The British government appears to have awakened – belatedly – from its complacent slumber and noticed there is a raging tide of anti-Semitism sweeping over the land. But for all of that, there still appears to be much more talking than doing about it. The doing still seems to be in the realm of support for those in favor of the very thing the government claims to abhor.
In response to rising statistics, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles warned Monday in an article published in The Daily Express that the “dark forces” of anti-Semitism have returned. He is, of course, correct, but anti-Semitism never really left in the first place.
Nevertheless, in summer 2014 – just in July and August alone – there were 543 reported anti-Semitic attacks, more than the total number for 2013. These included physical assaults on Jews, desecrated cemeteries and vandalized homes scrawled with “vile and offensive graffiti,” as journalist Martyn Brown reported in the Express.
The Secretary pledged to introduce measures to stamp out anti-Semitism on university campuses, and ensure that all schoolchildren are educated about the Holocaust. He also vowed to ‘kick anti-Semitism out of football’ (known as soccer in the United States), and said “irresponsible” behavior by other institutions would be censured.
That having been said, the British government patted itself on the back with a new report on the same topic released the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
The report claims the government has made ‘significant progress’ in rooting out the evils of anti-Semitism in communities around the UK. It also claims incidence in the UK is significantly lower than in other western European nations.
Nevertheless, Secretary Pickles acknowledged “The irrational hatred of Jews is like cancer.. Once beaten it can come back… and in 2014 there has been a revolting relapse of this ancient evil. Sadly Britain has not been immune. We share in this shame. Institutions that should have stood up to this thuggish behavior did not. Like the Holborn branch of Sainsbury’s, clearing their shelves of kosher food to satisfy anti-Israeli yobs outside. This casual acceptance of anti-Semitism was outrageous.
“Even some councils have behaved irresponsibly… Like Tower Hamlets, engaging in their own municipal foreign policy by flying the Palestinian flag. These public bodies should be using their position of authority to actively reduce tensions, not stir them up… Anti-Semitism and hate crime are completely incompatible with traditional British values and totally unacceptable in our society.”
Prime Minister David Cameron has also discussed the issue in parliament as well, telling Mps, “Let me be clear, we must not tolerate this in our country. There can never be any excuse for anti-Semitism, and no disagreements on politics or policy should ever be allowed to justify racism, prejudice or extremism in any form.”
And yet, the British House of Commons passed a symbolic resolution backing creation of a Palestinian state and a two-state partition solution in October.
Ireland was right behind. In fact, Ireland came up from behind and then took the lead, with Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan saying earlier this month that his government was seriously considering early recognition of the Palestinian Authority as a new sovereign nation. Ireland’s lawmakers finally decided on December 11 to vote in favor of a non-binding resolution to recognize ‘Palestine’ instead – for now.
Numerous other European nations have done the same over the past year, as the levels of anti-Semitic incidents have risen accordingly.
This is the same ‘Palestine’ that encourages and fervently supports vicious terror attacks on Israelis and others who are not like them.
For example, take last week’s firebombing of a car driving in Samaria, critically injuring 11-year-old Ayala Shapira, who suffered third degree burns on nearly half of her body. The little girl is still fighting for her life while her father, who was driving the car at the time, is slowly recuperating from his own wounds.