Lord Wolfson: Government needs to focus on ‘root causes’ of antisemitic hate
Tory peer Lord Wolfson reveals relative of his was killed in Sydney atrocity
Shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson of Tredegar has called for the government to broaden the debate on tackling antisemitic hate away from discussions just about security at schools and synagogues onto the “root causes of why we need such security.”
In an impassioned speech in the Lords, during a debate on the Sydney terror attack, the Conservative peer also confirmed that a relative of his – the British-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger – had been killed in the terrorist atrocity.
Lord Wolfson told peers: “I declare an interest because Rabbi Schlanger, who was murdered in this atrocity, was my relative too. ”
He continued:” But so far as the Government’s response is concerned, while we are always grateful for support for the Community Security Trust, the debate about Jewish security needs to move away from being about higher walls around our synagogues and more guards outside our schools and on to the root causes of why we need such security. ”
Wolfson then called for an explanation on what the Government is doing “in practical terms to counter the extremist ideologies which are driving this antisemitic violence, and to remove them and their proponents from our social media, out of our universities and off our streets.”
Expressing his condolences, Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint stressed steps were being taken to crack down on the scourge of antisemitism.
Flint said he wished to reach out to Wolfson “to look on a cross-party basis at how we can ensure that the scourge of antisemitism and intolerance is tackled from very early on, so that we can ensure that people live their lives in an open, tolerant way, where their religion does not require armed guards at synagogues and schools.”
He said the government “will support the Community Security Trust and police forces to deliver that safety, given that there are live threats, as evidenced by the recent Manchester attack.”
Rabbi Schlanger, 41, grew up in Temple Fortune, north London, and was assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi.
Tory peer Lord Polak also said: “I’m tired. I’m tired of listening to people saying ‘Stand shoulder to shoulder with the community’.
“It means nothing when there are dead Jews on the ground, whether in Manchester or in Sydney.
“If members are not clear what globalised intifada means, it was on our TV screens yesterday.
“So I ask the minister to act. Such hate speech must be outlawed.”
He also called on the Government to ban both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organisations.
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