How the normalisation of antisemitism transformed my political outlook
As JSoc president, students come to me, fearful of being visibly Jewish on campus. Many choose not to tell their flatmates where they are going on Friday nights.
At the last general election, I was a Politics A-level student, excited to exercise my democratic right, voting on typical economic and social factors and who I trusted to lead the UK. I grew up within a thriving Jewish community in North London, but never felt my Jewish identity made me different.
However, the constant barrage of attacks against our community since 7 October completely altered my political outlook and attitude to the UK Government. I was in my second year at Manchester University when the Heaton Park terror attack sent shockwaves far beyond the city. Now I am intensely aware of my Jewish identity, and the extent to which we are a minority group in British society.
The attack was a wake-up call, reflecting the normalisation of hate speech and its enactment into violence. Yoni Finlay, shot heroically holding the doors at Heaton Park synagogue, rightly summed it up, stating ‘it was a shock but not a surprise’. While the community were reeling from the attack, there was little sympathy on social media. In the five days following the attack, ISD reported antisemitism on X rose 28%. Conspiracy theories referring to the attack as a ‘false flag’ were rampant. The Government issued desperately-needed security financing for the Jewish community, which a fellow student described to me as ‘undeserved’, saying no other religion secured that kind of funding, which is unsurprisingly false. Social media algorithms and a lack of regulation have pushed antisemitism into everyday viewing and it is ever easier to disguise an antisemitic agenda as anti-Israel activism. This leads young people to unknowingly regurgitate talking points which come from a place of anti-Jewish hatred, creating real world consequences.
This normalisation of antisemitism has created a hostile atmosphere for students on campus, and the University of Manchester is no exception. As JSoc president, I am informed of incidents and am often asked for advice about being openly Jewish on campus. Students come to me fearful of being visibly Jewish on campus. Many choose not to tell their flatmates where they are going on Friday nights. The reality is that we are an underrepresented group on campus, so many students have never met a Jewish person. Therefore, for many, perception of us is entirely shaped by social media, making it easy to look past our concerns and dehumanise us.
I experienced this in my own daily life when I was threatened while operating a memorial stand outside my student union for those lost in Heaton Park and 7 October . This environment means I don’t feel protected or safe as a Jewish person. Politics is no longer about my ideals, but about survival. There is therefore no political issue more important to me than the Government ensuring the safety of my community.
Things got even worse last month, magnifying my feelings of unsafety, as Green Party members voted against safeguarding Jewish members, again brightly illustrating how the normalisation of hateful and antisemitic rhetoric on social media has shifted the Overton Window. As the most popular party among students, the Green’s rejection of basic protections for Jewish people will likely contribute further to isolation of Jewish students on campus.
Life for Jewish students on campus has been very difficult in the years I’ve been at University. One thing I’ve been inspired by is the togetherness and the community coming together in the adversity we face. It can be so isolating being such a minority on campus, and we are seeing increased attendance at our events from a renewed longing for community. Jewish society is a safe space and essentially contrasts with the campus atmosphere.
In this climate of normalised prejudice, the relationship between Jewish communities and the government also seems to have broken down over their handling of increasing antisemitic crime, with increased security funding merely a band-aid on a bullet wound of a systematic problem.
Sir David Bell’s review into antisemitism in education is welcome, as it seems there is finally a drive to make necessary reforms. However, content delegitimising the study is rife on social media and the largest teaching union has outright refused to adopt its recommendations. Anyway, far more must be done to educate the general public around the subtle and evolving ways in which antisemitism now manifests.
This is the backdrop to asking how the relationship between British Jewish communities and our Government can be rebuilt, and I am delighted there is to be some serious consideration of that at the upcoming ‘Seek Peace and Pursue it’ event in Manchester, where the UK Government’s top lawyer until earlier this year, Lord Hermer KC, is coming to Manchester on 30 November.
As Attorney General, Lord Hermer, who is Jewish, spoke out against growing antisemitism corroding ‘everything this country stands for’ and insisted the Government was ‘unflinching in its drive to counter antisemitism’ following Heaton Park. So many of these discussions about the relationship between the UK Government and Jewish communities are London-dominated, but the tragedy of Heaton Park makes bringing the conversation to Manchester vital.
Noah Sorene is President of Manchester’s student Jewish Society.
Ticket information on the upcoming event can be found here: