To be concerned about the rise of antisemitism in the UK?

Growing up as one of only two Jewish families left in her town after WWII, and almost no extended family as the Nazis murdered most of them, my mum was very aware of antisemitism. She also says she often befriended Roma children as she could sympathise with the prejudice they faced. My dad's done research on Jews in music around 200 years ago and is not very interested in the links between Jewish and Roma culture, especially musically. He believes that klezmer music is essentially Roma music really - it's all very interesting.

And the Holocaust was unique to the Jews in the extent to which European Jewry was targeted and annihilated. Even the Roma population who came close to the Jewish population in that regard lost about one quarter of the population in Nazi occupied Europe whereas two-thirds of European Jewry was wiped out. The Poles suffered terribly, no doubt, as well as homosexuals, disabled, Serbs, Russians etc and there's no problem acknowledging that - it's not a contest in suffering - but it's not the Holocaust which primarily refers to the genocide of European (and North African) jewry. Nine out of ten Jews in Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Serbia were murdered. Nine out of ten!! Children were literally hunted down to be murdered. Even when the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, when they were losing the war, they still found the resources to murder over half a million Jews, 70% of Hungary's Jewish population, over three months. That's how devoted to the Jewsih genocide they were. And most people in European countries DID NOT CARE. Only Denmark actually did something. Even the UK and the US shut their borders tight to Jewish refugees, with Britain even blocking refugees to mandatory Palesitne. The world didn't care.

NO other population was subject to this horror in such a targeted manner. It wasn't "just" the Jews but it was first and foremost aimed at them.

“I don’t want to derail the thread from Jewish concerns but I also think the travelling community suffer shocking abuse still. Life expectancy is shocking. Similar in that white community, so ‘hidden’, and discreet but some shocking stories justified by social apathy, really.”

Not wanting to derail the thread either, but I live in an area of the country where there is a higher than average Traveller population and the prejudice and scapegoating is openly expressed, endemic and deeply rooted. Romani have been in the UK since at least the 15th century so the fear and the racism is hundreds of years old, ingrained into the folklore. I lit two candles last night. One in tribute to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the other for the Romani victims who are so often forgotten. The Romani Holocaust is generally referred to as the ‘Porajmos’ which roughly translates as ‘the Devouring’.

I thought it was forbidden to request a person’s religion in France for that reason.

I remember in the fairly early days of Google, an announcement started to appear on certain pages if you googled a person who was Jewish. Apparently so many people were entering the name and term ‘juif’ that they realised the motives were suspect. The announcement was an apology/statement saying they were aware of what was going on and that they knew some searches were genuine but others weren’t.

I worked in a bookshop that used to sell Searchlight (anti racism magazine) and occasionally we were told neo fascists were buying it to find out rally info, if they were mentioned, etc. This is SE London which has always been a hotspot for BNP etc. The most obvious was black racism but it’s not hard to recognise that the arguments they used applied to Jewish people, the Irish, etc. I think the fact that they are white groups meant it was often seen as social violence rather than targeted violence at a group that was seen as ‘other’.

I don’t want to derail the thread from Jewish concerns but I also think the travelling community suffer shocking abuse still. Life expectancy is shocking. Similar in that white community, so ‘hidden’, and discreet but some shocking stories justified by social apathy, really.

One thing that has always stood out for me is that the Jewish community has always recognised the other communities and never made the atrocities singular to them when they could have. There is an excellent book that illustrates the organisation that went into identifying all the Jewish families across Europe to make up the Wannsee (sp) document. The objective was to remove all Judaism from Europe - all history, thought, life, contribution and value. I have never heard or read any official document that has not also included mention of the Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, and Poles who were persecuted.

I watched the Prince Charles portrait documentary last night and was thinking that those survivors have done exactly what Hitler was frightened of. They have upheld humanity, almost beyond human capability. They are a testament to all that is triumphant of the human spirit yet also carried such humility.

I'm not Jewish but years ago I was on the receiving end of antisemitism due to wearing a Star of David pendant my Jewish relatives bought me as a gift. The racist slur was done so quickly and quietly and the guy just disappeared into the crowd. I felt horrible for days after that. I often think about how hellish it must be for the Jewish communities who go through this and worse much more often.

@mumsiedarlingrevolta Leopoldstadt was on at the cinema last night. My DD, who is 15 and doing GCSE history, and I went to watch it.

There were parts where I was angry, parts where I was shocked to silence, and at the end, where the list of the family was read out, I cried. There were not many of us in the cinema but as we were coming out a lady said to me "that's my family history".

I grew up in the 90s when Friends was really pervasive and watched by just about everyone. That show totally normalised Judaism for me as at that time I didn't know any Jewish people. The happy Hanukkah Monica song went a really long way. Didn't teach me much, but did normalise.

[quote onlychildhamster]@Mynameisnew it can be quite hard to count Jewish people..the people who marry out is around 1/3. Of course a lot of the people who marry out would still consider themselves Jewish but it's quite likely the children may not esp if the Jewish person was the father and the non Jewish partner was Catholic or C of E. My synagogue is liberal and they do recognize the children who are raised as Jewish from such mixed marriages as Jewish but orthodox synagogues are the majority and they don't. Also are they getting the Jewish population from household census or from synagogues. It cost money to belong to a synagogue; many of the most religious people I know (esp the orthodox) don't belong to a synagogue![/quote]
They usually look at the census. However, for understandable reasons, many Jewish people refuse to identify themselves and don’t wish for there to be official records.

I never really 'saw' obvious anti-semitism until I moved to Stamford Hill - where this attack took place. I say this attack, but there are plenty around here, from jewish women being punched in their pregnant bellies, to anti-semitic graffiti on bus stops, to verbal abuse being levelled at innocent people just walking on by in the street, soley about their heritage. Just the other day, I was walking down the street, there was a slight bike vs car incident, the bicyclist came off his bike, I stopped to see if he was ok, but he was too busy shouting anti-semitic abuse at the driver. I mean, it was the drivers fault no doubt, but there's no reason to bring his race or religion into it! Needless to say I offered to help no further (I did say something too the cyclist was too busy shouting abuse to hear me) and went on my way. Karma can sort his hurts out, I aint being a good samaritan to him!

I can't say if anti-semitism is on the rise or not, but certainly it's rife round here. I mean, how many other schools need private security because they fear being attacked? I know of no other community that employs security guards to walk around the area during their times of worship, as again, they are in fear of attack. It's atrocious, and my heart goes out to my neighbours. I popped into the shop earlier today, where the attack took place, just to express my sympathies and solidarities, and the shop girl admitted they are a community who live in fear. And no one should live like that.

@sansucre - that is why I put 'look' I quote marks, as I know 'looking Jewish' is not a thing. I often point out that someone who is not Jewish but is considered to 'look Jewish' and has a name that could be Jewish (sat, Simon Schneider) could experience more antisemitism than I do!

This thread has been a heartbreaking read. I am so sorry to all of the Jewish people who have spoken here, and those who have not, that this is a thing you face daily.

I lived in the travelling community as a child, so I am well aware of the faux innocent attacks suffered by white or white appearing minority groups in the UK. It astounds me and always has, the bizarre distinction many people seem to make between racism and anti-Semitism and xenophobia. I cannot comprehend why the former is socially unacceptable, but the latter seem a bit distasteful at best. I have noticed the rise in anti-Semitism - I discussed it at length only the other day. I am not Jewish, I have no Jewish connection, but I see and I am disgusted and disturbed.

Felt particularly gas lighty naming places in caithness when the labour candidate at the last election got deselected for antisemitism . It exists and it being acknowledged as existing is the first step.

I’m worried I’m going to sound incredibly ignorant by posting this as I am non Jewish and do not even know any Jewish people in real life but I really do not understand why as a society we had the whole “black lives matter” movement thereby so many publicly speaking out against racism / prejudice not too long ago (and still ongoing) and yet it seems socially acceptable to hate Jews? It seems so odd. I really just don’t understand any of it, and I’m so sad to see so much hatred creeping up in the world. Why are people so against racism and prejudice against one part of our society and not another….? Where are the mass protests and media coverage?

[quote Mandatorymongoose]@sansucre I know Jews are a race as well as a religion. I put my ethnicity as Jewish on forms but usually put my religion as none, as this seems the most sincere way to express my personal heritage (I've not been in a synagogue in the last 20 years so claiming the religion seems a bit much).

But, people are busy arguing online that that isn't the case and I know that it isn't an isolated view. My point, maybe badly made, was it is one of the reasons why it is easier for people to dismiss antisemitism, because it's "not like its racism". [/quote]
On forms, I have started selecting 'white other' and even through I'm not really a practising Jew and didn't go to synagogue, speak Hebrew or keep kosher growing up, I do tick box when asked about my religion as I feel it's important to be counted as a Jew - after all, my mother was a Jew, I was born a Jew and irregardless of my religious practices, I will always be a Jew. (That said, in recent years, I have started to observe more high days.)

Anyway, I understood what you were trying to say. Ignorance is at the heart of the problem. As I have said in my other posts, I think the main issue with the term antisemitism is that it conceals what it actually means - hatred of Jews. Add in the confusion/ignorance about Jews also being a race/ethnicity coupled with the fact that many Jews are white makes it harder for others to grasp that Jews experience racism too.

Usually those arguing online aren't even Jewish, and that my friend is another part of the issue, (and something I have experienced and fallen out with non-Jewish friends over).

JustDanceAddict TwentyPast - Thanks so much for explaining!

This is absolutely terrible and I really feel for all those affected 🧡

I have a question that I hope is ok to ask and that I hope isn't offensive as that is not my intention at all, but if it is please someone let me know and I will report my own post and learn from this. I don't understand how street attacks come out of the blue, as unless they are part of the Hasidic community, how would anyone know that they are jewish on sight alone? Once again, I'm sorry if that is an inappropriate question.

Antisemitism began with the Romans, was used by Christianity and the political system over centuries to distract from the current crisis of the time and is endemic in any culture with any European influence, not with the majority but with the minority who are easily blindsided those trying to divide society for their own gain. We need to not only teach what happened during the Holocaust but how Europeans were prepared for it, the books produced for young children with vile stereotypes, the isolation of a section of society so the media could be used to stress the ‘otherness’ of them, the hiding of the reality by the Nazis who built the death camps outside of Germany. Most of all we need to introduce critical thinking into the curriculum, get rid of the tick box education currently pedalled and embrace intellectualism and curiosity so click bait becomes ridiculed by all. Everyday life is difficult at the moment, those in control - and it’s not just the government- are looking to offset the blame, as a population we need to challenge the narrative that it is those who are different from us that are responsible, it is not refugees it is those who produced the horrors they are running from, it is not a Jewish conspiracy it is the billionaires who are happy to increase their wealth through the misery of others, it is not the pandemic it is those who have used it for individual advancement. We have also to challenge the casual racism- and antisemitism is racism- when ever we encounter it, something I have to do with soul destroying regularity with some of my relatives by marriage.

@onlychildhamster We've made the choice that having bosses not be understanding about leave in the holiday season is far preferable to having rockets launched at us, but isn't it awful that anyone needs to make those choices at all?

I'm not Jewish but care very much about this. Just wanted to say you are not alone.

I have to admit I don't really know anything about the current problems with antisemitism. I live in an area that doesn't have a Jewish population so I've only seen the very occasional story. This thread has been eye opening. I don't understand why it isn't more widely reported.