Father-of-one condemned those who 'tar everybody with the same brush'

Rabbi Samuel Landau, 26, says he now feels threatened by further attacks

Message was stuck to Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogu e in Surrey

A hate-filled note attached to the doors of a synagogue has branded Jews as 'child murderers' in the latest of a spate of anti-Semetic attacks in Britain.



Samuel Landau, 26, the rabbi at Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue in Surrey, arrived this week to find the sick message attached to the entrance.

The father-of-one says he now feels threatened and has condemned those who 'tar everybody with the same brush'.

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'Child Murderers': The hate-filled message was attached to the doors of Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue in Surrey Fear: Rabbi Samuel Landau, 26, who called the police when he found the note at the doors of the synagogue (pictured) said he no longer feels safe

The number of anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish people in Britain soared in July, believed to be because of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. One incident saw vandals target gravestones at a cemetery in Rochdale, Manchester

Statistics show that 304 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in the UK between January and June - a 36 per cent rise compared to the same period a year ago.

Mr Landau, a trainee criminal psychologist, called the police when he saw the note and believes he is at risk of similar attacks.



'When the distinction between Palestine and Israel motivates you to behave in such a way - with no thought to debate or discussion - I think that is worrying,' he said.

'I am disappointed the society we live in is not able to process and think things through and tars everybody with the same brush. I feel less safe.'

Rabbi Landau, who presides over Sabbaths through the week, said offensive material had previously been put up outside the synagogue some years before when Israel had been involved in

previous conflicts.



He added: 'It is not something out of the blue. I look like a Jew when I walk down the road in Kingston and several people have shouted out of their car at me, so this does not seem out of place.'

The Community Security Trust have recorded 130 attacks on British Jews since the start of the Middle East conflict on July 8, which has so far killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and about 60 Israelis.

Mark Gardner, a spokesman for CST, said: ‘There is no excuse for this wave of racist intimidation and violence and we call upon all good people to unequivocally condemn it.’

Tens of thousands of Britons have taken part in protests in London and other cities against the Israeli action.

Pro-Palestinian activist groups stress that they oppose Israeli government policy and are not hostile to the Jewish people.

Some of the signs at protests have however been distinctly anti-Jewish.

Although the overall total of anti-Semitic incidents this year has increased, there were fewer violent assaults recorded - down 32 percent to 22, and the vast number of incidents related to verbal abuse, graffiti and abuse via social media.

The number of recorded incidents had been falling in recent years from a high in 2009, which was also sparked by conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza when politicians said that British Jews faced a ‘real and growing danger".

This month's surge in incidents has also provoked concern.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual head of the world's 80 million Anglicans, voiced unease at the impact of the conflict in Gaza.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents has risen since the start of conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza

‘While it is acceptable to question and even disagree with particular policies of the Israeli government, the spike in violence and abuse against Jewish communities here in the UK is simply unacceptable,’ he said in a statement.

‘We must not allow such hostility to disrupt the good relations we cherish among people of all faiths.’

MP John Mann, chairman of a parliamentary group against anti-Semitism, said the latest report was troubling.

‘From the feedback we are receiving, it is likely that the volume of anti-Semitic incidents will increase significantly before the year's end,’ he said.