UK to begin recording anti-Semitism a hate crime

Government also pledges additional funds to monitor anti-Semitic incidents in the country.

British police will begin recording anti-Semitic crimes as racist attacks starting next year. The government also pledged additional funds to monitor anti-Semitic incidents in the country. "Anti-Semitism has not been taken as seriously as other forms of hatred in some parts of our society," Iain Wright, the parliamentary under secretary of state for communities and local government, said during a July 19 discussion of Britain's All Party Inquiry into Anti-Semitism. Wright also reiterated the government's opposition to an academic boycott of Israel, calling it "anti-Jewish in principle." The All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Semitism was established in November 2005 to investigate the nature and extent of anti-Semitism in Britain and to make recommendations to address the problem. The report is available online at www.thepcaa.org.