The recent riots and counterdemonstrations have come to define this summer. But as they appear to cool off and the country finally gets a break, it remains to be seen whether the Jewish community will get any respite.
As we head into the new academic year and new Jewish year, we are ready for the fight ahead.
Riots, racism and “anti-racism”
Over the last few weeks, the criminal justice system has been woken from its slumber to confront the riots and hooliganism that have been plaguing the cities of Britain.
The rioters
We wrote about how far-right forums, which were being used to organise the riots, were targeting Jews, with messages in one far-right Telegram channel, for example, saying that they “support neither brown nor Jew”, and that Hitler was “the only politician since Roman times to truly care for his people”.
“The Jewish people fabricated the Holocaust – ensuring they would never again be questioned by Europeans while they destroyed their homelands… Today Jewish media, NGOs, finance, business, entertainment and a huge overrepresentation in government, are doing the same all over Europe,” said another.
The counter-demonstrators
While we applauded the strong response by the authorities to the riots, there were two things that we could not help but notice.
The first was that many of the so called “anti-racist” counter-demonstrators exhibited their own flavour of extremism, for which they have not suffered any consequences. The disgraced former academic David Miller, asserted that “the riots have been instigated by the Zionist asset, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon,” in reference to far-right activist Tommy Robinson, while a former Parliamentary candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party also reportedly shared content claiming that “Tommy Robinson is on Israel’s payroll”.
A video circulated online in which a man claimed that the rioters and Muslims should not be at odds with one another as the rioters are only targeting Muslims because of their “Zionist-backers”. The LBC presenter James O’Brien signposted this video, only to quickly apologise, claiming that he had not watched it in full. A user on X wrote in a post that received over three million views: “What’s happening in England is the perfect example of how Zionists manipulate the media to pin [sic] Christians and Muslims Against each other.” The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) charity also blamed “Zionist financiers” for the riots in a letter to the Home Secretary, and we have submitted a complaint to the Charity Commission.
Perhaps the best example was the “Finchley Against Fascism” WhatsApp messages that we exposed, in which so-called “anti-racist” activists not only referred to Zionism as “fascism” and “racism”, but, astoundingly, the activists were so blinded by their hatred of ‘Zionists’ that they would refuse their help in opposing the rioters.
Opposition to the far-right does not whitewash the racism of the far-left.
We supported the urgent action against the violent riots on our streets, but we have remained vigilant against some of the extremists amongst those counterprotestors who have also themselves been marching on our streets for months and are now trying to portray themselves as anti-fascist moderates.
The criminal justice system
The second thing that we could not but notice over the past few weeks was how, whereas nine months of one type of extremism on our streets was apparently not enough to wake up the criminal justice system, a few days of another type of extremism was. Accordingly, we have called for the resources mobilised to combat the riots now to be trained on the other extremists too.
Those espousing any extremist ideology must be made to face the full force of the law. If we are selective, our society will suffer.
To the authorities, we say that if you believe there to be no double standard in the policing, prosecution and sentencing of the current rioters over the past three weeks versus the violent or antisemitic anti-Israel demonstrators over the past year, at the very least you still need to reckon with why that perception has arisen.
That perception is not limited to the hooligans and thugs who have rightly been bearing the full consequences of their actions: it is widely shared by many law-abiding Britons across the country and by many in the Jewish community, who have suffered the most from failures in policing over the past year.
For ten months, they have been frustrated and let down by a lethargic criminal justice system that was apathetic and at times even hostile to the challenges that they faced; now they see how quickly the system can be mobilised when there is the institutional and political will to do so. Why has that been lacking for so long?
We cannot tackle extremism through double standards. Every type of extremism must be confronted by the full force of the law, no matter the perpetrators.
Reginald D. Hunter at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
A Jewish Israeli couple was reportedly hounded out of comedian Reginald D. Hunter’s show two Sundays ago at the Edinburgh Fringe, whilst audience members shouted insults at them.
The show was described by a reporter for The Telegraph reviewing the performance as “the ugliest Fringe moment [he] had ever witnessed”.
The alleged incident was triggered when Mr Hunter apparently made a joke in which he compared the State of Israel to an abusive wife, who, in a Channel 5 documentary, had accused her husband of being abusive. He is reported to have remarked: “My God, it’s like being married to Israel.”
The Jewish couple, who were in the front row of the audience and said that they were Israeli, responded by shouting “not funny” at the comedian. Audience members reportedly responded by shouting “genocidal maniac”, “you’re not welcome,” “baby-killers”, “f* off” and “free Palestine” at the couple. It is understood that Mr Hunter responded to the couple, saying: “I’ve been waiting for you all summer, where the f* you been? You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish…Look at you making everyone love Israel even more.” After the couple left the show, Mr Hunter reportedly quipped: “That tells me that I still got voltage.”
This is not the first time that the comedian has courted controversy in relation to the Jewish community. In 2006, also during the Edinburgh Fringe, he received backlash after making a joke about Holocaust-denial. At the recent performance, it is understood that he compared the moment to his 2006 controversy and made reference to being unable to access an article in a Jewish newspaper about the incident. He is alleged to have said: “Typical f***ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.” He reportedly then added: “It’s just a joke.”
We have spoken with the Jewish couple, as well as additional witnesses. The couple, noting that nobody in the audience came to their aid, told us that they were left in fear of violence. We are writing to venues currently scheduled to host Mr Hunter to ensure that they are fully aware of his conduct at the Edinburgh Fringe. We are encouraged to see that the first venue has decided to cancel his planned appearance. Our lawyers are exploring legal options and we urge anyone present at the show to contact us in confidence at [email protected].
We are also contacting Police Scotland, which opened and then closed an investigation, with additional evidence for them to review.
While Mr Hunter has released a statement in which he stated that he “regrets any stress caused”, the word “sorry” and a fulsome apology were noticeably missing. His social media activity since the incident does not indicate remorse. The victims reject this non-apology from Mr Hunter. The venue’s statement portraying the incident simply as audience members “choosing to leave” is appalling and wilfully overlooks the facts. Their claims that staff supported the couple during their exit do not chime with the victims’ accounts whatsoever. Our lawyers are also considering legal action in relation to the venue.
We will continue to support the victims and ensure that Mr Hunter faces the consequences of his actions.
This incident may remind some of another incident earlier this year, involving comedian Paul Currie. Incidentally, Mr Currie was also performing at the Fringe, having been booted by numerous other venues following our letters. We are aware of reports that he “banned Zionists” from his Fringe show. Our lawyers are also looking into that.
Are you a medical professional, or a recent patient?
We are collecting testimonies on antisemitism in the medical field.
We are interested to hear from doctors and other medical practitioners, staff, patients and anyone else who has encountered antisemitism in medicine over the past year.
If you have been affected, please e-mail us confidentially at [email protected] with the subject: “Medical”.
Meanwhile, Dr Wahid Shaida, who referred to the 7th October Hamas terrorist attacks as “resistance” and then denied that they even occurred, has had his suspension lifted by NHS England.
While working as a GP, Dr Shaida also chaired meetings for the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has since been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British Government. We have written to NHS England and to the GMC about this shocking decision.
We also wrote to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) regarding the scheduling of its annual conference over Rosh Hashanah. Although unable to change the date at this late stage, the RCGP did at least apologise and regret the clash.
University encampments
For months, we have seen hideous anti-Israel encampments erected on campuses across Britain, physical embodiments of the exponential rise of Jew-hatred in our universities, which were already hotbeds of antisemitism.
We have been closely monitoring what different universities have done to address (or not address) the encampments. The full report can be read here, or the specific responses of universities can be read below:
These encampments have had a grossly detrimental effect on the Jewish campus experience, and it is shameful that, exceptions notwithstanding, universities did not quickly act to remove them and sanction participants in line with their codes of conduct and legal duties.
In addition to the impact on Jewish students, several wider student activities are also known to have been disrupted by the encampments, hampering learning and student life on campus.
Some universities moved faster than others to address the encampments, some capitulated to the anti-Israel protesters while others held firm. In all cases, precedents have been set.
Some universities have had regard to the effect on Jewish students and staff; some seem not to care. Several seem more concerned with the commercial impact of the encampments – removing them as summer open days approached – than they did with the welfare of current students, which is particularly galling.
We will continue to expose antisemitic activity on university campuses, hold universities to account and support Jewish students.
While we are on the subject of encampments, Minouche Shafik has had to resign as President of Columbia University after becoming one of the symbols of the Ivy League’s abysmal treatment of Jewish students and its failure, if not refusal, to tackle antisemitism.
The prospect of her now coming to work for David Lammy in the Foreign Office is, at best, tone deaf. At worst, it is a slap in the face to Jews on both sides of the Atlantic, who are hearing the message that failing to tackle antisemitism and abuse of Jews has no impact on your career advancement, and apparently qualifies you to craft foreign policy, including in relation to the Jewish state.
Become a Campaign Against Antisemitism Student Ambassador!
Are you a student at university in 2024-2025, or do you know somebody who is? Our Student Ambassador programme is an exciting opportunity to work with us in a prestigious year-long initiative.
Student Ambassadors will work closely with our Education Officer and wider team to help us expose and challenge the rising tide of antisemitism overwhelming UK university campuses. The contributions of our students is more important now than ever before to the fight against antisemitism.
For further information and details about the programme please visit antisemitism.org/become-a-student-ambassador.
Book now to hear Stories from Students
Since 7th October, Jewish student life on campus has been turned on its head.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has therefore brought together current students and recent graduates from universities across the country to share their stories and answer questions from prospective students and their parents, as well as current students and other interested members of the Jewish community.
This event, taking place at 18:30 on Thursday 5th September in North London, is an important opportunity to hear directly from Jewish students.
It is also a chance for us to come together to show our support and solidarity with those who faced this new generation of hate head-on. Booking is essential.
Media bias and the BBC
Two recent incidents — one in Gaza that reportedly killed Gazans and one in the Golan Heights that killed Israeli children — illustrated media bias at the BBC more clearly than ever. The screenshots below speak for themselves, and you can read our full analysis here.
Notwithstanding the struggle to get the BBC to report fairly – with more than 200 people from across the television and film industry writing to the Corporation demanding that it open an urgent investigation into alleged “systemic problems of antisemitism and bias” – there are occasionally admissions and reversals.
For example, you will recall that, a few weeks ago, BBC Newsnight allowed a panelist – the climate activist Mikaela Loach – to say: “The Lancet yesterday, in one of their reports, said that the death toll [in Gaza] is probably more likely to be more than 186,000 people.” The host did not challenge this assertion – which was false on multiple levels – but we did. Following our complaint, the BBC has acknowledged that the widely-propagated “186,000” is “not a statement of fact”.
We also complained about a recent BBC Four Front Row radio segment in which the actress and provocateur Miriam Margolyes referenced “vile Jews”. The BBC did not apologise but agreed to “remove it from the programme”.
This summer will be remembered as one of riots being confronted by a determined criminal justice system, in stark contrast to the policing that we have seen over the past year. But it remains to be seen whether the extremists will now call it a day or be back in force on our streets and campuses, online and in our workplaces, as the country returns from the summer break.
