The Jewish Orthodox David had contested Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington seat, amid great media uproar over the Labour Party leader’s alleged antisemitic narrative. Wearing traditional Jewish Orthodox attire, David quickly came to symbolize British Jewry’s defiant stand against the oldest hatred.
Corbyn retained his Islington seat as expected, but the party suffered a historic blow. A relieved David then appeared before the cameras to declare that “the British people have shown that they do not support antisemitism, and that Jewish people are welcome in this country.”
Much has changed since David’s 2019 postelection speech. Last week, he tweeted “More antisemitism on the streets of London” as he shared a video of yet another troubling Jew-hating incident. This time it was an angry mob seen marching down a quiet London street, while in the background a man is heard shouting “We’ll find some Jews there, we want the Jews, we want the Zionists, we want their blood.”
The current spike in antisemitism finds the former candidate “very worried about the future.” Convinced that “what we are seeing is the work of a very loud minority,” David admits that the nature and intensity of recent incidents are a cause for great concern for the Jewish community.
“Whenever Israel is engaged in conflict, you see antisemitism rise,” he explains. “Jews in the Diaspora have come to expect this temporary rise in anti-Jewish sentiments and anger, but this time was different; what we saw during Guardian of the Walls was very unsettling and unlike previous waves. This felt like grassroots hatred that touched the heart of Jewish neighborhoods. Seeing this, I must tell you that I worry for the future.”
OVER THE 11 days during the May Guardian of the Walls operation, the Community Security Trust recorded 116 antisemitic incidents, compared to just 19 such incidents in the 11 days prior to the conflict.
“This is a fivefold increase... and it is almost certainly an undercount,” states CST’s website, “because some antisemitic incidents will be reported late, have not yet been processed and verified and, of course, many antisemitic incidents will never be reported at all.”
In both Britain and America, observes journalist Melanie Phillips, “Antisemitic attacks have been going through the roof. Jews have been singled out for assault in the street and in restaurants, baited on social media or from passing cars, their synagogues attacked and their children harassed in school.”
Attributing the “tsunami of antisemitism” to “an alliance between the Islamic world and the Western Left,” Phillips rightly points to the alliance’s common cause against the Jewish people, hanging “ostensibly over the Palestinian issue.”
This point is beyond contention. “There is a strong consensus within the British public over the Palestinian cause,” says Lance Forman, prominent Jewish smoked salmon entrepreneur and former Conservative MEP for London. “It has united the Jewish state’s haters unlike any other. The media is awash with stories of Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people, painting a thoroughly negative image of Israel and fueling the anger.”
Social media plays a significant part, too, he adds, acting as a “powerful magnifier of the hatred – most will limit their protest to a negative online comment about Jews or Israel, but some will inevitably take to the street and even use physical force.”
In 2014, Forman’s business property was sprayed with “Free Gaza” graffiti, which prompted a call to the police, but the high-profile businessman was never subjected to antisemitic abuse. The reality of Joseph Cohen of the Israel Advocacy Movement is different – the pro-Israel activist was verbally and physically attacked.
“People in the UK are more likely to have a negative image of Israel,” Cohen tells The Jerusalem Post. Unlike Forman, who sees attacks as the work of a “loud minority,” Cohen believes them to be reflective of anti-Jewish sentiments that are more widespread than many appreciate.
“I do not consider antisemitism as the thinking or action of a small minority fringe,” he explains. “It is more prevalent within British society than people realize and deeply rooted within society. We are witnessing a spike whenever Israel is involved in conflict, but antisemitism is an ongoing issue.”
Troubled by the “different nature” of the animosity seen during Operation Guardian of the Walls, Cohen speaks of haters being “more intense and vocal” than during previous conflicts, with a “more threatening tone, and Jewish areas directly affected.”
There was also a “disturbing increase in the use of ‘classic’ medieval antisemitic imagery, including emotive portrayals of Jews as child and baby killers.”
On May 23, Cohen and his friend, wearing kippot, were attacked by Islamic extremists as they left a kosher restaurant in central London.
“They attacked us because we are visibly Jewish,” said Cohen to his Twitter followers. “We got away with grazes and bruises,” he added, “but the next person they attack might not be as lucky.”
Society and the media are obsessed with “Israel the oppressor,” argues Cohen, “as evident through the nature and scale of reporting on the issue. The sad reality is that civilians, including children, die in conflicts around the world all the time, but no other conflict merits the detailed attention that Israel does.
“Take, for example, The New York Times showing photos of Palestinian children who lost their lives in the conflict – no other conflict ever triggered such a display. Couple that with the power of social media, and you have the anti-Israeli sentiments immensely magnified.”
This anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian narrative is filtering through to the very heart of British society, including schools. Reports have emerged of Jewish teachers who quit their trade union in protest of its participation in pro-Palestinian rallies, schools filled with Palestinian flags and students staging pro-Palestine protests on school premises.
The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was compelled to write to head teachers across the UK, to warn them about the alarming rise in antisemitism within education, and remind them of staff’s legal requirement to remain politically impartial.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, too, made a statement in support of Britain’s Jewish community in light of the shocking attacks. Responding to a question from Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer, Johnson said: “I share his horror at the outbreak of antisemitic incidents, and the government has conveyed that message loud and clear to those who are responsible for enforcing the law against hate crime.”
Possibly the most alarming incident was that of a convoy of cars bearing Palestinian flags driving through a north London Jewish community and broadcasting antisemitic rhetoric through a megaphone, including “F*** the Jews, rape their daughters.”
The many incidents reported included an assault on a Chigwell rabbi where he needed hospital treatment; individuals shouting “Free Palestine” at random Jewish people; an antisemitic email sent to senior Jewish leaders that said “you f***ing Jew c***s, concentration camps were too good for you, he should have gassed all of you money grabbing yid bastards”; offensive words and a swastika painted in the Adat Yeshua Messianic Synagogue in Norwich; criminal damage caused at a London synagogue; and a man who stopped Jewish secondary school students in London and threatened to punch them if they did not say they support Palestine – saying to them “Tell your f***ing mum and dad they are murderers and killing babies.”
APART FROM specific incidents, however, there is a feeling that antisemitism in the UK has shifted from a passing wave related to Israel’s actions to an ever-present entity within British life, a constant undercurrent within culture as a whole.
“Antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed,” stated the Campaign Against Antisemitism, pointing to antisemitic language used in reference to the conflict between Hamas and Israel. “Demonstrations have been rife with signs displaying antisemitic images, including invocations of classic antisemitic tropes such as the blood libel and Jewish deicide; social media has been awash with conspiracy theories and anti-Jewish hashtags; and there have been physical assaults on Jews in the street, threats and intimidation in schools, hospitals and elsewhere, and damage to Jewish properties.”
There is “latent antisemitism” in the UK, claims the CAA, arguing that “even when this latest surge diminishes, the anti-Jewish racism will persist and will inevitably reemerge at the next opportunity.”
It is worth noting that the CAA has changed the status quo within Britain with regard to the fight against antisemitism. Its unrelenting legal action against Jew haters has sent a bold message that antisemitism will not be tolerated and that perpetrators will not get away with their crimes. A recent example is that of Holocaust denier Alison Chabloz.
“Several years ago, we secured the first conviction in the UK over Holocaust denial when used to abuse and bait Jews,” said a CAA official. “That precedent has recently been applied in the conviction of the notorious antisemite Alison Chabloz, who received a custodial sentence. Ms. Chabloz is a remorseless and repulsive antisemite who has spent years obsessively inciting others to hate Jews, principally by claiming that the Holocaust was a hoax perpetrated by Jews to defraud the world. Other antisemites who believe that they can abuse the Jewish community online with impunity should take note.”
Recent events have seen the Jewish community become more aware and more vigilant. Many synagogues have employed security guards, and Jewish organizations have put extra safety precautions in place.
Jewish individuals, families and parents play their part as they feel the strain. Jewish mother Julia spoke of the recent spike, as well as the constant presence of the topic within society, as a cause for real concern.
“Many times” she told the Post, “my non-Jewish friends don’t see how anti-Israeli feeling is being used as an excuse to vilify Israeli people and British Jews, nor do they accept that vilifying individual Israelis or Jews for the actions of the Israeli government is a problem.”
Julia was so worried about her children that she did not identify them as Jewish when she registered them for school.
“As time went on,” she explained, “one of my children decided to identify as Jewish in school. After that, she received abuse from her classmates. Every time Israel was mentioned in school, teachers would refer to my daughter and ask her to ‘defend’ her love of Israel, even though she has never stepped foot there. Her friends make a point of posting pro-Palestinian news items on their Instagram stories, and pick on my daughter if she does not ‘like’ these stories.”
Julia does not expect the current talk of antisemitism to die down anytime soon, and has even considered emigrating.
“I am a kind person, I work in health and social care, and I have given everything to the UK,” she laments. “Won’t the people I have supported and protected all these years do the same for me now?” she asks.
People are growing aware of the abundance of misinformation over social media, relating to Jews, Zionism and Israel – a cause dear to the pro-Israel blogger David Collier, who argues that “Wikipedia today is a central conduit in the spread of antisemitism. The lies, propaganda and distortion are visible on every relevant page.”
The CAA’s Wikipedia page, for example, shows “blatant anti-Jewish bias” – the “criticism” section on the CAA entry is the largest section on the page, explains Collier. “A letter in The Guardian from the usual handful of Jewish anti-Zionist suspects is even considered as evidence. Even more worryingly, the criticism section is placed near the top of the page – preceding the description of much of their work. This goes against all normal Wikipedia behavior. A reader is therefore presented with what negative critics think of CAA, before reading about any positive contributions they have made. A subtle but brutally effective strategy in psychological warfare.
“Compare that with the page for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. There is absolutely no criticism on the PSC page at all. None. Every attempt to add criticism to the page has been removed. Anyone who reads about the PSC would have no idea that extremism, antisemitism and Holocaust denial follow the organization around. A scrawled letter to The Guardian from Naomi Idrissi and her mates was enough to take down the CAA on their Wiki page, but a detailed investigation of PSC antisemitism by the Evening Standard isn’t good enough to make it onto the PSC page.”
There is nothing wrong with people marching and protesting for Palestine, concludes David; this is their democratic right. “There is, however, a big difference between criticizing Israeli policy and claiming that Israel harvests Palestinians’ organs.”
Trying to make sense of recent events, David points to the Jews being a well-integrated community, made of relatively well-to-do, respectful and loyal citizens, with many of their synagogues housing a prayer for queen and country. “I believe that it is this impression of Jews that makes them ‘less worthy’ of protection in the public’s eye.”
A recent CAA survey supported David’s frustration, showing that 78% of Jews felt that politicians should do more to protect the Jews.
Perhaps the most telling of the survey’s finding is that almost half of British Jews now conceal visible signs of Judaism in public, due to antisemitism. This shows how fearful and vulnerable UK Jews are.
“Britain is at a tipping point” said CAA chairman Gideon Falter. “Unless antisemitism is met with zero tolerance, it will continue to grow and British Jews will increasingly question their place in their own country.”