Jewish community ‘withdrawing inwards’ amid rise in antisemitism, MPs told
Home Affairs Select Committee told of articles in Jewish News
Amid an unprecedented rise in antisemitism, British Jews are increasingly withdrawing from public life and concealing their identities, Westminster’s Home Affairs Select Committee has heard.
Addressing a committee hearing on responses in this country to antisemitism, Dave Rich, director of communications at the Community Security Trust, cited articles written by Jewish News editor Richard Ferrer.
He noted Ferrer had been contacted by members of the community asking for stories referencing their Jewish identity to be deleted so as not to affect their prospects at job interviews.
Rich told MPs: “If we are in a situation in this country where ordinary Jewish people are feeling and experiencing that being known to be Jewish is a professional and social impediment, then that’s not just about the status and future of the community, that’s about the health of our liberal democracy… a sign our society is falling apart due to antisemitic pressures.”
He added Jews are facing “an unprecedented situation right now” in regards to hate crimes and terrorist activity directed at them, and that Jew-hatred is a global phenomenon affecting the United States, Australia and Western Europe.
“I’ve worked at CST for 32 years, and we have never, ever had a period like this in all of that time,” said Rich, although he stressed Jewish life is carrying on.
Asked if he felt the situation in the UK was different to that in other countries, and was uniquely worse here, he replied, “It’s actually the opposite.
“Actually, this is a global phenomenon. So if we look at other countries with significant Jewish communities, especially in liberal democracies, such as the United States, Australia, Western Europe, you see the same patterns of a huge surge in antisemitism after the October 7 attack, you see the same kind of spikes in relation to events in the Middle East.
“You even see the same language being used, the same slogans, the same catchphrases in the articulation of antisemitism and the same methods.
“Since October 7, synagogues have been firebombed on five different continents, and there’s been an attack in Sydney. So this is a global phenomenon. Every Jewish community is facing the same challenges.”
Representing the Jewish Leadership Council, Russell Langer said: “I don’t think enough of the British public really recognise what Jewish life is like in lots of countries, including in the UK, and a lot of the immediate response is rightly about security and protecting the Jewish community. That is obviously vital.”
He added, “I think for too long we’ve focused just on security. This is a problem we can’t fix with fences, and we need to move beyond that.”
Board of Deputies vice-president Karen Newman also spoke of the impact hatred has had on the everyday lives of British Jews.
She said people are left asking: “Does this person know I’m Jewish? Probably not.
“Is this the moment for me to say I’m Jewish? Or do you know I’m Jewish and assume I’m completely backing the State of Israel?”
Newman added that within the community, “there are people who harbour a great love for Israel while at the same time recognising that they’re critical of some actions of some governments at some moments. And you can hold those thoughts at the same time.”
Danny Stone, director of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, also sounded a warning that successive governments had failed to tackle the spread of antisemitic hate within far-left, far-right and Islamist circles that was driving Jew-hatred.
He criticised tech platforms such as Reddit and TikTok, claiming: “They could suspend the accounts (sharing Holocaust denial material) under their terms of service, and haven’t done.”
He added: “The tech platforms are laughing at us, Reddit and TikTok in response to our last reports, essentially attacking our methodology.
They don’t understand antisemitism properly, and they don’t capture it as it should be captured.”
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