How extreme right-wing rhetoric is stirring up racism against Jewish and Muslim communities
For the first time, I am concerned for the safety of my Jewish and Muslim friends
On Friday morning, I heard a rabbi on the radio say that the Manchester attack is the day British Jews had always feared. Since news broke of the horror unfolding at the Heaton Park Synagogue, I have been able to think of little else.
As a politician, I see it as my responsibility to look for solutions, build bridges and bring hope wherever it is needed. But it feels like we are standing on the brink of something unimaginable that this country, its people and politicians have never faced before.
In the two years since the Hamas attacks on the music festival in southern Israel which ignited the current war, tensions in this country, antisemitism and islamophobia, have reached frightening levels.
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No toleration of antisemitism
Figures from the Jewish organisation Community Security Trust show record numbers of antisemitic incidents in 2023, at more than 4,000 – double the previous year’s figures – with 3,500 in 2024, still well above previous levels. They fit a pattern of increases fuelled by previous conflicts in the Middle East.
If we do not stand strong for our Jewish community and prove we will not tolerate antisemitism in any guise, we risk descending further into violence. Similarly, incidents of Islamophobia have skyrocketed with recorded cases increasing by around 40 per cent.
That community too is feeling the threat from the intolerant rhetoric, online abuse and attacks that have become a frightening aspect of modern British society.
In August, I was privileged to be invited to the annual civic service by the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation. Politicians of all parties were there to show support and solidarity, and the underlying feeling of tension being suffered by the community was clear.
Attack on Southport mosque
A few weeks later, I visited the mosque in Southport which had been attacked in the wake of the horrific murder of three children at a dance class.
The Muslim community in this quiet seaside town, where they had always felt welcome, were traumatised. One young man said on the day of the attack he recognised some of his former schoolmates in the crowd.
One piece of hope this week in the wake of the Manchester attack has been the way other communities have spoken out against what happened, but sadly it is because they face a common enemy: racism.
It is the rhetoric of the right which has created this tense and divisive atmosphere. We must stand together against this evil which has been bubbling under the surface.
I cherish freedom of speech, but we cannot allow the language of incitement to persist. People must not be frightened to walk the streets of their own towns.
For the first time, I am concerned for the safety of my Jewish and Muslim friends and for those in my community who I may not know personally but feel they are being subjected to abuse and, in many cases, violence simply because of who they are.
Manchester has to be a turning point. If we do not recognise the scale of the problem and the dangerous divisions being cultivated and encouraged on our streets, we will be trapped in a downward spiral.
I do not want to live in a country where anyone has to be brave to be who they are.
Christine Jardine is Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West
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