OPINION: I am proud to be a British Jew and I adore London. But now, I feel nervous
Those murdered, those held hostage; they are our brothers and sisters. That’s how we Jews are brought up; one people, one family
102 days have passed since 7th October, that horrific day, etched in my memory forever, when the world witnessed – yes, witnessed, thanks to Hamas’ GoPro filming of their barbaric attacks – a modern day pogrom, killing more Jews on any one day since the Holocaust.
I wake each day to scroll through the latest stories with the heaviest of hearts, a sinking feeling in my stomach and a constant lump in my throat, tears ready to fall without warning. And terror.
Yes, even some 2,000 miles from the sites of the most egregious violation of innocent civilian lives, I feel terror. And so do my peers. In London, we are frightened and shocked. The safe world in which we believed we lived does not seem so safe for us now. There is no downtime anymore; in every spare moment, we are glued to our phones, searching, hoping and praying for chinks of good news.
We are also watching for bad news; murdered hostages, more rockets, more terrorist attacks and the war’s utter devastation. We are unable to focus on anything but the 1,200 victims of 7th October, the 136 hostages, some of whom were raped and tortured before being kidnapped and continue to be sexually abused and tortured in captivity, and the many hundreds of fallen IDF soldiers. They are our brothers and sisters. That’s how we Jews are brought up; one people, one family, even though the 16 million of us (just 0.2% of the world’s population) are scattered across the globe.
Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, has publicised its goal; to destroy Israel and exterminate all Jews. That’s right, all Jews. That means me. My husband. My parents. My children. My sister and her family. My friends. All Jews. If you aren’t Jewish, please try to understand how it feels to know that people want to kill you. It’s a desperate feeling. It’s how my great-grandparents felt in 1930s Hungary.
If you read my post last week, you will know that my great-grandfather was murdered in the Bergen-Belsen gas chambers and my great-grandmother was hidden in a Budapest convent by heroic nuns, for two years, to save her from the same fate. What would they think if they knew that their family was threatened by the same vitriolic beliefs some 80 years later?
The high-profile individuals and organisations who have spoken out against Israel have seemingly greenlighted swathes of people to openly express antisemitic and anti-Zionist feelings. Jews have seen a 1,500% increase in antisemitic acts in the UK since 7th October; university campuses are rife with antisemitic protests, including students chanting ‘death to the Jews.’
In Tower Hamlets, east London, hordes of schoolchildren were taken out of school, supposedly to march in solidarity with Palestinian children, but they chanted ‘Israel is a terror state’ and held placards of anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric as they walked through our streets.
I have always been immensely proud of my Judaism and have never hidden it. I’ve been equally proud to be British and I adore London. Now, I feel nervous. Wearing my Magen David (Star of David) necklace suddenly feels dangerous here. Taking our children to central London feels dangerous. Even my daily commute seems dangerous, faced with large crowds protesting in every mainline London train station. Over the last fourteen weekends, hundreds of thousands have joined pro-Palestinian marches through central London and there has been an intimidating, aggressive atmosphere during some of these.
Many do not understand what they are marching for, what happened on 7th October or what Hamas stands for. This lack of understanding, knowledge and empathy, coupled with the feeling of being threatened, is a grave concern – I am worried about raising my children in this environment – an environment of hatred, ignorance, racism and antisemitism.
Discussions with friends regularly feature our concern for our families’ safe future in the UK. Israel is our spiritual homeland and I love it there, but I want to live in London. I don’t want to have to run away or hide who I am. Who I am is a British Jew bringing up two British Jewish children. I don’t want to ever question our safety because of our religion and culture.
But the TikTok generation is listening to the mass rhetoric and propaganda, to the millions of voices chanting venomous, antisemitic words on our screens. This war is also a media war; fake news dominates the headlines and it’s uncomfortable.
Traditional and social media platforms, far more powerful in 2023 than in 1933, offer biased reporting. The BBC, having supported all the pro-Palestinian marches, banned its staff from attending the one march against antisemitism and the police have a pusillanimous approach when faced with undeniably antisemitic acts. This leaves us vulnerable, with diluted confidence in a safe future in the UK.
Hamas has publicly declared that it will continue to carry out monstrous attacks to fulfil its objective. They will come for all of us, wherever we are. And not only Jews; those in other minorities including LBGTQ+ communities are targets too. If we don’t curb this antisemitism, October 7th will happen again and again and again, possibly in Britain next time.
Antisemitism has existed for thousands of years. It is always bubbling away, a light sleeper, with its bandwagon parked in the lay-by, the key in the ignition and the getaway driver strapped in, ready to collect the masses.
My fellow British Jews and I need to know that we have a safe home here and that future generations of children will never need to fear another 7th October massacre, nor antisemitism on our streets.
Every Shabbat, I will continue to light extra candles and set extra places at our table until the hostages come home.
We will continue to pray for peace in the Middle East and no further civilian casualties as I continue to fight for my Jewish children to be safe in the UK, or wherever they choose to live.
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