Pitting Jews Against Muslims Only Fuels the Far Right. Can Burnham Do Better Than Starmer?
Both communities face rising levels of hate crime, writes Jewish activist Em Hilton, but the government's response seems to represent a double standard – and creates a dangerous hierarchy of need.
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The Telegraph – now owned by German media mogul and pro-Israel fanatic Axel Springer – recently published an article by journalist Nicole Lampert, claiming that “British Jews had been betrayed by immigration” because antisemitism in Britain is being fuelled by Muslims of Arab or North African descent. This conspiracy theory, known as “imported antisemitism”, is a darling of right-wing European politicians and increasingly pops up in UK political discourse. It’s a two-for-one deal for the political right – obscure Britain’s historic antisemitism, while galvanising their base by blaming migrants.
While there has undoubtedly been a rise in antisemitism in Britain, there is no evidence to suggest that ethnicity or religion are driving factors in holding antisemitic views. Lampert herself can only cite research by the Community Security Trust (CST) – a Jewish charity which provides security services to the Jewish community – which found that 24% of the offenders were described by witnesses as looking like they were Arab or North African. This form of ethnic monitoring is subjective at best, and – like the Telegraph’s publication of Lampert’s appalling article – irresponsible at a time when Islamophobic attacks are also rising.