Balram Sampla
Geopolitics
Geopolitics
(Asian independent) On 4 October 1936, Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists planned to march through the East End, deliberately targeting London’s most densely Jewish neighbourhood. They never got through. Tens of thousands of Jews, dockers, socialists, communists and Irish workers blocked the route with barricades, and the police, who had been sent to clear the way, eventually diverted the march.
The Battle of Cable Street became shorthand for what ordinary people can do when they refuse to be bystanders.
Ninety years on, the anniversary lands in a country where Jewish anxiety is again acute.
The Community Security Trust(CST) recorded 1,926 anti-Jewish incidents in the first half of 2026, up from 1,598 a year earlier, with physical assaults up 82 percent.
The Heaton Park attack on Yom Kippur last October killed two people, the first fatal antisemitic terror attack since CST began recording more than 40 years ago. CST also noted that the highest daily totals this year came right after the Golders Green stabbing. (UK Antisemitic Incidents Rise 21% During First Half of 2026 as Fears for Jewish Safety Grow)
Why is it rising?
CST’s data points to several drivers. Hate has stayed well above pre-7 October 2023 levels, and spikes follow Middle East escalations: CST said the US-Israel war with Iran coincided with another surge, and cited suspected Iranian-intelligence-linked hostile activity. Online abuse is a major component, and CST notes that high-profile attacks can embolden others. Many Jews also say criticism of Israel too often slides into hostility toward Jews generally. (jta)
The case against Labour
Critics, including some Jewish communal figures and opposition politicians, argue that the government has been too slow and too cautious. They point to weak enforcement against intimidation at protests, a reluctance to confront extremist rhetoric, and the party’s own history: the Equality and Human Rights Commission found in 2020 that Labour had committed unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination during the Corbyn era. For these critics, warm words aren’t enough, and the burden of protection still falls on a charity and community volunteers.
The other side
Ministers say they take the threat seriously; the policing minister called the latest figures “appalling,” and the Home Secretary has publicly backed CST’s work. It is also fair to note that the surge began in October 2023 under the previous Conservative government, and that no party has yet found an answer. Labour is failing is a judgement people have reached but the test most Jewish Britons apply is simple: do they feel safe wearing a Star of David on the street?
Cable Street’s lesson is that safety was never delivered by the authorities alone. It took a broad coalition that treated an attack on Jews as an attack on everyone.
Reference
1.https://www.algemeiner.com/2026/08/05/uk-antisemitic-incidents-rise-21-during-first-half-of-2026-as-fears-for-jewish-safety-grow/
2.https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/2025-sees-second-highest-annual-figure-for-antisemitism-in-the-uk-says-cst/amp/
3.https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/cst-records-sharp-rise-in-antisemitism-for-first-half-of-2026/amp/
4.https://www.jta.org/2026/08/05/global/antisemitic-incidents-in-britain-rose-21-in-first-half-of-2026-remaining-near-record-levels
