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Saturday, 19 October 2013

ANTI-SEMITISM IN BRITAIN : ALIVE, WELL, AND HAVING A GREAT TIME

Anti-Semitism in Britain is a whole lot more than the sometimes masked sometimes overt malevolence you read from time to time in the Daily Mail, bless its dirty little cotton socks. When would so many Jewish people know exactly who they were if it wasn’t for their snide little remarks and innuendo, or equally  important, the shit coming out of liberals or left wing types they’d always thought of as friends until they made some filthy or hurtful remark like those rich troublemaking yids… they’ve always got plenty of money… or those fucking Israelis, always making trouble for someone or other… then see it hasn’t gone down well by the look on your face and ask in astonishment, YOUR NOT JEWISH YOURSELF ARE YOU? WELL I NEVER KNEW THAT… I MEAN, I NEVER MEANT ANYTHING BY IT…YOU JUST DON’T LOOK… etc. etc. Well most Jews have learned to hide their hurts! Anyway, most living in Britain were born here. Many go around eating a bacon sandwich and feeling like death when England lose at football to some crap team like Outer Mongolia, thinking of themselves as British until they get hit by some remark smack in the face. Then they’re a bit less secure. A little less British.

Jews aren’t supposed to mind. They’re supposed to be tough, thick skinned, but that doesn’t mean to say they don’t hurt. Many try to hide it. Deal with it inside themselves, but then every man has his own way of drowning.

Most Jews who live in Britain today are the descendants of immigrants from Russia-Poland who came to this country between 1870 and 1920 after endless persecution they could no longer tolerate. Only a handful compared to those who left altogether. One hundred and fifty thousand at most. Nothing like the million Poles we see in Britain these days. Others came from Germany and Austria during the 1930’s, also as a result of persecution. Many more might have come had not the authorities here placed serious restrictions on their entry. Many of this latter group were interned in prisons and camps after they arrived! By 1950, at its maximum, the Jewish population of Britain had never exceeded more than 450,000. Today it stands at some 220,000 adults and kids. In the intervening years half of Britain’s Jews have left. Some might say good riddance, others ask themselves why!

There’s a big myth going around, promoted by what may be best described as The Jewish Establishment, a small circle of Jews centered on The Jewish Board of Deputies whose members are kind of elected from orthodox synagogues, and then businessmen and public figures. The semi-official newspaper of this Establishment is The Jewish Chronicle which regards itself as the authentic voice of British Jewry. Hardly likely as many British Jews regard themselves as neither orthodox nor particularly religious. The myth is that one of the main causes for the decline of the Jewish population is intermarriage. That most Jews stopped being Jews because they married non-Jews. Quite frankly it’s a view that’s as nonsensical as blaming the decline on a conversion of Jews to other faiths. When that happens it’s rare. No, the reason for the decline is that half the Jewish population has simply upped sticks and left. Either emigrating to the Jewish homeland of Israel or moved to America because they weren’t happy here anymore

That’s the plain truth of the matter. There could be many reasons for this but the main one perhaps is that prior to the emergence of the modern Jewish State, the land of Israel has been the spiritual homeland of Jewish people everywhere for five, even six thousand years. It remains as such but perhaps even more so today. It’s the land they were driven out of and exiled from many times during their history. By the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans, but after all of these exiles they always returned. Somehow finding their way back after vile persecutions in strange lands. Coexisting with those who’d supplanted them in their original homeland and coexisting well, particularly with those of other faiths like the Muslims. A spiritual homeland in the face of persecution, perhaps, but today not all Jews are religious, particularly many of those born in Israel. Equally important, many Jews round the world don’t want to live in Israel, particularly the elderly who are emotionally settled and established in those countries of their birth. America for example has a population of over six million Jews and most are never likely to emigrate to their promised land. Some of its Jewish youth indeed have but only a tiny proportion. They owe a powerful loyalty to America where anti-Semitism has always remained at a low level, except of course in the McCarthy era when Jewish intellectuals came under serious attack.

Many of Britain’s Jews on the other hand, particularly the youth, have indeed emigrated and the reasons are important. Just over two hundred thousand remain altogether and their number is declining fast. The reasons I think are the steadily increasing manifestation of anti-Semitism and a plain lack of job opportunity. The first is plain noxious, the second dispiriting and troubling. The causes of the first are not difficult to find. Many Jewish youths, yesterday and today, are the children and grandchildren of emigrants who escaping from persecution came to Britain with liberal views and made themselves a home in a tolerant society. They almost single-mindedly adopted British norms and values, struggled to educate themselves and progressed through long years of hard work Most integrated completely and became demonstrably British. Because of their backgrounds however their sympathies in general were undeniably socialist and radical and within this political framework they co-existed admirably with all those radical elements of the society around them. In short they felt particularly at one with the left, especially during the period 1910 to 1960.

The emergence of the modern State of Israel however has drastically caused the situation to change. The spectrum of the British Left, from the Labour Party and its affiliated organizations to much of the Trades Union Movement was initially sympathetic to the new Jewish State that emerged soon after the Holocaust. Today the situation is almost entirely reversed. With victories in wars against the Arabs and the rise of Palestinian nationalism, the Israeli response, popularly represented in the British media as murderous and oppressive, has been purposefully conflated with a Jewish response. Israel IS indeed the Jewish State and as far as the ‘left’ is concerned, those responsible for such oppression and murder are Jews. Not just Israeli Jews but Jews everywhere. It’s so simple and easy! The British Left, forgetting that over a million Arabs have Israeli citizenship and live at peace in the Jewish State of Israel, and also the fact that Israel is the only country in the world whose agrarian collectives are entirely run on socialist if not communist lines, is not only hostile towards Israel but along with it malevolent and hateful towards Jews, especially Jewish youth throughout the universities and leftist organizations. A serious division, long in the making, has now opened up with plain anti-Semitism barely separable from an irrational hatred of Israel.

For two decades now Jewish youth have felt under attack and out of place. Hostility towards Israel and a sharp antipathy towards Jews are now coterminous, but that’s only one side of the story. On the other there’s the traditional hostility of the right, the British Establishment and other left leaning organizations and institutions such as the BBC and the pro-Arab Channel Four television. This has occurred alongside the mass immigration into Britain in recent decades of four to five million Muslims, the majority of whom are supportive of the Palestinian cause and have a fundamentalist Islamic faith. It is within this broader framework, not only of a political hostility towards Israel but one coming at them from all sides that British Jews and Jewish youth in particular have felt increasingly marginalized. The degeneration of hostility towards Israel within the left into a subliminal often overt anti-Semitism, coupled with the barely disguised anti-Semitism of liberal, right-thinking elements of British society is more than enough to make Jewish people feel under attack. Quite frankly, with so much ugliness coming at them from so many sides it doesn’t need the Daily Mail to get dirty to make Jewish people feel that maybe they’d be better off elsewhere and that’s exactly what seems to have happened.

It’s a particularly nasty kind of poison that Jewish people have to deal with. My little Jewish friend… Oh, don’t mind him. You know what they’re like, always got a chip on their shoulder… They’re very good at making money you know… Well actually they’re not! They’re lousy at making money and I ought to know! It’s just a tiny percentage, same as it is among any other group of people. And neither do they particularly like making money either. What they do have is a fondness for learning! And then of course there’s always that traditional mode of identification. He’s one of them, someone says, rubbing his finger against his nose… Yes, they know who you are by your nose! Another old stereotype that’s still up and running.

All in all the Jews may no longer feel as traditionally welcome in Britain as they once were. Together with all this however is the perennial problem of making a living. By tradition most Jewish immigrants into Britain were either workers or self-employed tradesmen. Those who worked for their fellow Jews, often in the garment making industry, went through years of hard labour in sweatshops. Workers they were and often workers they stayed. Their children however, got themselves educated and over the years became serious dedicated professionals… doctors, lawyers, teachers and scientists. It’s their children who are now looking around and wondering whether to stay. Get themselves an education and follow suit or try their hand elsewhere. Most Jews aren’t Alan Sugar and not into retailing at all! They like peace and quiet. Having time to think. And when they decide on doing something they do it! They’ve done their best to integrate wherever they’ve been and become part of the scene. Many have integrated so well that there’s nothing to say at home or abroad that they’re Jews. Unless there’s some chance filthy remark and suddenly they’re a bit more Jewish all over again instead of being right little Brits.

Most are a complex mixture of being so many things; but boring they’re not. But many are unsure of what they are and it goes deep, until that chance remark that makes them feel irritated and angry. They feel it’s unnecessary you see. Ignorant. Badly behaved. Not very British at all. But then most naively think that all British people love justice same as they do! The Daily Mail thinks it’s got the measure of them. It believes it represents Britain you see so Jews who criticize the paper for being an anti-Semitic gutter rag are really criticizing Britain itself! Hating the country that gave them shelter. It’s a kind of circular logic with the Mail at the center pulling the strings. After all, it’s Britain’s second most widely read daily. Criticize the Mail and you criticize Britain… Likewise, criticize the Fuehrer and you criticize Germany. But then, strangely enough that’s the role of a free press the Mail strongly argues. A free press should be able to criticize anyone or anything. True enough, but why take any Jews to task and say they’re anti-British if they’re at one with your sentiment? It doesn’t make sense and smells of irrational sentiment or prejudice.

Most Jews living in Britain feel comprehensively British, same as the Caribbean Community, but then do they also regard themselves as English or Welsh, Scots or Irish. That’s a more difficult question to answer. At the time when most came to Britain national divisions were of little importance. Britain was a single nation of peoples united as one. A nation of peoples facing their problems together. Now it’s ethnicity ruling the waves. When the Jews came they gave themselves freely to one single nation, not a collection of nationalities. United by a faith much more so than now they gave themselves over something new. A faith in the hospitality and tolerance of their new nation which wasn’t Palestine but Britain and they don’t like the idea of petty nationalist prejudices chasing them away.

Okay readers, having read this post so far here is something else for you to digest. Ever since watching the film Gentleman’s Agreement made in 1947 starring Gregory Peck I’ve always been interested in the issue of anti-Semitism. In the story he’s a journalist, Phil Schuyler Green, who’s been asked by his editor to write a series of articles for the paper about anti-Semitism and eventually comes up with a new take on the situation. In order to know what it’s like to be a Jew he’ll pretend to be one! With only the editor, his mother and best friend in on the secret he carefully puts it about that he’s Jewish and waits to see what happens, and when it does it’s fascinating, shocking and painful to him.

The idea made me think. In the film Peck held up the pretense for months on end. I got to wondering if I could do it. Not for months but a much shorter period of time. I mean maybe just for a day. Say two at the most! I even had the perfect title for my experience, I WAS A JEW FOR A DAY! I really liked it. Yeah, I’d be a Jew just for a day and see what happened. See what it felt like! Okay, so what did I need to make people think I was Jewish. I kept thinking about stereotype images of Jews then suddenly felt ashamed of myself. I was being some fucking Nazi or something. No, I just couldn’t allow myself to think that way. I just couldn’t dress into the part or become some kind of stereotype. Even so I needed something generally recognizable but harmless. Nothing orthodox, just something mildly religious. The main thing was that my own personal features didn’t conform with any recognizable stereotype. I had blonde hair, blue eyes. Little did I know that most Israelis looked the same! Even so I still needed something instantly identifiable with Judaism, with the religion itself. In the end a little research provided the answer. The film itself didn’t help because there was nothing in it about the pretend Jew that Gregory Peck was playing being religious so I decided that a couple of hours observation in a Jewish area of London might help and it did. A traditional Jewish head cap for men, a skull cap, would be perfect and a couple of hours later I’d acquired one.

I’d gone this far. Now did I have the balls to go through with it. Put it on and walk out into the street! Quite frankly, I have to tell you that it was a big ask. I didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t know how I’d feel. All I knew then was that I was curious. A powerful impulse in me wanted to know what it would feel like to be a Jew for a day!

Wearing my usual tracksuit bottoms, joggers and tee-shirt I put on the skull cap and walked out of my house down the street. This was a small provincial town south of England. I’d never seen anyone here who’d looked like a Jew, but whoops, there were my prejudices at it again. Okay, take it easy. Look straight ahead. First one turn than another into my local corner shop. The guys there recognised me instantly, took in the cap on my head and sold me the tobacco I wanted. No look on their faces. Nothing moved, not even a muscle! I walked out the shop. Something was different! They knew me. I’d been a customer in there for years but this time no greeting. I thought hard for a moment. Impossible. It couldn’t have happened so quickly, so bloody soon. Anyway, maybe it wasn’t the hat!

Maybe, but now for the big test. Into the bank for some money. Everybody knew me in my local branch of… I was friendly with all the cashiers. They always gave me a smile. I got in the queue. Nobody looking. Nobody giving me the once over! Now I was at the front. Voice coming over. Will the next person go to…

I went. It was the lady I’d known for years. Very professional,  same as the others. I’d known them all for years! Handing over my card I told her how much money I wanted. Some tens, the rest in fives. That’s a new hat that you’re wearing Mr… I acknowledged, noticing some of the other cashiers were glancing my way. It used to be my grandfather’s, I casually remarked. She said nothing. Neither did anyone else but they’d noticed. It was okay. No-one had said anything but today I was different. Or was I?

I just didn’t know. I couldn’t be sure. Next stop the fruit and veg stall and a boisterous company of lads. I bought my usual bowls of fruit and paid. Some took in the skull cap and eyed it up but no-one said anything. When I left though I saw them looking my way. None talking among themselves, just looking. Along the street on my way home though quite a few people passing me by were clearly taking me in. Some definite glances but why, exactly why I couldn’t be sure. I got in with my thoughts buzzing. Maybe I was imagining it all? Being hyper-sensitive. Seeing things that really weren’t there. Was I or wasn’t I? I just didn’t know.

Over the next few days I repeated the experiment. I hadn’t been wrong. People were definitely noticing. I felt strange. I was publically becoming a Jew! It finally happened back in the bank. A look from one of the tellers then the question I should have been prepared for but wasn’t. Are you Jewish? she casually asked.

I hesitated for a moment. My reply when it came actually startled myself! No, I’m not, I replied calmly. It’s only an experiment. I’m wearing the cap because I want to know what it feels like to be one. Her smile broadened. Oh Mr … We all know you’re a bit of a wag! No-one thought that you were anyway!

On the way home however, still wearing the little skull cap I met someone I knew. A guy who’d been active in the Anti-War Coalition. We’d always been on affable terms, me quietly listening to some of his views. He took in the cap with a look on his face, turning angry it seemed. What happened next I hadn’t expected. He said something then called me a filthy fucking Jew boy…Suddenly a fury bubbled up in my head. I stepped back, spat at him full in the face and used harsh language. He was a big guy. Raised his fists and looked like he meant business. If you want to try your luck why not do it, I said coldly looking like I also meant business. He backed off, with me standing my ground glaring at him. It only lasted a few minutes then I was on my way home again. Only this time I was trembling. I hadn’t been scared. Just overwhelmed with my emotions I suppose.

Now here’s the point of the story. I’d always wondered what it felt like being a Jew. Funny that because that’s what I am! Only truth to tell I’d never felt like I was one. Sure, I’d gone through the coming to manhood ritual of the bar mitzvah when I was 13 but that was just about it! I’d become a rock-ribbed atheist a few years later in life. Didn’t believe in God and had never gone back to a synagogue. I couldn’t pray to something I didn’t believe in. My wife, a lovely English lady to whom I’d been happily married for over 40 years was even more irreligious! I knew I was Jewish but never thought anything of it. We’d never kept a kosher household and few things I loved more than a bacon sandwich. I was one of those people that orthodox Jews might regard as not being Jewish at all. Yet there it was, I was from a Jewish immigrant background that went back a century and remembered loving all that Jewish food! A poor excuse for all the muddle I was in, now definitely out on the surface. I really didn’t know any Jews. Met them once in a blue moon. All the same, if I’d ever been asked I’d never denied being one. Not till earlier that morning that is, playing some kind of game in my head.

I’d never worn a skull cap in the street till now. Never known what it felt like to be thought of as Jewish. And quite honestly I suppose I’d never wanted to know. Only now I did know, and I didn’t quite know what to make of it. Except that I’d instantly felt angry being insulted that way. Why should a Jewish man be called a boy anyway? I was a man. No, I didn’t like that but it was more… Just something filthy. Something nasty I hadn’t expected from someone I’d thought was a friend. It made me think back to the film. Gregory Peck was a non-Jew who wanted to know how it felt to be one. I was a Jew who rarely if ever felt like one and had gone out playing a game, pretending to be something he was or he wasn’t, according to how other people might see him. What I’d actually done was externalize some existential fantasy inside my head!

Now get your own head round that one!

It all made me think more. Particularly about experiences I’d once had. About Jewish history. About the Daily Mail and all that. One thing I knew. My wife had always thought of me as being Jewish. She’d always accepted me that way. A Jewish atheist! It’s a real contradiction but one I can live with. Some rabbis we’d met had once said that my wife was far more Jewish than I and it strangely pleased me! As things stand I feel Jewish within myself. Many might say I was deluded. That may be true but I’ll handle it.

Finally, added to it all is our unquestioning support for the Jewish State of Israel. It’s neither religious or biblical, nor is it emotional. I just know too much about the history of the Jewish people. And then I personally am not hostile to the Palestinians. They should have their own state and find their own peace, just like the dregs of European Jewry did, surviving the concentration camps and coming out to build a new life.

Anti-Semitism is alive and well in Britain and having a great time… But then it’s only some smelly tickle. Taken seriously, maybe, but then people in Britain still know how to laugh and laughter is something that anti-Semites don’t like. They want to be taken seriously and British people, fundamentally, don’t take anything seriously. They don’t need to. Their history’s too great, and they themselves are too big for that!

It’s only the small minded who need to get nasty!

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