by Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of allowing anti-Semitism to fester in the UK amid a series of “performative” policies that “only serve to appease a large cadre” of ultra-Left-Wing groups.
The Prime Minister’s actions have “empowered” those who have taken part in a range of increasingly aggressive pro-Palestine protests and have “added to the climate of intolerance and hatred” facing British Jews, according to with members of Jewish Labor.
Labor Against Anti-Semitism (LAAS) – a predominantly Jewish party campaign group – cites the embargo on arms sales to Israel as well as the Government’s resumption of taxpayer funding for the Works and Relief Agency. United Nations for Palestine (UNRWA).
Funding was suspended after claims that its members participated in the October 7 massacre, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 people were taken hostage. The agency subsequently laid off several employees.
Sir Keir also dropped the previous government’s challenge to the International Criminal Court’s request for an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
In a letter to Sir Keir, seen by The Telegraph, LAAS said: “As Prime Minister, you have set the tone and allowed an already unacceptable state of affairs to deteriorate further.
“It’s not good enough to promise that school children will learn about the Holocaust when you’re letting Jewish children bully our streets.
“Once again, you must put your words into action and reassure the Jewish community that contemporary anti-Semitism, under the guise of humanitarian anti-Semitism, will not be accepted.
“You must close the door again on the anti-Semitism that previous government inaction and government policies welcomed back onto our streets, which made Jews feel unsafe and unwelcome in the UK.”
Official figures, published last month, show that anti-Semitic hate crimes increased almost nine times the rate of anti-Muslim offenses following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
The number of anti-Semitic hate crimes doubled, from 1,543 to 3,282, up to March 2024, an increase of 113 per cent and the highest number on record.
Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters launched a series of anti-Israel vandalism attacks on buildings across the UK to mark the 107th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
Palestine Action stole two buses of Israel’s first president from Manchester University and plastered two campus buildings, as well as a research center and a Jewish charity office elsewhere, with red paint.
In London, Palestine Action spray-painted the British-Israeli Communication and Research Centre, on Hampstead High Street, with red paint, claiming it was “funded by wealth made from Israeli arms manufacture” and therefore suitable for The group’s wider ambition is to “dismantle Zionism”.
Last month, pensioners and Jewish women were left in tears as they queued for an event at JW3 Jewish community center in north London. It was targeted by masked Palestinian protesters shouting into megaphones that they were “mass murderers” and “child killers”.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish National Assembly said the “appalling” act was “anti-Semitic” and designed to “intimidate British Jews”.
‘Climate of intolerance’
Alex Hearn, director of LAAS, said: “Some of Labor’s policies were and appear to have been only about pleasing a large number of groups.
“Government figures show that attacks on Jews have skyrocketed and we know that many use Israel as a cypher to express this hatred.
“Policies like the decision to restore UNRWA funding despite evidence that they are entangled with Hamas, the arms embargo and the ICC arrest warrant, are indeed functional, but they add to Israel’s mindset that personal.
“People going on these [pro-Palestinian] rallies have been empowered, in part, by these policies. It contributed to the climate of intolerance and hatred.
“Sometimes Labor policies seem to cater to those who are attacking us rather than offering us solidarity and support. We want to see a stronger position on Israel’s right to defend itself and its fundamental right to exist.”
A Downing Street spokesman declined to comment on the letter but referred to Sir Keir’s recent speech at the Holocaust Education Trust where he said his government will not “stay silent” and “look the other way” but that ” he will call anti-Semitism for what it is. it is: Hate. Clean and simple.”
They also emphasized Sir Keir’s position on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which is that he believes the only way forward is restraint and a ceasefire to create space for a political solution.
