British Jews should not have to ask if we still belong

My family has lived in Britain since the late 19th century. My grandfather arrived here from eastern Europe, grew up in Manchester, built a business, and raised three children. My father fought in World War II in Montgomery’s legendary 8th Army. I was born in 1959, received a great education, and joined the family business, building my own family and moving to London along the way.

We are a Jewish family, tied to our religion and our traditions, committed to our community, and connected to Israel, always astonished that a Jewish state has come into existence during our lifetime. But we are very British; this country is our home.

We are, or at least we have been, deeply comfortable, happy and secure living in this country. A country that gave refuge to my grandparents and has nourished and nurtured our family for the last 130 years. A country of tolerance that has a collective sense of citizenship and critically a country that looks after its tiny Jewish community.

Antisemitism has always existed, Jews are regularly ‘othered’, and we have always had to look after ourselves. Still, we have never felt ostracised or fearful of declaring our Judaism in any private or public forum. Never. That has now changed. Today, Jews in this country are frightened that being Jewish puts us at risk.

On 2 October, Yom Kippur, two Jews were murdered outside their synagogue. Just 10 weeks later, on 13 December, 15 Jews were murdered and many more injured by two Islamist gunmen who opened fire at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach. When synagogues and public celebrations of Jewish festivals come under attack, a red line has been crossed.

Criticism of Israel is commonplace; it occurs outside of the Jewish community and within it. However, when that criticism turns into delegitimisation and delegitimisation into Jew-hatred, the consequences are deadly for Jews.

Horrifyingly, we have seen this Jew-hate spread like a plague throughout our society. We see it on the all too regular demonstrations against Israel in Central London, where vile antisemitic chants and slogans are par for the course. We see it in the NHS, where doctors talk about Jewish supremacy and praise Hamas.

Jewish students on campus robustly defend their positions, but when lecturers spread ancient blood libels, antisemites are empowered and emboldened. Today, Jewish students are demonised, besieged and aggressively intimidated for supporting Israel, to the extent that their safety is put at risk. Jewish artists and performers are cancelled from venues, often without warning - decisions made entirely by perception and prejudice.

And we wonder where this comes from. Yes, there has been another tragic war in the Middle East, but it is not a war that this country is involved in. Many conflicts rage across the globe, yet none provoke this level of obsession or vilification. Something deeper is happening here. There is a highly organised and well-funded effort to dominate public opinion, crowd out other voices, and cancel anyone considered hostile to their version of truth.

As Chair of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), I spend much of my time defending our community from this epidemic. I speak to government and to the civic institutions responsible for protecting our community, I hear voices of support and sympathy, but the tide of hate does not stop.

We will hold those authorities to account, and we await new legislation to protect us, but in the meantime, we call upon society itself to call out Jew-hate. It is alien to this country, anathema to British values and a disfiguring rot in civic behaviour. Jews in this country are not an enemy; we are proud, loyal British citizens and deserve to be treated as such.

Yet, again and again, British Jews have been forced to confront a painful question: are we still welcome in this country? Britain must now decide what kind of country it wants to be. A country that looks after its minorities or a country that appeases the mob.

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Keith Black is Chair of the Jewish Leadership Council.

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