The first Jews arrived in England during the Norman Conquest.
They prospered at first, but not for long.
First there was a baseless accusation of ritual murder and then a succession of anti-Jewish riots linked to the Crusades.
The entire Jewish community was expelled in 1290.
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It would be four centuries before Cromwell allowed them to return.
It happened in 1656…
Half a century earlier, Shakespeare had conceived the character of Shylock, embodiment of all anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Of course, afterwards, Benjamin Disraeli was twice Prime Minister…
But he had converted to the Anglican religion at an early age.
Antisemitism remained in the background; a British journalist coined the expression “How odd of God to choose the Jews.”
Anti-Semitism persists, as opposition leader Kemi Badenoch points out:
“Anti-Semitism has become acceptable in polite conversations at Labour dinners.”
Paradoxically, the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, did not result in a wave of sympathy for Israel in England but, on the contrary, monster demonstrations against the Jewish state.
Thousands of anti-Semitic “incidents” have been recorded, including increasingly serious attacks on institutions, property and even members of the community, such as the recent knife attack in Golders Green.
It seems that a growing number of Jewish children, facing insults and sometimes bullying, leave a school environment where they no longer feel safe to join Jewish schools.
It is in this context that a demonstration was organised on 1 May in front of Downing Street.
Under the slogan “Britain Supports British Jews,” it was intended to reassure the Jewish community.
Unfortunately, according to the most optimistic estimates, only twenty thousand people marched through the streets of the British capital, less according to the BBC, which saw only “several thousand participants” — a far cry from the large pro-Palestinian marches.
Not only that: there was a large delegation of supporters of Iran waving flags of Israel and Iran — making as much as a quarter of the crowd — as well as many Kurds.
In short, not really reassuring.
However, Kemi Badenoch attended and declared:
“I am with you: millions are with you.”
That same day, a man assaulted several Jewish women at a bus stop with his belt while reportedly hurling racial abuse not only at his victims but also at first responders.
Also, according to the police, a woman had been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated assault against a 15-year-old boy near a Jewish school.
The British government and law enforcement agencies know that the Islamic Republic of Iran is behind a series of recent attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites but are silent.
Speaking at the rally, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wondered why the Iranian ambassador had yet to be expelled.
Warning that antisemitism had become “normalized,” he urged the country to confront the rising tide of hatred.
Concluding that:
“This is an opportunity for British society from now onwards to confront antisemitism at long last, and to deal with it effectively.”
© Michèle Mazel pour Israël 24 7.org
Michèle Mazel est diplômée de Sciences-Po et licenciée en Droit, et a été boursière Fullbright en science politique. Pendant plus de trente ans, elle a accompagné de par le monde son mari, le diplomate Zvi Mazel, qui fut notamment ambassadeur d’Israël en Egypte, en Roumanie et en Suède. Elle en a tiré la matière de nombreux ouvrages – thrillers et romans. Elle contribue régulièrement à plusieurs organes de presse.