Police Scotland has launched a campaign to combat rising antisemitism in the country .
A police spokesperson said that the campaign, entitled “Scotland: No place for prejudice,” would seek to “encourage more people to come forward and speak out and report hate crimes.”
Scottish Jews experienced almost as many antisemitic incidents in one month last year as in the whole of 2013, prompting some to consider emigrating.
The Community Security Trust said there were 31 reports of antisemitic attacks in Scotland in 2014. Of these, 21 were in Glasgow, up from just two the year before.
The campaign began on Monday and will last a month, incorporating messages against racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism (offences against disabled people) and religious discrimination.
Infographic: CST antisemitic incidents report /
Police will attempt to focus the public’s attention specifically on religious hate crime for a week from September 7, and consulted with Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (ScoJeC) to find victims of antisemitic abuse.
ScoJeC director Ephraim Borowski welcomed the campaign, and said people in the community were “pretty happy with how the police are dealing with these things.
“We don’t have a lot to complain about, either about the police, the Crown Office or the courts.”
Hate victim Debby Taylor, who lives in a rural part of Scotland, said she and her son had been subjected to a series of attacks from a student at his school.
She said: “The Jewish community should be working together with the police, as we cannot understand how much antisemitism there is unless people report incidents.
“This campaign will encourage people to do that. If the police have a high-profile campaign saying they’re willing to work with a variety of communities on hate crime, people will report things.”
