OPINION: We can trace the lineage of this far-right violence
'As a society, we have to be better than this', writes Phil Rosenberg on the lawless riots against minority groups across the UK
Over the past week the UK has seen an outbreak of lawlessness and thuggery which has been shocking to witness.
We at the Board of Deputies have condemned unequivocally the unprovoked attacks on Muslims, black people, members of the other minorities and the brave police officers trying to protect those on the receiving end of this violence, which has broken out around the country from Southend to Sunderland.
There have been awful scenes, most notably in Tamworth where, but for swift action by the police, asylum seekers at a local hotel would almost certainly have come to harm as the mob broke in.
For the Jewish community this is a worrying development. We know only too well the consequences of far-right actions such as these. There is a traceable lineage of far-right racism which has evolved from Mosley’s Blackshirts, through the National Front and the British National Party. The rioters attacking minorities this week share all the toxic views, including antisemitism, that characterised these previous incarnations of xenophobia and hatred.
This is a time of acute concern for Jews in the UK. We have been on the sharp end of different strands of extremism in the past few years. The Board of Deputies has fought back against the far-left antisemitism which infected the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and in the months since the 7 October attacks we have been subjected to intimidation and hate from Islamist antisemites with their hateful slogans, swastikas and Nazi salutes.
Worryingly, we have begun in the past few days to see some malign twisting of the facts. Riots across the United Kingdom involving far-right elements have been blamed on Israel by a range of online accounts, with an anti-Zionist commenter describing the upsurge of violence as “a flexing of Zionist muscle”.
On the Iranian state-sponsored channel Press TV, one presenter characterised the riots as “Israel sending a message to the British people”. And a far-right influencer suggested that Tommy Robinson (also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) had sparked the riots to punish the government for suspending arms export licences to Israel.
As ever, Jews are the target of choice for conspiracy theorists from the right, the left and Islamist groups. It is not acceptable and we need leaders to calm this out.
We have seen how the racists operate, indiscriminately, and we must not help them with their strategy.
The communities who are being targeted by the haters must respond by showing unity and mutual respect.
Recently we held a meeting of Jewish and Muslim leaders at the Board of Deputies offices, which included the first official appearance by communities minister Lord Khan. I described this coming together of minorities as an ‘Optimistic Alliance’.
I see it as the beginning of a journey together, from a place of death and destruction, of division and despair, to a place of hope.
This is not, however, just about the minority communities. As a society, we have to be better than this. We need to hold a national conversation about how we promote respect for our country and respect for each other, and how about we tackle extremism and build cohesion.
These riots have been a warning and one that we all need to heed. We must come together to defeat prejudice and to build a society of which we can all be proud.
- Phil Rosenberg, President, Board of Deputies
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