A new report into antisemitism in the UK has found widespread failures to address anti-Jewish discrimination including within the NHS, education, the arts and policing.
Commissioned by the Board of Deputies of British Jews – the country’s largest Jewish community organisation – the review was co-authored by Lord John Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism and former Conservative defence secretary Dame Penny Mordaunt.
It followed extensive evidence gathering from a range of institutions including the NHS, the police and the arts sector.
Lord Mann described hearing “shocking experiences” from Jewish individuals during the review process.
He said it was “unacceptable” there had been what he called an “onslaught of antisemitism” since the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
In the months since, the Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza has resulted in at least 57,823 deaths, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Lord Mann told BBC’s Today programme that ordinary Jewish men and women are “going about their everyday life particularly at work and suddenly being held to account for what’s happening in the Middle East in their workplace”.
He said people are being “ostracised” in the workplace “simply because they’re Jewish”.
He said antisemitism is “often missed off the agenda” in equality training, but he praised a recent programme in English football that successfully introduced antisemitism training nationwide within two years, showing that “it’s working.”
The report found many Jewish employees within the NHS felt antisemitism was not being addressed in the workplace, as well as some Jewish patients feeling “uneasy about using the service”.
Among the report’s education-focused findings was evidence of some Christian primary school teachers “inadvertently using antisemitic tropes” in lessons, particularly in religious studies.
It welcomed a joint initiative between the Winchester Diocese and the local Jewish community to train teachers in avoiding such tropes and recommended that the programme be expanded to all faith schools.
The report outlines 10 key recommendations, many of which centre on education and training, to tackle what it calls “failure to apply the protections rightly afforded to different vulnerable groups equally to Jewish people in the same positions.”
To help drive change across sectors, the report proposes creating a formal “Antisemitism Training Qualification” for those delivering instruction on what it terms “contemporary antisemitism.”
It also calls for training to be delivered by “credible providers” and to reflect Jewish communal concerns – particularly the need to recognise Judaism “as an ethnicity as well as a religion,” to ensure antisemitism is understood and addressed appropriately.
Other recommendations focused on equal treatment for Jewish members of the arts industry and trade unions, as well as a more “consistent approach” by the police to dealing with antisemitic crimes.
Dame Penny emphasised that “no person should face abuse or discrimination whilst going about their business, whether it is pursuing the career of their choice or accessing public services.”
The Board of Deputies echoed that point, stressing that while freedom of belief is vital, those in positions of “welfare, safety, or security” have “an additional duty” to ensure that people feel able to seek help without fear.
Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg summarised the findings as evidence of systemic failure: “This report can be summarised as one of a failure to apply the protections rightly afforded to different vulnerable groups equally to Jewish people in the same positions.”
In response to the report, an NHS spokesperson said: “It is completely unacceptable for anyone to experience racism, discrimination or prejudice in the health service, whether staff or patient, and the NHS takes any instance of antisemitism or discrimination extremely seriously.
“The NHS provides care and treatment for everyone regardless of race, faith, or background and all NHS healthcare providers should have policies in place to address issues like this in the workplace.”