Robert Rinder MBE opens up about being from a family of Holocaust victims and survivors and praises CAA for its legal work tackling the “enduring dark presence of antisemitism”

Robert Rinder MBE, the criminal barrister and television and radio broadcaster, best known nationwide for his ITV reality show, Judge Rinder, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he opened up about being from a family of Holocaust victims and survivors and observed how antisemitism endures today.

“I know people who live in certain communities that feel that they don’t want to put a menorah in their window outside of Jewish communities because they felt that it was inviting attack,” Mr Rinder said. “The reality is there’s something peculiarly disturbing about going to a state-funded Jewish school, and having worked for as long as I have over the years in prisons, it is easier to get into a medium-security prison. That is the same, in terms of the protection and all of the security that is in place, to protect Jewish kids that go to school every day simply to learn.”

He continued: “Now, that doesn’t exist because we are, as a people, especially paranoid. That exists on a rational assessment of the enduring day-to-day threats that our children face by going to school. This idea that putting a menorah in your window in the UK…that sending your kids to a Jewish school, that expressing your Judaism in the street by wearing Jewish clothing, represents a risk – even the fact that it represents a risk to your body, to your life – is the most clear and articulate expression imaginable of the enduring dark presence of antisemitism, anti-Jewish racism.

“And yes, there is security at other primary schools, but it doesn’t come close to this. What do we do about it? The answer is activism, and there’s really good activism everywhere, and above all else, including as many people in that activism. Making it part of their buffet, if you like, of things that they care about. That they cannot be anti-racist – it’s impossible to be anti-racist, it’s impossible to be an activist, and consequently on the right side of history – unless you include anti-Jewish racism, also, at the centre of your activism. Knowing the existential risk, every day, even now, of Jews who are just living their lives in various parts of the country. Going to a synagogue to pray, wherever they are, the levels of security, and so on and so forth.” 

Speaking on how to combat antisemitism, Mr Rinder said that one way included “the type of important thing that Campaign Against Antisemitism is doing, which is to say that ‘There is nowhere for these people to hide, legally. We will come after you.’ The fact that they are held legally to account is enormously important, because we are a nation of laws in this country, and there are really good quality laws that can be used to stop these people. The difficulty is that people don’t necessarily use them, so what CAA is doing is of limitless importance.”

Mr Rinder added: “The other thing I would do is really support Campaign Against Antisemitism. It’s impossible to overstate the value of what they do, of holding people to account. The idea that you cannot be an institutional racist and hide, because you are breaking the law, and that we will use those legal tools to stop you, I think is an enormously powerful weapon and a light in the darkness.”

Throughout the interview, Mr Rinder touched upon a wide variety of topics which included his work in Holocaust education, the emotional requirements of exploring his family history on television, and why he defended members of the far-right National Front in court.

The podcast with Mr Rinder can be listened to here, or watched in its entirety here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, writer Eve Barlow and actor Eddie Marsan.