The terror attack in Copenhagen last weekend just like the shootings in Paris at the beginning of the year targeted Jewish communities as well as freedom of speech. Following both attacks, Israel’s Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu called for European Jews to emigrate en masse to Israel, though both Jewish and political leaders in Europe have widely rejected his position. Denmark’s chief rabbi, Jair Melchior, said on Sunday: “Terror is not a reason to move to Israel. People from Denmark move to Israel because they love Israel, because of Zionism but not because of terrorism.”
It’s clear from the latest figures from the Community Security Trust (CST) a UK Jewish security charity which runs an incident hotline, that antisemitic incidents in the UK have soared in the last year. We’ve been asking Jewish people living in the UK and Europe to share their views on emigrating to Israel and also about the importance of maintaining a Jewish diaspora.
Ben from London concurs with Denmark’s chief rabbi about emigrating for the right reasons. “My Zionism is not a reaction to antisemitism; it is not a Zionism born out of fear of the foreign Other. It appalls me to see Binyamin Netanyahu manipulate tragedies such as the recent attacks in Paris in order to argue that the only home for Jews is in Israel, for what is Israel if it does not heed the prophetic call dating back millennia to be a light among the nations? I value the symbiosis between Diaspora Jewry and the Jewish community resident in Israel. While I have made the personal decision that only in Israel can I lead the sort of holistically Jewish life that I desire, the diverse and culturally rich experiences of the Jewish Diaspora ought not to be negated, for Diaspora communities continue to engage with local needs and connect Jews to their history and national and religious identity.”
Kerry from North London also believes it’s important to maintain a Jewish diaspora: “I do intend to stay in the UK and believe I should. Diaspora Judaism is a fundamental part of Jewish culture and identity: our most important religious text after the Torah was written in Babylon (Iraq), and our most important Torah commentator, Rashi, lived in Troyes (France). I also believe multicultural society is good for the Europe, and to be honest I’m not happy with any movement in which the end result is eliminating European Jewish communities, no matter who is calling for it.”
Simon from London agrees that there should be diaspora communities but he feels that “Antisemitism is also a powerful tool in peoples’ minds for not returning back to the UK if they have already moved (and it’s not working out) as there is a powerful narrative in Israeli and US media that Europe is unsafe.” Simon is moving to Canada for other reasons. He says he still feels very secure in the UK, however he adds, “I feel I am in the minority. All of my friends from synagogue (it’s a liberal one) who are my age 20 to 30 have moved to Israel. Only one has subsequently returned.
Michael recently moved to Israel from Hendon. Like Simon he believes that the UK is a relatively safe place for Jewish people to live, but he wanted his family to experience being part of the majority, not the minority as is the case in the UK.
“If I may illustrate how it feels to be a minority where you must fight to keep your identity from being swollen up by the majority: my son is now studying in an Israeli school and his Arabic teacher happens to be a Christian Israeli Arab. On Christmas day she had to take the day off work and celebrate her holiday quietly at home. No tinsel in the shops and no Christmas songs on the radio, just a normal working day for the nation. That teacher’s Christmas experience is the Jewish experience in Britain, our holidays are not British holidays and our culture is somewhat alien to the norm.”
Emanuel has also made the move. Like Michael he feels that the benefits of living in Israel far outweigh the security issues there. “Leave politics out of it - I’m willing to share the land with the Palestinians if there’s a lasting peace agreement in place - the desire to move to Israel is cultural, religious and pragmatic. Put simply, it’s the Jewish home. Only in Israel does the fate of the Jews not lie in the hands of a host nation ... It might seem trite, but Israel is the only state in which Jews have not been discriminated against.”
Though the UK was a good place to live Emanuel never felt completely safe there. “I’m grateful, very grateful to Britain. I was educated and protected there and deeply appreciate the opportunities afforded to Jews there. Compared to many other countries, it’s very good to the Jews. But I never felt completely at home there, and it’s not easy being a guest in another country. Antisemitism goes through waves, but it never goes away completely. Yes, terrorism strikes Israel more regularly and my chances of being near a suicide bomber or an IED are higher here, but I prefer to take my chances and live a richer life in Israel rather than cowering and feeling an outsider in Britain.”
According to CST the surge in antisemitism last year was fuelled by reactions to the conflict in Gaza in July and August that claimed the lives of 2,131 Palestinians and 71 Israelis, according to the UN. Shoshana orginally from the US and now living in Manchester feels that the events in Israel and Palestine last summer have made her feel more insecure in the UK. “There is more visible antisemitism here than I ever experienced in the USA. My perception of it is that most is perpetrated by juveniles seeking easy targets or are politically motivated by people who somehow think that British Jews have personal control over the Israeli Army.”
David from London echoes Shoshana’s experience. He says there’s “a feeling of alienation arising as a result of this country’s response to the Gaza war in 2014. Whatever my private views on that issue, I felt that I was looked at differently because of my faith. It was “soft” othering that made me feel that my freedom of conscience in this country is still after so many years contingent. The second is the incidents in Paris of a few weeks ago and in Europe more generally over the last few years. England feels much safer than France but, even so, a similar strike in the UK seems to be a matter of ‘when, not if’. So the combination of alienation from my peers and fear for my safety has raised serious questions about making the UK my permanent home.”
The increase in antisemitism has changed Jon’s perspective too. He says he has been critical of Israel in the past and has never considered moving there, but now his opinion has shifted. “I do not wish to go, I have no concrete plans to go. However going has become an imaginable possibility whereas for me before it was unimaginable. I am 50 and grew up at a time when antisemitism was simply a minor irritant. Baroness Warsi said a few years ago that Islamophobia had become acceptable in polite society. I agree with her and condemn this prejudice. I think the same is now true of antisemitism. My generation grew up in liberal times. We are now having to learn for the first time the psychological defence mechanisms that came as part of being Jewish in the Britain of the 1930s.”
Living in Israel is not for everyone. Shelley did emigrate but has since returned, though she too now feels that the UK is not as safe as it once was. “I had a trial emigration to Israel and after three years I returned to London. I am thoroughly British and disliked almost everything about life in Israel. When I left the UK I was inspired by fulfilling my Zionist identity, but after three years I was thoroughly disillusioned. Not only do I prefer the general way of life in London, but I also vastly prefer Jewish communal life in London and even the way we celebrate Jewish holy days. There is no denying that I do feel less secure as a Jew now, but I do not feel that emigration is the answer. The solution is clamping down on antisemitism.”
Eugene agrees. He was born in Moscow, when it was still part of the Soviet Union and he says he endured plenty of antisemitism in those days which led to his family and many other Jews leaving when they had the opportunity. He grew up in New York and in 2010 moved to London to study and now lives and works in the UK. Though Eugene doesn’t feel under threat, he says: “During my postgraduate time at the LSE, there was a vocal minority of students who espoused virulently anti-Israel views during certain political gatherings. Unfortunately, that spilled over and transformed into a nasty form of antisemitism. There is a conflation of the two especially considering many people equate Jews with Israel automatically. This isn’t right and is just bigotry and racism like anything else.”
Eugene believes that Jewish people “should stay in the countries we live in and fight for tolerance, equality and respect, not run away to Israel where I would feel less secure as a Jew not more. The antisemitism we see in Western Europe today is nothing like what it was in the Soviet Union where it was institutionalised in politics, business and culture. We had no choice for economic and social reasons to leave. This time, it is very different and is just antisemitism rearing its head again as always. We must fight it where we live.”
Though emigrating to Israel is clearly a cultural and religious choice for many, for others like Malevich from Glasgow, antisemitism and the political climate in Europe are now factors, “economic discontent spilling over into euroscepticism, isolationism and increased popularity of ‘radical’ parties right factions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Conservative party, as well as, general increase in popularity of far right and extreme left in Europe, both of which are host to racial politics.”
