Antisemitic hate crime has been on the rise following the Israel-Palestine war
Two swastikas were put up in a Sheffield window(Image: LinkedIn)
A swastika has been put up in the window of a disused building in Sheffield city centre.
A picture posted on social media by Bashir Khan, who works at Sheffield City Council, showed two swastikas drawn on a piece of paper stuck to the window of an empty unit in Fitzalan Square. They have now been removed by the council. It follows an increase in religious hate crime, including terrorist attacks against Jewish people at a Manchester synagogue and in Bondi Beach in Australia last weekend.
Posting on social media, Bashir said: “Really dislike having to share this, but it’s crystal clear what it signifies, that someone felt confident enough to place it on the window and not sure if it’s the only one in the vicinity, can’t take it off (the razor blade risk). We ALL have to step up – at work, home and play and be part of the meaningful and sustained solution, no room for fluffy half-baked approaches. Never Again should be never again.”
It comes as hate crimes against Jewish people have soared following the outbreak of the Israel-Palestine war in October 2023. The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism, recorded 1,521 antisemitic incidents across the UK in the first half of 2025. This was the second-highest total ever reported to the organisation in the first six months of any year. January to June 2024 was the record high, with 2,019 incidents recorded.
Official Home Office figures show there were 106 religious hate crimes per 10,000 population targeted at Jewish people across England and Wales in the year to March. The next highest rate was for hate crimes targeted at Muslims, with 12 per 10,000 population. These figures exclude the Metropolitan Police, who did not provide data but make up nearly half of all religious hate crimes in the country.
The incident follows several high-profile atrocities committed against Jewish people this year, including an attack on a Manchester synagogue in which two men were killed and a terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Australia last week. Fifteen people were gunned down in Bondi Beach on Sunday, December 14, including a 10-year-old girl, a British-born rabbi and a Holocaust survivor.
The swastika is widely recognised as the symbol for the German Nazi Party. In World War Two, Nazi Germany murdered around six million Jews.
YorkshireLive has contacted South Yorkshire Police for a statement.
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