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Julian Kossoff

Julian Kossoff is a journalist for Telegraph.co.uk. He previously worked at the Jewish Chronicle as a senior reporter. He has written extensively on race and religion.

Anti-Semitism on the rise? Fear no evil

By Julian Kossoff Last updated: February 6th, 2010

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Sir Oswald Mosley led the anti -Semitic Blackshirts

A new survey of British Jewish attitudes towards Israel asked the question (I paraphrase): “Do the actions of Israel cause anti-Semitism.” I ticked: “strongly disagree.”

Anti-Semites cause anti-Semitism.

Yesterday, Jews were all cast as capitalists and communists (let’s not dwell on the insanity of that contradiction); today we’re all vicious settlers, even when living alongside the Metropolitan Line rather than the ‘67 Green Line.

Of course, Israel’s military on the rampage in Gaza provides a convenient cover story for anti-Semites, as the latest statistics unpleasantly demonstrate. A 69 per cent increase (to 924) in recorded anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in 2009, peaking around the months of the notorious Operation Cast Lead.

Let’s not throw the baby of legitimate dissent out with the anti-Semitic bath water, however. Criticise Israeli policies all you like, just don’t scream out “yid” next time you drive passed a synagogue; in fact don’t even think it.

But if you ever wanted proof of the evil ignorance that underpins anti-Semitism, the most common victims of this supposed rage against the evil Zionist conquistadors are the highly visible ultra-orthodox Hassids - all strange black hats, coats and long beards.

Ironically, they tend to be fervent anti-Zionists themselves, believing modern Israel to been a sacrilegious defiance of a messianic prophesy, but then that’s not the point for the hatemongers.

Is anti-Semitism on the increase? Certainly to read the blog responses at telegraph.co.uk might leave that impression.

As my esteemed colleague Damian Thompson highlighted last month, our blogosphere is too often polluted by deviants – the pathetic and the pathological – who take pleasure in scrawling insults about the Jews on the talkback.

It is still far more dangerous to be black, or gay or Muslim in the UK, but if anti-Semitism is on the rise let it show itself and do its worst.

Anglo-Jewry has a proud tradition of fighting anti-Semitism, racism and Fascism – and Britain and its people have a fine history of tolerance and rejecting extremism.

When Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts set out to terrorise the Jewish East End , they were blocked at Cable Street and did not pass.

After World War Two when the “Aryan supermen” tried again to set out their vile stall it was pushed over by the Jewish veterans of the 43 Group, men and women had spent the war fighting for Britain and against Nazism and were not about to allow shabby home grown wannabes intimidate their communities.

Twenty years later the clandestine 62 Group followed the same philosophy and today Anglo-Jewry is well protected from its enemies - old and new, Nazi or jihadi – by the highly respected Community Security Trust.

As result, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself”.