As we mark holocaust memorial day, do british jews feel safe here and now? | thearticle

Today, we mark 75 years since the Holocaust. At the time, of course, the word had not acquired its later post-war meaning. That meaning was intended to establish the uniqueness of the crime

that had been perpetrated by Nazi Germany, its allies and collaborators, against the Jewish people. History records other acts of genocide, but nothing quite like the Holocaust — or Shoah,

as many prefer to call it — before or since. Holocaust Memorial Day is an occasion for humanity to reflect on man’s inhumanity to man, of which there is no lack in today’s world, too. The

specific suffering of Jews, not only at the hands of the Nazis but also others since 1945, may sometimes be obscured by the understandable desire for inclusiveness. Here in Britain, however,

there is a special reason this year not to overlook the predicament of our Jewish community. Anti-Semitism has not only manifested itself with more effrontery than we are used to in this

country, but it has emerged and been legitimised from the top. A solemn day of commemoration is not the moment to revisit the scandal surrounding the Labour Party and the man who still leads

it. Yet it is worth remembering that last month’s election might have resulted in a Government and a Prime Minister who are seen by a large majority of British Jews as anti-Semitic. This

fact alone ought to shock us all. The ordeal that our Jewish friends and neighbours have lived through was brought home to this writer at the weekend by an invitation to speak at an adult

discussion group in a North London synagogue. Just weeks before, the entire neighbourhood had been daubed with vile anti-Semitic graffiti blaming Jews for 9/11. Outside the synagogue, half a

dozen volunteers from the Community Security Trust stood guard, as they always do outside any Jewish institution. If Jews feel threatened, that is because they really are. This is a

community under siege. Inside the library and meeting room of the synagogue complex, a warm welcome awaited the visitor. But emotions welled up whenever someone raised the ugly

manifestations of anti-Semitism, in politics and on the streets. By the end of the discussion, one participant was in tears. Many felt their confidence that they were welcome in this country

had been tested. The intervention of the Chief Rabbi in the election campaign was a bitter necessity, not a cause for satisfaction. Some had become proud British citizens, only to find that

even here they did not feel safe. This was not about Israel — it was about Britain. At another meeting of City executives last week, the distinguished constitutional scholar Professor

Vernon Bogdanor pointed out that if only graduates had voted at last month’s general election, Jeremy Corbyn would now be in Downing Street. It was a sobering thought for a room full of

successful people, all of whom had at least one degree. Nothing has changed since George Orwell’s time: “England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their

own nationality.” Last month, the British intelligentsia did not stand up for the Jews. But the British working class did not let them down. In large parts of the country, they deserted

Labour in droves. The word that came up in the synagogue to describe this country was “decency”. Britain was, and still is, a decent place. But for how much longer. Jeremy Corbyn is reported

to be setting up a foundation to perpetuate his ideas. What if the young are being turned into Corbyn clones at our universities? For British Jews, this is an existential matter. If they

are to have a future here, we cannot allow the minds of posterity to be poisoned by propaganda that dehumanises our countrymen and women. The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, will

announce today that councils and universities which refuse to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism will be named and shamed; they could lose

funding. The IHRA definition is widely seen as a touchstone, but its adoption is only a first step towards rooting out the new forms of anti-Semitism that have crept into public and academic

life. It will take more than memorials and commemorations to undo the damage.