Amid a steep rise in hate crime
Tens of thousands of people have marched through central London at a demonstration against antisemitism. Organisers estimated 60,000 took part in the first march of its kind since the Israel-Gaza war began, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Er, make that “Organisers estimated 60,000 took part in the march, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It was the first march of its kind since the Israel-Gaza war began.”
The rally comes amid a steep rise in hate crime, especially against the capital’s Jewish community. English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson – who was asked not to attend by organisers – was removed by police.
But Tommy Robinson is a member of the English Defence community, so doesn’t that change everything? In other words I wish the BBC would stop using the word “community” that way. It never will but I wish it would. If Jews are a community then anti-Semites are a community. Being in a notional “community” of this kind isn’t an automatic badge of virtue.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism estimate Sunday’s march to be the largest gathering of its kind since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when British Union of Fascists supporters were stopped from marching through east London, an area with a high Jewish population at the time.
Hey hey hey that’s the community of British Union of Fascist supporters to you.
Crimes against Jewish people motivated by racism have increased dramatically since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza conflict. There were 554 reports of antisemitic offences in London between 1 October and 1 November in London, compared with 44 in the same period last year.
The antisemitic community is being active.
This framing by the BBC here is ridiculous:
The juxtaposition here is trying to give the impression that the “steep rise in hate crime”, especially against Jews, is something to do with Tommy Robinson.
No it is not. The steep rise in antisemitic attacks since Oct 7 is coming from Muslims, from blacks and from whites who consider themselves left wing, who support Palestinian “people of colour” against Jewish “colonial oppressors”.
None of that is mentioned in the article.
Tommy Robinson and his EDL (probably only a few-hundred strong) are a fringe, far-right group. They are strongly against Islam. Tommy Robinson’s purpose in attending the march would have been to express support for Jews against antisemitism coming from Muslims. If is, though, understandable that the march organisers would not want to be associated with him.
But why the emphasis in the article on an un-wanted supporter, with no mention at all about where the antisemitism is currently coming from, and who it is chanting things like “Hitler had the right idea about those people”?