8 JULY 2021
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OPINION
OPINION 15
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Social media highlights antisemitism OPINION PIECE BY JAMES J MARLOW I recalled this week when I use to regularly travel on London transport with my friends in the seventies and eighties, the slogans: “We hate the Jews” and “Look, there go the Yidos”, were regularly shouted at us, even though we did not identify ourselves as Jews. Perhaps some were wearing a Magen David on a chain around the neck, or we had the distinctive initialled gold ring on our finger, given to us as a gift for our barmitzvah. Or maybe, some of the girls in our group talked so loudly, they were just known to be Jewish. But that was during a time in history, when most people did not fully understand the meaning of racial discrimination, anti-Semitic abuse or even the term, “health and safety.” If they did, they simply ignored the rules. We went to clubs, football matches and pop concerts and were very use to the familiar anti-Jewish chanting wherever we were. It was part of life. But today, in the twenty-first century, laws have been passed in Parliament that make it a crime, to use racial slogans against a member of an ethnic minority and this includes Jewish white people.
This week I viewed a number of videos of Jewish kids travelling on a London bus or the London underground with the same anti-Semitic slogans being chanted today as they were in my younger days. One man in his thirties, who is visibly Jewish, (i.e. black hat, beard, white shirt and tzitzit) was attacked on the 113 bus last Saturday night, heading towards Oxford Circus at 11.30pm. The black man, identified as a possible Somalian, used all the usual swear words with “Jewish” being inserted throughout. Yochai was pushed and hit and told by the mentally unstable deranged individual, “I will slit your throat”. This was all said in the name of “Palestine”. There were several people sitting on the bus, but not one person stepped in or spoke up, including the driver. I understand that passengers and the driver are fearful. Maybe the crazed suspect has a knife or pistol or at the very least, will go into a frenzy and beat the “living daylight” out of you. But Yochai had the good sense to take out his phone and record the long audio. When it got violent, he switched to video on his phone. How many of us can keep a cool head and hit the record button when necessary? The black man knew he was being recorded, but
couldn’t care, which suggested he could have been on a suicide mission. But Yochai threatened to call the police and the man simply stepped off the vehicle, whilst continuing to scream his anti-Jewish abuse. The 113 bus in question is based at Edgware garage and the Metropolitan took up the case once the video was uploaded to tweeter. A short while later Yochai was heading down an escalator at Oxford Circus tube with many England football fans around him. Some were Jewish boys, but not identifiable as Jewish. Amongst the crowd on the escalator is one man singing in a loud voice, “F****** hate the Jews” and “Look we got a Jew behind us”. The video appears to show some of his group telling him to shut up, but he ignores them and continues to sing. Once again Yochai has the smart sense to take out his phone and get a clear shot of the culprit. So how did I connect this with my youth? Jack Adler, a young Jewish teenager with his friends turned around on the escalator to Yochai and smiled, saying “You got about 9 Jews behind”. I watched the video over and over again and said to myself, not only do they look Jewish boys, who have just come from watching the football, that’s exactly what we looked like, many years ago. But yet these
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boys appeared very use to the anti-Semitic abuse last Saturday night, just like we were in the seventies. The next day, Yochai’s brother tweeted out the audio and video and it became a national news story with the Met Police, Jewish papers, BBC, Daily Mail and everyone else responding. At first, Jack Adler himself is accused of the abuse, but his Dad then gives an interview to one of the newspapers to clear his name. The point is that after more than 45 years, not much has really changed. The first black individual used “Palestine” as an excuse for the anti-Semitic attack. The second white English suspect probably didn’t even know what “Palestine” is, but stuck with the classic, “We hate the ******** Jews”. The question is would you step in or say something, if someone was being racially abused on public transport? James J. Marlow is a broadcast journalist previously working for ITN, EuroNews, LBC Radio, Daily Express and a number of Jewish publications. In addition, he runs a Media and Communications / Public Speaking Training Operation and was a consultant at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. Email: James@ TheCommunicationBureau.com
