The UK is at a critical inflection point…

 It breaks my heart to see how the ripple effect of an unprovoked attack in my current home is leading to such a profound impact on life in the UK for so many…in the form of fear, violence and political change…we are at a critical point where the UK (as one global example) chooses its future.

I may have moved from the UK but I am still a Brit at heart – my football team is in London (Blue not Red), my favorite go to drink is tea, I read British newspapers, much of my family lives there, I support England in sports and love the Royal Family. I always wondered as a kid how the millions of Brits who moved to the Costa-Del-Sol could stay so fiercely British at heart and I now understand. I truly wish it only well!

Today it was announced that 4,103 anti-Jewish hate incidents occured in 2023, up from 1,662 in 2022 and almost double the previous record of 2,255 hit in 2021. What is more shocking is that two thirds of the incidents were post 7th October which makes the current annual run rate the equivalent to 17,619 by my maths which is over ten fold higher the previous year.

Behind each attack and possibly worse than the rise in actual violence is the hatred it is burgeoning and its apparent translation into the political and military world – British soldiers defending the seas around Yemen, politicians being de-listed from mainstream political parties because of their support/justification of Hamas’s actions, mass protests in favor of “From the River to the Sea” and denouncing the UK itself, and a culture of fear not just amongst the Jewish community but amongst those who oppose the truly horrific crimes Hamas committed and who are fearful for what it means for the UK’s future.

I do not have a crystal ball and can’t see the future but my sense is that we are at a point of inflection where the future trajectory is set, and the issue is much broader than the Jewish one.

If the supporters of hate win, then this could continue to spiral …increased antisemitism and a general climate of fear, increased control of the political arena by forces of radicalism on many sides as a reaction and counter-reaction – whether it is radical religious fanaticism, the extreme left or extreme right or a terrible mixture I don’t know, but none are good for what I believe is the majority of citizens who are tolerant, peaceful and good who want to live peaceful lives. Whatever the configuration the one thing for sure is we know who will be blamed.

Or the country asserts itself and doubles down on this extremism in all forms and doesn’t allow the bandwagon; that has turned a heinous crime killing 1,200 innocent people (with hundreds raped and hundreds still held captive) into a mass movement blaming Israel, denying its right to exist, accusing it of genocide and taking it out on the Jewish community; to continue.

Practically this means leaders of all parties and their supporters need to hang tough against those who are cruelly using the tragedy in the Middle East to ignite hatred in the west for their own political and cultural benefit. The leaders of both major parties have been brave to date and I massively respect and commend them for it. Critically, they must be supported.

Of course, there are those who say Israel shouldn’t defend itself (or should do so more peacefully) but that itself is part of the story being spun to propagate the myth…Israel has a right to exist and defend itself (and in other blog posts as I do here I express my profound grief at the loss of life of innocent Gazans)….but that is not the answer. If it is, then the forces of appeasement, like those in the days of 1938 win, Israel is sacrificed like Czechoslovakia was and we know that this leads to far more costly damage in the long term.

We have our own problems here in Israel which consume me, especially with a son as a soldier, but it is no less an issue in the UK.

Hang tough!