpose is to provide safety, security, and advice to the Jewish community in the UK, recorded 89 “anti-Jewish hate” incidents between October 7 and 10. Six were assaults, three were damage to Jewish property, and 66 were abusive behavior, 22 of which were online.
We have received 89 reports of antisemitism in the last 4 days.
Read more on our blog at https://t.co/8YcCjYuLpW pic.twitter.com/s18Y0fWjB8
— CST (@CST_UK) October 12, 2023
A Jewish man who walking to synagogue in London on Sunday morning was called a “dirty Jew” by a stranger, who added: “No wonder you’re all getting raped.”
A car whose passengers were waving PLO flags slowed down outside a synagogue and the occupants shouted “Kill Jews,” and “Death to Israel.”
The CST posted on Wednesday a message saying, “Make no mistake: these are anti-Jewish racist incidents and hate crimes in which Jewish people, property and institutions are singled out for hate, including death threats and abuse. In many cases, the perpetrators of these disgraceful incidents are using the symbols and language of pro-Palestinian politics as rhetorical weapons with which to threaten and abuse Jewish people.”
According to The Independent, at least one school is telling children not to wear any articles that identify their Jewish identity, and Jewish boys cover their yarmulkes with baseball caps.
Shneor Crombie is an Israeli-British tech entrepreneur who has four children. He is the chairman of Israel Europe Media and these days he is involved in helping ex-pat Israelis in the UK to find flights back home to join the reserves. As of Wednesday, his group was close to helping 240 Israeli reservists get on a plane to Ben Gurion.
On Tuesday, Crombie shared this video from the Great Synagogue in London, where after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s strong speech in support of Israel, the recitation of the Psalms, and a special prayer for the peace of the State of Israel from the UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the audience sang God save the King, followed by Hatikvah.
