Antisemitism

[bubbleandsqueak1976]

I read the posts on here with interest and often the subject of anti semitism comes up. I was brought up in a town in the South East. My mum gave me a book about Anne Frank when I was around 8 and I can remember asking ' what is a Jew?' as I had never met one. When I was about 14 a girl from northern Israel came to my school and I was asked to befriend her and help her settle in. I can remember being fascinated about her life in a Kibbutz and she used to show me
Hebrew writing. I don't recall ever hearing anything anti semitic about her or her brother as the only two Jewish kids - to my knowledge in the school. I also remember in my twenties encountering a group of lads from North London - white something and them having an absolute hatred for Jewish people. I can remember feeling utterly shocked as I'd never heard anti Jewish speak prior to this. Reading some of the recent posts on here it has made me wonder wherever there are pockets in the Uk with Jewish communities that experience antisemitism where the rest of the UK it does not occur as people simply have never met a Jewish person just their life- to their knowledge.Where I live I have only met 4 Jewish people in the Uk in my life and I am 47. The most Jewish people I have met were in Israel when I visited in 2000.

https://m.jpost.com/diaspora/article-826386

How much do you want to bet that they'll say it wasn't an antisemitic hate crime, just one mentally unwell individual who happened to kill a Jewish man🙄

thank Gd the victim doesn’t seem to have been killed, although the shooter was critically wounded.
it was caught on camera on a ring doorbell. Not that that will count for much 🙄

@EllaDisenchanted

I admit I feared the worst from what I'd seen on Twitter. Good news he survived the shooting

follow up from the lady caught on camera:
https://x.com/HeidiBachram/status/1850957469326938520

"The Jewish woman visibly in distress yesterday just got in touch. “Murderer” was screamed in her face by the vile pro-terror protestors outside the Jewish community centre. They spat “fascist” at an 80 year old who only wanted to attend a peace conference. Jill (not her real name) said she wanted to let everyone know she was fully recovered and still glad she went to the event to hear from Israeli Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and British Jews about how to stop the killing. She wished she could have shown a “braver face” for the organisers and sends a big thank you to everyone for their support and kindness. I think Jill is one of the bravest people I’ve seen. To walk through that hateful mess and carry on striving for peace. Bravo Jill "

Budget day today and the chancellor has pledged £2 million for holocaust education....very pleased to hear this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/us/harvard-oct-7-emails-israel-hamas-attack.html#

Hopefully this link works! Makes for interesting reading.

Sending strength to anyone with friends or family in Amsterdam following last night's riots 😔

Absolutely horrifying ☹️ and very much not surprising.

So upset this about this. Our family are from Amsterdam and we are Ajax season ticket holders. My 15 year old has flown out there on his own this morning for the first time as he's at Habonim camp this weekend. I'm assuming they will have extra security but incredibly worrying. Dam Square was a riot of Palestinian flags as usual when we were there last weekend.

My cousin and his husband (also Jewish) are over here for a long visit. They really wanted to see Amsterdam but have decided to go somewhere else this weekend. My thoughts are with the victims

I’m sorry 😔 that must be frightening

The Mumsnet thread on the Amsterdam attacks is absolutely sickening. So much blatant antisemitism. I can’t actually read it but shows the sentiment of some people.

This video is very helpful to explain what happened.

Sorry but I'm going to disagree about that video telling 'the truth about what happened'.

I watched the Dutch news tonight as well as the press conference earlier (in Dutch). I know Amsterdam extremely well and have many friends and family there. As I said earlier, in fact my 15 year old son flew out there alone this morning and is at Habonim right now.

What happened is absolutely sickening but I don't believe that video is an accurate representation and I think it's dangerously inflammatory.

Whilst it clearly wasn't 'just football hooligans' and there was definitely pre-planning (days ago the police had already banned and moved a protest outside the Arena that was planned for yesterday night) Palestinian flags were not put up in town just to provoke Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. There are dozens of flags there permanently and indeed there is a very large, noisy and permanent demonstration in Dam Square as well as regular protesters outside Central Station.

There is absolutely no evidence of attempted lynching at hotels. That language alone is dangerous and the last thing needed right now is anyone stirring things up more than it is already.

I'm heartbroken about the situation. Shuls there already have armed military police outside so the need for added measures is incredibly worrying. But we have to be responsible when it comes to sharing factual evidence based information about antisemitism and I've seen a few things today that are simply designed to inflame which does no one any favours.

No evidence of them lynching at hotels...

Now I remember why I haven't been on Mumsnet for so long. I'm logging off now as even in the Jewish section I constantly have to correct women who are meant to be on our side :(

Your latest video concurs with what I'm saying. It does not say 'Jews were being lynched at hotels' which is what the first video said. It says that Israelis were being targeted by groups in the streets. As the Amsterdam mayor herself said there was terrible organised 'hit and run' targeting. No one is denying that. It's horrendous. But whilst the interview posted below says that they were understandably terrified and hid in their hotel rooms that is entirely different to 'attempted lunching of Jews in hotels'. So please, be careful what you share as truth, use trusted sources, especially if you weren't there and don't personally know anyone who was.

Before October 7th I might have agreed with you but the amount of anti Semitism since is off the scale.
I regularly walk past a mosque in Willesden Green and there is one guy sitting on sentry duty reading a magazine most of the time.
The security in synagogues is extremely intense.
But most of the anti semitism or anti Zionist (as it is now reframed) comes from the far left. I’m amazed it gets a free pass. I wish 2 tier Kier and the police would take it more seriously.

Hen Mazzig’s summary of some of the incidents of anti semitism this week:

“This has been a dark week for Jews:

• A large-scale, premeditated pogrom injured dozens of Jews in Amsterdam. Media figures have yet to stop justifying the attack.

• A Jewish student in Dublin was cornered in a bar bathroom by three men who, after asking if he was Jewish and receiving a “yes,” beat him severely.

• A man in Crown Heights attempted to kidnap a visibly Jewish child walking with his father.

• A 13-year-old visibly Jewish child was slapped in the face by an older man on his way to school in Crown Heights.

• Two Jewish students at Chicago’s DePaul University were attacked by masked men while hosting a table inviting people to engage in peaceful dialogue about Israel.

• A visibly Jewish man in NYC was slashed in the face with a blade, requiring 18 stitches, by a man who shouted, “F* you guys.”

This list can’t begin to capture the extent of antisemitic vandalism, verbal harassment, and intimidation — but it does highlight the escalation in physical violence against Jews.

And world’s horrifying indifference to it.

This week will go down in history as a turning point for violent antisemitism in the 21st century.”

https://x.com/henmazzig/status/1855733550118559910?s=46

The videos are shocking. But we’re just shouting into the wind in our thread here.

I have just spent Shabbat and a few days in London with friends. We were in Hendon, and it was amazing to see all the yellow ribbons on trees and cars. It really felt like safety in numbers, especially coming from a tiny community in a very aggressively far Left northern city.

While we did see some pro-Hamas graffiti (on Abbey Road studios!?) the feeling of unity was stronger. Maybe it feels different if you live there, I'm not sure.

I'm Christian, I hope it's ok to post. I just wanted to show solidarity for the horrific anti Semitism your community has had to face.
Most of my schoolfriends feel great sympathy for civilians in Gaza,& want there to be a different response, as I do, but they seem unaware that Hamas are terrorists & have posed a terrible threat for a long time, nor of the suffering of Jewish people worldwide since October 7. There is very little mention of the murders and kidnapping of October 7. I bring it up whenever this is mentioned, & I plan to organise a collection for Israeli charities when I join uni.

AliasGrace

Thanks for your support. It means a lot. Just as the entire Muslim population throughout the world should not be held responsible and targeted for what Hamas are doing, the Jewish population throughout the world should not be on the receiving end of hatred. We are not the ones killing civilians. We have no control over this dreadful conflict.

Thank you for your support @AliasGrace47. It means a lot.

Thank you, I want to help however I can.
I've always had a lot of respect & sympathy for Israel bc my gran has told me about time she spent there in the 50s, where she was v warmly welcomed, but there was intense fear of attacks & v strong security. The problem is that lots of people my age don't know much about Israel & aren't so aware of the past attacks from other countries & terrorists that require it to be defensive. Social media encourages unthinking repetition of slogans etc without context or nuance. A lot of young people sincerely want to help the side of right but haven't researched the situation properly. I think some who use slogans like 'Free Palestine', 'From the river to the sea' or even intifada, don't understand the extremely violent & dangerous undertones behind them. This isn't an exvuse, they should be checking. There are def people who do know the real meaning, & are using them bc they're antisemitic, & I can see how frightening it is for Jewish people when these slogans are used & there's no way of knowing if the person is ignorant of their true meaning or hateful.
Also, the hostages were kidnapped over a year ago, & as there has v worryingly been little improvement in their situation, the news cycle has focused on the plight of Gazans. This needs attention, but there should be more focus on the ongoing trauma of the hostages & their families, the fear of ordinary Israeli civilians, the rising antisemitism in Europe & USA. Otherwise people are left w a dangerously unbalanced narrative.

👏