'Will we be next?’: Jewish leader claims life in UK like ‘Germany in the early 30s’
The Government has announced funding for Jewish communities across England, to “tackle antisemitism and strengthen community cohesion in those places facing the greatest risk”.
A Jewish community leader from Bristol has told LBC that antisemitism is “way worse than it has ever been”, saying he feels like he’s living in “Germany in the early 30s”.
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Vice President of the Bristol Hebrew Congregation, Tony Gordon, 80, told LBC the local synagogue has been forced to permanently lock its gates to help manage the threats worshippers face.
He said: “As a youngster, I was brought up in Leeds, which is the third largest Jewish community in the country. And in my youth and in my early teens, there were a few antisemitic incidents. It was the time of the rise of the National Front. But I've never seen anything like this.
“This is way, way worse than it has ever been in the last, well, I can only count for the last 80 years, but certainly in the last 80 years.
“There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that there is a recognisable relationship between what is happening now and what was happening in Germany, for example, in the early '30s. And we know what that led to in the long term in Germany.
"And the question I wake up to every day is, ‘are we currently at peak lunacy? And it will decline and get back to something liveable with, or is this a trend? And in which case, what's the end result?’”
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The Government has announced funding for Jewish communities across England, to “tackle antisemitism and strengthen community cohesion in those places facing the greatest risk”.
But Tony says he’s seen “members of our congregation considering moving abroad for fear”.
And after LBC reported a British-Jewish man from Salford moved to Israel because of rising antisemitism, it’s clear the people in Tony’s community aren’t the only ones considering escaping the UK.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government says, “there has been an alarming rise in antisemitism both in this country and across much of the globe”.
Tony says that has impacted his local Jewish community in a big way: “We have to make sure the gates to the synagogue, the entry gates, are permanently locked.
“So, we only know if somebody's attending a service because we see them on CCTV and have to leave the service to go to the gates to let them in.
"Fortunately, we have good support from the local police, and there is a two-man police presence now whenever we have a service or whenever we have an educational visit to the synagogue.
"But who wants to live like this and worry that will we be next?
“The fact that nobody has actually confronted me in the street does not mean that I'm not living with a level of fear. Which quite frankly I'm entitled not to live with.”
Last week, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said "every part of society" has a responsibility to tackle antisemitism.
He said: “It is not enough to simply say we stand with Jewish communities. Of course we do, but we have to show with action. And that responsibility lies with each and every one of us”.