ByDaniel Sugarman, Daniel Sugarman
The Board of Deputies has vowed "not to remain silent" after a surge in reported hate crimes in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.
The National Police Chiefs Council said that there had been a 57 per cent increase in hate crime reports in the four days following Brexit (85 reports, compared to 54 in a similar period the previous month).
They included the daubing of a Polish Cultural Centre in west London, and far-right National Front demonstrators in Newcastle displaying a banner proclaiming "Stop Immigration: Start Repatriation".
The Board said it intended to write to the Polish ambassador with a message of support. Chief executive Gillian Merron said: "It is important during these times of political uncertainty in our country to ensure that nobody feels vulnerable and threatened.
"Everyone, including European Union citizens and other minorities resident in the UK, has the right to security and protection from hate speech.
It's important that no one feels threatened
"The Jewish community knows all too well these feelings of vulnerability."
The Polish embassy said it welcomed "words of support and solidarity for Poles in the UK from the Jewish community. We stand united."
Meanwhile a Jewish sociology lecturer was left "shaking and upset" after being antisemitically abused.
Natalie Pitimson, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, was travelling on a packed commuter train in central London, carrying a bag with the word "schlep" and Hebrew lettering on the side.
She said that "a lad" sitting with his girlfriend saw the bag and "told me to 'f--- off back to Israel with the other Yids.' Nobody else in the carriage reacted."
She added: "I have never been targeted in this way before but my experience, it is becoming apparent, is not an isolated one in post-Brexit Britain."
In Hackney, east London, a member of Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch group, said he was shocked to witness a racist incident on the morning after the referendum. Shulem Stern said he saw an Asian minicab driver being yelled at by another motorist, who told him: "F---ing foreigner, go back to your country."