By Lloyd Levy
LONDON, England –I actually never thought I would have to write an article like this, from the green and pleasant land of England. However it is becoming quite frightening to be a Jew in UK. What is so remarkable is how quickly it all appears to have happened. One can now start to experience what it must have been like in parts of Europe under Nazi threat, when friends and neighbours suddenly and without warning, turn on you because you are Jewish.
In the last week or so alone, we have seen the London Tricycle Theatre banning the annual JEWISH film festival, which is one of the most important Jewish events of the calendar. The famous Edinburgh Fringe arts festival has also banned Israeli connected theatre groups.
We have the Parliamentary Member from Bradford, a large town in Yorkshire, announcing his town to be “Israeli” free, as well as reading that a leading Scottish Nationalist has apparently declared that an independent Scotland will be “Israeli free.” None of us are surely naive enough to not understand that in practice it means Judenfrei, unless individual Jews renounce their loyalty to Israel.
Leading Supermarkets and kosher shops in London and Manchester have been invaded and ransacked by anti Israel terrorists, threatening staff and customers. The supermarkets have succumbed to this terrorism, with rumours swirling around that they are soon to stop selling all Israeli products. Only a day or two ago, a major supermarket in Central London, actually took all kosher products off the shelf. Think about that- all Jewish products banned, many not even from Israel at all.
Over 100,000 people marched through London recently in an anti Israel and anti Jewish orgy of sheer hatred.
I know people whose friends are putting the most hideous anti-Semitic rantings on their “Facebook” pages.
Our Jewish so called leaders have seriously let us down. I personally haven’t seen nor read any leading member of our Jewish representative bodies, or rabbis, standing up in public for our community .
This is not a good time to be a Jew in Britain. Apparently in France it is far worse.. We are being cowed and terrorised by home grown anti-Semites, and by imported ones.
Only in the last few days have some of the leading newspaper columnists begun to wake up to the hatred they have themselves stirred up by their coverage of Gaza, replete with its ancient Jewish blood libel of deliberate child murder. In the Middle Ages we were accused of murdering children, and not much seems to have changed over the centuries..
Natan Sharansky said recently that Europe is death to Jews, and he is so correct. History shows that anything can generate the hatred. If it wasn’t Gaza it would be something else.
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Levy is a freelance writer who divides his time between London and Eilat, Israel. He may be contacted via lloyd.levy@sdjewishworld.com
Jack de Lowe writes:
To the author and editor,
My parents came from a small town in NW Germany where our ancestors had lived for just over 400 years. Yet when the Nazis came to power, it seemed that these assimilated Jews were not German enough for the Nazis and the vast majority of the German public.
I think that at this point and time the article below is alarmist, but I also believe that it is clear that long term, there is no other place for Jews than Israel. Please consider the possibility of making Aliyah both for yourselves as well as your children. Aliyah has not been easy, but after 35 years living here I can unequivocally state that it is worth living in our own country with our own people.
Jack de Lowe
Raanana, Israel
this makes my blood run cold…why don’t we learn from history??!! i’m afraid…
The first time I was in London around 60 years ago, I remember all the Middle Eastern people living there. So what do you expect 60 years later.
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My full response to Lloyd Levy’s piece can be found here on Times Of Israel:
Britain Growing Increasingly Anti- Semitic: Really? You Think?
In a nutshell, it is time to get out of Europe,…AGAIN.
Let’s not miss the boat this time.
Over the top paranoia. The sainsbury thing wasn’t an anti-jewish reaction by the store, it was anticipation of hooliganism.
George Galloway is a clown and probably deserved being punched. http://huff.to/1w4LXL7
One or two antizionist MPs among 650 isn’t exactly precursor of a progrom.
The Tricyle theater changed its mind, and in any case was banning events from either side of the conflict. Another storm in a teacup. http://gu.com/p/4vnyd
100,000 people on a march is more serious, that’s 1/60th of the UK population, but I can/t find good evidence that the rally was anti-jewish. In fact in one report I saw that jews were taking part in the rally.
pete ( a secular zionist)
There are Chasidic Jews who burn the Israeli flag! We have our fair share of nutcases. You are right in your comments but in Hungary anti-Jewish sentiments started on a small scale and ended in a horrific slaughter. When the Hungarian Nazis could no longer send death trains to Auschwitz they shot Jews at the banks of the Danube. Ignore at your peril.
Terrible news! The west has been too polite and/or blind, maybe they just don´t want to see what is coming, I really hope that our leaders open their eyes or sooner than expected the whole world will be under sharia law….