In recent weeks, most people in the UK have woken up to one of two headlines: either the latest nocturnal shocker from Donald Trump, or another attack on Jewish property or individuals, mostly in a small part of north London. There is little that can be done about the former; there is a lot that could, and should, have been done over many months to address the climate that has helped give rise to the latter. The British government and law enforcement have a great deal of catching up to do.
Golders Green Attack: A Turning Point?
The knife attacks in Golders Green, in broad daylight, on two clearly Jewish men, and the arrest of a suspect described by police as a Somali-born British citizen, seem to have produced a political response of a slightly higher order than the fire-bombing of Jewish ambulances or the Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues. Will that continue? British Jews, driven to anger and despair by ineffectual platitudes from officialdom in response to previous attacks, will have little faith. It is not unreasonable to ask whether the words would have been so bland and lacking in follow-up if the interests being attacked had been Muslim or Black.
Worse has been the impression given that, where Jews are concerned, there is not much the authorities can do. A little more money for security here, maybe calls for more vigilance. After the latest attack, the local MP, Sarah Sackman, even admitted to BBC’s Newsnight that, where the Jewish community was concerned: “We can’t guarantee that everybody is kept safe.” Imagine that being said in relation to any other minority.
Conspicuous Absences in Support
There have also been conspicuous absences. Anti-racism groups that once rallied at the drop of a hat to support the latest grievance have not exactly rushed to support their Jewish fellow-citizens. Still more conspicuous has been any serious statement or action to address where the threats are coming from. The government has made periodic suggestions that the attacks may be orchestrated by some proxy for a hostile power: in this case, Iran. So far, though, no actual link has been identified, either with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or with a hazy group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (Hayi) that has boasted of responsibility. I would simply note how much easier it is for any government to blame an external enemy, however nebulous, than admit that blame might lie closer to home.
Historical Antisemitism vs. Modern Threats
Every so often, someone might also point the finger of blame at enduring antisemitism, which is treated almost as a fact of life. There is, indeed, a strand of largely unstated antisemitism in Britain that goes back a long way, though probably less than in some parts of Europe. But historical British antisemitism is mostly not the culprit here, is it? It is something more recent, and something that should be of even greater concern in that it is in the process of shaping the future unless it can be addressed and reversed.
Personally, I admit to being astonished by how quickly – hours, rather than weeks – the blame for the murderous Hamas attacks on Israel of 7 October 2023 was transformed into blame for Israel, and the first of the mass marches through London in solidarity with the Palestinians. Nor was it just the speed of the reversal in sentiment. On the streets, beneath all the flags, you saw at once a new demographic and a new constituency finding a coherent political voice.
If I had been Jewish, I would have been apprehensive at very least about what this might mean for my British future. If I had been a member of HM Government, I would have been wondering about the politics of the future, where some fundamental cross-party assumptions might be overturned – UK foreign policy support for the existence, if not the policies, of the state of Israel; the capacity to recruit the next generation’s armed forces; a common sense of nationhood under the union flag.
Palestine Issue in UK Domestic Politics
A second revelation was how far the Palestine/Gaza issue has been transferred into UK domestic politics, to the point where it has determined the result of certain parliamentary and council by-elections, and is likely to do the same in next week’s council elections. There are constituencies where ethnic loyalties and religion are mainly what determine someone’s vote. That may be disguised to an extent by the candidate’s designation as an independent. But it is a malign development. The only part of the UK where the vote went along sectarian lines used to be Northern Ireland. No longer.
The sad truth now is that the safety specifically of British Jews, who feel – and judging by recent events, really are – uniquely threatened by the rise of a largely young and Muslim constituency that sees Israel as the enemy and British Jews as somehow guilty by association, has been largely ignored. Worse, this government, even more than the last, has seemed to be running scared, perhaps for fear of civil unrest, or more immediately for fear of losing more electoral support.
Policing of Pro-Palestine Marches
The policing of the pro-Palestine marches has been light-touch to say the least, with a blind eye being turned to incendiary slogans and placards, the excuse being that it will all be sorted out later via CCTV. Nor was there any comeback, so far as I am aware, to the projection of “From the river to the sea” onto Big Ben. There should have been.
We have now reached the point where the government’s chief adviser on terrorism, Jonathan Hall KC, is describing attacks on Jewish people as “the biggest national security emergency” in almost a decade. To which the government’s response is to offer a bit of extra money here and a bit of extra education there, and to quibble about the definition of a national emergency.
Urgent National Response Needed
Well, it may not be a national emergency, strictly speaking, but it needs an urgent national response, in terms of measures to foster national integration. Sweden recently reintroduced partial national service (not necessarily military) with just such a purpose. The UK should go a step further: a compulsory period of service for all school-leavers, with absolutely no opt-outs and no exemptions. It might not work, but it is hard to see any other way to get to grips with what is, in today’s headlines, a real threat to the safety of the UK’s small Jewish population, but actually runs wider and deeper than this.
