Displaying items by tag: antiSemitism

Hudson Valley towns, north of New York, have seen an influx of Hasidic Jews in recent years, and they have been suffering violent attacks following a deadly 10 December shooting rampage at a kosher market where six Jewish people died. New York City police received at least six reports of attacks in one week. Mayor Bill de Blasio promised an increased police presence in neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations. In London, anti-Semitic graffiti were daubed on a synagogue and several kosher shops during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The graffiti showed the Star of David and ‘911’, referencing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that Jews are responsible for the 9/11 terror attack or Kristallnacht, the organised nationwide attack on Jews which began in Germany on 9 November 1938. In November newspaper headlines stated that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe, riding a wave of nationalism. See also

Anti-Israel protesters in London have been screaming death threats at Jews in Arabic, and anti-Semitic activity is said to be active in the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn is being challenged in his own Islington North constituency by Yosef David, an Orthodox Jew, standing for the Brexit Party. Yosef works for a large Jewish charity and acknowledges that toppling Corbyn would be a miracle, but he is ‘highlighting the impact of the Labour anti-Semitism epidemic on the community. On 26 November Ephraim Mirvis, Britain’s most senior Jewish leader, accused Corbyn of allowing anti-Semitism to take root in the party, while Justin Welby agreed that British Jews felt much insecurity and fear, and added regretfully that the Church of England has had its own history of antisemitism. On the same day, hundreds of Christians aligned to Operation Breakthrough, Worldwide Mission Fellowship, and Prayer Warriors International spent time in prayer and repentance, focussing on the UK’s attitude towards Israel.

On 31 October 1917 Britain answered God’s call to facilitate Israel’s restoration to her ancient homeland, as Cyrus did in the 6th century BC. Britain was then considered a Christian nation, where the idea of restoring the Jewish people to their ancient homeland had been alive for 200 years. The Church understood that God had covenanted the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as an everlasting possession. In 1917 the Balfour Declaration was agreed, and Britain liberated Beersheba from Ottoman Turkish control - the first stage in ensuring that the exiles could freely return. However, in February 2019 the EU and the League of Arab States identified Israel’s settlements as ‘illegal’. Britain agreed with this stance, even though the Geneva Convention states that ‘there is no binding agreement in international law that designates the disputed territories as belonging to the Palestinians’.

As 70-80 worshippers in a synagogue in Halle observed Yom Kippur, their holiest day of the year, a gunman shot at a locked door. The camera at the entrance showed him trying to break into the building, but the door remained closed. God protected them. The attack, streamed live, was a chilling reminder of the mosque attack in New Zealand which was also online in real time. Footage also shows the assailant laying a home-made explosive outside and uttering anti-Semitic statements. He shot and killed a passer-by, and another man nearby. Following the attack, the synagogue congregants were filmed singing and dancing on a bus transporting them from hospital. They finished the concluding prayer for Yom Kippur inside the hospital. The attacker wanted to carry out a massacre and had nine pounds of explosives in his car.

A five-year-old boy, from a family of Holocaust survivors, suffered anti-Semitic harassment at a school in Melbourne where pupils hounded him in the school toilets, calling him a ‘Jewish cockroach’. He was chased continuously to the bathroom and laughed at for being circumcised, to the point that he started to wet himself in class rather than using the toilet. His mother said that after behaving strangely for months, one morning he burst out crying over breakfast and literally fell down on the floor, saying, ‘Mummy, you shouldn’t love me. I’m a worthless Jewish rodent. I’m vermin’. Meanwhile a 12-year-old Jewish student was forced to kneel and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate. Then nine boys beat him up. Because the incident happened outside school, education officials denied responsibility for the incident. Melbourne media also reported other acts of anti-Semitism.

A skullcap, sometimes called a kippah or yarmulke, is a cap worn by some male Jews under religious rules that say their heads should be covered. Commissioner Felix Klein, the German government's top official against anti-semitism, has warned Jewish people not to wear skullcaps in parts of the country because of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks. Mr Klein told the Funke newspaper group, ‘My opinion has unfortunately changed compared with what it used to be. I cannot recommend to Jews that they wear the skullcap at all times everywhere in Germany.’ According to statistics released earlier this month, anti-Semitic incidents were up by 19.6% to 1,799 in 2018, with 89.1% of them involving far-right perpetrators. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he was deeply shocked by Mr Klein's words. He added, ‘We will never submit, will never lower our gaze and will never react to anti-semitism with defeatism - and expect and demand our allies act in the same way.’

Some say Labour could capitalise on the Brexit delay and sweep into power, with Leave-supporting voters turning their backs on the Conservatives over the Brexit interruption. Labour would then become the largest party in the Commons, with a substantial majority. Surveys taken between 2 and 11 April put support for Conservatives at its lowest for five years. A week later backbenchers have urged Corbyn to shift his stance and commit to a Brexit vote, or he might let Nigel Farage snatch a shock European election victory with his new Brexit Party. Meanwhile he has been criticised for Labour's handling of anti-Semitism. Media reports of internal documents showed that the party had failed to take disciplinary action in hundreds of anti-Semitism cases. The Jewish Labour Movement passed a no-confidence vote in him. See

Plans for a new Holocaust memorial and learning centre in Westminster are currently being strongly opposed. The plans, first announced by David Cameron in 2016, have the backing of every major UK Jewish organisation and 170+ politicians from all political parties. A growing number of people in this country, especially the younger generation, know nothing or very little about the Holocaust, so a vital education centre for that generation risks being lost. The memorial will use 7% of the park, with the education centre underground. Whilst many genuinely oppose the construction without discriminatory motives, there is evidence of anti-Semitism from some opponents. A petition to save the memorial has been posted online, because it ‘could be stopped if we fail to act before the end of March.’

2,500 people attended a vigil at a memorial hall and 1,500 stood outside in the rain, listening to loudspeakers, the day after an anti-Semite murdered eleven people and injured six in their place of worship on 27 October, their Shabbat. ‘We need love, not hate’, said the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. The Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and others stood by the Bishop of Pittsburgh whose response to the shooting was, ‘This terror is added to the heap of such crimes we have witnessed in the past. Yet our hope is not dimmed. “Behold, I set before you this day, life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live’’ (Deuteronomy 30:19).’ See

On 13 September 2018 the House of Lords debated a motion from Lord Popat, ‘to ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to reassure the Jewish community over the impact of anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom.’ David Urquhart, the Bishop of Birmingham, said, ‘There is a need for constant vigilance to ensure that anti-Semitism plays no part in the life of our country’. A further report on the theology of Christian-Jewish relations is in preparation, led by the Bishop of Lichfield.