At the UK-Israel policy conference hosted by the 'Jewish News' in London on Monday, the World Jewish Congress hosted a panel on rising anti-Semitism.
WJC General Counsel Menachem Rosensaft introduced the session by saying it was "disturbing" that, in the UK, there were rising levels of anti-Semitic incidents, while France was "facing a record exodus" of Jews.
Referring to the notorious anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, Robert Ejnes, the executive director of the French Jewish umbrella body CRIF, said: "Unfortunately, he is not alone. There are others like him. Anti-Semitic acts in France are more and more violent. BDS is becoming a real issue. The French government is doing all it can to fight anti-Semitism, but Jews are still leaving France."
Mark Gardner, director of communications at the Community Security Trust in Britain, told the panel: "We have a tendency to talk about anti-Semitism as if we’re on an inexorable trajectory, as if every year is worse than the last, as if it’s very hard to see how you roll that back. But the 2013 figures of anti-Semitism were the lowest since 2004. This often gets forgotten."
Fulvio Martusciello, an Italian member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party, said: "There are several solutions to the problem facing European Jewish communities, and co-operation with State of Israel is one."
Gillian Merron, chief executive of the Board of Deputies, lamented what she called "a blurring of the lines between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism." She said: "It's challenging for us. To criticize a government’s policies is acceptable. But it's disturbing when the word 'Jew' is used interchangeably with the word 'Israeli'. That leads us to a point where Israel's right to exist is questioned."
Maajid Nawaz, founder and chairman of Quilliam and prominent Muslim opponent of extremist Islamism, said: "There is a triple threat facing European Jewry: from the far-left, the far-right and Islamism. In the UK, an alliance has long stood between the far-left and Islamism, united by their obsession with Israel. These are uncomfortable truths. Obama calls it the 'extremist' threat, not the 'Islamist' threat. Not being able to name the enemy increases fear of it."
Sally Sealey, who co-ordinates the UK government's actions against anti-Semitism, said the effect that the BDS campaign has had in the UK was "chilling". She added: "The government's stance does not necessarily comfort the Jewish community in the UK. This home secretary has excluded more hate speakers than any other, but we’ve been very lucky in the UK thus far with the low level of violent anti-Semitic incidents. That does not mean that we are complacent."
Menachem Rosensaft ended the session by noting the symbolism of the conference's meeting in the Clement Attlee Suites of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, saying: "Given that we’re talking about the connection between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, I think [former British Prime Minister Clement] Attlee and his radically anti-Zionist Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin may be turning in their graves."
Photos: Marc Morris
