Since the horrific Hamas attack in Israel on 7 October and Israel’s assault on Gaza in response, I have heard a great deal about how Jewish people in Britain, as well as other places, are intimidated, afraid and under threat.
According to Justin Cohen of The Jewish News, “the Jewish community at the moment is full of dread, full of fear, like I've never seen before”. According to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, British Jews felt “forced to hide” during “anti-Israel” protests in London. Havering Council in London even cancelled its annual Hanukkah menorah display out of fears it could “inflame tensions”, though subsequently reversed the decision. We have also seen similar cancellations in the US.
I am Jewish and, although I have not experienced this, I am greatly concerned about the rise in antisemitism, as well as other forms of racism and hate. Many of these have been on the rise for almost a decade, most identifiably in the context of Brexit and Trump, and the mainstreaming of racism and the far right more broadly.
