Is Britain doing enough to fight antisemitism?
After a knife attack on two Jewish people last Wednesday in London, the British government has allocated 25 million pounds to protect Jewish institutions. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government was treating the issue as an "absolute priority". The number of antisemitic attacks in Britain has surged since the start of the Gaza war after 7 October 2023.
Reforms with teeth needed
Britain must not betray its finest traditions, warns The Daily Telegraph:
“The attack against Jews in [the London district of] Golders Green this week cannot be removed from the context of inflammatory rhetoric and the spreading of lies that have been overlooked or indeed encouraged by some in politics. The Government must urgently enact an 'anti-extremism' policy. These reforms must have teeth, with immediate action being taken against those spreading extremist narratives. ... A Britain where Jewish people do not feel safe, and do not feel they have the full protection of the law, is one that has betrayed all its finest traditions.”
Where are the mass demonstrations?
British society should stand by all threatened minorities, The Guardian demands:
“If you're a supporter of the Palestinians and you don't like the conflation of opposition to Israel with antisemitism ... take a stand now against antisemitism and in support of British Jews. It should have already happened. There should have been a call for a mass demonstration in London this very weekend, making clear that, whatever their different views on the Middle East, the people of this country reject and repudiate deadly attacks on an ethnic minority, isolating and ostracising those who would contemplate or defend such violence. That it has not is an indictment of all those who claim their animating mission is the fight against racism.”