What is happening to our democracy?

On Wednesday, as MPs gathered in Parliament to vote, antisemitic genocidal language was projected onto Big Ben, the symbol of our democracy and often of our nation. Inside Parliament, the Speaker of the House of Commons broke with convention over a ceasefire vote, apparently due to threats against MPs.

Today, the Prime Minister described the intimidation as “toxic for our society and our politics”.

Ben Jamal, Director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, encouraged thousands of protestors to “ramp up pressure on MPs” and flood into Parliament “so that they would have to lock the doors of Parliament itself”.

Then, on Saturday, they shut down Tower Bridge.

When will this count as sufficient “disruption to the life of the community” for Sir Mark Rowley to invoke his powers to ban this?

These scenes come just after Mike Freer, an MP for one of the most heavily-Jewish constituencies, decided to quit politics due, in no small part, to antisemitism and violence directed at him and his office.

We are offering free legal representation to MPs who have been subjected to antisemitic threats or intimidation, including obtaining court orders to unmask the authors of anonymous comments made online.

If our laws are now being made through the medium of threat and violence, our democracy itself is under attack, and those responsible for safeguarding it are in dereliction of their duty.

We have been raising the issue on television, radio, newspapers and social media, making clear our views on this important national debate. The events of this week must serve as a wake-up call.

Wiley Stripped of MBE

The Honours Forfeiture Committee has announced that is that it has stripped the antisemitic grime rapper Richard Kylea Cowie, known as Wiley, of his MBE, following calls to do so by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

In 2020, we wrote to the Honours Forfeiture Committee, which confirmed that, on our recommendation, it had opened a case against the artist, with a view to stripping Wiley of his honour, which he received in 2018. The case was opened following his antisemitic tirade in 2020.

It has taken nearly four years of perserverance and we have worked tirelessly to ensure that Wiley faces the full consequences of his unhinged antisemitic tirade.

Antisemitism has no place in the arts, and antisemites should not hold honours. We commend the Honours Forfeiture Committee for using its powers to hold Wiley to account. In doing so, it is declaring that anti-Jewish racists cannot be role models in our society.

This decision sets a precedent, which we hope will encourage more stringent scrutiny of individuals who are awarded our nation’s highest honours.

We continue to pursue legal action in relation to Wiley.

Home office contractor defaces Jewish birth certificate

A father received a copy of his six-month-old baby girl’s birth certificate back from the Home Office with his place of birth scribbled out and the paper torn. His place of birth was Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.

James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, swiftly responded to our call for an investigation, confirming that he has directed the Home Office to investigate and apologising on behalf of the Department.

It is understood that a major Home Office contractor, Sopra Steria, has suspended a number of staff members and is conducting an investigation.

This incident represents gross misconduct, and the company must remove the individuals responsible.

Throughout this ordeal, we have been supporting the family. The last thing any parent should have to worry about is their child’s birth certificate being vandalised just because their parent’s place of birth is the Jewish state.

Solicitor struck off and doctor who appeared on The Apprentice suspended

Farrukh Najeeb Husain, an immigration and employment solicitor, has been struck off.

A number of Mr Husain’s tweets were found to be antisemitic and offensive by a tribunal, following a case brought by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA).

The SRA claimed that Mr Husain’s conduct online was “offensive” and, in some cases, antisemitic. Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, gave expert witness testimony to assist the SRA in its case.

Meanwhile, Asif Munaf, a doctor who appeared on the current series of “The Apprentice” on the BBC has been suspended by the General Medical Council, following a complaint by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

His online rhetoric has included “slimy Zionist PR machine”, “odiously ogre-like Zionists”, “weaponising the Holocaust” and more.

These days, it seems that some people need reminding that supporting terrorist groups is a crime

Many of our supporters will be familiar with our digital vans, which we have previously used to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages held by Hamas.

This week, we decided to remind those who needed reminding that expressing support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which are proscribed terrorist organisations, is illegal under UK law.

After months of seeing expressions of support for these groups at weekly anti-Israel protests, we thought that we should make the message as plain and simple as possible. When we drove past one of these protests outside the Houses of Parliament, our van was attacked. It seems that not everyone was happy to be reminded.

Extreme advice

This week, there have been red faces at both the Met and the Ministry of Justice over taking advice from people with extreme views.

The Met has had to cut ties with Mohammed Kozbar, a member of an advisory body which helps to “shape police policy” over a year after an official extremism report found that he had described the founder of Hamas as “the master of the martyrs of resistance”.

We are enquiring quite how it took the Met so long to act, and what input the individual had on police policy, especially since the surge in antisemitic crime in the UK since 7th October.

Over at the Ministry of Justice, it turns out that for “World Hijab Day”, they invited Shreen Mahmood to speak. Her social media posts included saying that “Jews need to get in the queue behind Muslims” when a Jewish man complained about antisemitism, and reposting another account which had said n the wake of 7th October that Palestinians had “every right to defend” themselves, well before Israel had responded militarily to the mass rapes, murders and hostage-taking.

When exposed, she explained that Palestinians have the right to “struggle…by all available means” and that she would not want to “upset my valued brothers and sisters from the Jewish community”.

The Ministry of Justice plays an integral part of ensuring that the rule of law is maintained in our democracy, so why is it hosting someone who posted such views? We are writing to the Ministry to demand an investigation into how this was allowed to happen.

The events of this week have been extremely concerning for the health of our democracy. They must be a wake up call for us all. We will continue to do everything we can to draw attention to the threats that the Jewish community – and our country – is facing.