To ask you to help with a cover story for my Jewish child

Here's a link to the story about the Jewish boy. Unbelievable cruelty.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pro-palestine-nurses-nhs-trust-174055377.html

The nurses may not have been Muslim though in this case. It just says they were wearing Palestine badges. There are fanatical anti Semites of all races & religions who might plausibly do that.

If it helps, I've always found "how long have you lived here?" Is nicer to be on receiving end of, and people will either share how long they've lived in the area or their further background however much they fancy

I’m Jewish and I’m a bit confused by your question re a ‘cover story’ - do you mean them pretending they’re not Jewish?

I’m third generation and never say I’m from Russia, because I’m not, I’m born and bred in England. Are they actually from Eastern Europe?

I agree there can be a ‘Jewish’ look but my
DC , now adults, have been asked if they’re Greek or Italian or Spanish - they look Jewish to me but maybe not to everyone!

I unintentionally asked a mum “where are you from?” - our kids were in Reception and I’d moved recentlyinto the area. She was understandably annoyed and said her parents were Moroccan, “no no, I meant did you grow up here in London or somewhere else in UK and a newcomer like me - I was mortified. My point being my question would have been unremarkable to a white woman but to someone who is repeatedly asked it in a racist way, it was unbearable. I’m a lot more considered since.

Honestly I'm always willing to learn, especially about other people's cultures and customs.

One thing I will say is I don't think separate schools is the answer. I'm convinced it just leads to more division in society.

I'm Scotland, so grew up with the RC & Protestant (officially non-denomonational) schools. In my experience separate schools just leads to fights for no reason. Kids arranging to meet in the local park after school for a fight.

It also leads to sectarianism when it comes to the job market. They don't need to ask what you are, its written on your CV or the innocent question, What school did you go to? St Anyone Secondary is Catholic where Protestant schools tend to be the town they are in Anytown Secondary.

I’m so sorry that your family is going through this. It’s unspeakably awful. In terms of a cover story, I don’t know what to advise because it would likely involve a small lie that would need to be sustained for a number of years. Kids hone in on these small differences and the likelihood of being caught out in later years seems quite high. Do you or their father have any other ancestry, however small, that could be used? Followed by a shrug when questioned further.

Anti semitism is rife in London. I worked at a very multicultural London school. No issues in the school itself with racism - having said that I haven't worked there for a couple of years. But a lot of the boys would remove their kippahs for the journey home for fear of issues on the way home.

I do agree that in certain areas (like London) there will be kids from backgrounds that will know the OPs kids aren’t from the same background and may be even on the ‘lookout’ (if that’s the right word) for Jewish kids. It wouldn’t happen where I’m from (as far as I’m aware) but I don’t think it’s that hard to believe some young people will know a lot about this.

They were reported on at the time

Do you have proof of this? In the UK?

I think a lot of people don't know about the huge community there. Partly because 90% were murdered and the remaining 10% understandably didn't want to discuss it much often...
Yes, Poland used to be quite pragmatic about religion, the Polish king back then let Jews in when others were more bigoted about their faith. Unfortunately, Poland became much more aggressively Catholic later in 19th century esp, partly as a nationalist response once they got conquered by Russia, and this fed pogroms and other hatefulness esp in rural areas.

I'd recommend Eva Hoffman's book Shtetl if you want to find out more.

Yes, a Jewish boy receiving treatment had his bed taken away and was made to lie on the floor. A man in a coma had his bay covered in Free Palestine stickers. This is from what I remember. In other countries (Australia and Canada, iirc) nurses have said they would kill them.

At my London girls' school (very mixed), 'where are you from?' would have been seen as rude, but culture and heritage did get discussed a lot. There were a few Jewish girls, and a lot of people felt Judaism was positive rather than anything else. But I can see how other schools could have a very different atmosphere.

Unbelievable some people are sure London schools couldn't be racist like this...

Thank-you I did think Jews were transported to Auschwitz.

I honestly had zero idea that Poland had a big Jewish population.
And my Googling earlier tells me many had left other countries to go to Poland centuries earlier to avoid hostilities.

Had an education today!

Op I appreciate none of this helps you.

Imo Muslims need to be the ones to tackle the problem in-community. Muslims who opppose anti Semitism need to be open about this.
I'll address the elephant in the room. I imagine a large percentage of Muslims in the UK feel some kind of sympathy for Palestinian people in general. That is not anti Semitic in itself. Nor is criticism of things Netanyahu or any other politicians have done.

But it needs to be drummed in that sympathy for Palestinian Arabs is NO excuse for violent or hateful rhetoric about anyone. And anti Semitic tropes need to be debunked and challenged : if you want to be a citizen of Britain, you need to refrain from racism. That needs to be the message.

I wonder if OP's problems are partly due to the fact that London Muslims schoolchildren are more likely to have been born abroad or have parents who have been. Though that's surely only part of it

There are Jews in London worried about the care they will get from the NHS due to this. -

What?? Have there been cases of Muslim NHS workers deliberately treating Jews badly?

That's beyond awful...

I think we need to face the truth that there is a massive problem with rampant racism against Jews amongst Muslims. I imagine this is where the racism OPs children are facing is coming from, from both teachers and students.

There are Jews in London worried about the care they will get from the NHS due to this. It’s a huge problem since Oct 7th.

We need to face this problem, name it and have a massive Government anti-racism drive against it, like we did to combat white racists in the 80s.

A lot of Jews imprisoned in Auschwitz and other camps were originally from another country than Poland. But Poland was chosen by Hitler as it had the largest Jewish population in Europe.. and yes, this could well have been picked up in classes.

Otoh sounds like SM plays a big role according to OP.

Only read the first page but appalled by replies showing either (1) a lack of understanding of the appalling racism Jewish people are facing in Britain now or (b) a lack of outrage at the depth and breadth of racism Jews are experiencing.

I never, ever thought Britain would be like this. It’s heartbreaking. I am so sorry your family are facing this OP.

I’m Jewish with olive skin as in I tan easily. My siblings look less ethnic that me. But either way no one would guess unless I told them. No cover story needed. If slightly darker could say oh grandma from Italy but I don’t speak Italian etc. My ancestors from mostly Ukraine and Russian so likely white / white passing.

I would alter David Meyers At Pajes. He’s in denial about the need for more Jewish schools. please do contact him.

What makes you so confident of your point of view? do you think she’s making up the experiences she’s discussing? If not, then what do you hope to gain from your post?

FYI, and as has been said NUMEROUS times in this thread, it IS a topic of conversation with young people in London. It’s because London is so diverse that young people tend to discuss their generational heritage. my kids both chatter about it with their friends: “susans half Scottish, ben’s dad is Jamaican” etc etc. .

so can we please stop undermining the OPs actual lived experience by telling her it’s not happening or can be easily dealt with?

Can you honestly not see the problem with telling her that what she says is happening is not happening?

I stand by my point that nobody has the right to bully personal information out of anybody, regardless of whether said information is accurate or a merely a perception!

Replace Jewish with any other protected characteristic they, or their family members may have e.g. gay or disabled or transgender or older/younger - should people be forced to confirm or deny this information to anyone who demands to know? And since when does a refusal to provide that information to a bully automatically confirm its truth? People like this are going to think whatever they want to think unfortunately, regardless of what the truth is and irrespective of whatever individuals say!

We all have a role to play in educating and empowering ourselves and our children about everyone's right to equality and freedom from discrimination, and that its ok to give a clear message that people's personal characteristics are actually private, even if they may seem "obvious". "NO" is a complete sentence!

I'd say so, do you have figures