Community Security Trust
Encyclopedia
The Community Security Trust (CST) is a British charity established in 1994 to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community in the UK. It follows a history of Jewish defence organisations in the United Kingdom
dating back to the 1930s. The CST provides security advice and training for Jewish schools, synagogues and communal organisations and gives assistance to those bodies that are affected by antisemitism. The CST also assists and supports individual members of the Jewish community who have been affected by antisemitism and antisemitic incidents. It advises and represents the Jewish community on matters of antisemitism, terrorism and security and works with police, government and international bodies. All this work is provided at no charge.
The CST has recorded antisemitic incidents in the UK since 1994 and publishes an annual Antisemitic Incidents Report. The CST also published 'Terrorist Incidents against Jewish Communities and Israeli Citizens Abroad 1968-2010', a definitive report of terrorist attacks against Jewish communities around the world.
In 2008 CST published its first 'Antisemitic Discourse Report', an annual study of antisemitic discourse in mainstream media and politics in the UK.
The CST has five offices, 55 members of staff and a network of 3,000 volunteers from all parts of the Jewish community, who are trained by the CST and the Police. The organisation's philosophy is that the Jewish community is responsible for its own security. It works closely with Police Services around the country and is recognised by Government and Police as a model of a minority community security organisation.
In 2011 a number of articles appeared in the Jewish Chronicle highly critical of the work and functioning of the CST. Dr Gilbert Kahn, of Keane University in the USA, questioned why British Jewry needed a CST when British Jews paid taxes to the state for their physical protection. On 15 April the JC's resident columnist, Professor Geoffrey Alderman
, examined the constitution and functioning of the CST, and asked whether it could claim to be "representative" in any meaningful sense. Alderman returned to the subject on 10 June, when he detailed communal disapprobation of the CST and its work. Alderman also revealed that the company trustee of the CST was "Support Trustee Limited," a UK-based company whose details (including directors'names) may be accessed at the website of Companies House.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
dating back to the 1930s. The CST provides security advice and training for Jewish schools, synagogues and communal organisations and gives assistance to those bodies that are affected by antisemitism. The CST also assists and supports individual members of the Jewish community who have been affected by antisemitism and antisemitic incidents. It advises and represents the Jewish community on matters of antisemitism, terrorism and security and works with police, government and international bodies. All this work is provided at no charge.
The CST has recorded antisemitic incidents in the UK since 1994 and publishes an annual Antisemitic Incidents Report. The CST also published 'Terrorist Incidents against Jewish Communities and Israeli Citizens Abroad 1968-2010', a definitive report of terrorist attacks against Jewish communities around the world.
In 2008 CST published its first 'Antisemitic Discourse Report', an annual study of antisemitic discourse in mainstream media and politics in the UK.
The CST has five offices, 55 members of staff and a network of 3,000 volunteers from all parts of the Jewish community, who are trained by the CST and the Police. The organisation's philosophy is that the Jewish community is responsible for its own security. It works closely with Police Services around the country and is recognised by Government and Police as a model of a minority community security organisation.
In 2011 a number of articles appeared in the Jewish Chronicle highly critical of the work and functioning of the CST. Dr Gilbert Kahn, of Keane University in the USA, questioned why British Jewry needed a CST when British Jews paid taxes to the state for their physical protection. On 15 April the JC's resident columnist, Professor Geoffrey Alderman
Geoffrey Alderman
Geoffrey Alderman is a British historian, especially of the Jewish community in England in the 19th and 20th centuries, and also an academic, political adviser and award-winning journalist.-Life:...
, examined the constitution and functioning of the CST, and asked whether it could claim to be "representative" in any meaningful sense. Alderman returned to the subject on 10 June, when he detailed communal disapprobation of the CST and its work. Alderman also revealed that the company trustee of the CST was "Support Trustee Limited," a UK-based company whose details (including directors'names) may be accessed at the website of Companies House.