Prosecute Hate before it’s too late

The on-going Gaza conflict has brought about the death of more than 2,000 people. While fighting between the Israel and Palestinian militants is on hold, the civilians in Gaza have suffered dearly. The long-standing conflict has provoked political tensions in the West, with Britain seeing anti-Semitic incidents rise to its peak in July 2014.

The rise of anti-Semitism has been evident across Europe, with synagogues and Jewish community centres being firebombed and rabbi’s being attacked. Many believe this disturbing trend is the worst since the Nazi era, putting fear into the Jewish Community. The Community Security Trust (CST) a charity which was set up to protect the British Jewish community, report that recent attacks include abusive letters, threats, graffiti and damage to property.

These violent attacks have led to protests all across Europe, with protesters demanding legal action to be taken against perpetrators. Jonathan Sacerdoti, spokesperson for the Campaign against anti-Semitism, said:

As a minority group in the United Kingdom we deserve protection under the law. As proud British citizens, we recognize this not only as a Jewish problem but a British problem when a minority group isn’t being protected under the law to the extent they feel safe within their own country."

The crisis in the Middle East has also led to a rise in levels of Islamaphobia, with nearly half of the Mosques and Muslim Centres in Britain Under threat.

Both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia need to be tackled in Britain Earlier this week, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and The Muslim Council of Britain published an unprecedented joint statement highlighting that there was no reason for violence:

Whilst everyone has the right to voice their political opinion, there can be no excuse for racism, violence, or other forms of intimidation.”

We here at OBV applaud the two for working together to tackle Islamaphobia and anti-Semitism. The message these two groups are showing is strong and by standing together, they’re showing communities that we shouldn’t allow the conflicts in the Middle East to define the relationship between our communities here in Britain.

The conflict has put a strain onto Muslim-Jewish relations, with both organisations having different views about the causes and solutions to the conflict. However, as firmly asserted in their statement, both organisations believe that they do not need to agree on these matters, the important thing is that both organisations work together to tackle the threats to our communities.

Whilst there may be a few bumps down the road, OBV believes much good will come out of this alliance. Starting small is tough, but both groups are willing to put their differences aside in order to tackle the violence and racism that has swept our shores. We hope to hear great things from the two organisations, and wish them the very best.

Roshni Vekereya