Nearly Half of UK Jews Hide Signs of Religion in Public Due to Anti-Semitism, New Poll Finds

Nearly half of British Jews hide visible signs of their religion in public due to concerns about anti-Semitism and almost one-fifth say they feel unwelcome in their country, according to a new study.

The Antisemitism Barometer 2020 — commissioned by the UK-based Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) — found that 45% of British adults agreed with at least one of 12 anti-Semitic statements put to them.

The statement with the widest consensus was “Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews” – with 23% of respondents agreeing, even though that view is anti-Semitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition.

Also, the poll showed that British Jews thought UK Labour Party was more than twice as tolerant of anti-Semitism than any other party — a lingering effect from the scandal-ridden tenure of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, which came to an end last April.

CAA Chief Executive Gideon Falter said, “No modern, liberal nation should be content when almost a fifth of its Jews feel unwelcome and nearly half conceal their Judaism in public. We need firm action against antisemitism, not just in politics, but also in arenas that have long been problematic, such as universities and social media.”