London Bridge is Falling Down

The mystery has been with us for a long time. A glance at the English newspapers, the Telegraph in particular, shows a country that is in terminal decline. While London Bridge was, the last time I looked, still in place, London’s once-famed theatre land is indeed falling down. Just a couple of days ago. the Piccadilly Theatre had to be evacuated mid-performance when part of the ceiling collapsed. Fortunately, although several theatregoers suffered minor injuries, there was no Death of a Theatregoer during the performance of Death of a Salesman.

This was by no means an isolated incident. In January 2015, 1,200 people were evacuated from the Queen’s Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue after a small fire during a performance of Les Miserables.

And back in 2013, 80 people were injured when part of the ceiling in London’s Apollo theatre collapsed during a performance of The Curious Incident Of The Dog in the Night-Time.

This is all very interesting, but, you will ask, where is the mystery? I will let Arthur Conan Doyle speak for me:

Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention? Watson asked.
To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
The dog did nothing in the night-time, said Watson.
That was the curious incident, remarked Sherlock Holmes.

I might draw my readers attention to the following incidents.

Wednesday, Diane Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary, was accused of playing “divide and rule” with British Jews. She claimed that “not every element” of the Jewish community believed that Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite. She suggested the Hasidic community in Stamford Hill, North London did not consider him an anti-Semite and would support him in the next election.

And also on Wednesday, the UK Labour party was shocked by the resignation of its deputy leader Tom Watson. Watson had challenged party leader Jeremy Corbyn over issues such as Brexit and dealing with the rampant anti-Semitism in the party.

Three weeks ago, “Hate crimes against Jews in England and Wales doubled in past year.”
Two weeks ago, “Headstones smashed at UK Jewish cemetery in apparent anti-Semitic attack”

Three days ago, UK Labour candidate for parliament Zarah Sultana said she would ‘celebrate’ deaths of Netanyahu, Blair, Bush.

But what, you ask, is the mystery, what is the curious incident? The answer is simple, like Sherlock Holme’s dog, for many years British Jewry did nothing. In the face of ever increasing anti-Semitism, of institutionalised anti-Semitism, the Jews did nothing. But now, for the first time, they are waking up.

In an unprecedented front-page editorial, the Jewish Chronicle has called on non-Jewish citizens not to vote for Corbyn. When a theatre roof collapses, people’s sense of self-preservation takes over and they get out, as quickly as possible. At long last, the Jews of England have noticed that the roof is coming down. We in Israel offer them our support and hope that they are not too late.