Write yourself in Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Book of Action
Antisemitism continues to threaten the future of British Jewry. As the shofar sounds this Rosh Hashanah, it calls on us to wake up, reflect and take action.
So for the new year 5787, Campaign Against Antisemitism is inviting you to write yourself into our Book of Action.
As a volunteer-led organisation. there are so many ways that you can get involved in our work:
- If you’re a lawyer, you can join our legal network and help us take action in the courts.
- If you’re a victim of antisemitism or a witness, please contact us for assistance.
- If you like our communications work, why not share your experiences of antisemitism and help amplify Jewish voices? Get in touch with us.
- Change also comes about through politics and policymaking. You can introduce CAA to your MP or local councillor and help bring about change.
- When it comes to education, we face an almighty struggle. You can bring CAA into your workplace, university society or school for training and workshops, and if you are a student, consider becoming a CAA Student Ambassador this year.
You can also become a volunteer by applying for a role at antisemitism.org/act/volunteer.
Finally, you can also support Campaign Against Antisemitism with tzedakah (charity) this Rosh Hashanah and help us fight antisemitism in 5787.
Campaign Against Antisemitism reacts to Ed Miliband’s newest claims about Israel
In a new online video featuring Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary states he “just came out of this meeting talking about Gaza”, and proceeds to make a series of inflammatory claims about Israel’s conduct which were apparently discussed during the meeting. He reported hearing stories of “medicines blocked” and “children dying while waiting for lifesaving treatment”, and urged the UK government to act “more decisively” on the issue.
There is a very stark contrast between Mr Miliband recycling falsehoods about the world’s only Jewish state at the same time as Prime Minister Andy Burnham is holding cabinet meetings about emergency security to prevent British Jews being killed by people obsessed with the Jewish state.
The Foreign Secretary’s performative politics will have absolutely no impact on Israel, whilst exacerbating what is already a national emergency in Britain. It is like dousing the Jewish community in petrol whilst also banning smoking in the vicinity.
If Mr Miliband is interested in “hearing stories” he doesn’t need to get them from them halfway around the world. We have plenty here on our doorstep: two Jews killed in a terrorist attack, two Jews stabbed in Golders Green and another viciously beaten, arson attacks on Jewish sites across London, schoolchildren targeted, and more.
The Government must confront the threat of antisemitic extremism right here at home before worrying about matters thousands of miles away over which it has no sway.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive Gideon Falter spoke to LBC about Ed Miliband’s latest remarks.
What does the public think Zionism is?
A major motivation of the hostility towards Israel is a misunderstanding of what Zionist means.
A sign at a pro-Palestine march read “End Zionist control” over the UK.
Elie asked regular members of the public for their reaction. Here’s what they said.
Campaign Against Antisemitism obtains footage of attempt to disrupt drone engine manufacturer by likely successor to Palestine Action
Campaign Against Antisemitism previously revealed that Direct Action Training is likely a successor organisation to Palestine Action, a proscribed terrorist organisation.
Footage of a recent protest provided to Campaign Against Antisemitism shows activists blocking the entrance to a UAV Engines factory in Shenstone village and shouting inflammatory slogans – from the genocidal “River to the Sea” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied”, to “Stop the UK war machine” and “Britain is a racist state”. They also chanted not to cooperate with police – not that the police did anything to stop them preventing entry and exit from the factory.
The protest came just after Russia has said that it plans to disrupt UK arms manufacturing in retaliation for British support for Ukraine. While we do not currently have reason to believe that these activists are taking direct instructions from Russia, their activism unwittingly or otherwise plays right into the hands of Britain’s adversaries and disrupts British and NATO readiness.
Given they think Britain is a racist state, it’s hardly surprising that they would find common cause with our nation’s foes.
These people are not innocent Palestine activists but are threatening our national security, just as Palestine Action did before it was banned. By putting Palestine first and Britain last, they are achieving nothing in the Middle East but are putting our country in peril.
Counter Terrorism Policing must act forcefully against these criminals, before we all pay a heavy price.
Campaign Against Antisemitism Chief Executive Gideon Falter broke the story to Peter Cardwell on TalkTV.
Witness appeal following attack on Jewish schoolchild in Belsize Park, London
Police are appealing for information about three boys after reports of a Jewish boy being viciously attacked outside Belsize Park station at the end of last week.
The boy was on his way home from Hasmonean Boys Middle School – a nearby Jewish school – on Friday afternoon when the alleged attack occurred.
We are urging anyone with information to contact the police or [email protected].
A clear example of two-tier justice
Even as antisemitism reaches record levels, too many offenders continue to escape with penalties that fail to reflect the gravity of their actions or instil deterrence – and which risk appearing like a double standard.
Syeda Khatun, 39, has been given a suspended sentence in relation to an antisemitic attack outside a Jewish school. During the incident, which occurred in May of this year, she racially abused schoolchildren before violently assaulting a parent.
Ms Khatun was found guilty on the charge of racially aggravated assault on 3rd July and has now been sentenced, at Stratford Magistrates’ Court, to twelve months in prison suspended for two years. That means she will not be going to jail.
It was not so long ago that a woman who posted inflammatory messages online following the Southport attack was sentenced to 31 months in prison. Ms Khatun racially abused someone in real life and actually attacked them physically. But the victims were only Jewish, and Ms Khatun will not be going to prison.
This is two-tier justice. Offenders inciting anti-Jewish hate must receive harsher sentences in order to establish deterrence.
There are a number of other recent cases of interest:
- Separately, Michael Brown, 45, has been handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to sending offensive messages threatening synagogues and Jewish businesses earlier this summer. You can read more about the case here.
- In a particularly disturbing case, a man inspired by the Heaton Park synagogue attack was found guilty of terrorism-related offences. Mohammed Khalil Nadir, nineteen, has been sentenced to nine years and six months in prison on charges of disseminating terrorist material and possessing items for terrorist purposes. He is also understood to have placed an order for a vest matching that worn by the perpetrator of the Heaton Park attack. You can read more about the case here. This case highlights the threat of antisemitic copycat attacks on British Jewry and members of the public.
- In the professions, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ordered the suspension of solicitor Ryan Sean Jack Williams from practice for a period of twelve months after finding that he made a series of antisemitic remarks towards Jewish colleagues – including that Jewish people only have security outside their synagogues because “they have lots of money and can pay for security and police” – alongside other misconduct. You can read more about the case here. Solicitors are officers of the court and their conduct must be at the highest standards.
- Meanwhile, an NHS doctor has been accused of posting support for Hamas online. Dr Rehiana Ali, 46, who is a consultant neurologist, appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with four offences of expressing an opinion or belief in support of a proscribed organisation, as well as being reckless as to whether it would encourage support for Hamas. You can read more about the case here.
A rare instance of accountability in the arts sector
The Cambridge Literary Festival has reportedly cancelled an event headlined by Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, citing “operational reasons”. This followed an outcry over Ms Abdel-Fattah’s participation, in view of her shocking past rhetoric.
- Just one day after the 7th October Hamas attacks on Israel, she reportedly changed her Facebook profile picture to a paraglider in the colours of the Palestinian Authority flag — an apparent reference to the armed Hamas paragliders who invaded Israel. We understand that she kept the image on her profile for five months, while denying that it was intended to glorify violence against civilians.
- In 2024, she also wrote an article for the American blog Mondoweiss, in which she referred to a “glimmer” of hope in Gaza on the day of the 7th October attacks.
- Later that year, she allegedly posted on social media that Zionists “have no claim or right to cultural safety”, while calling for 2025 to be “the end of Israel”.
Her alleged remarks have already prompted action from other institutions. She was disinvited from Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week 2026, with organisers saying that it would not be “culturally sensitive” to include her in the line-up following the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in Sydney.
Although the Cambridge Literary Festival has not said whether concerns about antisemitism played a role in its decision, one hopes that Ms Abdel-Fattah’s appalling record of hateful rhetoric played a pivotal role in the disinvitation.
As the arts become an increasingly hostile environment for Jews in the UK and around the world, it is vital that cultural institutions do not give a platform to those who risk promoting hatred or appear to glorify violence.
Using art to heal Jewish trauma
In this week’s episode of CAA’s Podcast Against Antisemitism, Elie interviewed Moshe Teller, an art therapist and psychotherapist using his creative abilities for good.
Mr Teller has spent many years working with trauma, particularly within Jewish communities and with Holocaust survivors. Through art, Moshe helps people access emotions and memories that words alone often cannot reach.
In this interview, Moshe opens up about his experience working with Holocaust survivors, the psychology behind trauma and what colour antisemitism would be.
You can watch the episode here, or listen to it here and here.
Yet another strike against the BBC’s credibility
Former BBC Chair and Ofcom Chair Lord Grade has reportedly criticised BBC Arabic’s bias against Israel, stating that the network’s Arabic-language service “got it very wrong” and must “put it right”.
In an interview with The JC, Lord Grade described the BBC’s decision not to categorise Hamas as terrorists on 7th October 2023 as “misleading”. You can read more here.
In a further damning indictment of the BBC, during an episode of the US version of ‘The Rest is Politics’, BBC US Special Correspondent Katty Kay reportedly described the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza as a “genocide”, presenting the term as objective fact. You can read more here.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for fundamental reform of an organisation that is supposed to uphold the highest standards of journalism. It is clear that the BBC’s existing internal processes are untenable, and that it is failing in its duty as a national broadcaster.
It’s time to suspend the licence fee pending an investigation. Add your name at suspendthelicencefee.com.
This coming year, Campaign Against Antisemitism will be a driving force for change
Last week, we attended Reform UK’s annual conference — the first of a number of a party conferences that we are attending this season — taking meetings with figures from across the country to ensure that they know what needs to be done to tackle antisemitism and extremism in this country.
The past year has been challenging for British Jews, and politicians from all parties in Parliament, devolved government and local authorities have a role to play in upholding British values and making the UK safe again.
With the Jewish New Year upon us, we rededicate ourselves to the righteous and patriotic fight against antisemitism and the effort to uphold the imperilled values that made Britain great and thanks to which the Jewish community thrived.
We wish all of those celebrating a happy Rosh Hashanah. May the new year bring better tidings for us all.
