OPINION: From Galloway to Anderson, we must keep extremists of all stripes out
Our struggle for peace and equality will only be strengthened by showing that we stand by Muslims today as we would want all communities to stand with us during our darkest hours.
George Galloway, the newly-elected MP for Rochdale, is an extremist politician who has had a corrosive impact on British politics. His claim that Keir Starmer is controlled by Zionists is deeply offensive and has rightly been called out as antisemitic by many commentators and public figures. Galloway is one of the hard left activists who use the Israel Palestine conflict as a vehicle to express offensive views.
The vast majority of people in the Jewish community will likely read that first paragraph and nod in agreement.
Consider this next one:
Lee Anderson is an extremist politician who has had a corrosive impact on British politics. His claim that Sadiq Khan is controlled by Islamists is deeply offensive and has rightly been called out as an example of anti-Muslim hatred by many commentators and public figures. Anderson is one of the hard right activists who use the Israel Palestine conflict as a vehicle to express offensive views.
How many of the Jewish community will read that paragraph and nod in agreement with the same vigour that they did when reading the paragraph about Galloway?
We need to ask ourselves some questions about why the responses might be different. Let’s put aside the fact that Islamism and Zionism are not equivalents. Let’s also put aside that Sadiq Khan has been a steadfast and reliable friend and supporter of the Jewish community.
It is upsetting to see some of the hatred on display at the marches in support of the Palestinian cause. But I believe that the majority of people pledging support for the people of Gaza do so out of pain and in horror at the scale of destruction going on there.
Sadiq’s first official act as mayor was to attend a Yom Hashoah event. I, alongside many leaders in our community, have stood by Sadiq’s side at various events to celebrate Jewish festivals.
Yes, Sadiq may have moved early to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, but he did so on humanitarian grounds and denounced Hamas and called for the release of hostages as he did it. Sadiq hosted the Chief Rabbi in his office a few days later to discuss what more City Hall could do to help stamp out antisemitism during these times of heightened tension.
Those things put aside, on the strength of his words alone, what Lee Anderson has said was racist. And if he’d been talking about Zionists controlling a politician we’d want that called out. And we’d be appalled if the prime minister, deputy prime minister and various other ministers had done no more than simply term his words ‘wrong’.
Lee Anderson is not alone. Suella Braverman has crossed a line in her language about Islamists controlling Britain. Nigel Farage is someone who has always been on the wrong side of the line when it comes to stoking fear and hatred. Yet these are three politicians that some in the Jewish community have been willing to platform or encourage. The same is true for Douglas Murray. We can acknowledge that it’s tempting to say that these people, whatever they’ve said in the past, are saying the right things now in support of Israel. But we need to ask ourselves why.
We have to be clear eyed about the fact that some politicians and commentators are using the Israel Palestine conflict to stoke division and advance their own ends. After the war we will have to consider how we rebuild – both in the Middle East and here at home in our communities.
@jewishnews ???? This guy is now representing an entire town in the UK. GET TO KNOW: Rochdale’s new Member of Parliament, George Galloway. ???? by Richard Ferrer.
Jews rightly condemned the silence of those who did not come to our aid during the antisemitism of the Jeremy Corbyn days. We need to recognise that we have a duty to come to the aid of our Muslim brothers and sisters during this period of hatred towards them. Our Jewish values dictate that there can be no hierarchy of racism. And our struggle for peace and equality is not helped by extremists of the left or the right gaining a foothold in communities because it might feel convenient right now.
Our struggle for peace and equality will only be strengthened by showing that we stand by Muslims today as we would want all communities to stand with us during our darkest hours.
It is upsetting to see some of the hatred on display at the marches in support of the Palestinian cause. But I believe that the majority of people pledging support for the people of Gaza do so out of pain and in horror at the scale of destruction going on there.
Yes – the cause has been hijacked by extremists like Galloway. But our calls for those extremists to be kept out of the conversation gather much greater moral clarity when we call for the hard right to be kept out too.
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