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

[Aislyn]

My eldest is at secondary school and has suffered horrific racist bullying due to being identifiably Jewish. She never told anyone, but they guessed due to her appearance, and her saying Eastern European countries when asked 'where are you from?'

Unfortunately the school has been completely unhelpful, and refused to tackle this.

My second child is starting at second and has sen. They are at even higher risk of bullying. They have an appearance that would mean that they could be identified as Jewish, especially when citing Eastern European countries in response to the above question. Can anyone think of a cover story for my child?

(Yes, I have tried to get them a place at a Jewish school, but there is none available)

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.

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.

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...

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

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.

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...

It doesn't but I appreciate your willingness to learn. I am all for education to bring change, and this is what I have asked for at the school.

The children are obviously hearing a lot of Anti-Semitism at home and/or online on social media, and the school is in a unique position to be able to educate and change this culture. There needs to be willingness though, which there sadly isn't currently.

I think most people lack a basic understanding about the history of Jews, and this leads to a lot of racism.

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.

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.

Do you have proof of this? In the UK?

They were reported on at the time

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.

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’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.

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 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.

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!

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

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.

I said that piece you quoted. FFS of course I am aware of it. My husband lost relatives in the death camps. We have been many times. I would maintain that most people in the UK do not associate Nazis in Germany with Poland. Let's be honest most people in the UK couldn't place Edinburgh or Cardiff on a map.

How about you think before you try to preach to people? I don't need history lessons from you, thanks.

As an aside every time I go into an NHS setting people ask me how to pronounce my name ( meaning to do well) and then ask me where it's from because it is originally a Germanic name.

I really feel sorry for Jewish people in our country now, as it seems to be becoming more and more acceptable to abuse them.

Just yesterday, a jury acquitted a woman who publicly praised Hamas. This is a group whose founding charter aims to wipe out Jews and who murdered people at a music festival simply for being Jewish.

All cheered on by the far-left. Scary times folks.

She told the crowd: "I would never condemn the resistance of Palestinians because their resistance is due to the occupation.

"So, if you want to talk about violence, if you want to talk about atrocities, then point the finger to the state of Israel.

"I am sick of being told to condemn Hamas, when Hamas are fighting for freedom, Hamas are fighting for the people."

'The people'...? No word of the Palestinians who have been murdered for opposing Hamas, or the fact that many want to escape them but are intimidated into staying?
It's like when some Westerners in 1979 somehow spun Ayatollah Khomeini as a liberator.
There's something crazily wrong with these people....

Jewish schools don't tend to lead to Jews attacking others though. They have traditionally been both to protect from prejudice and to facilitate observant students who keep kosher, Shabbat etc.

In my ideal world there wouldn't be faith schools, but in the world as it is, I think there is a strong case for Jewish schools being different from Catholic etc . And I'd also argue that Scotland is a bit different since it was more religious until recently than England was. Catholic schools in the UK didn't tend to fuel sectarianism.

I’d like to see what the results of the investigation are. ‘Covered in pro Palestine badges’ doesn’t sound like how a nurse would be allowed to show up at work. It’s the Telegraph, and the language is odd.

If it did happen- the nurses in question should absolutely be sacked- no question. Any kind of discrimination should be a sackable offence in the NHS, where care should never depend on someone’s race, religion, or anything else.

The man in the coma and other horrible incidents are reported here.

https://www.pslhub.org/blogs/entry/8170-antisemitic-abuse-rises-within-nhs-and-staff-are-the-%E2%80%98worst-culprits%E2%80%99/

Again we don't know if the culprits were Muslim, though.