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

@Alexandra2001 card carrying member of the Labour party since 1984

this is a thread about antisemitism not racism - or Boris and his lot

*you can’t unsee it

I think it is possible to not see everyday anti Semitism when you are not Jewish. I was in central London with a Jewish friend years ago, at night when we walked past a bouncer who made an anti Semitic gesture. Went over my head but in a Jewish context it is easy to see what it meant. We were just walking along, chatting and minding our own business and this man made the gesture. My friend recognised it for what as t it was.

He is also a football fan and I think there is still some language used at matches that is explicit and incredibly offensive. Once you start to see it, you can’t under it all.

@ScribblingPixie
Exactly. I find myself thinking there could be some bitterness and envy. And this could contribute the the nasty and deluded hierarchy of racism imported from the US. And of course there is deprivation in the Jewish community like every other. There are multiple paradoxes with antisemitism. It’s illogical and stupid.

I am not Jewish but am very interested in history and the stories of the holocaust. My daughter was fortunate to volunteer in a care home for the Jewish community so learned, and taught us, a lot about the religion and lovely holidays.
We should be shocked by a community not feeling safe in this country and ensure this thread does not slip away so as many people as possible see it.
Never forget - teach your children and they will teach theirs

@Echobelly Your comment but then I don't 'look' Jewish, I have an Anglicised name made me both laugh and roll my eyes.

You see this is part of the problem when even us Jews are rolling out the lazy stereotypes about what Jews look like/are called!! (I too have found myself saying exactly this and I rather hate myself when I do, but so many non-Jews have such narrow pre-conceived ideas of what Jews look like, and always but always trot out the same tropes.

I totally agree with the rest of your post.

We do punch above our weight culturally

That is so true. I remember as a child thinking Jewish people were so talented, intelligent, successful and entertaining that it was a total mystery why there was prejudice against them. But I guess I've solved the mystery right there.

@Mynameisnew - yes, there are far fewer of us than most people think! I find it interesting to ask people how many Jews they think there are in the UK most people assumed 'a couple of million maybe?' but no, there's only about 300k of us. We do punch above our weight culturally and are very concentrated in London (about 200k out of the total). And this is a problem as a lot of people don't know any Jews, which is probably at the heart of a lot of antisemitism. I can imagine people thinking 'Well, these Jews obviously keep themselves to themselves, they must think they're better than us' without realising it's just there aren't many of us about.

I've never experienced antisemitism on the street, but then I don't 'look' Jewish, I have an Anglicised name. I do sometimes worry someone might yell something at us one day when they see us obviously walking to synagogue (when my husband would usually have his kippah on his head) but it's never happened.

I have experienced it a bit online - for example, people who feel I owe them my view on Israel before they'll engage with me, for example. As it happens I abhor the treatment of the Palestinian people and feel they should have a state - but the point is I don't owe anyone that just because I'm Jewish.

I have the privilege of not having to be too worried about antisemitism myself, and I don't see any existential threat for Jews. But certainly more could be done to educate people to understand that... Jews are people! We don't all think or look the same way.

It would be good to teach that the origins of a prevelance of Jews in finance, for example, os not a sinister conspiracy but originates in the fact that Jews were historically not allowed to have many jobs except moneylending - and were then villified for being greedy and obsessed with money.

Anti-semitism means hatred of Jews. As a terms, antisemitism rather lessens and whitewashes what it actually means. This is why antisemitism is deems more acceptable than racism. Additionally, because so many Jews are white, some feel that they cannot experience racism, even though Jews are a race (and not just a religion).

Err who has actually been at the top of UK politics over the last 12 years? and what is our PMs views on Muslims etc.

Racism of all kinds has never really gone away, anti-Semitism is alive an kicking, as is Islamophobia.

This thread is about antisemitism.
Not “racism of all kinds”.

I'm sorry for all the abuse.

I really dont understand why people do this or why it is so widespread.

I am Jewish (convert) and married to an Israeli. I have never experienced any antisemitism beyond my brother (of all people!) casually telling me I was "a bit Jewish with the sugar" in his cup of coffee. Believe me I set him straight over that! But it looks like I've just been incredibly lucky to avoid it, and my kids tell me they do hear antisemitic things at school.

I lived in Israel for several years but would never move back now, it has sadly fallen to the far right like so many other countries. And the reason we left in the first place was that we were ready to start a family and didn't feel it was a safe place to raise children - that was 17 years ago. So I don't understand people who make aliyah because they don't feel safe here. I hate to think how bad the abuse must be that would make them think of leaving the UK.

Lefty? 'course you are.

Racism of all kinds has never really gone away, anti-Semitism is alive an kicking, as is Islamophobia.

Its needs stamping out and that really does start at the top with changes in attitudes and robust law enforcement.

It’s sickening to see this hatred grows by the day. It’s sickening to see how the vote here has gone. It’s sickening to read that there are children who don’t know about the Holocaust, or who flat out state it’s made up.

I’m not Jewish, but this doesn’t mean it’s not my responsibility to learn about it. I’m the one who needs to be doing the work, I’ve met so many people who don’t bother informing themselves on this issue, because ‘it doesn’t concern them’.

I worked at the Jewish Museum in Berlin last summer, for a few days. Passport copies submitted and police background check done the week before we were first given access to the building. I’ve worked in some remote parts of the planet and gone through dozens of airports, in and out of dodgy countries, and nowhere have I seen that level of security before.

I visited again last month with my family as I live nearby and they came for the holidays. We spent 5 hours inside and I don’t think we took in even 10%. Those who don’t believe the Holocaust existed, should spend some time on the first floor where there are walls literally packed with all the laws given during the Nazi government period, against the Jews. You’d need hours to read them all. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see it there, written out. I don’t know how anybody can see that and claim they don’t care or it’s a thing ‘of the past’. Why? Why hate people like that?

Ignorance is not an excuse. If you don’t know about it, you go and educate yourself. You go and read about how entire families were killed. You go and talk to people whose grandparents or parents survived a concentration camp. You go and talk to people who were the only member of their synagogue to get out of there alive. You go and learn, and teach others as you go. You teach your children and don’t say ‘they’re too young to learn about that’. The children killed, or forced to work in concentration camps, weren’t too young. They had to bloody live it.

We teach kids in KS1 about different families, different colours of skin. We celebrate pride and black history month. Why? To prevent homophobia and racism. Well, some of it. Clearly we don’t do a thorough job because we, as a society (and here I include the whole of Europe), don’t consider it necessary to teach young children that hating Jewish people isn’t acceptable. We don’t consider it necessary to teach them the history of the abuse and hatred which dates back millennia. We are not doing enough.

It’s definitely on the rise, and I feel more vulnerable than I ever have before. What makes it so much more frightening is the sheer number of people who insist it isn’t happening. Yet I’ve met an awful lot of non-Jews who seem to think they are experts on the Jewish experience, more so than me (an actual Jew).

@Needacuppanow she used to do a lot of work with schools doing Holocaust assemblies etc. She doesn't walk very well now so doesn't do anymore. she carries a lot of grief but also gratitude for her parents courage in putting their 10 year old on the kindertransport. She has a lot of important memorabilia - her 'Jude' star for example, that she intends to leave to a museum.
Her story of bravery and terror is hard to hear. And here she is 85 years later still feeling unsafe for being a Jew.

I'm looking at The Guardian online and I see that their article on Holocaust Day is about black victims of Hitler (Jews aren't mentioned in the headline or intro at all) with a photo of Jesse Owens (!) and it sits next to an Owen Jones piece on islamaphobia. Quite something - and not something good.

YANBU it's horrific and The Labour Party are a disgrace on the issue - as for the grauniad - it's basically a rag now with nothing in it I want to read - I say that as a lefty

@DontBuyANewMumCashmere yes it was the Roman soldiers who arrested Jesus.
But it was all in God's plan for Jesus to be crucified so He could rise again.
He was charged with blasphemy, for declaring He was the Son of God. The Jewish high priests had planned his arrest and hated Jesus. They thought he shouldn't be hanging around with tax collectors, prostitutes, sick people etc. Jesus was also a Jew, but was also disliked by the high priests for his teachings in the temples.

@MissVictoriaPlum has your grandma ever been a guest speaker at the National Holocaust Memorial Centre?
I listened to a survivor of the Kindertransport speak and it was the unheard stories that choked me up. Pure evil.

Afterwards I spoke to someone who worked at the museum and remarked, 'this is all quite scary.'
'Yes' she replied, 'it only takes the same attitudes for his to happen all over again, and for people to vote for the wrong person.' We both agreed that the Holocaust, could happen all over again if people accepted these awful racist views. Its unthinkable, but a real possibility.

I have a candle lit tonight.

I had no idea that people were having to employ security guards at weddings nurseries and old people's homes. That is very shocking information to me.

Just to say re Marcus Rashford: in his defence he has now tweeted that he wasn't aware of and doesn't condone Wiley's comments. He says they just happened to be in the same place at the same time hence the photo op happening.

[quote Duke4]@Greywhippet
Rebecca L-B shared an antisemitic article. She is also a die-hard Corbynite which tells you everything you need to know. Indeed the rot starts at the top.[/quote]
Which anti Semitic article are you referring to? Can you explain what was anti Semitic about it? Genuine question.
Also, how do you explain the ‘die hard Corbynites’ who are Jewish themselves? There are a fair few in my local party and several in Corbyn’s constituency. Again, genuine question.

I remember being told as a kid that I killed Jesus as though I had personally gone and crucified the man (bit before my time honestly).

I've read today people sticking up for Wiley because "Jew's aren't a race". It does feel that for a variety of reasons people feel that antisemitism is more acceptable than other forms of racism.

For all those who lost their lives and loved ones, we remember.