What must be done after the terror in Golders Green

The appalling stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green last week, following a spate of arson attacks on Jewish buildings in London, has turned antisemitism from a major problem into a national crisis. Never in living memory has the UK’s Jewish community faced such a sustained campaign of terrorist violence and incitement. It is little wonder that, according to one poll, nearly half of British Jews do not feel welcome in this country.

There are many things the government must do to try and reassure our increasingly beleaguered community. One is a heightened police presence in areas with a visibly Jewish population, if need be on a 24/7 basis. Another is armed units near synagogues and other Jewish buildings, as well as increased funding for security institutions.

But these are temporary solutions based on unsustainable and limited resources. Dealing with what underlies these attacks is more important, namely the militant, rejectionist ideology of antizionism, increasingly supported by Iran. It is this poisonous extremism which must be called out, not just by government but by civil society, including its powerful anti-racist movement.

Much has been made of restricting the rallies of hate that have besmirched British cities for over two years. It is true that many who attend these marches and demonstrations do so out of genuine sympathy for Palestinians. Many harbour no ill will towards Jews and some may even accept Jewish-Arab co-existence. Clearly, there is nothing wrong with supporting Palestinian rights in this way.

But those who lead and organise these marches are militant in their hatred of Israel and rejection of Zionism. They demand to ‘globalise the intifada’, knowing full well that this implies violent ‘resistance’. They chant the eliminationist battle cry of 7th century Arabia (Khaybar, Khaybar, ya yahud) in an attempt to depict the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of a cosmic struggle between Muslims and Jews. They refuse to call out placards which juxtapose the Star of David with the swastika or spread medieval style blood libels.

They depict Zionists (thus most Jews) as a fifth column that controls UK politics and which supports apartheid, colonialism and genocide. Such libels frame the dehumanisation of Jews and make attacks on the community more likely. Thus, the government should recognise that the anti-Israel movement is a Trojan horse for Jew hatred, and call it out accordingly. If that means banning these marches temporarily, so be it.

Moreover, the government should seriously consider creating a new offence of hateful extremism, whereby an individual creates a ‘climate conducive to hate crime, terrorism or other violence’, or engages in activity designed to threaten others by advancing a ‘political, religious or racial supremacist ideology’. This would mean prosecuting people who stir up hatred even when they do not encourage a specific terrorist act or support a proscribed group.

For Jews to feel that antisemitism is being taken seriously, deterrence is also needed within the legal system. Too often, the Crown Prosecution Service has made questionable decisions, meaning that only 16 per cent of British Jews are confident that reported antisemitic crimes will be prosecuted.

One recent report cited a number of examples of harassment that went unpunished. They included anti-Israel activists blockading Jewish community centres and synagogues, calling for “Zionists” and “Jews” to be killed, praising the Hamas attacks of 7 October and marching through a Jewish residential area of Westcliff-on-Sea, calling residents “baby killers” and trying to prevent orthodox Jews from entering a synagogue. In October 2023, prosecutors refused to treat Jews who were allegedly subjected to Nazi salutes, intimidation and harassment as victims of hate crime, until the CPS was threatened with legal action by the victims.

As Sir Michael Ellis, a former Attorney General for England and Wales, has argued, there is now an urgent need for a dedicated unit within the CPS to deal with incidents of antisemitism. Such a unit must publish a breakdown of its hate-crime prosecution statistics by communities, allowing Jews (and other minorities) to see the extent to which hate crimes are leading to convictions.

Fundamentally, the government must identify where the source of this hatred is largely coming from. The brutal and uncomfortable truth is that violent antisemitism in the UK, as in many other countries, is largely driven by Islamist extremism, whether of the Salafi-jihadi or Shia variety. Yet the government’s strategy is painfully thin. Officials are reluctant to identify that the primary source of radicalisation is Islamism, something reflected in the government’s inadequate ‘Prevent’ strategy. Even though Islamism remains the most important source of terrorism and extremism in the UK, it accounts for roughly one eighth of Prevent referrals.

One of the main reasons is a desire to avoid a backlash against the country’s Muslim population, many of whom also bear the brunt of bigotry and prejudice. But that can be no excuse for inaction. The government’s response must be proportionate and based, in part, on working with Muslim interlocutors who thoroughly reject all forms of extremist ideology.

It should involve greater use of Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs), a tool designed to disrupt an individual’s terrorist activity where there is not enough evidence for a criminal conviction. The Charity Commission must take action against preachers of hate who hide behind charitable endeavours to further their nefarious agenda. There must be more prosecutions and deportations of antisemites where the circumstances warrant it. In addition, the spread of Islamist ideology in British prisons must be checked through tough sanctions and effective training.

Above all, Britain must face up to the threat from the Muslim Brotherhood, the far-right Islamist movement whose actions were described by Sir John Jenkins in 2015 as “contrary to our national interests and national security”. The government should outlaw the Brotherhood, following the lead of countries like Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They should also deport foreign born imams who espouse the Brotherhood’s ideology and block money used to support its aims.

The UK government must also get tougher on Iran. The shadowy Iran linked group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the Golders Green stabbing, as it did for earlier attacks on synagogues and schools in Europe. According to the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, this points to the use of hybrid warfare by Iran.

In October 2024, MI5 Director Ken McCallum  said that Iranian state actors had made ‘extensive use of criminals as proxies – from international drug traffickers to low-level crooks’. The IRGC’s modus operandi has been to leverage criminal networks as proxies to carry out attacks abroad, thus distancing Iran from the attacks and giving the regime plausible deniability.

The IRGC must be immediately proscribed, together with HAYI. But this is not enough. Iran’s regime enjoys soft power influence through media organisations like Press TV and Fars News. These outlets should be banned too so that the bilious propaganda of an enemy state can no longer be spread with impunity.

There should also be robust investigations of any charity, school or NGO that is seen to be an arm of the Iranian state. One place to start would be the Islamic Centre of England mosque in London where congregants were invited recently to pay tribute to Ayatollah Khamenei after he was killed on 28 February. The mosque, which is also registered as a charity in the UK, is said to operate as the supreme leader’s office in the UK, effectively the Islamic Republic’s nerve centre in Britain.

Moreover, there is a powerful case for expelling Iran’s ambassador to London, especially after his shameful call for Iranian ex-patriates to rise up and aid the regime in Tehran. Naturally, this will meet resistance within the Foreign Office, the same organisation that, to its eternal discredit, sent representatives to a celebration of the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Republic, weeks after the regime killed tens of thousands of its own citizens. But such an expulsion would be entirely justified.

Of course, there must be consequences too for the Islamists’ allies on the left. It is unacceptable that there are no penalties for figures like Bob Vylan and Kneecap when they engage in a paroxysm of hatred towards Israelis and Zionists. At the very least, licensing authorities and local councils should step in and prevent these individuals from performing where it is likely that they will encourage the spread of violence and extremist ideology.

Above all, there must be a grassroots response to antisemitism. The decent, progressive left rightly abhors racism when directed towards Muslims, immigrants, asylum seekers and people of colour. They march on their behalf, produce reports highlighting their suffering and encourage others to stand with them. These anti-racists must do the same for Anglo-Jewry. Instead of seeing Jews as white, privileged and powerful, they should embrace them as a vulnerable minority in need of solidarity and support. That would send us Jews the most powerful message of all right now: that we are not alone.