History > 2006 > UK > Community relations / Racism (III)

Critics of Israel

'fuelling hatred of British Jews'

MPs demand action
against rising abuse,
harassment and even violence

Sunday September 3, 2006
The Observer
Ned Temko, chief political correspondent

A group of prominent MPs, alarmed at the rise of anti-semitism in Britain, will accuse some left-wing activists and Muslim extremists this week of using criticism of Israel as 'a pretext' for spreading hatred against British Jews.

The charge is made in a hard-hitting report - by MPs from all three major political parties - which will be unveiled at a Downing Street meeting with Tony Blair on Thursday.

The report is published in the wake of an alarming increase in verbal harassment, abusive emails and letters, and even violent assaults on British Jews. The number of incidents that took place in July, which came in the middle of escalating violence in the Middle East, was the third highest on record.

The 10-month inquiry into anti-semitism in Britain was chaired by the former Europe Minister Denis MacShane and included the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne.

Details of the report are being kept confidential until its formal release. However, a draft of the document - seen by The Observer - reveals that incidents of verbal abuse, harassment and violence against Jewish community members and their institutions is reaching worrying levels.

It urges more consistent action by police, prosecutors and the government. All have failed to tackle antisemitism with the same determination as other forms of racism, the report suggests.

The report voices particular concern over 'a minority of Islamic extremists who are inciting hatred towards Jews', and it criticises recent moves by left-wing academics to boycott links with Israel. Though emphasising the right of people to criticise or protest against Israeli government actions, it says 'rage' over Israeli policies has sometimes 'provided a pretext' for anti-semitism.

'Calls to boycott contacts with intellectuals and academics working in Israel are an assault on academic freedom and intellectual exchange,' the report says, adding that the response of university vice-chancellors to such campaigns has been patchy.

Pro-boycott activists have angrily rejected allegations of anti-semitism and accused their critics of using the charge to ward off political criticism of Israel.

MacShane, speaking last week on a BBC radio programme devoted to Jewish community issues, said British Jews were right to 'shudder' at the 'aggressive' comparison of Israeli policies with the Holocaust. He also spoke of a 'witch's brew' of anti-semitism including the far left and 'ultra-Islamist' extremists who reject Israel's right to exist.

Among the report's dozens of recommendations is a call for the government to adopt the broad-ranging European Union definition of anti-semitism - including activities targeting 'the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity' with 'symbols and images associated with classical anti-semitism'.

It also recommends greater security support for the community, which spends millions of pounds on fencing, CCTV cameras and other measures to safeguard synagogues, schools and other communal institutions. 'It is not right for any group of British citizens to dig into their own pocket because they feel there is not adequate protection for their right to express themselves religiously or culturally,' MacShane said.

What they say

Jonathan Sachs, Chief Rabbi

Anti-semitism used to be a product of national cultures. Today's is global, communicated by satellite television, email and the internet. It is not broadcast but narrowcast, targeted at specific audiences, sometimes in Arabic. Its breeding ground is in radical Islamist circles, and its targets - synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres, Jews in the street - often have nothing to do with Israel.

Anthony Lerman, executive director, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research

Anti-semitism today is a serious problem for Jews and for society as a whole. But what of the vexed question of whether anti-Zionism or singling out Israel for extreme criticism is anti-semitic? While very many Jews feel a deep attachment to Israel, it is the opposite of clear thinking to assume that all expressions of anti-Zionism are simply a cloak for, or a form of, anti-semitism. It drains the word of any useful value, confusing a strongly held political view with prejudice against a whole people.

Mitch Simmons, campaigns director, Union of Jewish Students

When a Jewish student waves their family goodbye, their parents have an additional concern: will they be a victim of anti-semitism? University campuses, perhaps more than anywhere else, have been the laboratory for the changing vocabulary of contemporary anti-semitism. If a Jewish student feels it necessary to wear a baseball cap on campus to hide his skullcap for fear of physical or verbal assault, then that campus can no longer be considered a safe space for all students.

    Critics of Israel 'fuelling hatred of British Jews', O, 3.9.2006, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1863808,00.html

Attacks on Jews soar since Lebanon

Synagogues and citizens have been targeted

September 02, 2006
The Times
By Joanna Bale and Anthony Browne

BRITISH Jews are facing a wave of anti-Semitic attacks prompted by Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Synagogues have been daubed with graffiti, Jewish leaders have had hate-mail and ordinary people have been subjected to insults and vandalism.


On Thursday an all-party parliamentary inquiry will state that anti-Semitic violence has become endemic in Britain, both on the streets and university campuses. The report will call for urgent action from the Government, the police and educational establishments.

Mark Gardner, of the Community Security Trust, said: “In July, when the conflict in Lebanon began, we received reports of 92 incidents, which was the third-worst month since records began in 1984.” In 2000 the monthly average was between 10 and 30 incidents.

The former minister Denis MacShane, who chaired the parliamentary inquiry, said: “These figures confirm the evidence given to us that anti-Semitic attacks are a very real problem.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews submitted evidence to the inquiry that anti-Semitism in Britain was at its worst level.

The July incidents “were more dispersed than usual”, Mr Gardner said. “It is usually a small number responsible for a large number of attacks, but these were very widespread across the country and included graffiti attacks on synagogues in Edinburgh and Glasgow.”

The attackers, when visible, are from across society, he said. “When it’s verbal abuse, it’s just ordinary people in the street, from middle-class women to working-class men. All colours and backgrounds. We hardly ever see incidents involving the classic neo-Nazi skinhead. Muslims are over-represented.”

In hate-mail to senior Jewish figures, ordinary Jewish people were being blamed for the deaths of Lebanese civilians. “There are also references to the Holocaust, saying that Hitler should have wiped out the Jews.”

Mr Gardner said that the rise in attacks reflected increased hostility to Israel and Jews in the media and across society: “The number of anti-Semitic attacks reflects the mood music around Jews and Israel.”

There have been several attacks in Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb in North London, where there is a large Jewish population. La Maison du Café in Golders Green Road was targeted two weeks ago by two young men who threw chairs at the restaurant, punched workers and threatened to kill the owner, Ruth Cohen, with a knife.

Ms Cohen, 34, said: “They asked if it was a Jewish restaurant. They said they were going to kill me and called me a ‘dirty Jew’, a ‘stinking Jew’. One of them had a knife. A colleague came out. They started punching him and throwing chairs.”

In Hampstead Garden Suburb, swastikas and the words “Kill all Jews” and “Allah” were daubed on the house and car of Justin Stebbing. Dr Stebbing, who works at a hospital, said: “I felt violated. It’s horrible.”

Jon Benjamin, of the Board of Deputies, said: “The problem is the spin that Israel is an irredeemably evil regime, and we are concerned that it may become common currency to connect British Jews with this.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers said: “Our National Community Tension Team are alert to recent incidents. We are working with the CST. We are strongly encouraging reporting of incidents.”

Attacks on Jews soar since Lebanon,
Ts, 2.9.2006,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2339394,00.html