Jews

As antisemitic incidents rise, some Jewish people are asking if it’s time to leave – and where they might go nextFor many Jews sitting down with family and friends for Friday night dinner, the conversation is now turning to their “red line”. “What do we do? Do we have to leave?” asked Barry Frankfurt. Israel had once been a place some might have considered retiring to, to live by the sea. “Never in our lifetime has it been considered we need to run away, we need to seek refuge … and that place might have to be Israel,” said Frankfurt, a brand consultant in north London. “We might have to do that because we don’t feel safe in the country we call home.“Every couple of weeks you’ll hear of another couple or family in the community who have moved or will be moving soon to Israel,” he said. “And that should be the thing that shocks us as a country.” Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: The events in Golders Green this week are the latest in a line of attacks on the Jewish community that have led many to question their future in the UKGood morning. It is a terrible fact of life for British Jews that few were surprised by Wednesday’s knife attack in Golders Green, north London, in which two men were stabbed in an area home to a large Jewish community. A 45-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder.The incident is the latest in a string of antisemitic attacks, on people and property, that have struck fear into many British Jews in recent years. John Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, said many in the community are at “breaking point” and feel the UK is no longer a safe place for them to live.Iran | Iran’s supreme leader has broken his recent silence with a defiant statement hailing Iran’s control over shipping in the strait of Hormuz and vowing to guard the country’s nuclear and missile programmes.Environment | Governments have been asked to develop national “roadmaps” setting out how they will end the production and use of fossil fuels, after a landmark climate meeting involving nearly 60 countries.UK news | Winston Marshall, a former member of the band Mumford & Sons and the son of the GB News co-owner Paul Marshall, has said Britain should construct a mine-laden “floating wall” to stop small boat crossings on the Channel.Counter-terrorism | More and more young people are being drawn into the world of violent extremism, a senior police officer has warned, as a young neo-Nazi was convicted of planning a mass gun attack after being caught in an undercover MI5 sting.UK economy | The Bank of England has left interest rates unchanged at 3.75% but said the UK may need to brace for increases later this year, as “higher inflation is unavoidable” as a result of the war in the Middle East. Continue reading...

Antisemitism has been rising in years since 7 October attacks, including recent arson attacks at Jewish sitesBritish Jews feel under siege and worried about their children displaying religious symbols in public, community leaders have said.There have been a series of attempted arson attacks at Jewish sites over the past week, including incidents at two synagogues in London and one at a building used by the charity Jewish Futures. Four Jewish community ambulances were also set on fire in north London in the early hours of 23 March. Continue reading...

Trump administration claims list is part of an EEOC investigation into antisemitic discrimination at universityA federal judge on Tuesday ordered the University of Pennsylvania to hand over records about Jewish employees on campus to a federal agency as part of an investigation into antisemitic discrimination but said it did not have to reveal any employee’s affiliation with a specific group.US district judge Gerald Pappert said employees can refuse to take part in the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation but the agency “needs the opportunity to talk to them directly to learn if they have evidence of discrimination”. Continue reading...

Local people say incident is just the latest example of hostility that has built up over a long timeThe blasts that boomed out in the early hours of Monday in suburban north-west London struck terror into people living in the surrounding streets. Their effects in Golders Green, with its large Jewish population, were still reverberating later that morning.The antisemitic attack, in which four ambulances run by the Jewish charity Hatzola were set on fire, has left local people afraid. They are afraid because of the incident itself but also because of what they see as a febrile atmosphere of antisemitism in the UK more generally. Continue reading...