Jewish families “talking about leaving the UK” amid record numbers of antisemitic incidents
A father-of-three who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, says families are thinking about leaving Britain as the number of attacks on Jews escalates.
Data from the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors anti-Jewish abuse and attacks shows a surge since the Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October. There was a 589% increase in the number of incidents compared with the same period in 2022. The CST describes it as a “watershed moment for antisemitism in the UK”.
The solicitor from East Finchley says he avoids taking his children into central London because of the protests and the atmosphere on the Tube, and that his family was recently caught up in an impromptu anti-Israel protest inside the British Museum. “How do you explain that to your children, when you’re in a museum? You can’t explain that.”
He tells me he thinks the mainstream media is running a disproportionately high number of stories about the conflict; “There are countless wars in that region. The casualties in other wars in that region dwarf this massively. The Yemen war, the Syrian war.”
We talk about the constant stream of disturbing footage online and I ask him if he thinks the images of children coming out of Gaza are behind the rise in antisemitism. He reminds me that many of those images are unverified.
“Where are the Palestinian bomb shelters?” he demands. “Hamas uses civilians not as human shields – that implies they’re using them as shields to protect them - that’s not what they’re used for. They’re used as magnets. They want their civilians to die. The more civilians are killed by Israelis, the more Israel is delegitimised. Israel is in a trap. Hamas is saying either your people die or our people die. Which one is it?”
Families say they are afraid for their children
“At what point do you think, I need to get out? There’s nothing on the horizon about it getting better. What should we do?”
Pic ©Angela Walker“If it was just about this being a disproportionate response that could be understandable but the people on the marches aren’t saying that. They’re saying Israel is evil, Israel has to go.”
He tells me he has spoken to his wife and Jewish friends about leaving the country a number of times and whether he could get work in another country, “so you’re thinking about those kind of logistics, because things are getting worse. They’re going in one direction and it’s getting worse. At what point do you think I need to get out? There’s nothing on the horizon about it getting better. What should we do?”
His main concern is for his children. He talks about them seeing the posters of those missing since the October 7th attacks being ripped down; “How do you explain that?
“Do you send your kids to a Jewish school where there’s no antisemitism but the school could be a target or do you send them to a non-Jewish school where they could assimilate, the schools not a target but they could be target? My daughter is having nightmares about being kidnapped by someone all in black”.
“Where exactly is home for subhuman vermin colonizers?”
“These peaceful marches are peaceful because there’s no-one saying the opposite. One guy went to a rally this Saturday with a sign saying ‘Are Hamas a terrorist organisation? Yes or yes?’ and the police carted him away because he was getting attacked, physically attacked.”
He shows me some hate messages sent to his wife online including that says “Where exactly is home for subhuman vermin colonizers” and says he has left social media altogether. He feels let down. Not just because of the hate from strangers, but because of the apathy of people he has been friends with for years, who are turning a blind eye.
“How bad is it going to get? It’s only a couple of generations since this happened before. It started at this level and it got worse”. There’s this fear of confrontation. You don’t want your kids anywhere near that. You don’t want them to see you scared, and hearing lies and hatred about your people.”
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