The Campaign Against Antisemitism just released a report based on two new YouGov polls measuring both antisemitic sentiment amongst the British public, and its effect on British Jewry.
Here are the highlights:
British Public’s Attitudes Towards British Jews
- 25% of Britons believe that “Jews chase money more than other British people.”
- 20% of Britons believe “Jews’ loyalty to Israel makes them less loyal to Britain than other British people.”
- 17% of Britons believe that “Jews think they are better than other people” and that “Jews have too much power in the media.”
- 13% of Britons believe that “Jews talk about the Holocaust too much in order to get sympathy.”
The Jewish Community’s Reactions to Antisemitism
- 25% of British Jews have considered leaving the country in the past two years because of rising antisemitism.
- 45% of British Jews feel their family is threatened by Islamist extremism.
- 77% of British Jews have witnessed antisemitism disguised as a political comment about Israel.
- 84% of British Jews consider boycotts of businesses selling Israeli products to be intimidation.
Most interesting, from our perspective, was this:
- 82% say that media bias against Israel fuels persecution of Jews in Britain.
Tellingly, reports on the poll in The Independent, Guardian, and Telegraph highlighted much of the data but omitted these results regarding the relationship between media bias against Israel and antisemitism in the UK.
Of course, these findings on the fears of British Jews would resonate with anyone familiar with the UK media’s coverage of Israel in general, and the summer war in Gaza in particular.
We can only hope that UK newspaper editors will one day engage in some serious reflection, and consider their ethical responsibility to be mindful of the injurious impact on British Jews caused by such one-sided, sensational, context-free reports and images.
