Looking in the wrong direction

OPINION PIECE BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN

“The Islamic verdict for Palestine is clear from the Divine sources of legislation—the Koran and Sunnah, it is NOT a two-state solution or a peace treaty; rather, the Divine ruling is to fight jihad to defend life and property, and to liberate the land.” These were the words of London-based, pro-Islamic State (ISIS) preacher Anjem Choudary from the middle of last year. Last week he was charged with three counts under the Terrorism Act: directing a terrorist organization, membership in a banned organization and addressing meetings to encourage support for the organization between June 2022 and this month.

By anyone’s standards this is news. Someone who openly called for the destruction of Israel who is sometime later arrested and charged with such serious offences should surely send a shiver of concern down most communal leader’s spines. For my part, what bothers me most is that this is a man who has openly called for the destruction of the Jewish state but it appears that very few people are interested.

The news reports from the Board of Deputies make no mention of his being charged with terror offences. A search of the website of the word ‘Anjem’ reveals no results. Clearly this person is not one of interest when it comes to protecting our community. Instead there is a joint press release from the BoD and the Jewish Leadership Council giving advice to the Israeli leaders on how they should conduct themselves in relation to the proposed judicial reforms in Israel. The BoD homepage proudly proclaims: “We are the voice of the UK Jewish community”.

Really? I am pretty sure that many UK Jewish citizens will not agree with the criticisms of Israel and certainly in sufficient numbers to make the above claim unsustainable. Surely keeping a careful eye on someone in the UK who seeks the destruction of the Jewish state by force is a higher priority than getting involved in politics two thousand miles away. Sadly, those who claim to lead our community are looking in the wrong direction. They claim all sorts of moral reasons why they should get involved and in doing so not only take sides (which they certainly shouldn’t when it comes to Israel) but refuse to acknowledge the harsh reality of the likes of Anjem Choudary.

Every time there is a confrontation between the IDF and terrorists in either Gaza or the West Bank there is a spike in antisemitism. Whether it is an increase in online hatred or as we have experienced, cars coming from Bradford down to London to call for rape and murder of Jewish women it is as predictable as our surprise when it rains in the middle of the summer. Yet every time it happens, still many Jewish leaders express surprise and concern and wonder how this could be happening, when so much effort is put into interfaith and so many of those involved declare these efforts as a great stride forward.

We need to be prepared for the next wave of anti-Semitism, and whilst I cannot guarantee when that might come, I can guarantee that interfering with Israeli politics will make not one jot of difference to those who hate us. They are many and identifiable and all those who claim to lead us must do, is turn around and see them. On current performance, don’t hold your breath.

Robert Festenstein is a practising solicitor and has been the principal of his Salford based firm for over 20 years. He has fought BDS motions to the Court of Appeal and is President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester which serves to protect and defend the democratic State of Israel.