Pep’s offside
I recently chaired a distinguished panel at Hendon United Synagogue that included David Bernstein, former chairman of the Football Association and Manchester City, and Cliff Crown, chairman of Brentford FC, at a talk on the subject of antisemitism in football.
The discussion covered topics such as the lack of action by the relevant authorities, crime figures, the importance of education and diversity and the chanting of the “Y word” by Tottenham supporters. The “elephant in the room” was the current level of anti-Israel activity in the football world.
The football media and “celebrities” are praising departing Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. Two Arsenal players William Saliba and Martin Odegaard are celebrating Arsenal’s Premiership victory as is former player and pundit Ian Wright, who walked out of the BBC in support of Gary Lineker when the latter was removed after his slur on the then government’s asylum policy.
Pep Guardiola has been consistently strongly anti-Israel and pro-Palestine, and many Jewish Manchester City supporters have given up their season tickets. Arsenal players William Saliba and Martin Odegaard have openly criticised Israel as has former Manchester United player Eric Cantona while Aston Villa, who won the Europa League, were conspicuously silent during the crisis with Maccabi Tel Aviv last November.
Football fans may be praising and celebrating the success of Guardiola, Arsenal and Aston Villa but no one should ignore the anti-Israel rhetoric of Guardiola, Lineker and others, which only contributes negatively to the current rampant level of antisemitism. They should keep their views to themselves and not use football as a political platform.
Jonathan Metliss
Chairman, Action Against Discrimination
Reasons to be cheerful
I feel compelled to relate our recent experience in London during the recent chaotic weekend that featured two protest marches and the FA Cup final. The challenges of getting around London that day, coupled with the general atmosphere, left one less than relaxed.
In the evening my wife and I found ourselves in Kensington High Street when our thoughts turned to dinner. I remembered your article (JK Rowling, Tom Holland and Boy George, the allies rallying around us with strength and love, JC May 8) which highlighted the distinguished supporters backing the Jewish community in these troubled times. It included some very supportive words from James Chiavarini of Il Portico, particularly to those hesitant to go out to eat in London in the current atmosphere. Thinking that here was a man (and a restaurant) that clearly deserved our support, we duly reserved a table.
We were given a wonderful welcome by Mr Chiavarini himself, and the food and service were second to none. The experience felt less like dining at a restaurant and more like being invited into a friendly stranger’s dining room to enjoy an excellent meal and conversation. I do hope that more JC readers will, despite their misgivings about security, now venture into Kensington to enjoy his food and hospitality. It will be well worth their effort.
Dr J E Davies,
Wokingham
Of course some British Jews will conclude that emigration is the prudent response as the old contagion of Jew-hatred once again stalks polite society (Former head of United Synagogue reveals he is leaving Britain, the jc.com May 25). Yet the very prominence given to Mr Jacobs’s remarks rather proves the opposite point: they remain the exception, not the rule.
Britain is home to 300,000 Jews, 500 synagogues, 140 schools, 30 care homes and a formidable network of charities and welfare groups. Ours is not a community of passengers but participants; not spectators but players; not takers but givers.
Jews have endured hatred for millennia. What matters is whether decent people confront it or accommodate it. British Jews should therefore resist both despair and retreat. We should rediscover the grit of earlier generations, stand firm against murderous hatred, defend truth and justice without apology, and continue working alongside all people of goodwill to build a Britain worthy of pride rather than surrender.
Shimon Cohen
London N2
Good news and bad news. The failure to ban the highly incendiary Nakba march confirms that despite fine words and promises from the prime minister, home secretary and Met commissioner, the government is not serious about tackling antisemitism (Why was the Nakba march allowed to intimidate London’s Jews again? JC May 22). For such an event to go ahead – with a basic premise is that Israel’s very creation was an unforgivable crime that rendered the Jewish state uniquely illegitimate – is shameful. Rights come with responsibilities. The right to free speech and free assembly must be balanced against the right to individual security and public order. Are these marches, which consume vast amounts of police resources and destroy community relations, going to go on for ever?
On the positive side, the respectable jury vote and huge public support for Israel’s delightful song Michelle in the Eurovision Song Contest suggests that the overwhelmingly negative view of Israel that we see on the streets and in almost every media outlet, does not reflect reality (The utterly bonkers, gloriously dreadful Eurovision where audience just loves Israel, JC May 17).
Stan Labovitch
Windsor
Antizionism
Marc Goldberg’s recent article (To fight antisemitism, Britain must tackle Israel hatred, JC May 22) arguing that Britain cannot fight antisemitism without confronting what he claims is its main driver – “hatred of Israel” – risks collapsing important distinctions that are essential both for democratic debate and for combating genuine antisemitism effectively.
There is no doubt that some anti-Zionist rhetoric can become antisemitic, particularly where “Zionist” is used as a coded substitute for “Jew,” or where conspiracy theories and collective blame are directed at Jews as Jews. Such rhetoric should be unequivocally condemned, including within pro-Palestinian movements.
However, it does not follow that anti-Zionism itself is inherently antisemitic, nor that criticism of Israel is now the “main driver” of antisemitism. Many recent antisemitic incidents reference Israel or Zionism reflects the centrality of the Gaza war in public discourse; it does not prove that opposition to Zionism is intrinsically rooted in hatred of Jews. Many critics of Israel are motivated by concerns about occupation, settlement expansion, civilian casualties, or international law – not antisemitic ideology.
The left and pro-Palestinian movements do have serious responsibilities. Antisemitic tropes, conspiracies, and intimidation cannot be tolerated or excused because they appear within a broader cause perceived as progressive and anti-racist. There has often been insufficient solidarity with Jews facing genuine antisemitism, and that failure has damaged trust profoundly, while driving Jews into the arms of the right-wing and ruling classes who pretend they offer them protection.
A serious anti-racist politics requires precision, consistency, and intellectual honesty – not sweeping ideological equations that cause further damage to the much-needed fight against antisemitism.
Gary Spedding
Cross-party consultant on Israel-Palestine
Having just passed the time of day with a dog walker along the Mersey Valley this morning, I was shocked to see the back of her T-shirt bearing the legend “Anti-Zionist Social Club” as she walked past me.
I’ve just signed a petition to make antisemitism education compulsory in schools, which has had much support but will it really make much of a difference as long as a counter-movement proliferates. And is anti-Zionism ever not antisemitism? I ask that rhetorically, and hope that I am always shocked by all this.
Jeanette Howlett
Didsbury
Mark Wood asks ( Letters,JC May 15 ) when the JC will have a petition for non-Jewish people to sign who support Israel and the Jewish people. Please let me know. As a non-Jew I would be proud to sign, but also sad that such a signature is necessary.
Roger Clarke
Edinburgh
Canterbury tale
I was particularly interested in the article about the Jewish history of Canterbury. (Canterbury’s celebrity Jews to be given blue plaques in the heart of the Church of England, JC May 22)
Our family lived in Canterbury for many years and my mother was involved with the upkeep of the ancient Jewish cemetery there. We were, it must be admitted, a rather bohemian household and, for reasons that seemed entirely sensible at the time, kept sheep in the garden.
At one point, someone had the bright idea that our sheep might be usefully employed as environmentally friendly lawnmowers for the cemetery grounds. Unfortunately, the sheep did not entirely share this vision. I remember the day they escaped and my parents were obliged to pursue them at speed through Canterbury High Street while bewildered shoppers looked on.
Even by the standards of the late 1970s, the sight of loose sheep charging through the centre of Canterbury was considered somewhat unusual.
Sonia Joseph
Pinner
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