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.