Politics
The left’s obsessive hatred of Israel is a direct cause of anti-Semitism in the UK
WHO could have imagined the behaviour we saw on the streets of Britain at the weekend?
A rabbi attacked and a synagogue vandalised.
Protesters confront the police in Whitehall during the pro-Palestine demonstration[/caption]
On Saturday, in the middle of London, a march where people chanted: “Jews, the army of Muhammad is returning.”
Jewish school and university students reporting racist abuse, some with Nazi salutes. Others have been sent death threats.
And on Sunday afternoon racist bigots drove from Bradford in a convoy of cars draped in Palestinian flags to harass and intimidate people in areas of London with large Jewish communities.
Some of the passengers shouted: “Free Palestine!”
Horrified onlookers filmed one man shouting: “F*** the Jews! Rape their daughters!”
You have to ask what is going on that could result in people driving hundreds of miles to spew out racist abuse at Jewish people in London. What a disgrace.
Vandalism at a synagogue in Finsbury Park, London[/caption]
Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists being saluted at a fascist parade[/caption]
According to the Community Security Trust, the charity that protects Jewish people, incidents of anti-Semitic abuse and attacks increased five-fold in just over a week.
Since May 8, the CST has recorded 106 anti-Semitic incidents, compared to 19 in the 11 days prior.
Talk to Jewish people and you will hear how the intimidation has scared them.
Every decent person in Britain must reject this hatred and stand up to the bigots, just as we would for any minority under attack.
We must all make clear this is completely unacceptable. This is not who we are. It is contrary to our country’s basic values of democracy, equality, freedom, fairness and tolerance.
Of course we believe in freedom of speech and the right to protest.
BRUTAL CONTROL
But tell me why we never see angry protests about the 4,000 Palestinians killed by Assad’s forces in Syria, or the terrible human rights in Iran, which causes so many conflicts across the Middle East.
Anyway, that car convoy was not a peaceful march to make a point or a peaceful rally in Trafalgar Square.
What is the difference between those racist thugs on Sunday and Oswald Mosley marching his British Union of Fascists into the Jewish East End in the 1930s?
When far-right thugs from the EDL or BNP came to stir up trouble in Dudley, where I was MP, I stood with the Muslim community. And I know whose side I’m on when it comes to last weekend.
But these things do not happen in isolation. Extremism and anti-Jewish racism have been allowed to take root over the past few years.
Anti-Semitism has festered on campuses and online as universities and social media companies turn a blind eye.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn attends a rally in 2016[/caption]
Protesters block the road outside Downing Street, London[/caption]
Worst of all, anti-Semitism was allowed to poison the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. A political party set up to fight for equality guilty of breaking equalities law in the way Jewish people were treated.
So spare me the hard-Left’s sanctimony over racism. They bear a large part of the responsibility.
Many on the Left have become obsessed with Israel, the world’s only Jewish state and the Middle East’s only democracy. They blame British Jews for the actions of a government in another country 3,000 miles away.
They hold Israel to standards never applied to any other country, while giving Hamas — a terrorist organisation targeting civilians — a free pass.
The events we saw last weekend prove beyond doubt that obsessive hatred and demonisation of Israel leads to anti-Semitism against British Jews.
Decent people need to stand firm against anti-Jewish hatred, whether that is here on the streets of Britain or aimed at people in Israel.
HATE THE WEST
Backed by Iranian extremists, Hamas terrorists have rained thousands of rockets down on families in Israel over the past week. If it wasn’t for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system, thousands of Israeli civilians might have been killed.
Nevertheless, civilians on both sides have tragically lost their lives. The situation under Hamas’s brutal control is terrible for Gaza’s citizens.
But why do Hamas have funds for rockets, tunnels and terror yet not for schools, hospitals and medicine?
The Israeli government have not just a right, but a duty to protect their people. Even so, Israel does everything it can to avoid harming civilians.
The pictures on TV are heartbreaking, but we need to understand the facts.
If Hamas stop firing rockets at Israeli civilians, the conflict will end. But Hamas don’t want peace with Israel.
They are committed to its destruction and are trying to derail the peace agreements signed last year with Israel’s Arab neighbours.
Israeli security forces deploy to disperse Palestinian protesters[/caption]
Palestinian protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli security forces[/caption]
Most read in News
They have exploited the Palestinian Authority’s decision to cancel elections, violence in Jerusalem and a dispute about housing to start a war with Israel because they refuse to accept Israel’s existence.
And just as decent British people stand up for those targeted by racists here, we know whose side we are on when it comes to the conflict between our ally Israel and the homicidal Hamas terrorists who hate the West and everything we stand for.
- Lord Austin chairs Mainstream, the campaign against extremism.
