London's march against anti-semitism poses difficult questions for the left
People take part in a march against antisemitism organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Picture date: Sunday November 26, 2023.
TODAY’S mass London demonstration against anti-semitism raises critical questions for the left.
It saw tens of thousands march in what has been called the biggest mobilisation of the Jewish community since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936.
Politically it looked nothing like that heroic chapter in the East End’s history. Cable Street was unambiguously of the left, organised by communist and socialist Jews. It was anti-Establishment, taking on a police-sanctioned march by Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, and in defiance of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which advised Jewish people to stay at home.
That was obviously not the case today, on a march attended by Boris Johnson.
The charity that organised it, the Campaign Against Anti-semitism, rose to prominence as one of the most virulent opponents of Jeremy Corbyn’s socialist leadership of the Labour Party, and was criticised at the time for platforming racist voices so long as they were directed against him.
That said, the campaign clearly rejected race-baiting rabble-rouser Tommy Robinson’s attempt to associate himself with today’s demo.
And the numbers attending point to real concern among British Jews that anti-semitism is on the rise.
It is catastrophic for the left, which has always led the anti-racist struggle, if Jewish communities do not trust it to defend them against anti-semitism.
It opens up space for cynical Tories like Johnson to pose as opponents of anti-semitism to advance reactionary political agendas.
And it facilitates a very traditional divide-and-rule tactic turning minority communities against each other. Campaign Against Anti-semitism chief executive Gideon Falter must be accused of this for remarks which echo Suella Braverman’s efforts to smear Palestine solidarity demos as anti-semitic: “We have witnessed mass criminality, including glorification of terrorism, support for banned terrorist organisations such as Hamas…”
Britain is not alone in facing this dilemma. This month the French left was split on how to respond to a national demonstration called against anti-semitism by leading figures in the French state, in which the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen took part.
The French Communist Party marched, holding that opposition to anti-semitism was non-negotiable and should not be conceded to the right. Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed did not, arguing that the demo was an attempt to conflate anti-semitism with opposition to Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza and whitewash the French government’s appalling record of Islamophobic racism. Both had a point.
We must reject any hierarchy of racisms. The oppressed and dispossessed deserve justice, and silence in order to avoid offence is cowardice. Attitudes like that of Margaret Hodge, who once claimed there was a “fine line” between support for Palestinian national rights and anti-semitism, are a dereliction of duty.
We should also oppose those smearing Muslims as anti-semitic, a tactic deployed by the right to justify racist immigration and policing policies in the name of opposition to racism.
But the left must also work to earn the confidence of Jewish communities that we will not tolerate any expression of anti-semitism.
That does not mean failing to challenge malicious accusations like so many levelled at Corbyn and his supporters.
It does mean calling out conspiracy theories, rejecting any conflation of Jewish people with the actions of the state of Israel, and confronting those who from ignorance or prejudice perpetuate tropes about Jews’ supposed financial or political influence.
It means rebuilding a mass anti-racist movement with prominent Jewish voices alongside those of black and other oppressed minorities. Jews have among the proudest histories of socialist internationalism.
Only if our anti-racism is comprehensive and consistent can we reclaim leadership of a struggle against anti-semitism that ruling-class and state actors misrepresent for their own ends. The profile of today’s march suggests this will not be easy, but it must be done
People take part in a march against antisemitism organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism in central London. Picture date: Sunday November 26, 2023.
BERNY TORRE
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2023
A MARCH against anti-semitism that drew tens of thousands was denounced last night as a “march against Palestinian freedom” by pro-Palestinian Jews.
Celebrities and politicians joined large crowds in the demonstration in London, including Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, former prime minister Boris Johnson, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat.
English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, 40, was also present, though was arrested close to the Royal Courts of Justice and escorted away by police, with organisers having made clear in advance that he was not welcome.
Jews for Justice for Palestinians executive member Richard Kuper told the Morning Star: “We support those who will be attending out of a genuine concern for anti-semitism. But this march is not a march against anti-semitism.”
He said the charity that organised the march, Campaign Against Anti-semitism (CAA), “has unceasingly demonised the marches of protest against Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza.
“Its march today is in effect a march against Palestinian freedom, using Jewish safety as the pretext,” he added.
“Those who identify Israel’s war on Gaza as a war on behalf of Jews worldwide — and the leaders of British communal institutions often do just this: eliding the distinction between Jews and zionists — are guilty of encouraging the very elision they rightly deplore when Jews are attacked as responsible for Israel’s actions.”
Over 200,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched from Park Lane to Whitehall to demand a permanent truce in Gaza on Saturday.
CAA chief Gideon Falter claimed: “Week after week, central London has become a no-go zone for Jews,” though Jewish organisations have been prominent on the Palestine solidarity demos.
“This is why today’s march, drawing over 100,000 people in the largest gathering against anti-semitism since the Battle of Cable Street a lifetime ago in 1936, was so important.”
But Na’amod, a movement of British Jews against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, said it could not attend yesterday’s march “in good faith, because we know this march is not just about anti-semitism.
“It’s clear from the event description that CAA have organised this march in response to the huge weekly ceasefire demonstrations in London,” it said.
“There are many laudable, beautiful ways of showing solidarity with Jews facing anti-semitism. These do not include smearing those mobilising for a ceasefire and Palestinian freedom — Jewish and non-Jewish — as inherently anti-semitic.”
Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal added: “The truth is, it is a march against Palestinian rights and pro the maintenance of Israel’s system of apartheid.”
100,000 attend UK’s largest protest against antisemitism since Battle of Cable Street
Boris Johnson is among the high-profile figures at the gathering and speakers include Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick
An estimated 100,000 people attended a march against antisemitism in London from the Strand to Westminster.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson was among the high-profile figures joining the demonstration, a day after crowds also gathered in the capital to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.\
Those who addressed the marchers included Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as organisers claimed the pro-Palestinian rallies in recent weeks had made the capital a “no-go zone for Jews”.
The start of Sunday’s march saw English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arrested by police after he tried to join marchers.
Organisers called the rally the largest gathering against antisemitism London had seen since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked a planned march by Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists through an area populated by many Jewish families.
It was organised by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism amid fears about rising antisemitic incidents sparked by the crisis in the Middle East.
Sir Ephraim told the crowd: “Since October 7 we have witnessed here in the UK an alarming rise of antisemitism, but we will not be intimidated.
“We call for a strengthening of community cohesion and we will forever be proud to champion the finest of British values. So with regard to the poisonous spread of antisemitism, what should the response of the British people be?
“Number one, call it out when you see it. Number two, call it by what it really is – Jew hatred. Number three, be vigilant and report every incident. Number four, we must arrest every single perpetrator and bring every single one of them to justice.”
Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, told marchers that since the deadly incursion by Hamas into southern Israel, antisemitic crime “has surged in this country by over 1,000%”.
“Demonstrations marched through our cities, marched through our capital, where people glorify terrorism, where people incite racism against Jews.
“And indeed, as we saw yesterday, yet again, carrying placards showing a Star of David thrown in the bin with a caption that says ‘please keep the world clean’, messaging that would not have been out of place in 1930s Germany, it is appalling.”
Tens of thousands of people gathered on Saturday for the latest demonstration, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, with some demonstrators accusing Israel of committing genocide and others chanting “from the river to the sea”.
There were 18 arrests over the course of the day for a range of alleged offences, including suspicion of inciting racial hatred and suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation.
Organisers Stop the War coalition said those at the now-regular marches have “clear anti-racist foundations” and oppose both antisemitism and Islamophobia. It had asked anyone attending Saturday’s rally to “respect these clear anti-racist principles, including in any signs or placards they choose to bring to the march”.
Johnson compared antisemitism with “an old spore of a virus”.
“Whatever the rights and wrongs of what Israel has done, or is doing, I think that the antisemitism that we’ve seen in some of these marches around western Europe and further afield has really confirmed for me the absolute necessity, the human necessity, for Israel to exist,” he told GB News.
Jenrick, who said he was at the march to represent the Government, spoke from the stage to warn that “enough is enough”.
He said antisemitism was a “stain on our country, it is moral decay”.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat was among celebrities including Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rachel Riley and Robert Rinder at the march.
People waved Israeli and Union flags and placards reading “Never Again Is Now” and “Zero Tolerance for Antisemites”.
There had been fears that Robinson, former leader of the English Defence League, could disrupt the protest, with organisers making clear that he would not be welcome.
Police said a 40-year-old man had been arrested close to the Royal Courts of Justice, from where the demonstration began on Sunday.
Robinson had previously been seen among the crowds of counter-protesters who clashed with police during ceasefire protests held on Armistice Day.
In a statement, the Met said the organisers had “been clear about their concerns that the man’s attendance, and that of those who were likely to accompany him, would cause fear for other participants.
“The same view has been voiced by others.
“As a result he was spoken to and warned on more than one occasion that his continued presence in the area was likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.
“He was directed to leave the area but refused to do so.”
It comes as the Israeli military said that 14 Israelis and three foreign nationals have been released from captivity in Gaza, on the third day of a four-day truce.
Among those reunited with their family on Saturday was nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, who was among those abducted by the Palestinian terror group during the deadly Hamas attack on 7 October.
Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners. All are women and minors.
United against anti-Semitism: Thousands march in London with Boris in attendance and Tommy Robinson arrested
26 November 2023, 18:36 | Updated: 26 November 2023, 19:53
Around 60,000 people have marched through central London to demonstrate against anti-Semitism, with Boris Johnson, Vanessa Feltz and Rachel Riley in attendance.
The 90-minute march started at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London and was the biggest protest against anti-Semitism since 1936.
Speaking at the march, the former prime minister said: "It's very sad that this march has to take place at all. What we're all doing here is showing solidarity with Jewish people, and that is necessary."
He was joined by his wife Carrie and their young baby Baby Frank Alfred Odysseus.
Meanwhile, Jewish actress Maureen Lipman told the Mail: "It's been an amazing turnout. It's great to come and show support. We don't want to be here for why we are here, but we have to be here.
"As the Jewish community, we're in shock. There has been a terrible reckoning, it has frightened all of us."
Tommy Robinson was arrested after being warned against attending by the march's organisers.
The English Defence League founder was escorted away by more than a dozen police officers after arguing with them for around 10 minutes.
There had been fears that Mr Robinson could disrupt the protest - organised by charity Campaign Against Antisemitism - after he was previously seen among the crowds of counter-protesters who clashed with police on Armistice Day.
Police confirmed a 40-year-old man had been arrested close to the Royal Courts of Justice, from where the demonstration began on Sunday afternoon.
In a statement, the Met said: "We have been in frequent contact with the organisers of the march in recent days.
"They have been clear about their concerns that the man's attendance, and that of those who were likely to accompany him, would cause fear for other participants.
"The same view has been voiced by others.
"As a result, he was spoken to and warned on more than one occasion that his continued presence in the area was likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.
"He was directed to leave the area but refused to do so."
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At the end of the protest, a second man was arrested for shouting anti-Semitic abuse.
The Met said at 6pm: The March Against Antisemitism has concluded.
"As the crowds left along Whitehall, a man was heard to make antisemitic comments. He was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.
"In total, there were two arrests during today’s operation."
It came one day after pro-Palestinian crowds also gathered in the capital to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.
A truce between Hamas and Israel is still holding, with the release of a third group of hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons coming late on Sunday.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat also joined celebrities including Tracy-Ann Oberman and Robert Rinder at the march.
It comes after engagement manager for Campaign Against Antisemitism Binyomin Gilbert told LBC News a survey had found
Nearly 70 per cent of Jews in the UK have also held back from showing visible signs of being Jewish, findings showed.
It follows a multi-pronged attack by on on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage.
There have since been weekly pro-Palestine rallies in London, in which Campaign Against Antisemitism says there have been "genocidal chants, Hamas-style headbands, antisemitic placards and calls for jihad".
"We have seen a 1300% increase in anti-Semitism," Mr Gilbert said.
"And this is staggering. And in fact I can release to you today the results of a survey of British Jews, which has shown us that 69%, nearly 70% of British Jews are saying that they are now less likely to show visible signs of their duties.
"It also shows us that half of British Jews have considered whether they need to leave the UK due to anti-Semitism."
He said "there's a lot of fear and concern" for British Jews at the moment.
Addressing the pro-Palestine marches through the capital, Mr Gilbert said: "What we've seen is large scale marches week after week.
"In fact, there were protests happening before Israel had retaliated in the streets of London.
"And we have seen in those marches, calls for intifada, we've seen support for organisations that want Jews dead."
He went on: "When we have racists turn up at our rallies, we pull them out.
"When we have people turn up in our rallies who want to try and manipulate and politicise anti-Semitism and cast one minority group against another, we have been unequivocal."
He said he is confident there will not be violence but "positive displays of the Jewish community and its allies standing up and saying this is what British values mean".
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