THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

The Jewish community of the United Kingdom numbers 280,000 out of a total population of 58 million. Two-thirds of the community is concentrated in Greater London. Other major Jewish centers are Manchester (30,000), Leeds (10,000) and Glasgow (6,500). The Jewish population has experienced a marked decline since 1967, mainly due to low birth-rate, intermarriage and emigration.

The central organization of British Jewry is the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD). Security and defense activity is organized through the Community Security Trust (CST). Welfare and education are given high communal priority, through organizations such as the United Jewish and Israel Appeal and Jewish Care. A network of Jewish day schools operates in London and in other major cities. There are also a number of Jewish tertiary study centers, including the London School of Jewish Studies (formerly Jews College) for training Orthodox rabbis, Leo Baeck College for training Reform rabbis, and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Yarnton. The main community papers are the 140-year-old Jewish Chronicle, which is read by an estimated 75 percent of the community, the Jewish Telegraph, published simultaneously in northern cities, and the London Jewish News.

POLITICAL PARTIES AND EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS

The British National Party (BNP) was the largest extreme right-wing group to have emerged from the break-up of the National Front, which won widespread support during the 1970s. The BNP underwent transformation during 1999 following the ousting of founding chairman John Tyndall by Nick Griffin, who launched a bid for the leadership in February 1999, claiming that the party needed a younger and more dynamic one. Griffin also called for the party to modernize its image by re-focusing publications, moving into community politics and lessening adherence to its neo-Nazi origins.

The BNP fielded a full list of candidates for the June 1999 European Parliament election, but was disappointed by winning only 1.11 percent (102,647 votes) in the ten regions it contested.

Despite its inability to attract new members in the UK, the BNP has made progress in establishing contacts abroad. Some funds for the European Parliament election were provided by the American Friends of the BNP, established early in the year by Mark Cotterill, a former local leader, now living in the US. In the course of 1999, the South African Friends of the BNP and the Australian Friends of the BNP were established.

The BNP is now attempting to move away from its urban base. It has supported action by farmers protesting against central government policies and successful local campaigns have been aimed at opposing the building of mosques by Muslim communities, particularly in south and east London. It has also attempted to move out of its traditional East London and West Midlands strongholds, finding some success in Scotland, and in northeast and southwest England.

The party's ideological stance now rests on opposition to the European Union. Its proposed alternative is a loose association of northern European independent states opposed to any form of federated Europe and to American economic domination, and a closer economic and political association with the white Commonwealth. It also calls for an end to all political and economic immigration into Britain and the phased voluntary repatriation of non-whites. In its publications and associated commercial ventures however, it continues to promote white supremacy, Holocaust denial and a belief in Jewish world domination, particularly of the media.

National Democratic Party (NDP) activity virtually ceased in 1999, although members participated in public events organized by others. National Front (NF) activity focused on demonstrating against refugees and asylum seekers from former Yugoslavia. Some of these demonstrations resulted in violent confrontations with anti-fascists. Both the NF and NDP retain their anti-Semitic ideologies.

The violent Combat 18 (C18) was established in 1992 by the BNP as an informal stewarding group to protect its meetings. However, it soon developed its own agenda, planning and executing violent attacks against left-wing, black, Jewish and other targets. In December 1993, the BNP officially severed links with the group. However, the proscription was only partially enforced, and in many areas activists of both organizations maintained close relations, or were even the same people operating under two different organizational banners.

C18 controls the music organization Blood & Honour (formed by the late Ian Stewart Donaldson), and maintains close connections with skinhead bands such as No Remorse, Razors Edge and Chingford Attack. The concerts performed by these groups constitute the main local activity for C18 supporters, both in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, particularly Scandinavia (see also Sweden).

The Nationalist Socialist Movement, a splinter group of C18, was established by Steve Sargent and David Myatt (see ASW 1997/8). In May 1999 a letter was sent to all members saying it was closing down. Although Sargent continues to publish material for members, the group now has no activities of its own, although they occasionally join the NF on marches.

The national revolutionary International Third Position, again the product of a split within the NF, promotes the Lefevbrist Catholic ideology espoused by a part of the traditionalist French and Spanish extreme right. It continues to build its contacts in Eastern Europe, former Yugoslavia and in France and Spain, where it now supports nationalist communes (see Spain). A Charity Commission investigation into its fundraising associates, the Trust of St. Michael the Archangel and the St. George Educational Trust, began in late 1999 to examine its funding of a Spanish commune, and resulted in the commission freezing the charities' assets. The ITP is closely associated with Roberto Fiore and Massimo Morsello, former members of the Italian national revolutionary terrorist group, the Armed Revolutionary Nuclei, which was implicated in the bombing of the Bologna railway station in 1980.

Like other third positionists or national revolutionary groups, the range of its international contacts is disproportionate to its small size or political influence. These extend to America via the American Coalition of Third Positionists, and Eastern Europe with its emerging national revolutionary groups, based particularly in Poland, Romania, the Baltic states and Russia. Through its journals, its Internet sites and its publishing house, The Legionary Press, ITP promotes fascist and anti-Semitic literature and Nazi memorabilia.

The National Revolutionary Faction, formerly known as the English Nationalist Movement, was formed in late 1997, as a breakaway from the ITP. It is a revolutionary white nationalist group adhering to the concept of leaderless resistance, and claims a cell-based structure. It advocates close cooperation with other European third positionists and is a member of the clandestine European Liberation Front Network. It is the most outspokenly anti-Zionist and pro-Islamist of all the radical right-wing groups. Despite its international perspectives and range of contacts, its sphere of activity is essentially confined to south London. Members have demonstrated outside events associated wthe Jewish community in recent years, although few other public activities have taken place.

Attempts to establish the Ku Klux Klan in Britain have all failed although occasional Klan activity, such as cross-burnings or meetings takes place. Likewise the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) has failed to establish itself in Britain, The BNP publication Spearhead carries advertisements for WCOTC books and the US contact address.

Several other small extreme nationalist or white supremacist groups exist, often with overlapping memberships. They are frequently linked to a publication rather than to political activities. Among them are Choice, led until mid-1999 by Lady Jane Birdwood of the British Solidarity group, and its associated publishing venture Inner City Researchers. These are now organized by Martin Webster, former leader of the NF, and Peter Marriner. Their supporters overlap with those of Candour, a journal edited by Rosine de Bounevialle until her death in late 1999, and established by the late A.K. Chesterton, founder of the NF. Candour also supports the ITP, sharing its Lefevbrist Catholic ideology. Both de Bounevialle and Birdwood have acted as mentors for many on the extreme right, and have allowed their homes to be used as meeting places. Their supporters also overlap with those of Bloomfield Books and On Target Publications, owned by Donald Martin, who publishes and distributes white supremacist and anti-Semitic literature. Their other focus of activity is promotion of the white Commonwealth, for which purpose they maintain connections in South Africa, Australia and Canada. The League of St. George continues to publish its magazine League Sentinel occasionally, and overlapping membership exists with the Friends of Oswald Mosley, comprising former supporters of the British Union of Fascists and the Union Movement.

Although the United Kingdom's Muslim community is overwhelmingly Asian, it contains representatives and active cells of Middle East groups engaged in violent insurrection in their countries of origin. Hizballah and Hamas retain support groups and fund-raising networks; the Hamas journal Filastin al-Muslima is published in London and the Palestinian Return Centre has links to Hamas. The English language Palestine Times is also highly supportive of Hamas.

The most active Islamist group in the UK is Al Muhajiroun (The Emigrants -- AM). While claiming to bear no animosity toward Jews, AM are extremely hostile toward Israel and use the terms Israeli, Jew and Zionist interchangeably. Thus speakers at AM events have often called for the killing of Jews or predicted gruesome fates for Jews at the hands of Muslims. AM members also deny the Holocaust in their speeches and leaflets. AM promote their public activities by extensive illegal flyer-posting and by faxing regular press releases to other Muslim groups, the Jewish community and the media. They frequently use front groups to book venues and establish university societies. AM boast of their fund-raising and recruitment efforts for the international terrorist Usama bin Ladin, Hamas and other jihadist groups. They sponsor survival training and martial arts courses for their members and encourage them to support jihad in every possible way. While the leadership disavows any political violence in the UK, their rhetoric often encourages direct action against Western or Israeli targets.

Hizb ut-Tahrir (HUT), from which Al Muhajiroun split in 1996 under the leadership of its founding leader Omar Bakri Muhammad, was less active during 1998 and 1999, reflecting the Middle East-based leadership's divisions, but its anti-Semitism was as acute. Like AM, HUT aims to establish an Islamic state and supports the activities of violent HUT groups in other countries. Neither AM nor HUT has a large membership, but their influence, which is resented by the moderate Muslim leadership now developing in Britain, is nevertheless important among young people and at street level.

The Supporters of Shariah (SOS), led by Mustafa Kamil, aka Abu Hamza al Masri, are likewise associated with AM. Unlike AM, however, they do not advertise for recruits and do not appear to have a formal membership. However, Abu Hamza frequently lectures throughout the UK, often at AM meetings. SOS is extremely hostile to the Jewish community, often propagating the basest form of Islamist anti-Semitism, combining traditional religious anti-Judaism with Protocols-style conspiracy theories. SOS are in direct contact with jihad groups around the world, for some of which Abu Hamza acts as their public spokesman to the Western media.

The Islamic Observation Centre (IOC), led by Yasir al-Sirri, aka Abu `Ammar, has no formal membership and publishes only irregular reports. Al-Sirri is one of the leaders of the Egyptian al-Jihad group and their offshoot the Vanguards of Conquest, both of which have a record of violence both inside and outside Egypt. He sought asylum in Britain after having been condemned to death in Egypt for his part in the attempted assassination of former Prime Minister Dr. `Atif Sidqi. IOC acts as a focal point for the dissemination of information about Islamist groups throughout the Muslim world.

The publications of Friends of al-Aqsa (FOA), formed in 1988 to highlight the issue of Israeli occupation of Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque, are extremely hostile to Israel and their anti-Zionism is frequently tainted with anti-Semitism. The activity of the Islamic Party of Britain (IPB), which promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, is now limited to publishing its journal Common Sense and updating its website.

The Muslim Parliament (MP) and the Muslim Institute (MI) were both virtually inactive, although their associated publication Crescent International, continued to appear. Crescent regularly features extremely anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic articles, particularly those by the Washington-based Muhammad al-`Asi and the UK-based convert Yakub Zaki (formerly James Dickie). Like the Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS), based at the Islamic Centre England in London, Crescent International promotes the Iranian line on world affairs, which includes anti-Zionism and Holocaust denial. In October, the School of Oriental and African Studies of London University canceled a session at a conference arranged for it by IIS, entitled “Ayatollah Khameini and the Modernization of Islamic Thought.” The guest speaker was to be Roger Garaudy, the convicted French Holocaust denier whose book, The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics, has been promoted throughout the Arab world, and particularly by senior Iranian government figures.

The Nation of Islam (NOI) continues its activity, but at a low level, having failed to make any real impact on Britain's Afro-Caribbean community. Operation Farrakhan, a one man operation associated with NOI, published an irregular stream of anti-Semitic letters and manifestos during 1998 and 1999 in which the director, Paul Twino, accused the prime minister of being part of a Jewish conspiracy to bar Louis Farrakhan from entering Britain. In July the home secretary issued a final notice permanently banning him from the country.

ANTI-SEMITIC ACTIVITIES

There were 270 anti-Semitic incidents reported during 1999, a 14 percent rise over the previous year (236 incidents). The incidents were fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, although notable increases occurred in January, April and May 1999.

As in 1998, there were no life-threatening attacks on people but 33 non-life-threatening assaults took place during the year, an 88 percent increase over the previous year (17 incidents). Twenty-five attacks causing damage and desecration to communal property were reported, a 19 percent reduction from the previous year (31 incidents). There was a 94 percent increase in written threats but a 7 percent reduction in abusive behavior, compared with the previous year.

The 50 percent increase in mass mailings of anti-Semitic literature was due to a new wave of hoax letters to members of the community. These had fallen drin recent years following successful criminal convictions against those responsible. There was also a spate of threatening letters and phone calls sent after the April nail bombings in London, which consisted of three attacks -- against the Afro-Caribbean community, the Bangladeshi community and a gay pub -- in which three people were killed and dozens were injured. It was initially believed that the perpetrator of the bombings was a member of a small neo-Nazi group, the White Wolves, known to be a name used by a northern section of C18, although the evidence was circumstantial, resting only on the threatening letters, and on some telephone claims for responsibility made following the first bombing. All the letters carried the same message:

There were no other particular reasons or events which caused the increase in anti-Semitic incidents, but the upward trend reflects the national one, which in recent years has seen continuing increases in racist incidents. In 1997-98, 13,878 incidents were reported to the police, compared with 13,151 incidents in 1996-97, a 5 percent increase. The rise was even more marked in London, where 11,050 incidents were reported during 1998-99 compared with 5,862 in 1997-98, and 5,621 in 1996-97. This dramatic growth is due in part to a concerted campaign to encourage wider reporting of such incidents, but much blame must also be ascribed to an increase in racial tension.

Britain's race relations legislation has successfully put an end to the publication of most anti-Semitic propaganda, except in two respects. The first is that of hoax literature, published under false names and often of a subtle nature. Widespread distribution of such literature, almost all of it written by small syndicates of elderly former NF members, continued throughout the early and mid-1990s. Although it virtually ceased after the death of several of those involved and the trials and convictions of others, in October, a leaflet was distributed to hundreds of Jewish homes in Stamford Hill which stated:

The text also gave a meeting point and informed recipients that they should bring a towel and soap for their free shower. The police mounted a substantial investigation into the leaflets' origins, but failed to find those responsible.

The second type of anti-Jewish propaganda was published by Islamist groups, most notably AM and those owing allegiance to Iran. For example, the November edition of New Trends, an Islamist journal, featured an article in which the writer, Kaukab Siddique, stated that “the Jews are told by their God that they can discriminate against gentiles… A God who discriminates against non-Jews cannot be the true God. The Holy Prophet Mohammed has taught us not to follow Jews but to go against them in all things.”

The Al Noor Bookshop next to the Central London mosque, as well as other Muslim bookshops, continued to sell anti-Semitic publications, such as Henry Ford’s The International Jew, in an edition containing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, despite requests from the BoD not to do so.

Both extreme right and Islamist groups now publish their material on the Internet. Although fear of prosecution prevents them from publishing anti-Jewish propaganda, they use this medium to advertise their existence and ideologies, announce details of forthcoming events and establish links with like-minded groups elsewhere. A particular feature of net publishing during 1999 was the development of websites established by local branches of national groups.

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE HOLOCAUST AND THE NAZI ERA

In October, the government announced that it planned a national Holocaust remembrance day to be held annually on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Remembrance activity, involving senior government officials, will commence in 2001. They will be centered particularly on schools, which for some years have studied the war and the Holocaust as part of the national history curriculum.

The aim of Holocaust Remembrance Day is both to mark the Holocaust itself, as well as to teach the evils of racism. Interest in Holocaust education has grown rapidly in recent years, and will be further assisted by the recently opened National Holocaust Museum, an extension of the Imperial War Museum in London.

A non-community private venture, the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottingham, has been increasingly effective as an educational facility, particularly aimed at students and the churches. Opened in 1995 on the personal initiative of brothers Stephen and James Smith, it now attracts visitors from throughout the world. Also effective have been visits to Auschwitz and Kracow organized for Jewish students and communal leaders and which during 1999 were extended to teachers and students nationally. These are organized by the Holocaust Education Trust, which now also provides educational material for British schools and universities.

The Anne Frank Education Trust held an exhibition throughout the country, which was particularly successful in Northern Ireland. A second exhibition was held specifically for universities.

Holocaust denial is disseminated in the UK by extreme right and neo-Nazi writers. It is also increasingly promoted by Islamists. The major proponent of Holocaust denial in Britain for many years has been the writer David Irving, whose books and lectures to American neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups during 1998 and 1999 increased markedly as he sought to fund his legal action against the historian Deborah Lipstadt and her publishers Penguin Books, which began early in January 2000.

Irving has also brought a second defamation action against the journalist Gitta Sereny and The Guardian newspaper. In both cases he claims that the authors defamed him by contending he distorts history in pursuit of his life-long campaign to sanitize Nazism in general, and absolve Hitler in particular, of direct complicity in the Holocaust. The second case will be heard after the first, if at all. Judgment in the first case was given in June 2000. Irving lost, with the judge confirming the allegations that Irving was “a racist, an anti-Semite, an active Holocaust denier, who associates with right-wing extremists.” The judge also said that Irving persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence.

Press publicity was given to the case of Germar Rudolf and his Holocaust denial publishing house Castle Hill Publishers toward the end of 1999. Rudolf fled Germany in 1995 following a conviction for incitement and for publishing his pseudo-scientific denial booklet The Rudolf Report (see Sarah Rembiszewski, The Final Lie: Holocaust Denial in Germany, [Stephen Roth Institute, 1996]). On his arrival in Britain, he joined neo-Nazi publisher Tony Hancock, but later operated independently. Although the subject of a German extradition request, Rudolph is likely to continue his activity for some time as the crimes for which he was convicted in Germany are not, in Britain, extraditable offenses.

In January 2000, the government announced that plans to make Holocaust denial a criminal offense in Britain were to be dropped for the time being, although it was still awaiting the Jewish community's formal response. In a written statement, Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien stated that legislation could not easily “strike a balance between osuch offensive statements while ensuring that freedom of speech is not unduly restricted.”

At the beginning of January 2000, the home secretary deported Konrads Kalejs, an Australian national who was alleged to have been responsible for war crimes in Nazi-occupied Latvia during the war. He had been investigated previously by both the Australian and British War Crimes Units, but insufficient evidence had been found to bring criminal charges against him. However, the government announced that it would assist the Latvian government in its efforts to have Kalejs deported from Australia, to which he returned, to stand trial for war crimes.

In December 1999, the Lithuanian government commenced extradition proceedings against Antanas Gecas, an Edinburgh resident. Gecas had been the subject of a war crimes investigation but there had been insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against him.

Early in February 2000, Anthony Sawoniuk, who was given a double life sentence in mid-1999 at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of Jews in Belarus in 1942, lost his appeal. Sawoniuk had been found guilty of murdering Jews in his home town of Domechevo while serving in an auxiliary police force run by the Nazi occupation forces.

Early in the year, the government announced that the War Crimes Unit of the Metropolitan Police would be disbanded, after investigating 376 alleged war criminals. Only the Sawoniuk case came to trial and resulted in a conviction. The unit's expertise and files have now been made available to other governments, such as the Latvian, which wish to pursue war crimes investigations. In general, press reaction to war crimes trials was positive, viewing them both as a means of doing justice and of educating the public. The small amount of opposition within parliament came from elderly Conservative peers, some of whom may have been motivated by anti-Semitism, but who generally expressed their opposition in terms of a lack of confidence in retrospective legislation.

RESPONSES TO RACISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM

Further amendments in the legislation dealing with racially-motivated crime were introduced into the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. These included the creation of new offenses of racial violence and harassment and the provision for the immediate arrest, without warrant, of anyone suspected of committing a racially-motivated public order offense. They also provide for stronger penalties where racial motivation is proven.

The Human Rights Act 1998, incorporating the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, is expected to come into effect in October 2000. As of then, British citizens who believe that their human rights have been violated by public authorities will be able to have their case judged in British courts rather than face the cost and delay of taking their case to Strasbourg, the seat of the European Court.

The government published its long-awaited Terrorism Bill in 1999, with the intention of passing it into legislation early in 2000, although some aspects of it, including incitement to commit acts of terrorism abroad, were enacted in the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act at the end of 1998. The BoD was among the public bodies asked to submit its views on the government's plans, contained in the Legislation Against Terrorism consultation paper, prepared jointly with the CST.

It is intended that the government will also enact the Representation of the People Bill early in 2000. This legislation governs electoral procedures and will contain sections which will prevent the use of forged or false nomination papers, and improper nominations, which were a feature of extreme right candidacies in the past. The government has also given an undertaking, in enacting this legislation, that it will strive to avoid a conflict of election dates with Jewish (and other minorities') religious festivals.

The Macpherson Inquiry, established by the government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence and the failure of the Metropolitan Police to investigate his murder adequately, released its findings in 1999. Its claim that the police were affected by institutional racism led to the establishment of a Racial and Violent Crime Task Force within the Metropolitan Police Service. The report made 70 recommendations aimed at reducing racism in society, including education and stricter compliance with legislation. The government has since extended this legislation to cover the armed forces, following criticism that they, too, were affected by institutional racism.

Fourteen C18 members were arrested in March 1999 in connection with the publishing and distribution of racist material. Among them were two serving soldiers, Darren Theron and Carl Wilson, whose arrest was the culmination of a year-long investigation by army investigators into extreme right infiltration of the armed forces. Other C18 members and supporters received jail sentences.

The sentencing of three KKK supporters for assaulting an Asian doctor highlighted the continued attempts to generate KKK activity in South Wales. In addition, NF member Richard Perkins, was fined £500 for making racial taunts in front of an Asian shopkeeper, and Stuart Kerr was jailed for 12 years at Chichester Crown Court for petrol-bombing an Asian shop-keeper's premises.

Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh, two Palestinian students who were convicted of conspiring to bomb the Israeli embassy and the headquarters of the United Jewish and Israel Appeal in London in July 1994, have been allowed to appeal. The decision came amid claims by the defense that revelations from a former security service agent indicated that the service was withholding information on the bombings, which could indicate the involvement of a major terrorist group, and not the two Palestinian students who were convicted.

As a consequence of the Crime and Disorder Act, and the establishment of the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force and CSUs, the police in Britain have become more responsive to acts of racism, and pro-active in combating them, despite media and public criticism to the contrary. They are also becoming more receptive to combating anti-Semitism and to investigating anti-Jewish activity in Jewish areas. Thus, the police and the relevant authorities banned rallies planned by Al Muhajiroun in Trafalgar Square in July, and at the Albert Hall in September, on the grounds that the speeches might incite public order problems. At the end of the year, the Charity Commission stripped AM-front organizations, the Shariah Court and the London School of Shariah, of their charitable status and Haringey Council began an investigation into AM's use of local council-owned premises for their offices.

Demonstrations were held outside the Hilton Hotel in Central London, where FPÖ leader Jörg Haider, who was on a private visit, gave a press conference at which he disavowed any neo-Nazi sympathies. The government's concern at the FPÖ’s inclusion in the Austrian government early in 2000, was expressed diplomatically with other EU member-states, by the downgrading of diplomatic, commercial and other links with Austria.

On numerous occasions during the year, the Foreign Office noted the government's concern at the arrest and impending trial of 13 Iranian Jews accused of espionage, and particularly during the visits of the foreign secretary to Iran, and the Iranian foreign minister's visit to London in January 2000. Several parliamentary delegations to Iran also raised the issue during exploratory diplomatic and commercial visits, following the resumption of diplomatic relations in summer 1999.