The antisemites are converging—and Jews will not be fooled

Further to my previous post discussing how the Far-right are being mainstreamed, I present an article by Fiamma Nirenstein taken from her online op-ed piece from the Jerusalem News Syndicate website.

The neo-Nazi siege of Jewish teens in Bulgaria exposed a disturbing reality: Jew-hatred from the far right and far left is increasingly feeding off the same hatred.

Teenage daughters of friends from Rome found themselves trapped this week in a hotel in Bulgaria, forced to endure the murderous chant of “Sieg Heil!” by a gang of Bulgarian antisemites.

The incident occurred on Sunday in Sofia, where neo-azis blocked the entrances to a hotel hosting Israeli and Italian Jewish youth delegations, chanting Nazi slogans and giving Nazi salutes before they were dispersed by police.

This time, the perpetrators wore the unmistakable face of Hitlerism. They are still with us, and today they feel emboldened by an atmosphere in which antisemitism has once again become acceptable.

Will the antisemites of the left, masquerading as mere critics of Israel, now seize this opportunity to cloak themselves in the mantle of human rights defenders, claiming to protect Jews from the “usual” fascists?

No, thank you. Jews can defend themselves. No one should be deceived.

The anguish of watching our children exposed to such hatred leaves no room for political disguises. It is genuine. The monstrosity of Nazi-style antisemitism—the classic racist variety—now dares to reveal itself openly because it has become part of a broader ecosystem in which movements with very different ideological origins converge on a common target.

That convergence matters.

The various factions are not necessarily coordinating with one another. But they all benefit from the growing legitimacy afforded to hatred of Jews, Judaism, Israel and Zionism. Together, they reinforce an environment in which antisemitism flourishes.

Bulgaria illustrates how these forms of hatred increasingly overlap. Throughout the year—and especially since Oct. 7, 2023—the country has witnessed the public display of neo-Nazi symbols, swastikas and repeated attempts to revive the annual march honoring Hristo Lukov, the leader of Bulgaria’s pro-Nazi Legions.

At the same time, anti-Israel activism has targeted Jewish institutions. In 2025, “Free Palestine” graffiti was sprayed across the Sofia synagogue, covering photographs of those murdered during the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

On Oct. 9, 2025, Sofia’s Monument of Salvation, dedicated to those who opposed the deportation and persecution of Bulgaria’s Jews during World War II, was vandalized and covered in red paint. The city’s Holocaust memorial was desecrated as well.

These are only a few examples.

The attacks have come from both the right and the left, directed at the same targets: Jews.

This pattern is no longer confined to Bulgaria. Europe is increasingly afflicted by antisemitism from both extremes of the political spectrum. Across the Atlantic, the phenomenon is equally striking. A neo-Nazi such as Nick Fuentes and politicians such as Zohran Mamdani may come from vastly different ideological traditions, yet both participate in portraying “Zionism” as the embodiment of Jewish wrongdoing.

Who, then, still believes that one side merely offers “legitimate criticism of Israel” while the other alone represents antisemitic extremism?

The truly dangerous development is the convergence itself.

Vile are the Nazis. Vile, too, are the red-green antisemites. Vile are those who accuse Jews of orchestrating global conspiracies, and equally vile are those who portray the Jewish state as the source of the world’s evils. Different slogans, different histories—but increasingly the same target.

That convergence is poisoning Europe and spreading far beyond it.

it will eventually be exposed for what it is.

And Jewish children will not remain locked away in fear. They will walk out, calmly and confidently, toward life.

The Left's crisis: Socialism and Antisemitism

As most readers may be aware, the last few weeks have seen most of the mainstream media centre on Andy Burnham’s campaign to become leader of the Labour party. His ‘manifesto’ was particularly interesting, as it focused on massive regional devolution, public control of utilities and a substantial increase in social housing. More particularly, his broad platform emphasised ‘business-friendly’ socialism while maintaining fiscal discipline.

Now this made me smile because it sounds like old-fashioned Labour, but if you dig deeper, you’ll realise it’s simply a ‘word salad’ that means nothing. For example, ‘business-friendly’ and ‘socialism are essentially contradictory, because the essence of socialism is it advocates for a democratically run society where the means of production – businesses, industries and resources are socially, or collectively managed and ultimately replace capitalism through democratic and electoral processes.

Similarly, ‘fiscal discipline’ isn’t a socialist concept, as it’s more associated with ‘fiscal conservativism’ and ‘economic liberalism’.

All very interesting, but I want to concentrate on something more disturbing; something visible on both sides of the pond, and it’s what has happened to the progressive Left? Radicalism once meant fighting against poverty and for action on worker’s rights and climate change. But over the years this has been replaced by an obsessive hatred of Israel, and “Zionism”; their rhetoric sounding indistinguishable from the fascists they once fought. Today, these ‘socialists’, use virulent antisemitic tropes that would have once stood perfectly alongside hate-ridden articles in Der Sturmer in the 1930s.Take for example the July 1934 edition warning of a Jewish program for world domination. The article—titled “Who is the Enemy?”—blamed Jews for destroying social order and claimed Jews wanted war, while the rest of the world wanted peace. Compare this to a New Left Review headline comparing Zionism to imperialism and arguing Zionists are colonialists seeking war and domination of the Middle East.

So, what’s changed? Or has it always been this way? Has practical socialism always had an antisemitic side that’s finally come out of the woodwork? To understand this, it’s essential to first understand the mind of an antizionist.

Anti-Zionism and antisemitism

It’s not Jews, we keep being told, it’s Israel. If only they didn’t “overact”, there would be no antisemitism; if only American or British Jews repudiated Israel, they would be left alone, because those we call antisemites are responding to unbearable provocations. 

But let me be perfectly clear - everything about this is a lie, and it’ll destroy the West - see how the Left reacted when Israel responded to the appalling tragedy on October 7^th and how they reacted when the Gaza War followed, not forgetting how before the first shots were fired, Israel made it clear there would be no war if the 256 hostages were returned immediately.

But the lies continued unabated on social media, rotting the minds of ill-informed people, warping their critical faculties and chasing away the Jewish diaspora.

With a social media campaign heavily funded by Iran and Qatar, it was inevitable ‘socialist’ activists would embrace antizionism, particularly as many were already hostile to Israel once the declaration was announced Jerusalem was, is and always will be the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

In a feeble attempt to disguise left antisemitism, they started to spelt ‘antizionism’ without a hyphen, or capital ‘Z’ to distinguish it from the traditional pre-1948 variety. But let’s be clear, it’s simply a specific, modernised hate ideology targeting Jews and Israel and comes with an entire, warped analytical framework. In effect, it’s the new antisemitism for our times.

Notably, these same “antizionists” are indifferent to the plight of Muslims; they only care about conflicts involving Jews. None of the 23 countries with Islam as state religion or the 53 majority-Muslim countries, or Christians or other nations or “ethno-states” are targeted: just the only Jewish state, seen as the purest embodiment of Western evil.

“From the river to the sea” is no more than ethnic cleansing, at best, and genocidal extermination at worst. The antizionists tell Jews to “go home”, but deny anywhere is their home, and do their best to ensure they never have one. So, Jews are redefined, not as refugees (often from Arab lands) but, in an act of gross inversion, as “white settler colonisers”. Jews, in their eyes, are genocidal oppressors and can never be victims. One doesn’t need to prove this; asserting it is sufficient.

The “genocide of Palestinians” banalises the genocidal behaviour of Islamist countries. It redefines normal military practices as illegitimate, making self-defence impossible and rewards Hamas’s monstrous human shield strategy; it rationalises terrorism as freedom-fighting.

 

The Democratic Party

The party was founded on January 8^th, 1828, emerging from the supporters of Andrew Jackson but didn’t show signs of Left leanings until the 1930s with the arrival of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Further left leanings were cemented in with Lyndon B. Johnson’s support for the Civil Rights Movement but, even then the party fought against adopting a socialist agenda and remained true to a liberal/ religious tradition first started in the early days of the twentieth century.

By the 1960s, progressives had fused parts of cultural liberalism with economic left-leaning traditions, as well as drawing robustly on Keynesian economics, left-wing populism, and democratic socialism, particularly through Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. While there are differences between the historical progressivism of Johnson’s era and today’s progressive movement, both share a belief that free markets lead to economic inequalities and must be aggressively regulated with broad economic and social rights legislation to protect the working class.

Antisemitism/ Anti-Zionism in the Democratic Party

The emergence of antisemitism in the Democratic party goes back to the late 1960s, largely driven by ideological shifts within the New Left. During this period, segments of the movement began to adopt an increasingly anti-Zionist platform, which at times bled into overt antisemitism. Following the 1967 war, a segment of the Left in the Democratic party shifted away from their historical support for the relatively new state of Israel and instead framed the country as a colonialist power. This rhetoric frequently crossed the line from criticism of Israeli government policy into antisemitic tropes, such as accusing Jewish supporters of dual loyalty

By the early 1970’s deep fractures were visible, forcing many to navigate a worrying wedge between anti-Zionism and antisemitism so, by the 1980s, the division lines were so heavily blurred that in 1984, Senator Jesse Jackson, while standing as a Democratic presidential candidate caused significant controversy by referring to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown."

More recently, there have been a number of cases of Holocaust inversion within the party  and, in particular, we have seen how, during the 2014 Gaza War, the party leadership often accused Israel of carrying out “genocidal attacks” on Arabs it confined in, what they termed:  “its Gaza concentration camp” (you can read more on how progressives, aided by Bernie Sanders and others fought for recognition of Palestine here - Left-Wing Antisemitism in the United States: Past and Present | INSS )

The extent of racism against Jews became fully visible during House votes on resolutions condemning antisemitism. In December 2023, over 100 Democrat representatives voted "present" or "no" on a GOP-led resolution formally equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

All this led many, including blogger John Podhoretz to argue “If I’d told you in 2015 that the focal point of antisemitic sentiment in the U.S. in 2026 would be inside the Democratic Party, you would have thought I was insane. Hell, I would have thought I was insane, and I’d spent decades warning about creeping anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment on the left.” (You can read the full article here - Why Antisemitism Is a Bigger Problem on the Left )

The Labour party

The sad truth of both the Labour party and the trade union movement is their history of hatred against Jews goes back to before the party was even founded. In 1900, the Trade Union Congress, which played an instrumental part in founding the Labour party, passed a resolution arguing the Boer War was being fought “to secure the gold fields of South Africa for cosmopolitan Jews, most of whom had no patriotism and no country”. A claim later shown to be completely preposterous.

Nonetheless, the British Labour Party was created in 1900 under its original name of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) and officially adopted the name "Labour Party" in 1906. Its key founding members included Keir Hardie (elected Chairman) and Ramsay MacDonald (elected Secretary). Other early members included antisemites, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, who joined the fledgling party in 1914.

Right from its birth the Labour party and trade union movement relied on antisemitic tropes associating new immigrant Jewish worker with undesirable living conditions and parasitical finance legitimising calls for controls to reduce Jewish immigration. In 1889, the TUC was arguing “it was the duty of the trades to keep the matter of Jewish migration under close consideration”.

But it was founder, Keir Hardy who was the most outspoken Labour antisemite, even as early as the Boer war when he argued Jewish financial houses were part of a secretive imperialist cabal promoting the war. Later, when referring to one of London’s wealthiest areas, he attacked “men living in Park Lane, some of whom are unable to speak the English tongue” who were enriching themselves – he was, of course referring to Jews.

The Labour Leader newspaper, of which Hardie was both editor and publisher, exhibited even more rabidly antisemitic language. “Wherever there is trouble in Europe,” he wrote, “wherever rumours of war circulate and men’s minds are distraught with fear of change and calamity, you may be sure that a hook-nosed Rothschild is at his games somewhere near the region of the disturbances.”

Henry Hyndman, blamed "Jewish capitalists" for starting the Boer War

Ian Hermon, once argued the roots of Labour antisemitism stem from a “populist pursuit of power, bigotry, ignorance or a twisted understanding of history and socialist ideals.”

Despite a deeply rooted history of anti-Jewish feeling many early socialists fought vociferously to achieve the Zionist ideal of a Jewish state. But antisemitism has never been far from the surface and with the likes of Beatrice Webb describing Zionism as hypocritical nonsense, it established roots that many years later, Corbyn was able to reach out and use.

 Of course, those on the left argued their comments were not antisemitic, but legitimate opposition to Israeli government policy and actions. The evidence demonstrated a very different view:

1. Ken Livingstone, the former London mayor was suspended from the Labour party after saying Hitler had supported Zionism in the 1930s – The EHRC found “Ken Livingstone’s comments were unwanted conduct related to Jewish ethnicity, which, whether viewed individually or together with other relevant acts of Labour Party agents, had the effect of harassing Labour Party members”;
2.  Naz Shah, the ex-Labour MP, urged her supporters to vote in an online poll about Israeli military action and claimed "the Jews are rallying" to skew the results;
3. Again Naz Shah, in a 2014 Facebook graphic showed the outline of Israel superimposed over the United States with the headline "Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict – Relocate Israel into United States" and the comment "Problem solved";
4. Chris Williamson signed and shared an online petition supporting jazz musician Gilad Atzmon, who was accused of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Later, he booked a room in Parliament for a screening of a film about Jackie Walker, a party activist suspended over alleged antisemitic comments.
5. Councillor Pat Bromley was reported to the Labour Party over allegedly antisemitic Facebook posts, suspended but then reinstated into the party.

While the exact number of upheld complaints in the Labour Party remains unknown, disciplinary reports indicate hundreds of accusations were upheld, resulting in sanctions ranging from formal warnings to expulsions.

 

Political Comment

I find it interesting the way people argue both the Democratic party and the UK Labour Party are socialist, when all evidence demonstrates they are nothing of the sort. The Democratic party may be left leaning but firstly, they have no formal ties to the trade union movement, and secondly, they maintain an adherence to market driven economic solutions over nationalisation. There are many other distinctions, but in short, they bear none of the markers associated with a socialist political party.

The UK Labour party is an interesting case and if you look at the original Clause lV of its constitution as written by Sidney Webb, it would be reasonable to argue its socialist origins:

"To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.”

However, all this changed in April 1995 when the party rejected nationalisation and rewrote the clause to argue how Labour now:

“… believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.”

In effect, the Labour Party walked away from its socialist roots.

Furthermore, the essence of socialism rejects all forms of racism and encourages an internationalist perspective – and with a history of antisemitism in both parties it is difficult to argue the Labour party or the Democratic party are socialist.

It seems the political right are simply using the term as an unsubstantiated term of abuse with little basis in reality. In this respect it is a very unhealthy way to deal with political differences and implies ta lack of political education suggesting the political right lack a credible understanding of political ideology.

It makes me fear for our political future.

Why aliyah to Israel for many old Jews just isn't an option

As I sit in the comfort and security  of my home in the South West of the UK, I am still reflecting on the two Jewish men who were stabbed two Jewish pedestrians in Golders Green, an area that, for as long as I can remember has been one of the most iconic area for both secular and haredi Jews in London.

Shortly after the attack inevitable  platitudes came out in force from politicians of all persuasions who condemned the acts of violence in time-honoured meaningless words. The government spokesmen spoke of their shock as to what had happened whilst serving up a good mix of “word salad.”

And guess what - nothing has really changed

Condolences without action

So many politicians’ “hearts went out to the Jewish community,” to such an extent that now, a couple of weeks later, I am forced to consider how they even  managed to catch their breath between their slippery banalities. “They all felt our pain,” though we saw none writhing in agony.

Virtually every one of these political hyenas wanted us to know “words are not enough,” though none suggested any practical solution  to ease  community fears and the ever insipid British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who has consistently shown himself incapable of doing anything that might directly confront Muslim voters, or criticize any country other than Israel has now shown he could not be bothered to travel the 6 miles from Downing Street to Golders Green

Instead he ordered a Cobra security meeting where they sat around and chatted about the problem of Jews under attack. After all, after a comfortable chat comes a time for reflection, closely followed by a Cabinet Committee where they can submit a report to some nameless Select Committee, who will will question witnesses from a range of NGO's with no conclusive solutions ever being put on the table.

Meanwhile, Starmer will not grasp any nettle that needs grasping lest he offends anybody because he so terrified of being decisive in case a "stalking horse" comes forward to challenge his leadership.

At the same time, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told those who bothered to listen that he was “angry” and “appalled,” then, while feeling our pain, returned to Spain to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and discuss their shared views on Gaza

Is it any wonder that while so much passionate disinterest was taking place, many Jews started asking whether now is finally the time to make Aliyah. Is this the time to return home.

But herein we have the core problem - and it has become the problem that remains the elephant in the room and no-one is talking about it. Unless you have plenty of money, a well-paid job, or a good pension, moving to Israel is not an option.

Cost of living in Israel

We know there is a significant cost-of-living crisis in Israel, with roughly 2 million people, or ~21% of the population, living below the poverty line, including high rates of child poverty and food insecurity. It is now also common knowledge there has been a disturbing rise in food insecurity and financial struggles, with about 28% of Israeli households unable to meet all monthly expenses and 1 in 4 children live below the poverty line.

Additionally, data shows utilities average roughly 935 shekels per month (£230/  $310) and food is generally 21% higher than the richest European nations, with high prices for dairy and staples.

Now, of itself this is a matter of concern but not necessarily critical if an immigrant is fortunate enough to have a high salary, substantial investments and savings or a really good pension.

Socioeconomic status of Jews

However, data from the Office of National Statistics (UK) shows that roughly 40% of the Jewish population in the UK are, on average in receipt of a median or below income each month, and that roughly 3,000 Jewish children were classified as living in poverty, while in the US, 15% of Jews live below the poverty line and 26% reported difficulties paying for necessities like food or medicare. 

Put into a more accessible manner, data suggests in the UK, 9,000 Jews are almost certainly living in poverty, while in the USA this could be as high as 1.1 million people

Financial support

Of course, cynics would argue that potential immigrants would be able to access financial support to allow a move to Israel and I would have to agree. As I understand it, a couple wishing to make such a move would be able to access the "Absorption Basket" allowing eligible claimants to access up to £12,500 ($16,4000 during the first six months of residency plus possible free flights to Israel. However, this aid is only for the first six months then aid ends. So, unless a couple can secure an annual income of between £24,000 to £40,000 ($32,000 to 54,000) they are almost certain to be on or below the poverty threshold and likely to be in much worse financial position than they were before immigration.

Older people

Those above pension age are most likely to be living on a fixed income ie a state pension. For UK citizens this averages at a maximum of £12, 000 (and anything up to $36,000 for US citizens) per year, meaning that unless the older person has one or more private pensions they are unlikely to have sufficient money to survive. This, pf course, may be offset for some by the Israeli social security system who, in certain circumstances, may supplement any income if the claimant is eligible.

For British citizens in particular this is highly problematic as, even with a full state pension there would be insufficient to live on and they would not be eligible for supplementary a UK pension credit.

In most countries, but the UK in particular there has been a long history of significant deprivation amongst our older population and never has this become more clear than when exploring how older Jews living on a severely limited income may be disenfranchised from fleeing to Israel if ever the need arose.

Healthcare

As many will know, the Israeli healthcare system is a mandatory public/ private hybrid that provides universal coverage where about 20% of spending is out of pocket expenses including co-payments for visits to consultants, medication and imaging, As a consequence, currently nearly 6% of Israelis face catastrophic health spending and we can legitimately assume that senior immigrants without significant private pensions could easily become part of this group,

Additionally, we cannot afford to ignore those who are elderly and infirm, as well as our disabled. For some a flight to Israel is something far beyond their physical ability, while for others, disability creates so many problems as to make immigration an impossibility. And of course, there are also rare occasions where the Ministry of Interior can block immigration, so, in many respects the issue of aliyah for older people is something of a health minefield.

Political comment

For many the notion of making aliyah is not an option if life deteriorated in their current location. British or US Jews living in poverty would have neither the wherewithal to make the move, nor the income to support themselves in Israel after six months. 

The only choice available to them is to bring about effective change; For these people there is no other option and, what surprises me is how this point is never made. All too often we hear Jews saying 'well, if it gets really bad we'll just go to Israel', as if this is an option for everyone. But nobody talks about what happens to our poor, or weak, our disabled and our elderly. Where do they go if the pogroms were to start? Where are they to go when the synagogues are burned or the Jewish schools are forced to close? Are they expected to stay? Are they the ones we sacrifice?

It is a question no-one is asking and someone needs to. Remember, right now nobody is doing anything to end antisemitism and with nothing being done, we must assume that it will get worse. And if it gets worse what happens to those we, in our blind ignorance choose to leave behind.

The "Blame Game" - Why just blaming Muslims or Leftists for the rise in antisemitism is dangerous

A cursory glance at social media posts from pro-Jewish/ Israeli pages will soon reveal how contributors are understating or oversimplifying the root causes of modern day antisemitism. Many blame modern hate against Jews as being the fault of  "the Left", without ever clearly defining who they really mean. For some it refers to those on the hard left (Communists, anarchists etc), while for others it includes liberals, social democrats or those who associate their ideas with the Democratic Party.

But there is another sizable group joining the "Blame Game" and these are those who broadly support the Radical Right and point a grubby racist finger at Muslims, despite evidence showing most hate crime against Jews has led to the arrest of White British or American citizens. This is not to say that some Muslims are not antisemitic, or that a disturbing number of incidents have occurred where some Muslims have used various techniques to threaten or intimidate Jews, but, I would argue they are a minority amongst the larger Islamic population who wish to live peaceably. For those Muslims perpetrating threatening behaviour I would argue our judicial system is capable of inflicting harsh custodial sentencing and I would urge this to be put into action.

In the UK there are currently approximately 4m Muslims accounting for roughly 6.5% of the overall  population. Of these, it is believed about 200,000 could be described as 'radical', though not necessarily criminal. Unquestionably this is entirely unacceptable and no society can, or should accept rule by a minority desiring the implementation of Sharia Law. Indeed, this writer would argue if you do not like the rules of a country the solution is very simple - leave or we should help you. But all this is an entirely different argument and for another time.

In the UK last year there were roughly 4,000 reported hate crimes perpetrated against Jewish people and there are signs this may be on the increase, BUT there is no evidence Muslims are the key perpetrators, suggesting accusations of Muslim created antisemitic violence against Jews is both fallacious and dangerous.

As for arguing the fault lies with the "Left" this is also problematic. In the UK there is sound evidence of antisemitism in the history of the Labour party, the trade union movement, as well as other socialist movements. Indeed, it was Marx he myself, one of the founders of modern socialism who said: "What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money". He added, "The bill of exchange is the real god of the Jew".

                                             Karl Marx

Now we do know in the last few years the Labour Party in the UK has had a significant problem with internal antisemitism. We also know the far Left have consistently pilloried Israel and pushed many lies to further the 'Palestinian' cause, arguing anti-Zionism is not antisemitism despite this they have  continually pushed a range of anti-Jewish tropes to justify their actions.

It is clear these opinion are not universal across the entire Left. In the UK there are number of sizeable Leftist groups and individuals who work hard to eliminate antisemitism (eg Stop the Hate, Runnymede Trust, Antisemitism Policy Trust), while in the US groups like Combat Against Antisemitism, Shine a Light, and the Philos Project do they part to eradicate hatred.

So while acknowledging there is evidence of Leftist Antisemitism, it would be wrong to argue this is universal, or that all left wing politicians are, by definition antisemitic.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum both the UK and US have long and deep roots in both fascism and Nazism. In the UK early signs were visible with the British Fascisti in the 1920's then, from this grew  the antisemitic British Union of Fascists under the leadership of Oswald Mosley who achieved an active membership of 50,000; statistics that obscure a far larger public support that could have taken the party to government had there not been a war and/or Defence Regulation 18b.

Similarly in the US, the violent and virulently antisemitic Ku Klux Klan attained an estimated 8m members and secured a strong influence within the US government. Admittedly, in both countries the membership of fascist groups declined but, this writer would argue their ideological roots have persisted and are fundamentally embedded in the culture and social mores of both countries.

                           .   Ku Klux Klan parade in Washington D.C., 1926.

Even postwar we can see evidence of active far-right antisemitic engagement in the political system of both nations (in the UK there is an early postwar lineage going back to Mosley's Union Movement moving through to the BNP and NF and more recent Patriotic Alternative, New British Union and Britain First; and similarly in the US we see the far right continuation of antisemitism within large sections of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, as well as countless far right groups present in every state. Add to that a more violent and dangerous type of antisemitic hate group in the terrorist organisation, Atomwaffen.Division).

Quite clearly, we see how postwar fascist or Nazi groups were forced out from the traditional political ingroup to a seemingly unwelcome outgroup - it became no longer politically acceptable to espouse race hate, but let us also never forget that previous members of these far right groups did not lose their sympathy for virulent antisemitism, they simply learned to remain silent, or find a way to sanitise it. Indeed, we have seen how a number of extremist far right politicians sanitised their past by later appearing moderate and mainstream.

The first action these 'hidden' fascists chose was to show how the US and Europe had learned from the Nazis and become civilised continents where hatred of Jews was in the past.

One effect of this pastification of antisemitism is that if people say that there is antisemitism in the air today or that they themselves are victims of antisemitism, they must either be mistaken, over-sensitive, delusionary or worst of all dishonest. Those who complain about antisemitism, or fight against antisemitism, or even wish peacefully to study antisemitism, cannot be right since it is already established that antisemitism no longer exists except on the fringes of right-wing extremism. The secret agenda some people see behind the ‘charge’ of antisemitism is that of defending Israel against its critics. We are told that the charge of antisemitism is abused in order to defend the indefensible. In this way, antisemitism appears as a ploy designed by Zionists to let Israel get away with murder. 

One dodgy presumption behind this argument is that Israel cannot be defended openly, so that its defenders have to resort to underhand tactics.  Another is that criticism of Israel is not ‘as such’ antisemitic or more strongly that no criticism of Israel can under any circumstance ever be antisemitic. A moment’s thought should disabuse us of this prejudice. It’s a bit like saying that no criticism of, say, India or Zimbabwe can ever be racist. If we criticise governments in India and Zimbabwe for being authoritarian or for abusing human rights, there might indeed be nothing racist about such criticism. But if we were to say that Indians and Africans are incapable of ruling themselves, we would be right back at ingrained notions of the superiority of the white race or of European civilisation.  

We must therefore come to the dangerous conclusion these 'hidden modern-day fascists', both left and right, have a vested interest in denying any existence of  antisemitism, for to do so would assume some kind of personal responsibility. When the data showed a rise in violence against Jews they were forced (as we saw being done by Leftist Jew-haters) to obscure their hate agenda by redefining antisemitism and their first port of call to achieve this is always Israel. They do it by arguing anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Put quite simply, the circle is then complete and both Left and Right are united in their hate.

What makes this disturbing in my mind is how elements within "our side" (ie Jews and our supporters) water down, or use sophistry or obfuscation to identify the genuine causes of antisemitism to suit their own political ends - and so,  the "right" blame the "left", or the "left" blame the *right", while, racists can blame it all on Muslims, thus preventing anything being done, so nothing changes, scapegoats keep being found and, as has happened for two thousand Jews continue to live in fear waiting with heads bowed for the next pogrom.

Political comment

If anything has become clear in the last two thousand years it is that an understanding of the 'oldest hate' will not come from a single explanation. Social scientists have worked for many years to do that and without success beyond a final realisation - there are many possible reasons.

When dealing with such a critical issue as the hatred of the Jewish people, there can be nothing more dangerous, more cruel and more heartless than to encourage reductionism. It excuses some of the offenders and people who perpetrate this reductionism protects those who are guilty, ignored or remain unidentified. 

It was Aristotle who said: “Not being of the same tribe is a cause of strife until they “breathe in sync” for just as a state does not develop from an accidental mob, so too it does not come together at an accidental time.”

Transparently antisemitism is one of the biggest 'strifes' society  has ever seen compounded by reductionists refusing to see the big picture and taking a deeply flawed 'blame a single bad guy' approach. In doing so they excuse hatred and harm those who fight to end antisemitism - and to those reductionists both left and right, I can only say one thing - for obscuring, justifying and minimising the hatred of the Jewish people, a plague on all your houses.

Wake up and smell the coffee - antisemitism is on the rise and our politicians are doing nothing

Since October 7th the world has seen a huge surge in antisemitism reminiscent  of Germany during the early stage of the Nazi regime. In response a number of political leaders across Europe and the United States have called for action to protect Jewish communities from race hate. However despite these efforts, where they exist, the statistics show that far from being a decline, there remains a significant problem.

Today's blog will explore some of these efforts and will argue the majority are fundamentally tokenistic and do little to reduce race crime.

There is nothing new about Situational Crime Prevention. It was originated by Ronald V. Clarke in the 1970s and became a broad policy approach led by the British Home Office Research Unit and exported in various forms abroad. The approach is underpinned by a core belief that offenders, particularly perpetrators of antisemitic crime act rationally, weighing risks (getting caught) against the satisfaction of upsetting or harming the victim.

                                               Ronald V. Clarke

With this theoretical underpinning of crime prevention against Jews as a base, let us dissect the actions taken by several countries and analyse its effectiveness, starting with the US and the efforts of President Trump 

United States

In the United States, President Donald Trump has enacted the following:

• Executive Order 14188 (2025): Shortly after his 2025 inauguration, President Trump issued a new executive order, “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism,” which vowed to vigorously use legal tools to prosecute and remove perpetrators of antisemitic harassment and violence.
• Federal Funding Pressure: The administration has indicated a willingness to withhold federal funds from universities, such as targetting funding for institutions like Columbia University over the way they handled campus protests.
• Targeting Campus Antisemitism: The administration launched investigations and lawsuits against institutions like Harvard, accusing them of allowing anti-Israel protesters to operate "with impunity" after the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
• Use of IHRA Definition: The Department of Education under Trump has applied the IHRA definition of antisemitism to include anti-Zionism and certain criticisms of Israel as actionable discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
• Immigration and Visa Controls: Executive actions in 2025 directed federal agencies to review foreign student visas, allowing for the potential deportation of students who "advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats," which the administration tied to campus antisemitism.

In essence these look like promising moves, albeit a little overstating the significance of campus antisemitism rather than looking at Jew-hate in the wider community. However this may be being unfair because it is action. So how have these approaches panned out in practice?

Well, in fairness, it is early days, but initial indicators from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) are not good. According to their research, antisemitic incidents in the US. reached record highs in 2024 and have continue to surge throughout the whole of 2025, driven by post-October 7, tensions. According to ADL data, 2024 saw 9,354 recorded incidents, with 2025 data showing a rising, more brazen trend, particularly in high-density areas, with a 21% rise in physical assaults reported.

Furthermore, by the end of 2025 over 30% of American Jews reported feeling unsafe in professional or social settings and 18% experienced direct physical or verbal threats. Meanwhile, on social media platforms 73% of American Jews experienced antisemitism online during 2025, specifically on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

The evidence also shows little significant change in the number of hate crimes prosecuted and/ or convictions resulting in over 90% of American Jews feeling unsafe. Consequently and based on data available, early indications are that the Trump initiative isn't working or, if it is the change required to make America safe for Jews is happening too slowly.

United Kingdom

But before we start pillorying Trump for doing too little it would be worth comparing US efforts to address endemic antisemitism compared to other nations. Let us take the UK as an initial example. The UK has a long history of Jew hatred that goes back to Hugh of Lincoln in 1200 and the resulting Jewish expulsion in 1290. They did not return until  l 1656 during the Interregnum under Oliver Cromwell. Since then Jews were largely able to go about their daily business in peace, though antisemitic attacks continued.

It was only really after October 7th that attacks became more prevalent, though signs of antisemitic behaviour became more prevalent among the hard  Left when Corbyn became leader of Labour and the EHRC ruling against the party in 2020.

More recently, the Community Security Trust  "Antisemitic Incidents Report 2025", , showed 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the UK in 2025, the second highest annual total ever, and a 4% rise from the 3,556 antisemitic incidents in 2024, and second only to the 4,298 antisemitic incidents logged in 2023. CST recorded 1,662 antisemitic incidents in 2022, and 2,261 in 2021.

Broadly speaking UK government action against antisemitism appears to lie primarily with providing financial support to the Community Security Trust who have been allocated £28 million in 2025/26 through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant. This includes additional emergency funding of £10 million. In addition, the government have prioritised interventions in the following areas: 

1. Security: Providing better support to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities. 
2. Education: Tackling antisemitism in schools, colleges, and universities and ensuring that we raise children and young people who embrace people from all backgrounds and faiths.
3. Institutional Action: Tackling antisemitism in key institutions, particularly the NHS, and the culture, sport, and voluntary sectors.

In short, most would agree the UK government have done next to nothing to eradicate antisemitism but Starmer continues to spout meaningless soundbites to appease the Jewish community. Take for example his recent meetings with Birmingham university students who itemised some of the problems associated with being a student on campus. He listened but offered no suggestions as to how a Labour government might help bring change.

France

Meanwhile, in France, Antisemitism has surged dramatically since October 2023, following the Hamas-Israel conflict, with reported incidents increasing by nearly 400% in 2023 to 1,676, compared to 436 in 2022. This includes a spike in physical assaults, school incidents, and acts of vandalism. The sharp rise continues a trend, with 2024 maintaining similarly high levels of anti-Jewish acts.

In response, the government elevated the domestic security alert to the highest possible level (Vigipirate), increasing security around Jewish schools and places of worship. 

President Emmanuel Macron vowed that perpetrators would be punished, prompting a strong crackdown on vandalism and violent attacks. In 2024, the government recorded 9,400 racist crimes and incidents, with the interior ministry emphasizing "total commitment" to tracking down attackers of Jewish individuals and properties.

Noticeably in the immediate period after October 7th over 1,000 antisemitic crimes were recorded but within that same period (post-October 7, 2023), 486 (less than half) were arrested for antisemitic offences in France.

Sadly, most of Europe reveals the same picture with Germany in particular showing a disturbing number of antisemitic crime and a poor conviction rate.

Political comment

The data clearly demonstrates that throughout much of the 'free world' not enough is being done to reduce or even eliminate antisemitism and without a clear strategy to deal with the problem it will continue to grow and prosper - our children will be frightened in their schools, our teenager boys will fear muggings, or girls will be unsafe on our streets, as will our elderly. Going to synagogue will no longer a joy but will become a weekly and dangerous period in our lives.

We cannot allow this to continue.

- and there is an alternative way. All it needs is for government to be willing to invest in our Jewish communities.

In particular:

Legislation - enact a law where antisemitism is viewed as a hate crime and, if convicted in a court of law a perpretrator would receive a custodial sentence of no less than 12-months for a non-violent crime and no less than 5 years for a violent one. Children under 16 would receive a detention and training order of no less than 12 months, or juvenile detention centre in the US,

• A visible and active police presence in local Jewish communities. Demonstatrors attempting to enter Jewish communities or near synagogues will be subject Dispersion orders or Anti-|Social behaviour orders. Police currently have this authority already but must use them far more to protect local residents.
• Holocaust education to become a core part of the curriculum for all schhol children over 13 years of age.
• The USSA, local college student unions, or NUS should be denied authority to require student unions from preventing college/ university Jewish societies from discussing Zionism or Israeli issues. Any attempt to do would be deemed a denial of free speech.
• Any Imam or Muslim from a foreign country who calls for Jihad or globalising the intifada will be subject to immediate repatriation. If the perpetrator is a UK or US national they will face terrorism charges for inciting violence.
• Legislation should be prepared to stipulate Anti-Zionism is racism and that expression of such by a public servant is subject to disciplinary charges,

Now I would be the first to agree there are significant issues with many of these points, but they offer an initial discussion base that could ultimately lead to feeling safer and a substantial decline in race crime

Whatever we do, one thing is transparent - we must do more!

Remembering Sarah

Today (5th April) will mark  nine years since Sarah Halimi,  a 65 year old retired doctor and a French Jew was beaten and murdered then thrown off her balcony simply because she was Jewish.

Sarah was brutally murdered by her neighbor Kobili Traoré. Traore broke into her Paris apartment, stabbed her to death for approximately 50 minutes, and then threw her body from a third-story window.

Traoré, 27, while torturing Halimi was heard calling her a “dirty Jew”, reciting verses from the Quran, and shouting Alahu Akbar. After the murder, he shouted, “I have killed the sheitan,” meaning the devil or demonic spirit in Arabic. Local police were downstairs waiting for backup while the torture was taking place.

In an unfathomable decision in mid-April, France’s highest judicial body, the Court of Cassation, ruled that Traoré will not face trial due to his consumption of marijuana the night of the murder. The courts cited an article of the French criminal code which states that a person is not liable for a crime if they suffered from a psychological or neurological disorder that impaired their actions at the time it was committed. In a 2017 case, a person also under the influence was sentenced to prison for throwing their dog out a window.

Sarah should have received justice. Her killer should have faced the full weight of the law but this didn't happen

We will never forget.