Supportive messages from non-Jews filled my inbox. All I could reply was ‘Thank you. It begins. Again’

The result of this relentless grooming of facts is that you breed prejudice, violence and holy war. I suggest you ring the usual celebrity flame-fanners for a quote, because I want no part of it. My heart is too full.”

Even the BBC web-site was curiously muted early on, saying an incident had occurred in which two men were killed by an assailant. There was no mention of the deaths taking place at a synagogue, on Yom Kippur. Now it could have been an early posting but it reflects their fear of saying anything remotely controversial about the Islamist terrorist’s intent. Even as I type, the BBC news has given at least four minutes to a reporter in Gaza giving his graphic view, against a backdrop of ghostly, shattered buildings. His talk, of amputees, starvation, dying children and desperate old women fearing uprooting, was deeply affecting.

Their Israeli coverage was a brief shot of a returned hostage hugging a relative and a tiny interview with a politician wanting the war to end.

On that same day, all of us, practising Jews were in our shuls beating our breasts and asking for holy redemption. It could have been any of us who faced a killer called ‘Jihad’.  Supportive messages from non-Jews filled my email inbox. All I could reply was ‘Thank you. It begins. Again.’

I have watched antisemitism encroach since Black Wednesday in 1992. General discontent, broken relationships between public and politicians, NHS waiting lists, failure of water and rail, woke education systems, high inflation, fear of immigrants …longest period without war, social media, miscreants... woah… what’s needed here is a reliable scapegoat for all of our searing malcontent.

Say it soft, ’The Jews seem to be doing alright’ and before you know it, Maxwell jumped, Roman and Woody made bad mistakes, decades ago, Soros exists, Epstein and Weinstein do bad high profile things – never mind that Jews make up almost no percentage of serious criminal offences – when they do it, they do it bigtime. Conspiracy crap issues forth: “Shh... Did you know, no Jews went to work on 9/11”? Forget the facts of between 200 to 400 Jewish funerals... of the victims, broadly in line with 9.7per cent of New York’s population.

Furthermore, we are now in our tribes, our tranches, our black, white, mixed race, religious echo chambers and some of our best friends are no longer Jews. Israel is aggressive so we must prevent Israelis from knocking Europe into a cocked hat in the damn stupid who-gives-a-damn-Eurovision, so let’s boycott their food and their football and their exports. Cut off their rivers and their colonised – for that read legally given – seas and cut off the rights of Jewish people all over the world while you’re at it. … NOW do you feel better?

Which brings me to my true thought for the week. We were leaving a meeting in Mayfair, called by Myeloma UK last Monday, to brainstorm about bringing the disease more into the public arena. This was an occasion where, ’Yes, I will be there’ was the right answer. My late husband died of the rare (33,000 people in the UK) blood cancer after a battle of two years.

Fronting the meeting was the dynamic chairwoman of Myeloma UK, activist Judy Dewinter, who has lived with the disease for 27 years, and is relentless in her public fund raising and giving experienced help and advice. Around the table were people living with the disease and those whose lives like mine have been affected by it.

We were looking for a way that sufferers themselves could contribute to raising awareness, which didn’t involve riding a unicycle from Aix to Ghent or climbing Everest with a litter stick dressed as a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. No offence intended to those who have.

It was thought provoking and we may just have hit on an idea, and we left the meeting quite inspired and, were walking towards our car, perhaps holding hands, chatting when we passed three young Asian men standing in the road.

One of them called out: “You two look very happy” –  I was expecting a request for a ‘selfie’, I guess.

“If you don’t mind my asking, how long have you been together?”

We stopped. I said: “Not as long as you might think actually, why?”

He looked a bit sheepish and said: “I’ve just had my heart broken and I can’t get over it.”

“Oh”, I said, a bit relieved frankly, “I’m sorry to hear that..”

“Yeah”, he murmured, and, pointing to the next bearded young man, “he’s got a broken heart as well.”

“Yeah” ..said the second bearded lad, and this is my brother..’ he indicated a younger looking bearded young man.

‘’Your heart isn’t broken?” I enquired.

“Nah”, he answered smiling, “I’ve just come along to, you know, share the burden like.”

We looked back at the dumpee: “Your girlfriend…er..dump…I mean left you for …?”

“No she dumped me because she said I was too nice!”

“Yeah” – they spoke as one –“thassit”.’ Number one then added, “and I just can’t get her out of my head..it’s shattering...’’

David regarded the men with the gaze of one who has studied the wisdom of Solomon and is the father and grandfather of boys, and told them: “Look, just look at the pain and enjoy it because it’s not going to last. Wallow in it, savour it, remember it because with luck you’ll never have to feel it again.”

This seemed to strike a chord; “Yeah well…put like that..”

I dove in as only I can dive: “I mean look we both lost our husbands…” They looked at us more keenly. “No sorry”, I amended, “his was a wife, but we couldn’t imagine ever being happy again and then look ..we got married four weeks ago and here are you stopping us in the street saying how happy we look…so..”

I was settling in for a long-winded essay but fortunately, David decided we should say goodbye and good luck, get in the car and “climb the stairs to Bedfordshire”.

“Thanks”, shouted the boys, “that really helped”, They got into their BMW and we took off into the night in ours.

It was an inter-human exchange rather than an interfaith one but it touched my full heart.

Moderate Muslims, for the love of your God and mine. Please. You need to speak up.

All it takes for evil to win is for good people to say nothing.