Well, thanks for that. One week on from the stabbing attack in Golders Green, thousands and thousands of Britons have cast their votes for one of the most antisemitic parties in the West.
True, the response by Zack Polanski, the deplorable leader of the Greens, dented his polling performance a little. After he shared his outrage that the police had booted the knifeman in the head to force him to drop the blade, an apology did little to insulate him from public disgust.
In the end, however, it made little difference. The results are still coming in, but although it is Reform’s day overall, the Greens are enjoying big wins in places like Reading, Plymouth, Oxford, Chorley, Salford and numerous other places across the country.
What are Jews to make of all this? After the atrocities in Golders Green, there was the usual wave of condemnation from the prime minister downwards. People queued up to express their sympathies, even – or especially – those who had been fanning the flames in the first place.
As usual, however, nothing changed. Not only did the government fail to move swiftly to suppress the hate marches, ban the Muslim Brotherhood, fast-track the proscription of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and clamp down on extremism in mosques, but the relentless hatred of Israel continued unabated, from the mainstream media downwards.
They just love it, don’t they? And in this prevailing culture of Niceism, the nicer you are, the deeper your hatred for the Jews and their national home. What are we to make of the fact that, as YouGov polling has shown, if there were a general election tomorrow in which only women under 50 participated, the Greens would come first with a stonking majority? That’s before you even count Muslim voters.
In 2024, Pouria Zeraati, an Iranian dissident journalist, was stabbed in Wimbledon by goons hired by the regime in Tehran. Where does he live now? Why, Israel, of course, a place where he could actually be safe. Is there a lesson in that for the rest of us?
Increasingly, that seems to be the case. In a poll for Jewish News, a plurality of voters, 40 per cent, said that Britain would be neither better nor worse off if Jews left the country because of antisemitism while another 24 per cent said they didn’t know. The public doesn’t seem to care very much about our community. Despite the best efforts of our small but important band of doughty and valued non-Jewish allies, the majority is too busy watching Netflix, and the ones with particularly strong feelings about Jews tend to, shall we say, vote Green.
In recent days, for instance, the national treasure Maureen Lipman has been targeted by an antisemitic mob in Aberdeen seeking to prevent her from performing in Allegra, a comedy about a woman who, ironically enough, cannot contain her joy.
To see such brazen racism defacing Britain with such paltry opposition is surely a sign of the times. Imagine if it had been Lenny Henry, targeted because he was black by white supremacists seeking to hound him out of public life. It is inconceivable. When it comes to the Jews, however, nobody seems especially bothered. After all, I haven’t seen much outrage. Have you?
Turns out murder in Manchester wasn’t enough. A spate of arson attacks wasn’t enough. Vandalism and harassment across society haven’t been enough, and nor has the stabbing in Golders Green. When it comes to the vast majority of the Great British Public, whatever happens to the Jews, they simply couldn’t give a monkeys, or if they do, they can’t be bothered to stand up and be counted.
The success of the Greens in the local elections is merely the latest kick in the teeth. However loudly these people insist that they are not antisemitic but only “criticising Israel”, we know the truth, they know the truth, and they know we know it too. They saw the attack, they saw our pain, and they voted Green anyway.
It’s not rocket science, is it? Antisemites are going to antisemite, but the sorry truth is that most people would rather turn a blind eye to bigotry than place themselves in the uncomfortable position of confronting it.
The mood is unmistakable. With every passing week, Britain says it louder: it simply doesn’t care very much for its Jews.
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