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Three of the UK’s leading Jewish organisations have called for a “comprehensive government strategy on antisemitism” to be developed in the wake of the Heaton Park synagogue attack. The joint statement, issued by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Union of Jewish Students, was announced alongside “a detailed set of policy priorities to tackle antisemitism” which they developed in conjunction with the Community Security Trust and other communal organisations. The document, titled After the Heaton Park attack: Towards a Comprehensive Government Strategy on Antisemitism sets out four key areas of focus: policing and security, extremism, civil society, and schools and universities. Key policies laid out in the document include a crack down on hate speech, naming the ideological threat of Islamist antisemitism, addressing issues in broadcast media (especially the BBC), and requiring Ofsted to categorise antisemitic incidents in education. Laying out the severity of the issue in their opening statement, the authors said: “This attack was not just an attack on British Jews, but on British society and British values.” And while they acknowledged the series of “welcome announcements” from the government since the Yom Kippur attack – including up to £10 million in emergency funding for the CST – they added: “These measures on their own will not be sufficient to meet the long-term society-wide challenge of confronting antisemitic hatred as it has manifested itself in recent years.” Commenting on the launch of the document, Keith Black, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: “Protecting Jewish life must not end at physical security measures.” Louis Danker, president of the Union of Jewish Students added: "Combating antisemitism and extremism on campus must be central to coordinated cross-government action on antisemitism. Government must act with urgency to break the culture of impunity, clarify universities' obligations, and root out antisemitism from our campuses."
