VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS: Thanks, but no thanks, America

This week, Robert Garson, a lawyer associated with Donald Trump described asking the US State department to consider granting asylum to British Jews, stating that the UK “was no longer a safe place for us”.

Our answer is that the UK certainly has its issues, but perhaps he, and others like him, might consider looking in their own back yard – because if Britain is no longer safe for Jews, then the US appears to be sprinting to catch up.

For one thing, many of us now see America less as a goldeneh medineh than as the lair of a marants meshuggener (what country will he threaten to invade next week? Narnia?)  But let’s focus on antisemitism. Our community was deeply shaken by the Islamist terror attack on Heaton Park synagogue which left two congregants dead. But a ten-minute drive from the White House, Yaron Lifshinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered by a far-left activist howling “free Palestine”. Last month there was widespread anger after ‘anti-Zionist’ protests outside a London synagogue, but if any of those protestors had chanted “we support Hamas” – as a mob did outside a New York shul this month – they would have been arrested. A mass terror plot was averted here because Islamists had trouble buying assault rifles – gun purchase in America is terrifyingly easy.

At the same time, extreme right-wing podcasters like Tucker Carlson have decided to pivot to deranged ‘anti-Zionism’, sharing a toxic mixture of lies and blatant misrepresentations with their millions of followers. Yet last week Carlson was pictured having a cosy conversation with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Not exactly comforting.

So thanks, but no thanks, Mr Garson. The way things are going in America, if we finally do make Aliyah, we may see you in Ben Gurion airport right alongside us.