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Cruel Britannia
“....Still, anti-Semitism in Great Britain is
especially worrisome. Whereas in other European countries, expressions of
anti-Semitism tend to be relegated to the political extremes and the mostly
Muslim immigrant communities, in Britain they seem to echo throughout the
central corridors of society, turning classical myths of Jewish power and the
demonization of Israel into a mainstay of polite discourse, permeating the
political, cultural, academic, and media elites. In practice, increasingly
virulent criticism of Israel has steadily converged with Jew-hatred;
Sharon-bashing has led to the vilification of Jews and incitement to violence,
even where no such goal was intended. Loathing for America and the West has
provided its own poisonous additive. In this overheated atmosphere, occult
myths of Jewish power have clearly revived. At the same time, anti-Semitism
itself has mutated. As Britain’s chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, has judiciously
observed, this mutation consists of attributing to Jews and the State of Israel
the worst sins of anti-Semitism: Racism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and
“crimes against humanity.” This attempt to “Nazify” Judaism, Zionism, and
Israel may reasonably be considered, Sacks writes, as “one of the most
blasphemous inversions in the history of the world’s oldest hate.”71
None of this is to say that British culture is
inherently or overwhelmingly hostile to Jews. Great Britain, which was the
birthplace of liberalism in its modern political and economic senses, continues
to be a liberal society today, with a healthy democracy, a free press, and an
independent judiciary dedicated to protecting individual liberties. Indeed, in
the last several centuries, and through World War II, Great Britain was,
relative to the rest of Europe at least, a model of tolerance. Nor does it
follow that the Jews of the United Kingdom are about to enter a dark era of
persecution or the curtailment of basic individual rights.
What it does suggest, however, is that the widely held
image of Britain as a realm uniquely hospitable to its Jewish citizens--similar
in this regard to the United States, Canada, and other English-speaking
countries--no longer seems accurate. In dry numbers, Great Britain has become
home to a wave of anti-Semitic violence second only to France in all of Europe.
Considered more substantively, anti-Semitic sentiments, motifs, symbols, and
methods have gained a legitimacy in British public discourse that enjoys little
parallel in the Western world.
Today the United Kingdom stands at a crossroads. Great
ideological battles--over European unification, the effort to reassert elements
of sovereignty in Scotland and Wales, and the future of long-standing
traditions such as hunting and the monarchy--have brought about a profound
erosion of the very idea of Britain. But when nations are so deeply unsure of
the stability of their values and the security of their future, anti-Semitic
sentiment often bubbles to the surface, as people deflect blame for a nation’s
problems instead of addressing them head-on. For this reason, it is often said
that the way a nation treats its Jews is a litmus test for its true character.
As Britain’s subjects ponder their future among the community of nations, they
would do well to keep these lessons of the past in mind.”
Long comment item – well worth reading!
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Anti-Semitism