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Letters to the 18 OPINION 21 MAY 2021TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488 OPINION Extremism and antisemitism must The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper Send in your comments to letters@thejewishweekly.comEditor OPINION PIECE BY LORD ERIC PICKLES I watched in horror this week as protests over the recent Israel-Gaza violence descended into a UK-wide hatefest, with Jewish people targeted in the depicted as a devil with horns for making peace with Israel. The antisemitic imagery applied to the caricature was unmistakeable. As the Home Secretary and Communities Secretary have said, the toughest possible action should be taken against those responsible for antisemitic behaviour. One-sided content blaming Israel for from Gaza, approximately 610 have fallen short and killed Palestinians. While Hamas militants can escape to the underground ‘Metro’ tunnel network, Gazan civilians have nowhere to hide. There can be no moral equivalence between Hamas’s actions, which target civilians, and Israel’s precise targeting of Hamas facilities and extensive efforts to We simply cannot allow these moderate voices to be drowned out by extremists. I was deeply heartened to hear that Ashdod hospital’s Arab doctors and nurses took on extra shifts to enable their Jewish colleagues to take time off for Shavuot, just as Jewish medical staff did last week to ensure the Arab workforce could spend Eid with their families. be drowned out streets and mezuzot desecrated. It is truly the suffering of the Palestinian people has avoid civilian casualties. The importance of promoting peaceful appalling that Jews in this country feared proliferated online; no doubt emboldening As my good friend Lord Polak rightly coexistence and community cohesion for their safety as they celebrated Shavuot. antisemites to take to the streets. said in the House of Lords this week, the cannot be understated, both in Israel and The Jew-hating, women-despising thugs Yet the unavoidable fact is that Hamas shocking and disturbing scenes of recent closer to home.
Please note: The views of the letters do not necessarily reflect the views of this newswho threatened murder and sexual violence on our streets brought great shame to our nation. It was a source of personal is responsible for all casualties in this conflict. By using civilians as human shields and misfiring rockets, it is clear that Hamas days do not represent the views of the vast majority of Muslims living in the UK, nor do the murderous acts of Hamas, indiscrimiOur overseas aid must support efforts bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, and measures combining strict policing sadness that many of the car convoys came places its genocidal aim of destroying Isra- nately firing deadly rockets at civilian areas and strong social cohesion are vital in repaper. Letters may be edited and publication is at the discretion of the editor. from my native city of Bradford, a city with a proud record of cross-communal el above the protection of Palestinian life. Of over 4,000 rockets fired towards Israel in Israel, represent the views or interests of the majority of the Palestinian people. moving fear from our streets and protecting our Jewish community.. cooperation. It didn’t take long for the thin veneer between anti-Zionism and antisemitism to The importance of promoting peaceful Lord Pickles was appointed Special Envoy be exposed. for Post-Holocaust issues in September At a rally in London where speakers included former Labour leader Jeremy coexistence and community cohesion 2015, replacing Sir Andrew Burns. Lord Pickles works closely with the wide range ANTISEMISITM AND THE PROLBEM Corbyn, banners with antisemitic slogans invoking the Holocaust were freely flown. In sight of the platform where Mr Corbyn cannot be understated, both in Israel of Holocaust academics, survivors and educational and social organisations in the UK. He CoChairs the United Kingdom’s spoke, the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed Bin Zayed, was and closer to home. Holocaust Memorial Foundation. He was made a Life Peer in 2018.
Dear Editor From the editor’s desk I refer to the excellent Knock on effect of Israel at war to injuries when an Arab mob set upon him. A man in Toronto is seen being Palestinian flags. Showing solidarity in the midst of a war is redoubtcontent of, “From the This week we have seen beaten up by an angry crowd, and in LA, a crowd ably taking sides and is no different to previous shocking violence against asked some Jews at a players and managers who editor’s desk,” in last Jews here in the UK as well as around the world. Antisemitism made national restaurant who was Jewish. Two people said they were have been fined for their actions, such as Pep Guarheadlines this week when some terrorist and were promptly beaten diola who was charged for week’s edition (THE supporters from Bradford drove down to London via Manchester causing distress up. When tens of thousands wearing a yellow ribbon in solidarity with the Catalan and panic with their actions. TV and me- of people pack London independence movement. JEWISH WEEKLY, 21 dia showed the awful footage where they called on people to do unspeakable things to Jewish mothers and daughters. shouting “Free Free Palestine”, with a police officer joining in, as Israeli flags Pro Palestinians in Piccadilly Gardens Manchester PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL. The FA responded to letters this week telling us that a player wearing an May) and in particular In Chigwell, Rabbi Rafi Goodwin was badly beaten up and hospitalised. In Henare burned and vicious threats are screamed from atop traffic lights communal bodies to stand up more than internationally recognised flag is not an issue. don, a woman in her car was rammed by and statues, one wonders how long it will ever before publicly and come out with cor- If it was their national flag, they could Yossi Saunders’ comPalestinian activists in a petrifying incident on Parson Street. The same such incident happened in Manchester to a car on Upper take for Britain to turn into France and become a dangerous place for Jews to live. Shopping Centres in Manchester also had rect information about what really goes on in the Middle East. It worked with Corbyn at the election, why have they gone so publicly have an answer, but Manchester Utd’s Paul Pogba is from France, not from Gaza. For all Pogba’s self-importance, he has not ment under the heading, Park Road, where Palestinian sympathisers tried to smash the windows. Mezuzot were ripped off doors in Borehamwood and crowds of angry protesters screaming about Gaza, as they walked menacingly through like a pack of wolves. quiet now? See page 27 for this Sunday’s Israel Rally, led by the Zionist Federation. Perhaps the rally can also go to the BBC and just won the league and had gornisht to celebrate at the end of the Fulham game, so draping the Palestinian flag around “Football disgrace,” in a middle eastern-looking man came up up to me on the streets of central London yesterday and asked menacingly, if I was Thanks to a weak government who allow these dangerous rallies to go ahead, and who allow incorrect, and biased media to Sky News headquarters, as well as the Israeli Embassy. him is clearly a political stance, as well as a swipe at his Jewish owners. The actions of these players and the silence of the FA which the last sentence Jewish. In another indident saw six men jumped out of a car brandishing a gun at a Jew in Manchester last night. egg on Jew haters with their vicious attacks on Jews, it is no wonder Palestinian and terrorist sympathisers feel energised to Football disgrace will no doubt lead to more people getting angry on behalf of the Palestinians and making our streets even more dangerous read, “When it comes Around the world too, horrific images and videos have surfaced. A Jewish man in Lod died this week, after succumbing whip up crowds into a frenzy. Jews are now scared to go about normal day to day activities, and perhaps it’s time for our great Jewish football fans were horrified this week to see famous players from Manchester United and Leicester City draped in for British Jewry. When it comes to racism, it really is time one and for all for football to kick it out. to racism, it really is THEJEWISHWEEKLY.COM time once and for all for football to kick it out.”
Regarding the problem of such ubiquitous anti-Semitism as well as all manifestations of racism - not just in football, but every facet of our society today, the powers that be as well as the movers and shakers, need to, “stop kicking these problems into the long grass as it is about time that they mowed the lawn.”
Yours sincerely,
J D Milaric
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