Shabbat Shalom: to those who refuse to accept a lie

Each Friday I try to end the week by saying Shabbat Shalom to people who have made a difference over the past few days, those who have stood up, spoken clearly, or helped move things forward when it mattered.

Sometimes that difference comes from building something meaningful. Sometimes from telling uncomfortable truths. Sometimes from drawing a line when others would rather pretend the problem does not exist.

Every week the names will change, but the idea remains the same: to recognise those who move things forward, often quietly, often against the odds and often without the recognition they deserve.

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The list may include individuals standing up to intimidation, leaders showing clarity when others hesitate, or organisations preparing the next generation to defend truth when it is under pressure.

This week, the thread that connects them is simple.

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They refused to accept a lie.

Whether on the streets of London, in a television studio, in the middle of a political rally or on university campuses, each of them chose clarity when distortion or silence would have been far easier.

So this week, I want to say Shabbat Shalom to the following people and institutions.

Shabbat Shalom to Shabana Mahmood

The lie often begins in the streets. For years, the annual Al-Quds march in London has been defended under the banner of free expression. But anyone who has watched the march knows that it is something else entirely.

A procession in which Hezbollah flags have been waved, genocidal slogans are shouted, Israeli flags are burned and the destruction of the only Jewish state is openly called for.

For years, successive governments avoided confronting the reality of what it was and this Labour government has, in truth, been no exception.

Since 7 October, Britain’s Jewish community has watched, week after week, as hate marches have flooded central London, marches that have brought intimidation, violence and open antisemitism onto the streets of the capital.

Yet despite the pleading of our community, despite the repeated examples of hate crimes being committed, again and again the response from successive governments has been hesitation.

But even this government could not ignore the absurdity now staring it in the face.

The Al-Quds march celebrates a regime that is currently attacking British military bases in the eastern Mediterranean, while openly calling for the destruction of Israel and the victory of the genocidal Islamist groups our allies are at war with.

Allowing such a march to proceed would not have been tolerance, it would have been madness.

So this week Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood finally drew the line and confirmed the ban, proposed by the Met police. Her next step must now be to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation and start to combat the dangerous influence of the Iranian regime here in the UK.

Democracies rightly protect the right to protest, but they are under no obligation to tolerate incitement. Because when genocidal language is normalised in the streets of a democracy, the line between speech and violence begins to erode.

Drawing that line matters.

Shabbat Shalom to the Home Secretary who finally drew a line against a march celebrating genocidal hatred, and to everyone willing to recognise that tolerance must never extend to those who openly call for the destruction of others.

Shabbat Shalom to President Isaac Herzog

The lie does not stay on the streets, it often finds its way into television studios and news rooms.

There have been few environments more hostile these past few years to Israeli leaders than a BBC interview. This week President Isaac Herzog knowingly faced exactly that.

Pressed repeatedly on the legality of Israel’s actions against Iran and its proxies, Herzog’s reaction was striking not because it was combative, but because it was genuinely bewildered.

If you pause for a moment, it is not difficult to understand why.

British military bases are currently under attack from forces armed and directed by the Iranian regime. In the past eighteen months alone, more than twenty terror plots in the United Kingdom have been linked to the IRGC.

Yet in the middle of all this, the line of questioning focused on whether Israel, the country actively confronting that regime, might somehow be the provocateur, might somehow be in breach of international law.

Herzog calmly dismantled the premise.

Iran funds Hezbollah, arms Hamas, sponsors militias across the Middle East and openly calls for Israel’s destruction. Israel responding to that threat is not escalation, it is self-defence.

As Herzog rightly pointed out, Israel is not only fighting for its own security. It is confronting a regime that threatens the wider democratic world, including Britain itself.

The remarkable thing about the exchange was not only that Herzog pushed back, but how calmly and forensically he did so.

No theatrics, no anger, just clarity.

Shabbat Shalom to the President who refused to accept a false accusation in the middle of a hostile interview, and to everyone willing to challenge a narrative that asks democracies to apologise for defending themselves.

Shabbat Shalom to Chancellor Friedrich Merz

The lie also arrives wrapped in slogans, painted on banners and shouted from crowds.

Germany carries a unique weight of history when it comes to the Jewish people. Which is why moments of clarity from German leadership matter.

At a political rally this week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz was interrupted by a protester waving a pro-Palestinian banner and shouting accusations about Germany’s support for Israel.

Merz did not equivocate. Germany stands with Israel, he said, because Israel is fighting for its right to live in freedom. It was a short exchange, but an important one.

In many countries today, political leaders hesitate when confronted with this kind of accusation. They soften their language, retreat into ambiguity or try to change the subject.

Merz did none of that, he answered directly.

History, after all, does not impose neutrality on Germany, it imposes responsibility and the unwavering demand for honesty.

Shabbat Shalom to the Chancellor who answered a slogan with clarity instead of hesitation, and to every nation willing to remember that history demands responsibility rather than convenient silence.

Shabbat Shalom to StandWithUs

The most dangerous lie of all is the one that silences the next generation. Because if we allow our children to be intimidated into silence, then no matter what else we do, we will fail.

Across schools and universities in Britain, Jewish students increasingly find themselves on the front line of a rising wave of antisemitism.

The scale of what has emerged since 7 October is difficult to overstate.

Jewish students have been chased off campuses across the country by aggressive demonstrations and encampments. Universities that once spoke endlessly about inclusion suddenly discovered their silence when Jewish students became the target.

Just last week vigils honouring Ayatollah Khomeini, the architect of Iran’s revolutionary Islamist regime, were reportedly held across twenty-seven British universities.

Meanwhile the poison has spread beyond campuses. Across the country Jewish schoolchildren have been subjected to a surge in antisemitic attacks.

Last week in Norwich, a Jewish school football team was confronted by hundreds of spectators chanting antisemitic abuse from the sidelines, children playing a football match reduced to targets of hatred simply because they were Jewish.

All of this has unfolded against the backdrop of billions of pounds of Qatari money flowing into Western universities, funding institutions where anti-Israel activism increasingly blurs into open antisemitism.

This is the environment Jewish students are now expected to navigate and it is precisely why organisations like StandWithUs matter.

Led by chair Rene Anisfeld and chief executive Isaac Zarfati, StandWithUs has taken a clear position.

We will not abandon our children to hatred. We will not leave them to fight this battle alone. We will not pretend the problem does not exist.

Instead, they equip young people with the knowledge, confidence and leadership skills to confront antisemitism and anti-Zionism wherever it appears. Students are taught their history, taught the facts and taught how to challenge hatred without abandoning civility.

They are not taught to shout louder. They are taught to stand stronger.

Because the future of Jewish life will not be secured only by governments or institutions. It will be secured by young people who refuse to be intimidated into silence.

Shabbat Shalom to the organisation refusing to abandon a generation of Jewish students to intimidation, and to every young person brave enough to stand tall when hatred demands their silence.

Every week there are people who move the world forward. Not always with grand gestures, sometimes simply by refusing to repeat a lie when everyone else seems prepared to accept it.

This week’s Shabbat Shalom recognises just a few of those people. A Home Secretary who finally drew a line in the streets of London. A President who calmly dismantled a false accusation in a television studio. A Chancellor who answered a slogan with clarity rather than hesitation. An organisation preparing young people to stand tall in institutions where the pressure to stay quiet is growing stronger.

Different arenas, the same refusal.

The refusal to pretend that a lie is the truth.

So if someone made a difference this week, by telling the truth, defending others, building something meaningful or standing firm when distortion demanded silence, add their name.

Because courage has a way of spreading and when we recognise it, celebrate it and shine a light on it, we make it easier for others to find the strength to do the same.

If you’ve seen someone make a difference this week, in your community, in your workplace or simply by standing up when it mattered, nominate them. Because there are far more people worthy of a Shabbat Shalom than can fit into a single column.

Shabbat Shalom and may we never stop recognising those who refuse to repeat the lie.