Jewish man who feels 'failed by Starmer' moving to Israel due to rising anti-semitism in the UK
A British-Jewish man from Salford has told LBC he is leaving the UK and moving to Israel on Monday due to rising levels of anti-semitism.
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Richard Manville, 70, is a season ticket holder at Salford City, and has run a successful business in Manchester employing dozens of people, and has raised a family here.
But, with a heavy heart, he is now leaving.
“I was born in Salford, as were my parents”, he said. “I've lived here pretty much all my life, all 70 years of it, and enjoyed it very much up until recent times.
“All my life has been frankly one where I've not experienced antisemitism pretty much at all. Very, very little up until recent times. That's what's changed."
Richard, his wife and their dog Lola are packed up and ready to go. Their belongings have been loaded into a container, and will fly out to Tel Aviv on Monday.
'Toxic atmosphere'
"I think probably the 7th of October, 2023… I think that was the trigger point for the changes that I've seen and witnessed in the last three years. We have had weekly protests in the centre of Manchester… and they've changed, they've metamorphosized into something which is frankly, a bit grotesque.
"It's very frightening because we're hearing, apart from what could easily be deemed as hate crimes, where they make hissing sounds to be sounding like what happened in the gas chambers in the 1930s, and we see slogans which are no longer disguised behind anti Zionism.
"They are openly anti Semitic, and even when they say things like, "globalise the intifada”, we as Jews see that as something that is seeking our harm.
"It's a pretty toxic atmosphere we've been living in."
The Yom Kippur terror attack on the synagogue in Crumpsall was just one of a series of incidents that has injected more fear into the Jewish community, Richard told LBC: “I don't think we ever expected it to that degree.
"I think we expect, you know, people spitting at Orthodox Jews, we see that quite often, or sticking posters on Jewish shops or desecrating with writing or sadly kicking over tombstones in Jewish cemeteries. We sort of expect that to a degree. That's the reality. That's our lived experience as Jews.
"But, to go to a synagogue on the holiest day of the year where we are seeking atonement for our sins, to then be attacked in the way that we were attacked was beyond any of our experience.
“The kids they're living in fear. They have this deep sense of vulnerability.
"They're living in a fortress. Why should a school have to have barbed wire and security guards? That's what it means and what it feels like that we are under threat and intimidation."
"I have been very, very happy here, living here, a country in which my father and my uncle fought either in the Roman Royal Air Force or fought in the army defending this country. A country where I built up a business and employed people to whom I have transferred that business so that they can get the benefits of it. I really love this country. I am English, I feel English and very, very proud.
“But, the truth is I don't feel as welcome here as I used to feel. I don't have the same sense of belonging to this country that I used to feel. I don't want to be looking over my shoulder all the time at the. That's not a comfortable feeling. It's almost like there's an arrow pointing on my back saying, you know, this person could be targeted and we feel that we're being targeted.
He went on: "My children read the writing on the wall a few years ago and they said, look, we're at university, we see what's going on here. We have to hide our Star of David because if they see that, they will be potentially at risk of being threatened or intimidated."
This comes as two Jewish men, were stabbed in an apparent antisemitic attack in Golders Green.
A man - who has now been arrested - was seen running armed with a knife and “attempting to stab Jewish members of the public”, Jewish security group Shomrim said on social media.
The 45-year-old suspect tried to stab police officers when he was stopped and was tasered before being arrested.
He added: "Jews always, metaphorically have a suitcase by the door. We've had it since time immemorial, over being persecuted. So, you might not physically have a suitcase by the door, but for a lot of people, you do it metaphorically. In my case, it's now physical.
"It's not easy to make the move logistically or even financially, but, you know, at least I will feel safe there.
"People might find that's a really strange comment to make when missiles are coming left, right and centre from all over the place. Literally from all over. But, you know, I can walk down Manchester and get stabbed or stand outside a synagogue where get a firebomb thrown at me.
"So, I'd rather be protected by the Israeli police because I feel the British police have perhaps not done as much as they could have done.
"I feel failed by Keir Starmer. Absolutely failed by him. His wife, ironically, is Jewish.
"But, the fact that he has not banned the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard, that is effectively fighting and waging a war in the Middle east and the world, looking to export terror everywhere. That we are one of a handful of countries that have not proscribed them is beyond belief and that doesn't fill me with any confidence.”