In Hastings we have created a thriving Jewish community in the face of adversity

We are all proudly Jewish, in that intricate existential way that is inseparable from personal identity and behaviour. We decided we would build a community in Hastings that values Jewishness and honours our connection to our ancestral homeland of Israel. It is our founding philosophy.

With no Synagogue or Jewish infrastructure in Hastings, we particularly value what each individual contributes to our small Jewish community. Our strength resides in the wonderful distinctive qualities and talents of our members, and of our family's and our children. When we get together we are magnificent – we shine, we glow, we support, we enjoy each other, and the volume of excited chatter reveals our neshama – our breath, our spirit.

Since then, we have established Jewish communal life: We’ve had Chanukah and Purim parties, succah gatherings, Lag B'Omer barbecues and an incredibly uplifting sold-out communal Seder. We have shared numerous Friday night dinners, hosted by a different member every month.

We have taken on Holocaust Memorial Day and, in January this year, delivered an appropriate commemoration of our six million dead at the White Rock Theatre, with our local MP speaking, participation from a local school and an address from John Wood, who gave a riveting account of what his father – a soldier who helped liberate Bergen-Belsen – encountered.

Underpinning this is the equally enriching impact on our lives of belonging to community, of being family to each other.

But like other “October 8 Jews”, we have formed our community in adversity.

Antisemitic graffiti has appeared on public walls; individuals have casually glorified Hitler. A young Israeli couple made the heartbreaking decision to leave Hastings altogether, unable to endure the daily hostility they faced for being Jewish and Israeli.

There is a never-ending supply of posters attacking Israel flyposted and displayed in shops and other urban spaces.

On 16 July 2025, the council voted to partner with al-Mawasi in Gaza and voted for a divisive, one-sided motion that called for an arms embargo on Israel but which did not mention Hamas, the terrorist organisation which started this conflict.

The local Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) group has been even more rampant and visible since October 7. They have a terrible reputation, having invited controversial anti-Zionists like Asa Winstanly and David Miller to talk – with Miller hosted in a taxpayer-funded Hastings venue –littered our town with “wanted” posters targeting our local MP’s stance on the conflict in Gaza and encourage boycotts of Israel and support for the BDS movement.

All this and more deters many of us from venturing into our own town centre on Saturdays from going mainstream events, or using a number of local businesses where we know we are likely to encounter hostility.

But, thankfully, we have a growing number of non-Jewish allies who recognise and are appalled by this situation, and we have plenty of support from outside Hastings.

We are members of the Sussex Jewish Representative Council, and the Small Jewish Communities Network. We are recognised by the Board of Deputies, and we have developing relationships with the Brighton and Eastbourne communities.

Most importantly, we have each other, our extended Hastings Jewish family. We are so much stronger together than our constituent parts. Please join me in a loud shkoyach for all our members, who have achieved so much in such a short amount of time.

Dany Louise is a former Labour borough councillor and a founding member of Hastings Jewish Community.