OPINION: Amid the gloom, there is still a lot to be hopeful about
Despite Israel’s political, military and regional angst and antisemitism across the UK, it is possible to look over the horizon and see shards of light
Alex Brummer is a Jewish News columnist and the City Editor, Daily Mail
As Britain moves from summer to autumn, it is hard not to feel desolate. The malicious killings of six youthful Israeli hostages has cast a terrible pall over Israel and Jewish communities everywhere. The best that can be hoped for is that from this terrible evil, vast demonstrations on the streets of Israel, the trade union strikes and the anguish of grieving families will reinvigorate efforts to bring as many of the remaining hostages out alive.
Lifting the spirits and adapting to normal life in such circumstances seems impossible. Here in the UK, our new prime minister Keir Starmer appears in the Downing Street rose garden to declare his government found a fiscal black hole but also faces a ‘societal black hole’.
There is so much to disturb us all. The smiling photos of the killed hostages and their grieving families have been heart wrenching. Elsewhere, columns of the Jewish and secular press are filled with details of antisemitic incidents and anti-Zionist protests on the campuses of the UK’s greatest universities.
Israel’s battles on three fronts – Gaza, the West Bank and against Iran-fuelled Hezbollah attacks – command little sympathy beyond our own community.
The near-year-long Gaza conflict and the ordeal and fate of the remaining captives leaves all of us dispirited. Closer to home, the return of Jewish children to heavily-guarded schools and students heading off to universities where they will have to contend with vile anti-Israel rhetoric and demonstrations is cause for anxiety.
It is hard to sleep easily while the hostages are held, IDF troops face death on a daily basis and young people face educational challenges
But gloom can be overdone. There is huge danger in talking ourselves into a permanent state of depression. In the UK more generally and in the British Jewish community, there are myriad reasons amid the sadness for hope. Similarly, despite Israel’s political, military and regional angst, it is possible to look over the horizon and see shards of light.
On the domestic front, one doesn’t have to be a critic of Labour to recognise chancellor Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer have been laying on the pessimism with a trowel. The reality is of a surprisingly vibrant UK economy in the first half of this year.
In our own community, there is much to be proud of in the Jewish contribution to brilliant science and the creative economy.
Our entertainment culture is alive and well and the show goes on in spite of vile ill-informed protests. The current production of Fiddler on the Roof in Regents Park demonstrates the resistance of the Jewish contribution to culture in spite of adversity.
I have recently been in my native city of Brighton & Hove where the new Jewish Community Centre and the Novellino restaurant have enlivened Jewish life and participation after the Hove Hebrew Congregation closure. The whole experience is uplifting for those of us who have only seen decline.
The King’s Speech recommitted the UK to the long-delayed Holocaust Memorial, hopefully at Victoria Palace Gardens. At Alyth Gardens, Britain’s largest Reform community, an elegant new sanctuary and communal facility have been added. The freshly refurbished Museum of the Home in Dalston, the history of the Jews of the East End, is revisited alongside other immigrant communities.
As for Israel, despite the geopolitical challenge, the economy has come roaring back from the depths of despair. Remarkably, major forecasters expect overall growth of 2-3 percent this year, putting much of the rest of the region and the West in the shade.
Moreover, Israeli life sciences and tech continue to punch above their weight. In the final days of August, the pharma giant Johnson & Johnson snapped up – for $1.7 billion – V-Wave, which offers breakthrough heart-implant technology.
On a personal level, I was encouraged and uplifted by the attitude of two young Israeli women staying with members of my family. The girls, from Haifa, are studying physics, preparing for army service next year and thinking about post-military studies at the Technion. In spite of the dismal political stalemate in Jerusalem, they felt joyful enough to join in the singing and dancing before the shimmering Shabbat candles.
As the psalmist says, let us lift up our eyes…
- Alex Brummer is a Jewish News columnist and the City Editor, Daily Mail
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