OPINION: Time for concerted battle against Jew hate

This week, we marked the anniversary of the 7 October pogrom.

One year on, the hostages remain in Hamas’s hands and their families’ torment is ongoing. At last month’s Labour Party conference, I met a number of hostage families. Their courage, grace and fortitude are truly inspiring.

As the conflict continues, so too does the terrible suffering of innocent Israelis and Palestinians alike. We urgently need Hamas to return to the negotiating table and an immediate ceasefire to bring the hostages home and ensure a surge of aid to Gaza.

Looking forward, LFI and our new government share ambitions for the future which can command broad support in the Labour party, the Jewish community and in the wider country.

We recognise the need to work towards two states for two peoples, which remains the only means by which to guarantee Israel’s security, to preserve its precious identity as a Jewish and democratic state, and to  satisfy the  legitimate demand of the Palestinian people for self-determination.

Peace isn’t just the work of politicians and diplomats engaged in high-level negotiations. The lesson of the International Fund for Ireland, which worked to bring the Unionist and Nationalist communities together, is that any enduring peace process must rest on solid civic society foundations. That’s why we welcome David Lammy’s vow last year to work with our partners to help turn the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace which LFI has long campaigned for into a “concrete reality”.

But a two-state solution also requires a drive to bolster regional peace and security. For decades, Iran has funded, directed and armed a network of terror armies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as part of its ambition to destroy the Jewish state. From Oslo to 7 October, Tehran and its “Axis of Resistance” have thus worked to scupper any effort to promote peace between Israel, the Palestinians and the wider region.

We must not let Tehran succeed. Its terror army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, lies at the heart of the Axis of Resistance. Last month’s raft of new sanctions shows the government’s determination to tackle Iran’s malign activities. LFI will be robustly supporting this effort and we urge action to institute a ban on the IRGC as swiftly as possible.

We also want to see the government work to enhance the relationship between Britain and Israel, which rests on a strong economic, security and strategic partnership.

But we must never forget that Israel is our only ally in the region which shares Britain’s values. We must defend our liberal democratic friends and allies against the autocrats, the extremists and the terrorists who threaten them – and threaten us. The missiles Putin is launching against Kiev were provided by the very same regime that provides the weaponry Hezbollah is firing at the Galilee. The Moscow-Tehran axis is a menace to all of us who value freedom, peace and democracy.

Democracy doesn’t just face external challenges, it also faces domestic perils. President Herzog is right to describe the violence perpetrated against innocent Palestinians by extremist settlers as “illegal and immoral”. Their far-right allies in the government must stop aiding and abetting this violence. While a distinct minority, the far-right’s disproportionate influence on the government imperils the Palestinians, threatens the civil rights of the Israeli people, and is the antithesis of the Jewish state’s founding values.

But our opposition to hate and extremism overseas will be diminished so long as we fail to get our own house in order.

The surge in antisemitism at home since 7 October is intolerable. It’s utterly unacceptable that Jewish places of worship are protected by security guards; Jewish pupils can’t wear their uniforms on the way to school; and antisemites feel empowered to intimidate Jews by chanting for Jihad, expressing their love for Hezbollah on the streets of London, and comparing the state of Israel to those who sought to annihilate European Jewry less than a century ago.

On this dark anniversary, we must renew our commitment to fight anti-Zionist antisemitism in all its noxious ideological forms.

Jon Pearce MP is parliamentary chair of the Labour Friends of Israel