Supporting Britain's Jewish communities

Yesterday, the Prime Minister gave a speech at the United Jewish Israel Appeal dinner highlighting the support of the British government for the Jewish community against Anti-Semitism.

Key facts:
  • Some in the Jewish community say they are fearful of the future and it is sickening that anyone should feel like that in our country. 
  • We do not underestimate the threat posed by those who promote anti-Semitism. Those voices do not speak for the overwhelming majority of people in our country and we are determined defeat the scourge of antisemitism and hatred in all its forms. 
  • Along with this, we support the right of Israel to exist. We want to build the strongest and deepest possible relationship between our two countries. 
Why this matters:

Anti-Semitism is completely unacceptable in a civilized society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms and support the Jewish community in this country.

Comments

Anonymous said…
What about the ethnic cleansing in Palestine?
9:33 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Both sides have made mistakes in the incredibly difficult situation in Gaza and the West Bank. As have all the other powers in the Middle East, most of whom have far worse human rights records than Israel has.

That does not alter my view that Israel has the right to exist. And it certainly has no bearing whatsoever on the need to stand up to defend the Jewish community in Britain, who are not responsible for the actions of the Netanyahu administration, and are entitled to support against Anti-Semitism.
12:44 am
Anonymous said…
You would think if any community understood the effects of ethnic cleansing it would be the Jewish community, yet the very state created for that community continues to inflict ethnic cleansing in Palestine and does so without condemnation or sanctions. Then you wonder why no-one trusts western 'civilisation'.
11:15 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
I have serious concerns about the way the present government of Israel treats Palestinians in the occupied territories, though you could, I think, have some debate about whether the expression "Ethnic Cleansing" is appropriate, and I don't think it is.

But as for the idea that they don't get criticised for it - I don't know which newspapers you read or what TV station you watch, but Israel certainly comes in for a good deal of criticism, some of which I sympathise with and some of which I don't, on every News outlet which I have ever looked at.
7:40 pm
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