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King Charles III visited the Community Security Trust headquarters in north London last Friday.

CST’s Chairman Gerald Ronson and Deputy Chairman Sir Lloyd Dorfman welcomed The King who met many of the charity’s volunteers, staff and trustees.

During a packed visit The King viewed a self-defence training session, visited CST’s 24/7 security control centre and was briefed on CST's many activities including support for victims of antisemitism, expert online investigative research against terrorism and sharing of security advice with faith and minority communities.

Mark Gardener, CST chief executive said that The King was engaging and enjoyed meeting everyone.

“The visit meant a lot to our volunteers, staff and trustees,” he noted. “We thank The King for demonstrating his support for our work and the wider Jewish community.”

Ronson said the visit was a tribute to everything CST does in protection of Jewish communities. Dorfman added that it was a privilege to explain CST’s work to protect British Jews.

Gardener is at the centre of operations at CST and tasks faced to protect Jewish communities.

Far-right terrorism is a growing threat that is being monitored and communities should be vigilant.

“People are not aware of the amount of far-right terrorism, incitement to terrorism and actual people looking as if they might carry out a terrorist attack,” he told The Jewish Weekly. “The situation in Britain is not as bad as in America, perhaps Europe is worse, but there is more than people realise and we have to take it very seriously. People may have a stereotypical image of what terrorism looks like but the danger of neo-Nazis as well as the continuing threat of Islamist terrorism is very real.”

When it comes to street antisemitism CST is recording over 100 incidents a month.

“This is the situation we have unfortunately been in for a few years and it shows no signs of changing,” noted Gardener. “When something flares up, such as in the Middle East, then immediately we get propelled with incidents. It’s a very difficult situation. Most of the time most of us get on with our daily lives but at times like this it becomes much harder to do so.”

As for online antisemitism, Gardener offered a stark viewpoint.

“The amount of antisemitism on social media and Internet is best classified as nearly infinite,” he said. “The amount we find is only restricted by how long you spend looking for it. It’s like giving you a window into people’s souls. The number of people on social media expressing antisemitism is so high it’s almost impossible to measure.”

Gardener added: “Again, when there is a flash point such as in the Middle East, you see trends, phrases and certain activities. It becomes harder for Jews to avoid. There is so much material on social media, internet, websites and channels that exist primarily to spread hard. It’s a really serious issue.

“The Online Harms Bill is going through Parliament and cannot come soon enough. I’m glad we have got something on the statute book. We have broken the paradigm, we’ve got legislation against it, it’s very

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22 DECEMBER 2022 King Charles visits CST

CST's Mark Gardener, King Charles, Gerald Ronson and Deputy Chairman Sir Lloyd Dorfman

important and we will build on it.”

Should Jewish communities be worried about everyday antisemitism on the streets?

“It’s not for CST to tell individual Jews or Jewish communities how to react to verbal abuse or physical abuse. No two people will react the same way. Some people shrug it off, other people will be emotionally scarred for a long time. Our job at CST is to facilitate Jewish life. We want people to lead their Jewish lives as they see fit.

“Antisemitism is not going to magically disappear. The Holocaust did not magically burn out antisemitism. It may have made it publicly unacceptable for a while but it has not burnt out. The existence of the State of Israel also did not magically make antisemitism disappear. It’s been there well over 2,000 years. It’s going to persist. We recognise the same themes again and again even if the modes of expression and detail of expression change over times. We know antisemitism for what it is and it won’t magically disappear.”

Has far-right hatred changed since the violent scenes of the 1970s and 1980s?

Gardener commented: “At the moment we don’t have a situation like we did in the 70s and 80s when there were thousands of National Front or British National Party members marching down the streets. It’s not what far-right activism looks like anymore. By and large when we discuss the threat from the far-right these days we mean individuals, overwhelmingly male, sat in their bedrooms watching footage of terrorist attacks from people before them inciting each other to do something. They may be individuals but it’s a global network.” What message does CST have for Jewish communities? “We need people to support our security efforts,” said Gardener. “We need people to report antisemitism and report suspicious activity. And when people go to a shul, schools or Jewish shops give a thought to G-d forbid if something was to happen how would they get out of the situation. How would they shut down a premises and alert other people? Have in your minds the way Israelis have an awareness of what terrorism means. It doesn’t stop them doing anything, but it’s there and if something happens you know how to react.” CST offers training for fully fledged security volunteers and people who work at communal locations. They are aware of the continued importance to spread security learning across communities.

Gardener said: “It’s about community awareness, in the same way Israelis know there is a threat, unfortunately Jews need to think about what they would do if they found themselves in that situation.”

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