As someone of Jewish background, I'm deeply disturbed by the growing problem of anti-Semitism in the UK and beyond. We cannot tackle injustice with injustice and we cannot fight prejudice with prejudice.
Examples of anti-Semitism are becoming more and more prevalent across the UK and beyond. It is sometimes excused by those protesting against the State of Israel whilst anti-Semitism insidiously creeps into every aspect of our society. Fortunately, campaigns such as the Campaign Against Antisemitism continue to vigorously stand-up against not just anti-Semitism but racism in all its despicable forms.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has most recently taken the Black Lives Matter organisation to task over their comments directed towards the State of Israel. They contend that the controversial organisation - an organisation that supports the defunding of the police force - should 'aspire to be a movement against racism that unifies people and achieves lasting change, not a movement that spreads hatred and achieves lasting division'. And, given my own fight against anti-Semitism, they are right: you cannot fight prejudice with prejudice.
The problem is that many, in certain political parties, who explicitly define themselves as 'anti-racist', see Jews as part of an imperialist Zionist conspiracy. They see the State of Israel as the problem and this in turn perpetuates anti-Semitism. This has been played out most recently in Los Angeles, where a number of Jewish shops were wrecked and synagogues defaced with graffiti declaring 'Free Palestine'. In Paris, an anti-racism rally included placards and stickers bearing the phrases 'Israel, laboratory of police violence' and 'Stop collaboration with Israeli State terrorism'. The French far Left, just like the regressive far Left in the UK, have become the arbiters of what is and isn't racist with chants of 'dirty Jews'. For any Jew and any decent person, this is deeply offensive and utterly contemptible.
Sadly, it appears that the racism and anti-Semitism once confined to the far Right is now just as prevalent, if not more so, among the regressive Left - they are both almost indistinguishable and imprisoned by political extremity. So much for a 'kinder and fairer society'.
As we move forwards in the hope for progressive and not regressive steps to improve racial equality, we must continue to fight against the very injustices that those who suffer at the hands of prejudice, in all its forms, are subjected to. And yes, this most definitely includes the growing scourge of anti-Semitism.