Campaign Against Antisemitism

CAA has today applied for permission to bring a judicial review in respect of a decision by District Judge Michael Snow to stop CAA’s private prosecution of Reginald Hunter over a number of posts on X directed at Heidi Bachram that CAA alleges were grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.   The grounds for the judicial review are that the District Judge’s decision was irrational, procedurally incorrect, and contained other errors of law. If successful, the private prosecution would resume, and Mr Hunter would return to trial.   CAA’s motto is drawn from the biblical command: “Justice, justice you shall pursue”, and so we shall.   CAA is represented by public law specialists Sam Grodzinski KC and Tom Lowenthal of counsel, instructed by Asserson Solicitors. We will provide further updates in due course.

A man who was found guilty of two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage, and one count of criminal damage, has been jailed. Ibrahim Iqbal, 36, was accused of writing the words “kill jews [sic]” on the wall of his prison cell, whilst detained for a previous arrest regarding an incident in a hospital, when he damaged a framed copy of Islamic scripture in a multi-faith prayer room and multiple Qurans, the pages of which he then reportedly set alight and used to block the hospital washroom facilities. Mr Iqbal had refused to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court for several hearings since charges were brought against him, and reportedly refused to leave his prison cell to attend his sentencing. In his absence, the court imposed on him a 40 week prison term. He was also ordered to pay £650 in damage costs, and a £187 surcharge. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Romilly Hudson has now been sentenced after punching a woman twice in the face. Mr Hudson had previously failed to appear at Brighton Magistrates’s Court in July 2025, where he faced numerous charges including a racially/religiously aggravated assault of a person occasioning actual bodily harm and racially/religiously aggravated harassment in behaviour and in words. In a subsequent hearing he pleaded guilty to the charges. The case related to an antisemitic assault on a woman on East Street in Shoreham, West Sussex at around 13:25 on 25th January last year. Mr Hudson was sentenced this week at Worthing Magistrates’ Court to a nine-month custodial sentence (the twelve-month maximum was refused to eight months in view of the guilty plea, but uplifted by another month because of the racially-aggravated element of the crime), suspended for eighteen months. He also received a £300 fine as well as a Restraining Order barring him from entry into Shoreham-by-Sea for a period of twelve months. A further fine and a compensation payment were waived because Mr Hudson is on benefits. We welcome this sentence, and hope that this brings some solace to the victim, with whom we have been in contact. sussex.news/top-post/romil…

Two of the four men who were arrested on suspicion of spying on the Jewish community in London on behalf of Iran have been charged. Alireza Farasati, 22, and Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, were charged following a counter-terrorist police investigation by the Metropolitan Police, who stated that the charges relate to “engaging in conduct that is likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.” According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the two men are accused of “gathering information” and undertaking reconnaissance of targets”. They will appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court today. The two other men who were arrested alongside Mr Farasati and Mr Shahsavani, in connection with the alleged crime, have been released without charge. These charges indicate that the threat from Iran to British Jews and the UK more generally is real. We will be watching the case with interest. telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…

Another failure of criminal justice in this country. A woman who complained she was “sick of being told to condemn Hamas”, and that the terrorist group was “fighting for freedom” has been found not guilty of expressing support for a proscribed terrorist organisation. Kwabena Devonish, 27, was arrested in January 2024 after a video of her appearing at a march in Cardiff in November 2023, shortly after the 7th October attacks, circulated online in which she is reportedly seen addressing a 500-person crowd and making the inflammatory statements. The defendant appeared in Bristol Crown Court for a two day trial this week, where she was found not guilty by a unanimous jury, who were warned by the Judge presiding over the case to truly consider whether Ms Devonish’s comments were “objectively supportive of Hamas”. This outcome is yet another failure of our criminal justice system. Our polling shows that only 10% of British Jews think that the courts do enough to protect them; 71% do not. That is damning. aol.com/articles/woman…

On this day in 2012, a shooting took place at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish day school in Toulouse. Mohammed Merah, a French Islamist of Algerian descent, opened fire at the school. Rabbi Jonathan Sandler was killed trying heroically to shield his two sons Gabriel and Arieh, aged four and five; the gunman proceeded to murder the two children and also killed seven-year old Myriam Monsonego. Seventeen-year old Bryan Bijaoui was shot trying to save Myriam, but thankfully survived. Filming the attack with a body camera, with the intention of sending a recording to Al Jazeera, he claimed it was justified because “the Jews kill our brothers and sisters in Palestine.” Having also killed two off-duty French soldiers four days prior, the attacker was located and ultimately killed by the French police in a 30-hour siege, three days after attacking the school. Further details about Mohammed Merah and the antisemitic environment he was raised in began to emerge. Merah’s brother said that their mother would frequently say that “Arabs are born to hate Jews”, and even claimed to have been stabbed by Mohammed Merah in 2003 over his refusal to break up with a Jewish partner. Today, we remember the victims.

Members of the Jewish community and their allies gathered outside The Guardian’s office in central London to protest an outrageous recent column about Gail’s and the newspaper’s dreadful coverage of matters of Jewish interest. We joined the protest, organised by @OurFightUk, and asked those in the crowd – including @JoshxHowie and Mark Birbeck of @OurFightUK – why they felt it was important to take a stand.

Further revelations on Birmingham City Council candidate Shahid Butt. Shahid Butt was convicted in Yemen on terror charges in 1999 amid claims he was part of a terrorist enterprise targeting the country. He was reportedly found guilty of forming an armed gang and conspiring to bomb the British consulate, an Anglican church and a Swiss-owned hotel in Yemen. He was jailed for five years in Yemen, and before that had reportedly been jailed in Birmingham for violence. In previous media appearances, he claimed that “IDF babykillers” were “desecrating” and “dirtying” Birmingham, and  that Muslims should not be friends with Jews. CAA’s online investigations have also found that Mr Butt appeared on the ‘Beyond the Surface’ podcast in November 2025 to discuss the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban and made the following comments: • “And this Zionist entity and all its supporters are the spawn of the devil. They are shaitans and they are satan worshippers…” • “… Judaism has been hijacked by Zionism, by these white supremacists.” • “Zionism is a white supremacist project. It always has been.” Then, in February 2026, TalkTV aired a pre-recorded interview with Mr Butt in which he was asked “Do you condemn Islamic extremism”. Mr Butt responds “... if you're talking about groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, of course I condemn that”, but continues: “Hamas is a legitimate group that is fighting for the freedom of the Palestinians.” To the question “So they’re not a terrorist organisation?”, he responds: “No”, and continues: “October the seventh was a reflection of what was going on there.” It is astounding that people like this are in public life in this country.

We are hiring! Do you want to use your communications skills to raise awareness of antisemitism? If so, this is the job for you. For more information or to apply, head over to: antisemitism.org/get-involved/j…

We have joined the protest right now outside The Guardian's offices in London following the newspaper’s recent ludicrous and dreadful column portraying Gail’s as some sort of Jewish supremacist aggressor crushing independent Arab business in Archway. This was just the latest in @guardian’s persistent hostile output that has the effect of encouraging animosity towards Jews. Our polling of the Jewish community shows that, among newspapers, The Guardian scores the worst, with nearly seven in ten – 69% – of British Jews describing its coverage of matters of Jewish interest as unfavourable. Sadly, this newspaper has travelled so far that it may well now regard this as a badge of honour.

This week, CAA is proud to support the very first Antisemitism Awareness Week in the UK. Our CAA Student Ambassador at @UCL is spear-leading this incredible initiative at University College London. It is vital to raise awareness of the Jewish experience on campus, including the challenges that Jewish students and staff face, and to educate others about how anti-Jewish racism manifests and its effect on victims. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the stall, and look out for more events this week!

We are continually grateful to Lord Roberts for his meticulous documentation of the 7th October 2023 atrocity. He has now published the Second Edition of his report, in order to ensure that the reality and details of this horrific crime against humanity is recorded. It did not take long after the massacre for activists not only to justify it but to downplay its scope, belittle the victims – including those who had been sexually abused – or claim that it was a false flag operation. @aroberts_andrew’s work challenges the lies and ensures that everyone – from victims to policymakers to historians – have access to the facts. As he says: “We cannot allow history to be distorted and 7 Oct denial to win.” 7octparliamentarycommission.co.uk/second-edition

“There is a huge amount of latitude given to what people can say about Jews in public and not get prosecuted for it.” Our Director of Investigations and Enforcement, Stephen Silverman @SSilvUK, on TalkTV yesterday to discuss the way Jewish hate crimes are treated by the CPS.

Is there an antisemitic autocrat that John Simpson didn't have a soft spot for? This is what he said following the news today of the death of Iran’s National Security Chief, Ali Larijani, by Israeli forces: “Yes, he was a top figure in a nasty regime. But he always seemed clever and reasonable — the kind of person you might want to negotiate a peace deal with.” To remind you, Ali Larijani has said, “There could be different perspectives on the Holocaust”, and is “neither for or against the Holocaust”, and has called homosexuality “a sickness and a Western concept that Iran rejects”. Mr Simpson has described the former President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, as “weak rather than wicked”, “meek and anxious to please – the reverse of the traditional dictator”. On Saddam Hussein: “I had a sneaking kind of liking for Saddam” On Colonel Gaddafi: he “could often be quite pleasant.” This is the BBC World Affairs Editor’s worldview. Our polling shows 92% of British Jews rate the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish interest as unfavourable. There is no more suitable outlet for Mr Simpson than the BBC.

Remember Jay Rayner saying this about The Guardian a year and a half ago? “For years now being Jewish, however non-observant, and working for the company has been uncomfortable, at times excruciating.” We’ll just leave this here. telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/…

On this day in 1992, a suicide car bombing linked to the terrorist group Hizballah targeted the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A vehicle filled with explosives hit the embassy building, which collapsed, killing 29 people including two Israeli diplomats, and a further 242 civilians were injured. Two years later, on 18th July 1994, a similar attack struck the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association Jewish Community building, which killed 85 people and injured more than 300, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history. Seven Iranian nationals were accused as suspects linked to the attack. These attacks serve as a stark reminder of the global reach and threat of Islamist terrorist organisations, and the urgency with which Governments far and wide need to clamp down on and combat such direct dangers to Jewish communities across the world.

“When I listen to the Minister linking over and again the problems in the Middle East with antisemitism, I am disappointed. They are two separate things.” We thank Lord Palmer for prompting the Government’s Lord Collins to clarify that there must be no conflation between what is happening in the Middle East and rising antisemitism in the UK. The blame for antisemitism in the UK lies with antisemites. This victim-blaming of Jews has to stop.

The Green Party is set to vote in its Spring Conference on yet another horrendous motion relating to Jews. This one would declare the Party’s opposition to the Government’s plan to fight antisemitism in the NHS. Yes, you read that right. The Greens are becoming more and more brazen with every motion that they are proposing. The Government has not even released its final plan into tackling antisemitism in the NHS, which is pending an ongoing review. The Green members behind this motion are evidently not interested in the details but in the very principle of fighting the world's oldest hatred. 76% of British Jews believe that the Green Party is too tolerant of antisemitism, according to our polling. The Party’s readiness to debate motions like this, rather than condemn them and call out the proposers for what they are and expel them, will only affirm to the Jewish community that its assessment of the Party is correct. This is becoming a very different Green Party from the one we all remember. telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/…