“Go back to the gas chambers” and “filthy Jews” are just some of the increasingly frequent antisemitic attacks on Jewish youth and children in the UK, who are also confronted with Nazi salutes, insulted and spat upon. Meanwhile, adult Orthodox Jews have been brutally beaten in broad daylight in unprovoked attacks. Why is hatred of Jews so virulent and shameless in the prim and proper UK?
A staggering total of 2,255 antisemitic incidents were registered in 2021, the highest total ever in Great Britain and a record-breaking number in recent years anywhere in Europe. The study conducted by the Community Security Trust, a UK anti-Semitism monitoring group, found a 34% increase in antisemitic incidents, up from 1,684 recorded cases of Jew-hatred in 2020.
In recent weeks, security cameras have documented particularly serious cases such as unprovoked beatings of Hasidic Jews. An ultra-Orthodox mother walking down a London street with her two children, one in a stroller, was verbally assaulted by a man who shouted, “We do not want Jews here.” In another case, children outside a Jewish school were victims of antisemitic slurs by a man who threatened them, “You Jews are so bad, I wish I had a gun to shoot you.” Last December, during Hanukkah celebrations, Jewish teenagers traveling by bus in London were attacked by a group of men who insulted and even spat on them.
The younger generation of British Jews is the new target of Jew-haters, not because they are an easy target, but mainly because antisemites cannot imagine a new generation of Jews growing up in Britain.
Such behavior, of course, is not expected in the seemingly polite, calm and even-tempered Britain. I have travelled through the UK several times and can testify that fine manners only deceive us and mask the deep-rooted antisemitism that has been simmering for generations.
Why is this so? The reason is that the more advanced and cultured a society is, the more antisemitic it becomes, and not the other way around, as one might think. In fact, besides being very developed, the British also have a very uncouth, straightforward and stubborn side. In addition to the medieval blood libels that are still present, and using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a pretext, they have all the elements to be truly antisemitic.
It is precisely from their development that they have the clear understanding that Jews have a special role that they do not fulfill. That role is to connect positively “as one people with one heart,” to develop harmonious, unified relationships between themselves to become an example to the rest of the world, to become a light to the nations.
All of humanity feels that everything depends on ego or self-interest and that we, the Jews, have raised the bar of egoism to the highest level. They expect us to balance this ego by transcending our differences and uniting for the benefit of all. If we do not achieve this goal, we hinder the path of goodness and tranquility for all, and antisemitism arises.
The virulent hatred that rears its head in the UK and around the world should serve as an awakening for us to unite and unleash the positive force of nature that will be activated when we become one. Now it is up to us to be a light unto nations, to bring unity, peace and tranquility to the world by paving the way for others. Then we will guarantee a good future for this generation and the generations to come.
Posted on The Times of Israel, Facebook