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Keir Starmer vows to confront the Islamist extremist threat to UK Jews
PM appeared alongside Chief Rabbi Mirvis at Downing St Chanukah reception
Keir Starmer has vowed to confront the threat posed to the UK’s Jewish community by Islamist extremism.
The Prime made these remarks during a Chanukah commemoration at Downing Street, where he spoke alongide Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, his wife Victoria, and members of her family, including her 97 year-old Jewish father.
Jewish people must not be “cowed by terror”, Starmer later said as he vowed to root out antisemitism in the UK.
At Tuesday’s event, staged in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach terror attack, the Prime Minister lit the shamash candle, before Rabbi Mirvis lit the candles and delivered the blessings.
Those in the packed room then united in signing the traditional Chanukah song Ma’oz Tzur.
Rabbi Mirvis had attended the event immediately before flying out to Sydney to be with the community there, including his own relatives, still reeling after Sunday’s massacre at a Chanukah commemoration on Bondi Beach, that left 15 dead.
“Our festival of light commenced this year under the clouds of the darkness of the horrific terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney,” Rabbi Mirvis told attendees in a moving speech.
The Chief Rabbi noted that Chanukah is a festival rooted in the land of Israel, and while last year’s featival took place during the horrific conflict in Gaza, this year had seen a ceasefire.
“We have seen the return of all living hostages, and all except one body who was murdered, come home,” added Mirvis.
Alistair Grant/PA Wire
He them said we continue to pray for peace and stability and security “for everybody in the region.”
In a subsequent address, Starmer acknowledged the ongoing struggle “with the extreme right and the extreme left” regarding antisemitism in politics.
At one point he quoted the late Rabbi Lord Sacks, who had previously said our entire society was in danger when antisemitism was allowed to run rampant.
And, in light of the attacks at Manchester’s Heaton Park Synagogue and in Sydney, he specifically condemned “Islamist ideologies” and their “hatred towards Jews.”
Starmer stressed that some antisemitic sentiment is disguised as anti-Israel rhetoric.
“Hatred of the world’s only Jewish state,” he noted, “hatred of the state of Israel.”
He added;“We’ve got to defeat all ideologies of hatred against Jews, and that includes Islamist ideologies of hatred towards Jews—a political ideology distinct from Islam and abhorrent to the vast majority of Muslims. But we have to address that ideology. We have to recognise what it is and call it out for what it is.”
He continued, “We’ve got to end the passive acceptance of poisonous words, because we know where poisonous words lead. We’ve seen it over and over again: words here, action over there, and the instilling of fear everywhere.”
Starmer emphasised the importance of unity, saying: “We come together to celebrate Chanukah, but we also come to stand together in solidarity, because I know the whole community has been shaken once again, not for the first time, by the abhorrent attack on Bondi Beach. We need to stand together in defence of the Jewish way of life, of the liberties and freedoms that make our British way of life.”
He reaffirmed his determination to “defeat this poison of antisemitism together,” warning that “we must not be cowed by terror.” Starmer also noted the troubling “normalisation” of antisemitism in some parts of the country.
Alistair Grant/PA Wire
Speaking later to Jewish News, Starmer reiterated his commitment to tackling Islamist extremism while emphasising that the vast majority of British Muslims “abhor” such acts.
“We need to reach out to Muslims, we have to make that bridge. The vast majority of Muslims absolutely abhor these attacks,” he said.
Reflecting on his visit to Heaton Park Synagogue, Starmer recalled that “those from the local mosque were some of the first to arrive to offer their help and support.”
Asked about the link between anti-Israel sentiment and extremist acts, Starmer replied, “We need to be clear about that, to explain what part that plays and be absolutely confident in the arguments that we make. But I really do think the vast majority of Muslims abhor this, and they certainly don’t want to be associated with it in any way.”
Starmer rejected the suggestion that the UK and Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state earlier this year had emboldened Islamist terrorists, insisting, “I don’t think that’s right.
“We have to do everything we can to bring about lasting peace in the Middle East, and the only way to do that is through a two-state solution.
“Antisemitism and attacks on Jewish life have been going on for a very, very long time, and attributing it to one thing or the other actually underscores the complexity of what we’re dealing with.”
Photo PA
He also hinted at forthcoming reforms to UK laws on protests and inflammatory chants, suggesting changes to police responses at pro-Palestine demonstrations.
“I’m much more worried by some of the chanting, some of what goes on on the streets, and the licensing this gives some people to attribute things to a whole group when you can’t,” he said.
Starmer added, “We’re moving ahead with measures: Lord MacDonald is looking at Public Order issues; Lord Mann is working on the NHS; we’ve done BBC training and need to evaluate it, along with major training across government departments.
“We need to bring everything together so people see a comprehensive list of all the actions we’re taking.”
He concluded by acknowledging the anxiety within the Jewish community.
“For many in our Jewish community, after Bondi Beach and Heaton Park, they feel even less safe than before.
“It’s got to the point where they feel it’s normalised and where they have to hide their identity,” said the PM regretfully.
But he ended by saying that in the same way he had rooted antisemitism out of the Labour Party he would now seek to do the same as he tackled Jew-hatred in wider society.
Among those in attendance at the event were Progressive Judaism co-leaders Rabbi Josh Levy and Charley Baginsky, along with Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg and honorary vice-president Adrian Cohen, and chief executive Michael Wegier.
Several representatives from the Charedi community were present including Rabbi Motty Pinter, and United Synagogue president Saul Taylor.
Lord Katz, David Pinto-Puschinsky MP, Lord Levy, and Baroness Merron and Dame Louise Ellman were among the Labour figures there, along with HMDT chair and former Tory minister Sajid Javid, and former JLC chair Jonathan Goldstein.
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