I’m often bewildered by media reports and conversations with some Jews about the serious threat of anti-semitism – these stories are totally at odds with my experience living in England. In a recent online survey of the views of Jewish leaders and opinion-formers in 31 European countries on the major challenges and issues concerning European Jewish communities, it seems that my perception is shared by other Jews. These people ranked antisemitism ninth in a list of 12 items. The first eight threats included loss of Jewish identity, lack of Jewish knowledge and declining numbers. Antony Lerman, writing in the Guardian Comment is Free asked a reasonable question: wouldn’t investing more charitable funds in the kind of cultural programmes that show a community interacting with and looking out on the world with confidence do more for the Jewish sense of security than some of the activities of the Community Security Trust ( The Trust monitors and reports on antisemitism, provides security at Jewish events and buildings and works in close cooperation with the police)? My involvement with Radio Salaam Shalom achieves that for me.
Tags: anti-semitism, Jews
April 20, 2009 at 4:49 pm |
[...] Judging by my own experience here in Bristol, the threat is minimal. This is what an online survey of European Jewish leaders also found. [...]