The question for many Jews now is not about the current war being raged in Gaza. But about the war being raged here, in Britain. America. France, Belgium, Germany… About our safety on the streets. About our children’s safety at universities or in Jewish schools. About our synagogues, our cemeteries, even our butchers’. Where we buy our chopped liver!!

MPs have had their private residences subject to shouting, baying mobs. Demonstrations justifiably protesting the war, descending into a more radicalised paradigm of anti-Zionism, inevitably descending into full-blown antisemitism, and then to calls for Jewish genocide. Without people seeming to even realise. That when you shout ‘from the river to the sea’, which was actually illuminated onto the side of the Houses of Parliament the other night, you are calling for death of all Jews in Israel. And then, ironically, if there was no ‘Jewish state’, where would we have in our minds as the ultimate refuge? When all around is looking more and more like Berlin in 1936 and there’s nowhere to run?

The farce in parliament the other night was a case in point. And yet ended up as just a shameful mess. With the only justification being that our ‘Speaker’ was ‘trying to save MPs from ‘assault’, whether that assault be physical, verbal or online. And thus does extremist culture pervade even the very apex of our democratic process, when our MPs need ‘protection’ from speaking their mind for fear of reprisals. How soon before a retired dental nurse from Reigate moves from wearing her kefiyah on march days to actually beheading someone?

There is no Hebrew equivalent of the word ‘jihad’. Its not in our culture. Instead we have 17 words for ‘run and hide!!!’ And our nearest equivalent to ‘holy war’ is ‘broigus’. Which is like a holy war, but normally with your wife. Or cousin. Perhaps your sister-in-laws step-mother’s cousin who sat you at a shitty table at her niece’s wedding. Broigus normally stops short of blowing up buildings, but only just.

The war has factionalised the nation. And moved from Gaza to Golders Green and Greenwich. From Palestinian suffering to sympathy for Hamas. An extremist death cult who sacrifice their own people for ‘the cause’. Thus the ‘free Palestine’ marches start as ‘demonstrations for peace’ but end up supporting murder, rape and torture. With most of the participants either willing to join the crowd, or dimly oblivious to the truth of the sentiments being expressed.

As they said in Marathon Man; is it safe? Is it safe??

Happy Friday

A xxxx