Whether Muslim, Jewish, Christian or atheist – and whatever your nationality – there is ample reason to stand up to the death cult that has worn the face of Al Qaeda, Islamic State and Hamas. We’ve had suicide bombs of our own in Manchester and London. We’ve also had our fair share of beheadings and stabbings on our streets. Muslims have, globally, been the biggest victims of jihadist attacks; now is the time for all people of good will to stand against such gratuitous nihilism in the streets of London.
We have seen this already in Israel. On 7 October, up to 70 Arab-Israelis were murdered by the Islamist killers. That same day, Bedouin Arabs from the nearby town of Rahat risked their lives to save scores of Jews from the music festival and Kibbutz Be’eri. Another Arab-Israeli who was hiding with Jewish friends left their safe house to plead in Arabic with the Hamas men to spare them. He was killed.
If people of all faith can stand against jihadism over there, surely they can do the same in our country?
On the front lines, Arabs like my friend Mohammed Kabiya are now fighting for Israel in Gaza. Another is Captain Ella Waweya, the most senior Muslim officer in the IDF, who has become something of a social media sensation in Arabic. In the political sphere, the leader of Israel’s main Arab party, Mansour Abbas, has been statesmanlike in drawing Arab and Jewish Israelis together against Hamas since 7 October. Of course, this is not the whole story: there is significant extremism and division in the country as well.
But the point I’m making here is not about Israel but about Britain. If people of all faith can stand against jihadism over there, surely they can do the same in our country? Today will see what could turn out to be the biggest demonstration against anti-Semitism in living memory in London, and the biggest since the Battle of Cable Street. Earlier this month, up to 200,000 people marched in support of the Jews in Washington; more than 180,000 have marched in France.
Now it’s Britain’s turn. Organisers are expecting between 40,000 and 100,000 people, but perhaps many more will attend than that. Much is at stake. In previous pro-Palestinian marches, particularly those around Armistice Day, we saw national symbols attacked and derided with as much alacrity as Jews were disparaged. This tells us a lot. There are many people who go along with the pro-Palestine mob out of the best of intentions, only wanting an end to the deaths of the innocent. But they end up being led by the nose by those who loathe the core values of liberalism, democracy and freedom common to Israel and Britain.
If ever there was a time to stand up and be counted, this is it. Much has been made of fears that the rally may attract the far right, led by Tommy Robinson. Let’s put this in perspective. The marches have featured open displays of support for Hamas; they have been shot through with anti-Semitism and expressions of war and have included widespread acts of intimidation by the mob. The pro-Israel marches, by contrast, have been peace-loving from top to bottom. Nobody has been calling for the death, dispossession or marginalisation of anybody. They have all been calling for life.
In this context, if the far-right attempts to attach itself to the cause for its own reasons that will be profoundly unwelcome but also fundamentally unrepresentative of the peaceful, life-affirming pro-Israel movement. Indeed, the leaders of today’s march have explicitly said that Robinson is ‘not welcome’ at today’s event. So let’s not get distracted by an issue that is being weaponised by the other side in bad faith.
Anti-Semitism in our country has risen sharply since the atrocities last month, and today is a chance to protest against it. My own Jewish grandfather fought bravely and proudly for Britain in the RAF during the second world war, taking part in the D-Day landings. He died in 2012, but in many ways he was typical of Anglo-Jewry. For his sake and for mine, for the sake of British Jews of all colours and stripes, and for the sake of the great silent majority that knows evil when they see it, huge numbers are joining the march against anti-Semitism on Sunday. They are doing Britain proud.
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