We must do all we can to combat antisemitism;

We must do all we can to combat antisemitism; to wrap our arms around our Jewish community. Every community has the right to live in peace and security.

However, this doesn’t mean the Government should respond by banning protests against genocide and the murderous, international law-breaking, far-right Netanyahu government of Israel.

The Golders Green perpetrator stabbed two men who were wearing traditional Jewish attire in the vicinity of the synagogue. This after previously stabbing and the attempted murder of another man of, it seems, similar Somali Islamic background as the perpetrator himself. The accused man had just been released from a secure mental health hospital into supported accommodation for recently discharged patients. Determined this to be a “terrorist incident” by the metropolitan police. The government increased the threat level to “severe” following the incident.

This atrocity has dominated news headlines for days, and become a focus for political tensions; reflecting that we’re on the eve of significant local, Scottish, Welsh elections.

I’ve received many communications from constituents, understandably anxious about this. This week Golders Green. Last October, Heaton Park, Manchester, where two were tragically killed; and 15 killed at the Hanukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney last December. Shocking atrocities. We take the threat seriously. Jews are one of a number of communities which have suffered persecution throughout their history. So, events like this also understandably rekindle resonances of a truly appalling past.

The campaign to combat antisemitism in the UK has also been conflated with atrocities in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank. Many who wrote to me again this week (using a template letter) “raised alarm” at “the surge in Antisemitism” as a consequence of what they believe is “the ongoing stream of anti-Israel misinformation and hostility from prominent media outlets, like the BBC…”.

However, many British Jews are as virulently critical of the actions of the far-right Netanyahu government of Israel as non-Jewish protestors. Many British Jews have joined the anti-Netanyahu protests and marches in our cities. To suggest that British Jews have an obligation to back the present Israeli government is like suggesting that all British Roman Catholics are obliged to back the Italian football team.

Of course, bigotry comes in many forms, not just Antisemitism. The media gave less coverage to the Anti-Islamic British man convicted last week for the violent sexual assault and racial abuse of a woman he wrongly believed to be Muslim (she was in fact Sikh). Similar hate crimes against other groups and communities don’t always receive the attention they deserve.

Whether Antisemitic, Anti-Islamic, or indeed bigotry aimed at any group in society, these incidents are an attack on our whole country and society; are against our values; values which celebrate diversity and which demonstrate tolerance and support for people of all faith groups and none.

We must stand together against the promoters of hate and bigotry and against intolerance in all its forms.#