OPINION: Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem, it is a societal problem

The Jewish calendar is filled with days of remembrance, where we come together to reflect on tragedies that have shaped our people. From Yom HaShoah, when we remember the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust, to Tisha B’Av, marking the destruction of the Temples and our expulsion from the Holy Land. These dates serve as solemn reminders of loss and resilience. Last year, we were forced to add a new, tragic date to this list: October 7th.

What should have been a day of celebration for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah was transformed into one of chaos, destruction, fear and grief. On that fateful day, the world changed for Jews everywhere. We all remember where we were that day as we heard the news, worrying about friends and relatives and the people of Israel.

We have mourned over 1,200 people brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists in the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. Another 251 were kidnapped and taken hostage to Gaza. We grieve again and again each time we hear of hostages murdered in captivity. We beg and demand over and over again for those still held in captivity to be returned home, now. We think of the thousands who were left to bear the horrors of rape, torture and terror. The collective trauma reverberated not only throughout Israel, but across the entire Jewish community worldwide. As it still does one year since that dark day. The grief is still palpable, the wounds still fresh. But one thing we could never have anticipated a year ago is the explosion of antisemitism that has followed in its wake.

In the immediate hours after the attack, the streets and social media were flooded with disturbing scenes of celebration. Individuals on news channels grotesquely framed the horrific violence as “resistance”. In the days and weeks that followed, fear gripped Jewish communities across the globe. Protests sprang up, not in condemnation of the terror inflicted on Israelis, but to demand the destruction of the Jewish state. Denials of the atrocities and a shocking lack of empathy towards Jewish suffering became disturbingly commonplace.

Antisemitism exploded. From violent mobs hunting Jews at an airport in Dagestan, to Jewish students barricading themselves in a university library in New York, to firebombed synagogues and Jewish homes marked with the Star of David — the hatred has been pervasive, unrelenting, and terrifying.

This antisemitism that shocked us in the immediate aftermath of the attack has become an almost constant presence, a background hum that now pervades our daily lives. It has, in many ways, become the new normal.

But we must be clear — this new normal is anything but acceptable. Antisemitism is not, and must never be, normalised. As we mark this painful anniversary, we have a duty to ourselves, to future generations, and to the memory of all those who have suffered due to antisemitism, to reject this categorically. Antisemitism is a vile and ancient hatred that has no place in our society and can never be tolerated, whether it manifests in our schools and universities, in the NHS, on our streets or on social media. The conspiracy theories, misinformation, and mistruths that have fuelled this hatred must be tackled head-on.

Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem, it is a societal problem. We must remember we are not alone – there are good people, allies, who know the truth and are determined to speak it. People who have learnt about the Holocaust and committed to keeping its legacy alive. People who know what happened on October 7 and stand with us in our grief and horror. People who know that antisemitism cannot be left to the Jewish community alone to fight.

This anniversary is a painful one, but we must not lose hope. Together, we must continue to raise our voices, louder and stronger than ever before. For the hostages still in captivity. For the people of Israel vilified and attacked. For the Jewish people. For the fight against the world’s oldest hatred.

Karen Pollock CBE is Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust