Jonathan Margolis writes: A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how tricky it is being a liberal-minded, moderately left-wing Jew in Britain these days, only to be told that this kind of attack is exactly the kind of thing we deserve. So I’m not surprised by what happened in Golders Green, I’m angry.
Personal Connection to the Attack
The thing for me about yesterday’s apparent attempted massacre of Jews – and what else can we call it – is that I know well the scruffy suburban corner of northwest London around which the nightmarish events took place. The corner of Highfield Road and Golders Green Road is where, if I’m visiting my brother in the area, I drop into Menachem’s butchery and deli to pick up several bags of superb Jewish nosh and take them back to enhance my more Jew-ish than strictly Jewish life in genteel Kew. There, I like to have a pint with our terrific vicar, Giles Fraser, and have even been to Midnight Mass in his church. When the next attempted massacre happens, as it will, I doubt it will be round here in west London. I may look like a million other middle-aged Jewish men, but where I live, waiting at a bus stop or picking up a grandchild at school is not a high-risk activity. In areas with a higher Jewish population, every time you leave the house now needs to be thought about.
Disappointment with Israel and Rising Antisemitism
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here, in what I hope were non-whingey terms, about how tricky it is being a liberal-minded, moderately left-wing Jew in Britain these days, when, even if you have rather liked and admired Israel all your life, its current fundamentalist government’s actions are frequently an embarrassment. I admitted to being disappointed and disillusioned by Israel, and that, if I were unaligned, I could imagine myself getting a bit tired of it and of Jewish people going on about it.
Yesterday, after the Golders Green events, I was asked by someone what my feelings were. Sir Mark Rowley, the – I think – excellent Metropolitan Police commissioner, had been barracked by angry Jewish bystanders when he made a – I thought – rather good statement in the street. Was I also angry that the police aren’t doing enough? Watching it later, Sir Mark’s sentiments and his praise for the bravery of the officers who arrested the suspect were spot on for me. I’m pretty sure those officers will feel a bit unloved in some quarters in forthcoming days, when their somewhat robust arrest methods will doubtless be seen as breaching the suspect’s “yooman” rights, but I love you guys and thank you for preventing something a lot worse.
The Impossible Position of the Police
And anyway, what are the cops supposed to do about this latterly revived ancient fad among the unhinged and racist for trying to murder random Jews? The line trotted out endlessly by everyone critical of Israel, me included to be honest, is that hatred of Israel doesn’t mean hatred of Jews in general. In an irony the alleged assailant is unlikely ever to understand, it’s quite possible that his identifiably orthodox Jewish victims don’t support Israel. A lot of the quirkily attired, Amish-like sects that proliferate in Golders Green don’t. But the continuing assaults on just any Jews you see around demonstrate to me that, to a smaller or larger extent, the problem an awful lot of people have is with Jews, not Zionists. This has been the case for decades. But from a policing and public safety point of view in today’s febrile landscape, distinguishing legitimate political protest from naked race hate is mostly damned near impossible.
Confronting Anti-Israel Protesters
I asked a bunch of white, English non-Muslim pro-Palestine protestors recently if, since they care so deeply about Gaza, they also feel angry about Sudan, Iran, Ukraine, Yemen, or if they know or care that Syria’s Assad killed 600,000 of his own people. The only one of the group who answered me, a ginger, bearded young man in sandals with Palestinian flags painted on his face said “I don’t give a s**t about any of them. If you care about Zelensky’s Ukrainian fascists, you go and march for them.” He added, “Sounds to me like you watch too much Zionist PR on the BBC.” He gave an exaggerated sardonic laugh when I said a lot of Jewish people think the BBC is institutionally anti-Israel. “Well they can f**k off,” he said wittily. I bet he is a little bit pleased about the Golders Green attack. I’m sure a considerable proportion of people like this are now delighted that “the Zionists” are getting what they deserve.
I am sure this probably well-schooled young guy – I’d guess a Home Counties background, degree in social work – would be outraged in spite of his obsession with Jews if someone started murdering randoms of any number of ethnicities to protest about some injustice in their homeland which they may or may not support.
Conclusion: The Need for a Safe Haven
The poor old Met finds itself in an impossible position. A substantial proportion of the British public seems to believe that, because of Gaza/Netanyahu/Iran/whatever, any identifiable Jew is, at the very least, endangering himself by walking the streets. To save any readers the typing time, I know someone is going to say, “You have it coming. Think about what you did to the babies in Gaza.” One such commented after my last article that he has “no sympathy at all”. I responded to thank him for his transparency and for being honest about having moved on from political protest to more broad-brush racism. So what about my disappointment and disillusion about Israel in this new normal? I’d say I’m slightly gladder it’s still there and functioning. If only, I was thinking when the Golders Green news broke yesterday, there was somewhere, some tiny safe country for us to go and not be looking over our shoulder all the time. Oh hang on, there is. But a lot of people don’t seem to want it to be there at all.
