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Was Jesus a Jew, or something else?

As Christmas approaches, activists are gearing up for their annual attempts to airbrush Jews out of the story of the birth of Jesus.

This year, those attempts even included a nativity scene at The Vatican.

The scene, titled “Nativity of Bethlehem 2024”, featured a bay Jesus clad in a keffiyeh. Designed by artists in conjunction with the PLO, it was accompanied by a plaque presented to the Pope by children in the presence of representatives from the Palestinian Authority.

The Pope was photographed at the scene, which was briefly displayed in the Paul VI Hall – as opposed to in St Peter’s Square, which is where the main nativity scene is located – before being removed without explanation following an outcry.

There have also been reports of Protestant denominations in the UK promoting this sort of propaganda.

Historical revisionism has become a new annual Christmas tradition for Palestine activists.

But whether Pope Francis or the Baptists or specific churches here and there like it or not, Jesus was a Jew from Judea. The notion that he was not Jewish or belonged to another ethnic group is ahistorical nonsense and offensive to one of the founding stories of Christianity.

These pitiful attempts to airbrush Jews out of this story undermines interfaith relations and is a betrayal of Christianity itself.

How sad that the festival of goodwill is highjacked in this way.

When Santa Claus visited an anti-Israel demonstration

’Tis the season to be jolly.

But that’s not easy when there’s so much antisemitism around.

So we sent Santa Claus to an anti-Israel demonstration to find out who’s been good this year, and who’s been bad.

Watch what happened when Santa Claus visited an anti-Israel demonstration here.

For those wondering, we have reported the man in the opening clip to the Metropolitan Police Service and have provided his name and other information.

Fighting antisemitism on Chanukah

Chanukah is a celebration of Jewish empowerment and the fight against antisemitism.

Here are eight measures that we have been calling on the Government and other authorities, this Chanukah, to introduce to aid in that fight.

  1. Over half (59%) of the British public would be less likely to visit a city centre if they knew a large Palestine march was due to happen, according to our polling conducted by YouGov. It is time for these marches to stop. We are asking for the Home Secretary to close loopholes in our legislation that permit weekly anti-Israel marches; allow police to infer that marches led by the same organisers will likely repeat illegality; remove the limitations to definitions of “serious disruption to the life of the community”; and more. Antisemitic hate crime is skyrocketing in Britain. It is time for a change in direction.
  2. At the beginning of the year, the previous Government heeded calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir, which praised Hamas’ barbaric attacks on 7th October 2023. But there is more to do. The Home Secretary must urgently proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ansar Allah (the Houthi Rebels), and certain Palestinian terrorist organisations that were involved in or claimed involvement in the 7th October Hamas-led attacks in Israel.
  3. Jews are more than twelve times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group, according to our analysis of the latest Home Office statistics. But how many of these incidents end in arrests and prosecutions? The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must break down hate crimes prosecution statistics by category. A full 95% of British Jews believe that the CPS should be doing this, according to our polling.
  4. British campuses were already hotbeds of antisemitism before October 2023, and the situation since then has only become worse. Universities need to take a proactive approach to dealing with antisemitism. Among other things, we are asking for universities to reconfirm their commitment to the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism and add it to disciplinary procedures and codes of conduct; and designate a member of staff responsible for tackling antisemitism on campus.
  5. Over the past year, campuses have become venues for the glorification of antisemitic terrorism and support for groups opposed to Britain and our values. With nearly one in ten (9%) of 18-24 year olds having a favourable view of Hamas, according to our polling conducted by YouGov, universities need to ensure that incidents on campus are being assessed for potential criminality. The Department for Education must obligate universities to report antisemitic incidents to the police and send universities legal advice on the requirement to balance freedom of speech with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
  6. Our police forces are vital in ensuring that those whose antisemitism crosses a criminal threshold face consequences for their actions. Police officers must be empowered with the right tools to combat antisemitic hate crime, including by the establishment of a Single Point of Contact within each police force to facilitate alerting and monitoring of antisemitic hate crime and identify training needs, and more.
  7. Palestine Action is a criminal enterprise operating freely in the UK and terrorising the Jewish community. Over the past year, we have seen Palestine Action escalate its campaign of harassment through acts of intimidation, including carrying out a mock beheading and vandalising the offices of Jewish charities. Palestine Action must be outlawed.
  8. Earlier this year, it was announced by the Foreign Secretary that the Government would restore funding to UNRWA. That funding had been paused by the previous Government earlier in the year due to allegations that a number of its staff were involved in the 7th October Hamas attacks. UNRWA teachers have glorified terrorism and some UNRWA personnel have been found to be members of Hamas, and UNRWA schools and premises have been used as storage facilities for munitions and launching pads for rockets. The agency’s educational materials have long been accused of promoting antisemitism and encouraging hate. The resumption of funding to UNRWA by the UK was an obviously controversial decision. We are therefore asking the Foreign Secretary, in the interests of transparency and consistency, to disclose the legal advice that was sought in deciding to restore funding to UNRWA.

Chanukah is the story of how the Jewish people fought and overcame antisemitism.

In a modern democratic country like Britain, we can only make advances in this fight with at least some support from the state.

The measures that we are calling for – some of which we have been advocating for over many years – are essential, and we encourage you to write to or meet with your local MP to promote support for these policy changes.

We are prepared for 2025

2025 is, sadly, shaping up to be another challenging year for British Jews. But we will be there, continuing the fight.

Here are some recent developments and successes:

Michael Derham, who shared antisemitic conspiracy theories online, was sentenced at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court following a private prosecution by Campaign Against Antisemitism. Mr Derham used his X account to express opinions about Jews that included: “Why are you allowing Jews to manipulate our politics?”; and “Mind you Jewish people are showing themselves to be easy to hate, especially their politicians, diplomats and media. Makes you question all the myths they have spread about themselves.” We brought the private prosecution against Mr Derham after the Metropolitan Police told us that “no suspect was identified” in its investigation and that it would therefore not refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The parent of a fourteen-year-old identifiably Jewish boy has reported that his son was assaulted with threats of rape issued against the boy’s mother. The alleged incident occurred at the junction of Bury Old Road and Singleton Road in Manchester earlier this month, at around midnight. The boy, who was with a group of friends of similar age, was said to have been approached by a man around the age of twenty. The father of the victim claims that the man questioned him about their religious affiliation and, upon confirming that they were Jewish, asked about their views on the Hamas-Israel war. When the group of boys provided neutral answers, the man then allegedly attempted to strike the boy, knocking his hat off. It was at this point that a threat of rape against the boy’s mother was said to have been made. It is understood that the police were called and arrived at the scene roughly an hour and a half after the incident. The father of the boy expressed concern to Campaign Against Antisemitism over the police’s handling of the matter, and two weeks after the incident, the family is allegedly still yet to receive any communication from the police or external authorities. We are continuing to support the family.

You may recall that the Rio Cinema in Dalston cancelled London’s biggest Eurovision screening because Israel was participating in the competition. We submitted a complaint to the Charity Commission, which has been upheld. We are grateful that the Commission took this issue seriously and has issued guidance to the charity so that this does not happen again. Prejudice has no place in the arts.

Following our complaint, the Charity Commission has taken action against Millat-e-Islamia, Islamic, Cultural & Education Association. A video of Muhammad Adil Shahzad, who, according to the Charity’s Facebook page, is a resident imam at the Charity, appeared to feature him telling his audience not to use “Google, Facebook or Sheikh Twitter” because “nine out of ten websites are either run by Qadianis, or they are run by the Jews.” After reviewing our complaint, the Commission agreed that there was failure by the trustees in the administration of the Charity. Jew-hate is a poison that has no place in British society, least of all from registered charities.

Two teenage girls have been sentenced after carrying out a series of shocking attacks over the course of half an hour in Stamford Hill last December. In the first incident, the pair attempted to take money from a woman. One of them attempted to strike her but missed, allowing the woman to escape. Ten minutes later, the girls demanded money from a twelve-year-old girl. They only released her and walked off after realising she had no money. In a matter of minutes, the teenagers had accosted four eleven-year-old girls, hurling antisemitic insults and demanding money. Frightened, the girls ran off, using a pedestrian crossing on the High Road to get away. The pair pursued one of the girls, eventually grabbing her arm, intimidating her and stealing her lunch bag. Moments later, in an incident captured on video, a woman was viciously assaulted by the girls after the pair demanded money from her. The girls struck the woman’s back, took her phone from her hand and ripped off her wig, which she wore for religious reasons. The woman was thrown to the ground where she was then kicked into unconsciousness. The two girls were both found guilty of attempted robbery, religiously-aggravated harassment and ABH, with one of the defendants also found guilty of attempted theft. Despite all that, the girls have not received a custodial sentence. Apparently beating a Jewish woman unconscious and stealing from her as part of a spree of antisemitic robberies is not enough to land you in jail as a minor. Instead, both of the girls were handed a Rehabilitation Order, in addition to an order to undertake a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 and 45 hours. They were also placed under curfew with an electronic tag for three months.

A Tower Hamlets school’s “hunger strike” for Gaza, which encouraged children as young as eleven to go without food, has been called off following reporting by the JC and subsequent action by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others, including our demand for Tower Hamlets Council to investigate the matter. This unethical initiative should never have been allowed to go ahead. Now the school is reportedly proceeding with a non-uniform day to raise funds in Gaza. But all this is only the tip of the iceberg. One mother of a Jewish child said: “This week my kid told me they would be ‘beaten up’ if anyone found out they were Jewish. I have sleepless nights worrying.” It is unconscionable that Jewish families should be made to feel fearful for their children in this way.

This is just a selection of the recent cases and incidents that we have been working on. The situation for British Jews is dire, but we will continue to do everything that we can to defend the Jewish community in the coming year.

Why did you march?

The March Against Antisemitism in London drew tens of thousands of people from the Jewish community and their allies across Britain.

We caught up with so many of you who attended to find out what motivated you to march.

This is what you told us.

You can also catch up on the full speeches by our Chief Executive Gideon Falter, Major Andrew Fox, heroic Druze nurse Lorin Khizran, Rev. Hayley Ace, and Founder of Our Fight Mark Birbeck, as well as the performances of Cantor Steven Leas and Israeli rock icon Aviv Geffen.

The photographs from the March Against Antisemitism are available here.

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Victims of antisemitism speak out

As part of our work making the voices of British Jews heard, we have begun publishing a unique series of powerful testimonials by members of the Jewish community and allies, detailing how they have been affected by the events of the past several months.

In the first of our testimonials, Lysa reveals the precautions that she feels that she must take to maintain her safety as a Jew in Britain.

When nearly 70% of British Jews say that they are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism right now, this is what that looks like.

The second testimonial features Anatole, a Jewish student at University of Leeds. There are so many students who, like him, do not feel safe right now.

With so little being done by the universities about the intimidation on campus and antisemitic chanting by students and lecturers alike, can you blame them? As Anatole rightly says, this inaction by universities is a betrayal of their Jewish students.

Campaign Against Antisemitism stands up for Jewish students

We are continuing to monitor incidents on campuses across the country, including recently at Newcastle University and Central Saint Martins.

As a community, we can no longer tolerate how vulnerable Jewish students are feeling on campus. That is why we have produced an open letter for students to hold their universities accountable for the rise in hostility and intimidation exacerbated by the campus encampments.

As it is fashionable to make demands of university administrations these days, Jewish students make the following demands of their own in the letter:

  1. Vice-Chancellors must not accept any of the demands of the organisers of the encampments, and, making it clear that universities will not be pressured into action by this sort of conduct, they must pledge not to begin to consider any policy changes relating to such demands for at least three months after the encampments are removed.
  2. University policies must be applied on trespassing, property damage, bullying, racist conduct and other relevant provisions in order to bring the encampments to an end and punish participants to the full extent of student codes of conduct.
  3. The creation of a new paid staff position dedicated exclusively to tackling antisemitism and promoting Jewish inclusion at each university must be announced, where such a position does not yet exist.
  4. Every university must publicly reassure its community of its commitment to the International Definition of Antisemitism as its sole and unamended definition of antisemitism.
  5. All staff and faculty members, including campus security and welfare officers, must be required to undertake updated antisemitism training.

We are thrilled by how many students have signed the letter so far and had their voices finally heard. Students can sign at antisemitism.org/studentletter.

We have also visited campuses over the past several weeks, speaking directly to students and offering support. On our trip to UCL, we spoke directly with students and showed Jewish students that they are not alone. You can watch the video here.

If you like the t-shirts that the Jewish students in the video are wearing, you too can make a statement with our ‘Quite Openly Jewish’ and ‘Quite Openly Standing With Jews’ t-shirts. Some people also wore them at the march for the release of the hostages yesterday, which Campaign Against Antisemitism was proud to support.

Join the movement, wear the message, and stand proudly with us. Together, we can combat antisemitism.

Available now at antisemitism.org/shop.

Check out the latest episodes of Podcast Against Antisemitism

In our latest episodes, we spoke to two of the Jewish community’s best non-Jewish friends, the former MP Mike Freer and Rev. Hayley Ace.

Mike Freer announced his decision not to stand for re-election citing the “intolerable stress” that he and his family have been enduring from the several serious threats that he has received to his personal safety, including a recent arson attack on his constituency office. You can listen to our discussion about the impact of these threats and his decision.

Reverend Hayley Ace is the co-founder of the grassroots movement, Christian Action Against Antisemitism, along with her husband Timothy Gutmann. Both Hayley and Timothy have been standing firmly alongside the British Jewish community against antisemitism, using their perspective as Christians to educate people on racism against Jews. You can learn more about their work by listening to our conversation.

You can subscribe to the podcasts wherever you get your podcasts, or receive the podcast straight to your inbox by subscribing here.

With the General Election campaign now in full swing, we are working hard to expose candidates whose records concern us and calling attention to parties who are failing to act. We will have more on this in due course.

Whoever forms the next Government, they must be left in no doubt about what British Jews think and need right now. That is why it is so important that as many of you as possible complete the surveys above, so that we can convey your wishes and concerns to our lawmakers.

Once you have made your voice heard to us, we will stop at nothing to make sure that everybody else hears it too.

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German man who said “Jews went to the slaughter like sheep” accused of pretending to be Jewish 

A German man who has allegedly used antisemitic tropes in public talks has been accused of pretending to be Jewish. 

Frank Borner, a retired teacher from the island of Fehmarn, has claimed to be working through the “Meet a Jew” programme. “Meet a Jew” is an initiative run by the Central Council of Jews in Germany whereby non-Jews meet members of the Jewish community to “prevent and debunk stereotypes, replacing them with actual experiences”.

According to the German publication Der Welt, which published an exposé on the inconsistencies in Mr Borner’s public talks, Mr Borner claimed that his family had “led a tranquil life” in Nazi Germany until 9th November 1938. 

He also allegedly claimed that his Jewish grandfather was initially sympathetic towards Hitler, whom he supposedly believed would bring stability to Germany following the First World War. 

According to the exposé, details such as the names of his relatives or the locations of events in his talks are often omitted or sometimes responded to by Mr Borner saying: “I don’t want to say that now.”

In one of his talks, Mr Borner reportedly claimed that Hollywood is “firmly in the Jewish grip”. 

In the same session, when talking about the Holocaust, he allegedly said: “Why did the Jews go through this? They were people with money, with international relations!”

When asked by an audience member about his relationship to Judaism, Mr Borner said, “I see myself as a political Jew by paying attention to where antisemitism appears in our society, even in very fine forms,” according to Der Welt. 

In 2020, a local German newspaper dedicated a feature to Mr Borner, where he wrote that he grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household and that his grandfather had committed suicide whilst in a concentration camp, among other details about his life. After the article was published, family members of Mr Borner reportedly came forward to dispute some of the so-called facts he had written about. 

In a statement, the Central Council of Jews in Germany, which denied that Mr Borner is part of the “Meet a Jew” initiative, said: “The damage done by such charlatans to such an important project is great.”

When contacted for comment by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mr Borner said: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

He then later wrote to the news outlet to say: “In today’s Western democracy, Jewish people prey on other Jewish fellow human beings.” He also added that in Germany, his family had never belonged to an official Jewish denomination or community.

The revelation comes after a similar case earlier this summer, in which a prominent German critic of Israel who had claimed to be Jewish now admitted that he is not. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism in Germany, which have increased considerably. 

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel a Creative Communications and Events Officer a Communications and Research Manager an Education and Outreach Intern to join our London office

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Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.