E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.4 page 16 63. Landlords are already refusing to rent to asylum-seekers. Even hostels run by charities cannot accept people who are not entitled to benefits. The only option will be life on the streets. The presence in the streets of a large number of black asylum-seekers risks accentuating the climate of xenophobia. H. Anti-Semitism 64. Current manifestations of anti-Semitism have two main sources: organizations and movements of the far right, and Islamic fundamentalist organizations. These manifestations are for the most part minor incidents (distribution of anti-Semitic literature, insults, graffiti) but can also take violent forms, such as bombings and arson. In all there were 350 anti-Semitic incidents in 1994. In July 1994, the Israeli Embassy was bombed and a Jewish charitable institution in north London was the target of an arson attack. The perpetrators will be tried in 1996. 65. The most active extreme-right organizations are the British National Party (BNP), which promotes an ideology of exclusivity or “Rights for Whites”, and Combat 18, a much more violent organization, which is behind the skinhead and hooligan movements. The influence of these organizations, however, is very limited. It does not extend beyond London and part of its periphery (the east). The BNP is thought to have committed numerous racist acts, and Combat 18 has published lists of persons who should be killed and disseminated information in writing on how to make bombs. 66. The Islamic organizations that incite anti-Semitism are linked to Islamic fundamentalist organizations in the Middle East, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which encourage the killing of Jews wherever they are found. Among these organizations, the London-based Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which disseminates anti-Semitic publications and propaganda, claims there is a Jewish plot to rule the world. 67. The Jewish community regrets that these organizations have not been prosecuted for their activities, although the Board of Deputies of British Jews has gathered enough evidence of their responsibility for acts of violence or for racist propaganda. The Board is very concerned by the application of legislation on incitement to racial hatred, which, due to its complexity, is becoming ineffective. The Crown Prosecution Office is responsible for instituting the appropriate proceedings. Trials, however, are rare, because the rules of evidence are very stringent. The Office does not like to begin proceedings unless they will result in a conviction, and unless the proceedings are in the public interest. But anti-Semitic graffiti and handbills are often anonymous. 68. Consequently, the Board is calling for a revision of the law so as to reduce the requirements for evidence; to create a specific infraction and offence of racist harassment and violence; and to create an offence of defamation with respect to an ethnic group, such that any member of the defamed group may bring charges. Despite the support of the majority of Parliament, a 1995 bill containing this recommendation was unsuccessful. 12/