Amidst all the hatred, God has not forgotten his people.

Against the shameful background of blatant anti-Semitism at Britain’s annual Labour Party Conference, Jews everywhere are being reminded of where their help comes from.

As tens of thousands descend on Jerusalem’s Western Wall complex to receive the priestly Aaronic blessing during the Feast of Tabernacles, they hear afresh those solemn, soothing words of comfort: “The Lord bless you and keep you…” (Num 6:24).

Nazi Threat

But at Liverpool, home of The Beatles, some Labour delegates were not singing All you need is love, but joining in a chorus of hate-filled messages directed at the state of Israel, calling for an arms embargo and provocatively waving Palestinian flags.

One prominent Member of Parliament stayed away altogether, and said she was glad she had done so when it emerged that Jewish MP Luciana Berger had to be accompanied to a conference rally by two police officers. And a colleague even warned that the anti-Semitism crisis could fuel the rise of Nazism in Britain.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy told the rally: “Nazism doesn’t turn up fully formed, wearing shiny black boots and black shirts and goose-stepping. It builds bit by bit, it gains little by little, it paints itself as the victim – it paints its victims as the enemies, as traitors, the ‘other’, with dual loyalty.”¹

God with us

But the seven-day Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (also known as Sukkot) reminds us that God, not politicians, will have the final say on Israel’s future. It recalls how he miraculously provided for them and protected them in the desert over 40 years when they lived in temporary shelters, ate manna from heaven and water from the rock.

He still promises to provide all their needs, especially in the face of fiery opposition. Psalm 27, traditionally recited during the feast and written by King David, notes:

When the wicked advance against me to devour [or slander] me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall…for in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock…Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. (Ps 27:2, 5, 12)

The feast celebrates the time God came down to ‘tabernacle’, or live, amongst his people. And this is also what Jesus did some 1,500 years later when, as the Apostle John put it, “the word became flesh and dwelt [literally, tabernacled] with us” (John 1:14). Jesus was also described as ‘Emmanuel’, meaning ‘God with us’ (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23).

The seven-day Jewish Feast of Tabernacles reminds us that God, not politicians, will have the final say on Israel’s future.

Jewish people believe that when Messiah comes, it will be during this feast. And there is good reason to believe that Jesus was actually born at this time of year, not at Christmas as is generally supposed. For one thing, the shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks by night – the lambs were still kept outdoors during the feast, but would have been kept indoors in winter.

For another, Sukkot is a festival of joy – rabbis apparently teach that it is a sin to be miserable this week – and the angel announcing Messiah’s birth said: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…” (Luke 2:10).

Streams of Living Water

The site of the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem’s Old City, where water was drawn for the Feast of Tabernacles. Photo: Charles Gardner

The feast also played a crucial role in Jesus’ ministry, for it was on the last day of Tabernacles that he stood up to declare: “If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his inmost being shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37f).

The background to this is that, traditionally, on each day of the feast, the High Priest took a golden pitcher and filled it with water drawn from the Pool of Siloam, and it was poured out on the altar as a thank-offering for rain.

Jesus now promised a spiritual ‘rain’ that would never stop flowing for those who trusted him. And in the light of dark threats here in Britain, and elsewhere, consolation can surely be taken from the feast’s association with the “last days” when Jesus returns, once again to tabernacle with his people, after which all nations will be required to make an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Tabernacles – and those who refuse to do so will be denied rain (Zech 14:16-19)!

The Blast of the Shofar

One school of thought teaches that when Jesus returns as King of Kings, he will be hailed by the blast of the shofar (ram’s horn) on the Feast of Trumpets (marked earlier this month at the start of the autumn feasts). Then, all Israel would recognise him as Messiah and enter into national mourning over the One they have pierced (Zech 12:10; see also 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 4:16).

What a glorious prospect!

References

1 Daily Mail, 24 September 2018.

I am also indebted for some insights to author and Hebraic teacher Fred Wright and to David Soakell of Christian Friends of Israel.

Reclaiming the noble description of God’s holy city.

As Jews across Europe come under increasing fire, and the scandal of anti-Semitism continues to wreak havoc in Britain’s Labour Party, there is an ever-present danger of misunderstanding as to what it’s all about.

Why have Jews, and Israel in particular, become the focus of so much vilification? And what on earth is ‘Zionism’, a catch-all word generally being used in a disparaging way by opponents of the Jewish state?

Among the many unsavoury allegations of anti-Jewish sentiment surrounding Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn, he was recently cited as having said in a 2013 speech that Zionists in the UK had “no sense of English irony”, which critics said implied they weren’t fully British.¹

Quite apart from the patent untruth of Corbyn’s nasty slur – for British Jews have surely been the most loyal of minorities, contributing hugely to our success in so many fields, not least the economy – let’s take a moment to unpack what exactly is meant by ‘Zionism’.

It’s a form of insult for some – we get that – meant as a kind of synonym to describe a ‘racist’ people accused of stealing Palestinian land. But the reality is very different, and we need to rescue the term from the skewed meaning it is often given in common use.

A Most Noble, Holy Concept

In truth, Zionism is among the most noble, holy concepts found in the English language (or any language) and those who take up its cause should be justly proud of doing so. For it is essentially a biblical reference to the place where we go up to meet with God to worship him.

Specifically, it refers to Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place on earth, also known as the “city of the Great King” (Ps 48:1f). It is a very special domain which God himself has chosen as a “resting place” (Ps 132:13f). So to use it as a form of insult virtually amounts to blasphemy because it involves denigrating something sacred to the Creator.

In the time of Jesus, Jews were expected to make a special pilgrimage to attend three major feasts a year – all in Jerusalem – when they would sing about going “up to Zion”. The Book of Psalms is strewn liberally with joyful expressions of the holy wonder of these regular journeys. The city is built on mountains, including Mt Zion, at an elevation of nearly 3,000ft, which thus requires a stiff climb of some 4,000ft within the space of just 30 miles from the Dead Sea – which, at 1,200ft below (normal) sea level, is the lowest point on earth.

Zionism is among the most noble, holy concepts found in the English language

Zion describes the City of Jerusalem (Isa 40:9) and the nation of Israel as a whole (Zech 9:13; Isa 60:14). And it is a place God loves (Ps 87:2f), having first assumed significance when King David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the stronghold of ‘Zion’, also named the ‘City of David’.

Similarly, Zion-ism is a longing expressed by Jews dispersed around the world for a return to their ancient land, encapsulated in the late 19^th Century by Theodor Herzl and his Zionist movement that propelled the initial waves of Jewish immigration to the Holy Land. For Jews everywhere, it is like returning ‘home’, even if (as in most cases) their ancestors have been exiled for nearly 2,000 years. It is a divinely appointed location, and Jews have a divine right to live there.

And so ‘Zion’, as a homeland for the Jewish people, has also come to describe their right to self-determination in the re-established State of Israel. After all, Jews have prayed towards Jerusalem for thousands of years. Even the Western Church, which has somewhat lost sight of its Hebraic roots, has traditionally built its altars facing east – towards Jerusalem!

Gentile Zionism

But there are also Christian Zionists, who support Israel’s right to exist and make every effort to help them in any way they can, including sourcing the documents and finance to enable persecuted Jews to make ‘aliyah’ by becoming Israeli citizens.

Christians United for Israel, noting the Church’s “deafening” silence on the anti-Semitism scandal, points out that an attack on Zionism is also an attack on Christians.²

Remaining silent because of fears of engaging in what is deemed a ‘political’ controversy “could be one of the biggest mistakes by the church so far this century” because it is central to Christian faith and theology and “has consequences that may only be realised when the church becomes the next target of the same ‘flames of hatred’ that have reappeared throughout Europe”.³

An attack on Zionism is also an attack on Christians.

Loving Who God Loves

In answer to the first question posed at the beginning of this article, well that’s a big subject that would best be tackled another day. But, in short, it is just because Jews are God’s chosen people that they are so reviled. It is a fit of jealousy on the part of all who rebel against God’s choice.

But those who love God will love whoever he loves, especially Israel, “the apple of his eye” (see Zech 2:8).

References

1 Metro, 31 August 2018.

2 Reclaiming the definition of “Zionism” – and why it should matter to Christians. Christians United for Israel, 4 September 2018.

3 Ibid. 

We look set for a turbulent autumn and a winter of discontent.

Our political masters are back from their summer break, refreshed and reinvigorated and ready to set the world right. But do they come back to Westminster with any fresh ideas, or is it back to the same old policies, antagonisms and graft? Both main parties are riven asunder from top to bottom with division so we look set for a turbulent autumn and a winter of discontent, with the Brexit battle absorbing the Tories and anti-Semitism troubling Labour.

The resignation of Frank Field from the Labour Party whip and the bitter criticism of Jeremy Corbyn by Margaret Hodge are signs of the deep trouble in the parliamentary Labour Party. The outbursts from Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees Mogg and other strong Brexiteers who say that Theresa May’s Chequers plan is dead in the water are all adding to the sense of confusion and turmoil surrounding Westminster at the moment.

Signs of Judgment

But these are classical biblical signs of judgment. Deuteronomy 28 gives a list of curses that would come upon Israel if they turned their backs upon the word of God and got heavily into idolatry and rejection of the truth.

One of the consequences would be “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him” (Deut 28:20). This prophecy was certainly fulfilled in 586 BC when Jerusalem including the temple, the palace and all the great houses of the city were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army.

Coronation Oath

Of course, Britain is not in a covenant relationship with God as was the nation of Israel; but our Sovereign, on behalf of the nation, swore an Oath of Allegiance to the God of the Bible in her Coronation Ceremony in 1953. Since then, as a nation, we have steadily turned away from biblical truth, passing one law after another that is directly against the word of God such as: The Abortion Act 1967, The Divorce Reform Act 1969, The Children’s Act 1989, The Sunday Trading Act 1993, The Gender Recognition Act 2004, The Equality Acts 2010, and The Marriage Same-Sex Couples Act 2013.

"We have steadily turned away from biblical truth"

Warnings

It is simply not possible to do all these ungodly things without bringing upon the nation the retribution we deserve. Another warning in Deuteronomy 28:28 says, “The Lord will inflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.” We are certainly seeing this among our politicians today. We have had the truth in the Bible for centuries and as a nation we have chosen to discard it and go our own way.

In so doing, Britain, that had been under the protective cover of God for 1,000 years, moved outside that cover of protection and what we are seeing today is the result. There is no greater example of the rejection of the ‘God dimension’ in public life than Jeremy Corbyn’s behaviour in regard to the Jews and Zionism. 

Zionism

Zionism is the recognition of God’s covenant with Israel that is at the heart of our Judeo-Christian faith. The promise goes right back to the time of Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:2-3).

Has Corbyn never read the Bible? As leader of a major political party in Britain whose Sovereign has sworn on oath to uphold the word of God in the Bible, he surely should have some understanding of what this means and of his own responsibility for upholding biblical truth.

It is a simple historical fact that the people of Israel occupied the land of Israel for many hundreds of years until the Roman army slaughtered half a million Jews and drove the remainder out of the land, destroying Jerusalem, renaming it ‘Capitoline’ and renaming the land of Israel – ‘Palestine’ – ‘land of the Philistines’ – as a deliberate insult to the Jews. That was in AD 135 and they remained scattered across the globe until their land was restored to them in 1948. Until that date the hope of returning to their traditional homeland had been expressed in the term ‘Zionism’ since the 1890s. It was endorsed by British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour in a 1917 Declaration which was endorsed by Lloyd George and Winston Churchill and became part of British foreign policy.

Anti-Semitism

But anti-Semitic prejudice has plagued the British Foreign Office ever since the 1920s and that is what we see reflected in Jeremy Corbyn and his followers today. Their get-out-of-jail-free-card added to the international definition of anti-Semitism this week allowing them to criticise Israel is a pathetic cover for the anti-Jewish prejudice at the heart of their policy. But the prejudice they are trying to conceal is not just a social attitude. It is, at root, a hatred of God and of the Covenant he made with the people of Israel through whom he has given his teaching (Torah) and revealed his nature and purposes in the Bible; and as Christians believe – He has also given us the Messiah, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Hope

Is there any hope for Britain? Of course there is! Bible-believing-praying Christians should be asking God to use this time of confusion to cause people to recognise our need of God’s help. The 100 young people who have died on the streets of London since the beginning of this year are evidence of a sick society that can only be cured by crying out to God for help. We have reached the stage in the corruption of society that only spiritual revival can cure! None of our problems can be solved by human ingenuity because at root they are spiritual rather than social problems that only God can solve.

None of our problems can be solved by human ingenunity.

Shaking the Nations

It is not only Britain that is in desperate need – the USA similarly is going through a time of political and social upheaval with President Trump under siege in the White House, and Democrats and Republicans hurling insults at one another in the run-up to the November mid-term elections.

Germany, Italy and many other European nations are also going through a period of political turmoil; so too is Australia. Throughout the Western world there are many signs that the great shaking of the nations prophesied in Scripture (Haggai 2:7 and Hebrews 12) are coming true in our generation.

We are rapidly moving towards the time when the situation will become so desperate that Christians will be battering the gates of heaven with their prayers calling upon God to send spiritual revival as the only hope of saving the nations from destruction!

The cry for justice (Amos 5:24).

What is the reason for the leaders of the churches - Anglican, Roman Catholic, Free Church – being so conspicuous by their absence and silence concerning the definite increase of anti-Semitism, especially in the Labour Party? Where is their prophetic voice of solidarity for the despair and fear of the Jewish people, who have made such a great contribution at all levels of our society?

It is impossible to separate the events of the Bible with the Jewish people living in the Land of Israel and here in Britain. The very foundations of the Christian faith are based on the Torah (Laws) of Moses, the Psalms of David and message of the Prophets. Jesus the Messiah was Jewish, and lived this out faithfully – including being circumcised on the 8th day and participating in the Jewish Feasts, particularly Passover. The Christian Communion service is directly related to the Passover celebration. All of the 12 Apostles were born in the Land of Israel.

In the 19^th Century Bishop John Lightfoot from Durham, in discussion about God's purpose for Israel, emphasised “the miraculous preservation of Israel throughout history”. And in the 20^th Century, Dean Inge of St Paul's Cathedral said "The Jewish people stand at the graveside of their persecutors". Archbishop William Temple addressed the House of Lord in March 1943 concerning the tragic events befalling Jews in Europe: "We stand at the bar of history, of humanity and God. At this moment we have a tremendous responsibility and opportunity of showing mercy".

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn’s parents were dedicated Methodists. When he attended Sunday School at the local Methodist Church, he must have heard the famous story of Jesus and encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. In this conversation, Jesus stated "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). This tremendous truth is still valid today. Christianity owes an immense debt to the Jewish people.

So, I say again: why are our Church leaders silent as the scourge of anti-Semitism raises its ugly head in our nation once more?

Gerald Gotzen

UK Board Member of Jewish Voice Ministries International, Founder of Beit Shalom Project in Ethiopia, providing practical support for Jewish people who are waiting to make 'aliyah' to Israel.

A selection of books to see you through August.

In case you are going to be relaxing poolside this August or just enjoying some extra spare time, here are a few recommended books to keep you company. Please see the base of each review for purchasing details.

‘Praying Like the Jew, Jesus: Recovering the Ancient Roots of New Testament Prayer’ by Timothy P Jones (Lederer Books, 2005)

In this delightful book, author, professor and pastor Timothy Jones opens our eyes to the Jewish background of the prayers of Jesus. Jones, author of many textbooks, professor of biblical languages and senior pastor of a Baptist church in Oklahoma, is well-qualified to explain the customs and traditions behind our Lord’s prayers and uncover the beauty and power of his prayer life.

This is a book that will inspire you to pray but also help you understand the true nature of prayer and of God himself.

With the help of historical vignettes and careful research, we are transported back to the historical Jewish world of Jesus, so that we gain wonderful insights into that world by studying his prayers (or, in the case of the first two chapters, the prayers of others around him ahead of his birth and during his early life).

Each of the ten chapters follows a similar structural pattern so you know what to expect and so the book could easily be taken a chapter at a time. Each begins with an imaginative re-telling of an event from Jesus’ life, weaving the original context of his prayers into the biblical stories in order to help you not only study the prayers but also experience their fuller meaning.

At the end of each chapter there is a meditation for readers to apply the lessons to their own lives, considering how God hears and relates to us. The endnotes are excellent and there is a usual glossary for the reader unfamiliar with the Jewish terms Jones uses.

If prayer is like breathing, then this book is “designed to help readers ‘breathe deeply’ as they enter into prayer” (Foreword, p.vi). Do read this book – it will inspire, bless and challenge you.

Maureen Trowbridge and Paul Luckraft

‘Praying Like the Jew, Jesus’ (122pp) is available very cheaply on Amazon. Kindle version is £5.86.

‘The Left’s Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti-Semitism’ by Dave Rich (Biteback Publishing, 2016, revised 2018)

If you are looking for a highly topical book that will help you understand a central crisis in modern British politics, we highly recommend Dave Rich’s exploration of left-wing Jew-hatred. Associate Research Fellow at the Pears Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism, Birkbeck College (University of London), Rich works for the Community Security Trust, briefing MPs, civil servants and police officers about anti-Semitism. Though he is not a believer, his insights into this phenomenon are well worth reading.

Beginning with a brief history of how the Labour Party transformed from the party of the working class to a mainly middle-class party championing identity politics, Rich demonstrates how Labour totally reversed its position on Israel in the space of a decade or two, from steadfast support to outright loathing.

Subsequent chapters trace this transformation through to the present day, including more recent alliances between the left-wing and Islam (much as Melanie Phillips does in her book ‘The World Turned Upside-Down’). Rich also exposes how the ideological left has adopted a radically wrong view of the Holocaust.

His research, originally a PhD project begun in 2011, is here brought further up-to-date and made suitable for a general readership. A 2018 update is promised in September covering the many high-profile developments that have taken place since the book was first published.

If the presence of virulent anti-Semitism within a so-called ‘anti-racist’ Party has taken you by surprise, or if you are aware that Corbyn is simply a symptom of a much longer-standing problem but are unsure why, this book is for you.

Paul Luckraft and Frances Rabbitts

The 2016 version of ‘The Left’s Jewish Problem’ (352pp) is available from the publisher for £12.99 (paperback) or from Amazon Kindle for £8.54. Read an interview with the author here.

The 2018 version is available for pre-order for £12.99 (paperback) or £10 (Kindle) – to be released in early September.

‘Left to Their Own Devices: Confident Parenting in a World of Screens’ by Katharine Hill (Muddy Pearl, 2017). With Foreword by Rob Parsons OBE.

In this clever, refreshing book, lawyer, writer and present Director of Care for the Family UK Katharine Hill explores the impact of a decade of the digital world on the younger generation.

Member of the Board of the International Commission for Couples and Family Matters, Hill is married with grown-up children and is also a well-known public speaker and columnist for a local newspaper.

In 15 chapters and a poignant epilogue, she “skilfully and sensitively tackles a thorny subject with razor sharp insight and unremitting authenticity” (Dr Samantha Callum, family policy expert), aiming her writing particularly at those involved in parenting, teaching and youth work. Practical advice is given on issues like screen time, social media and consumer culture, as well as more serious issues like cyber-bullying, grooming and pornography, making this an invaluable handbook for parents who not only want to ‘cope’ with today’s digital challenges but face them confidently. Over 20 cartoons provide a gestalt complement. For those wishing to explore these ‘thorny issues’ further, a helpful index is provided.

I recommend this important, timely book without reservation, as being of exceptional value.

M. Paul Rogoff

‘Left to Their Own Devices’ (143pp, paperback) is available from the publisher for £9.99. Also available from Care for the Family and Amazon. Watch an interview with the author here.

‘The Bible’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ by David Hamshire (Faithbuilders Christian Books, 2018)

This short booklet (40 pages in length) follows on from two others by the same author, whose themes are all linked to the number seven: ‘Seven Days of Creation’ and ‘Seven Feasts of the Lord’. Whilst these previous two studies are on central and accepted themes, the exploration of how the number seven relates to wisdom (using Proverbs 9:1-6) breaks new ground.

The number seven binds much of Scripture together so, on the one hand, it is likely to have significance in ways yet to be found. However, on the other hand, the concept can be forced too far and become speculative. For this reason, I approached this particular study with caution. I did, nevertheless, find it well-written and thought-provoking.

I am not yet unconvinced that it leans more towards the speculative than the authoritative, but I can nevertheless recommend it as a good stimulus for study, especially in small interactive groups.

Clifford Denton

‘The Bible’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ is available from Christian Publications International for £9 inc. P&P, where you can also find more information and an extract from the Foreword.

‘More Drops: Mystery, Mercy, Messiology’ by George Verwer (CWR, 2015)

George Verwer met the Lord in 1955 in Madison Square Gardens, New York listening to Billy Graham, and started a life dedicated to evangelism. At the Moody Bible Institute, he learned that every student has to be an evangelist - for him, first in Mexico, where he married, and then in over 90 nations.

In 1962, Verwer formed Operation Mobilisation (OM), one of the most impactful mission agencies of the last half-century, known for its unrelenting preaching of the Gospel and its social action in Gospel-resistant countries like India, Nepal and the UK. From the 1970s, he obtained a series of ships named Logos to bring the Gospel to millions in coastal regions of the world.

2015 celebrated 60 years of this continuing passion. ‘More Drops’ (one of nine books by Verwer) is written in an auto-biographical style and is alive with refreshing honesty and pace, always giving God the glory through many successes and failures. Verwer’s reflection that most of what we touch includes messy situations (hence his term ‘Messiology’) - including theology, church life, leadership and people (!) – is followed up with the insight that God does wonderful things through the mess.

This is a book alive with the boldness and passion of its author, who lived to share Christ with as many people as he could. Helpfully, More Drops also recommends personal reading of nearly 50 other books, all classic works of Christian living, though Verwer always advocated getting into the word of God first and foremost, and allowing the Lord to transform your life from there.

Greg Stevenson

‘More Drops’ (136pp) is available from Amazon for £6.99 (paperback) or £6.64 (Kindle). Also available is the ‘George for Real’ DVD, a fast-moving, highly personal, encouraging and challenging story of a man on fire for the Lord and his Gospel. Highly recommended.

The row has turned into a crisis.

You could be forgiven for missing it, because it has been all-but-buried by Brexit drama and limited mainstream news coverage. But Labour’s anti-Semitism row has resurfaced this week with vicious intensity – and is threatening to tear the Party apart.

Various explosive exposés in recent years have made the nation painfully aware that Labour has a deep-rooted anti-Semitism problem.

Now, as if things could get any worse, a furore has erupted because the Party has dared to create its own definition of anti-Semitism which waters down the international standard – effectively institutionalising its own anti-Semitic behaviour.¹

Seeing Red

Last week, a Labour sub-committee backed the diluted definition over the full International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition, which is widely accepted as an international standard and embraced by the UK Government, the CPS, the police and many local councils.

Predictably, Labour’s watered down version omits several specific examples of anti-Semitic behaviour to do with Israel, an area of discourse which has been a notorious sticking-point for the Party under Jeremy Corbyn and which today represents the main conduit for Western anti-Semitic attitudes and behaviour.²

The sub-committee’s decision sparked a huge backlash from MPs and provoked an unprecedented letter from 68 British rabbis, published in The Guardian over last weekend, urging Labour leaders to “listen to the Jewish community” and adopt the full IHRA definition.³ Hours later, the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, weighed in with the same message.⁴ On Monday night, a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (with the noted absence of Corbyn) rebelled against the sub-committee, voting overwhelmingly to accept the IHRA definition in full.⁵

Labour’s watered down definition of anti-Semitism omits several specific examples of anti-Semitic behaviour to do with Israel, a notorious sticking-point for the Party under Corbyn.

Despite all this, Labour’s governing body, the National Executive Committee, upheld the amended definition on Tuesday, without recourse to a vote and with the full support of Corbyn, who was present. During the meeting, which was marked by bitter exchanges, NEC member Pete Willsman told the room that “Some of the people in the Jewish community are Trump fanatics – I’ll take no lectures from them” and rejected the open letter from the 68 rabbis by declaring their message “simply false”.⁶

Afterwards, a furious Dame Margaret Hodge – veteran Jewish Labour MP – saw red and approached Corbyn behind the Speaker’s Chair during the Commons votes on Brexit, reportedly calling him “an anti-Semitic racist” and adding, “It is not what you say but what you do, and by your actions you have shown you are an anti-Semitic racist.”⁷

Now, remarkably facing disciplinary action by the Party, Hodge has defended her actions in a Guardian article further laying into the Opposition Leader.⁸ A rally was held in Parliament Square on Thursday evening, and a number of Jewish MPs are said to be considering quitting the Party altogether.⁹

Willing Blindness

Having shattered Labour’s reputation as an anti-racist, pro-tolerance Party, Corbyn and his inner circle are stumping both MPs and ordinary citizens by remaining steadfastly committed to fostering this one particular brand of racism within Party ranks, blowing every possible opportunity to make amends with British Jews.

But, as Jewish author and blogger Melanie Phillips obligingly notes, Jeremy Corbyn is not the cause of Labour’s anti-Semitism problem – he is a result of it.¹⁰ For the anti-Semitism that embattles Labour today actually pervades the entire left wing of the political spectrum, being a natural consequence of its wholesale commitment to Palestinianism.

Corbyn and his inner circle have shattered Labour’s reputation as an anti-racist, pro-tolerance Party.

Through a potent cocktail of godless, anti-biblical ‘isms’ - postmodernism, secularism, humanism and liberalism - the left has blinded itself to the fact that Palestinianism is a fundamentally anti-Semitic endeavour that one cannot support meaningfully without eventually getting drawn into the same attitudes.

Yet, ironically, those subscribing to left-wing secular humanism consider themselves to be paragons of virtue, incapable of racism: always standing in solidarity with the oppressed. That is why Corbyn cannot even admit fully to the Party’s anti-Semitism problem: he genuinely cannot see it. Or, even worse, he can see it, and doesn’t care - or explains it away – because he patently agrees with its underlying premises.

Spiritual Battle

Thankfully, this blindness has not descended fully on MPs or ordinary Labour supporters, among whom there is now new opportunity to highlight the roots of this nightmare in a rejection of the God of the Bible. For, contrary to popular opinion, anti-Semitism is not a racism like any other, but is actually a demonic backlash against God, his chosen Land, people and covenant purposes. Not even Melanie Phillips quite grasps its true, spiritual nature - which is why it is ‘the longest hatred’, repeatedly raising its head around the world and throughout history, refusing to die.

How people align themselves in this spiritual battle – whether or not they even know it is there – places them on one side or the other of a promise made by God some 4,000 years ago, recorded in the Book of Genesis, that “Those who bless [Israel] will themselves be blessed, but those who curse [Israel] will be cursed” (Gen 12:3).

It is the outworking of this very promise today that is causing such division and strife in the Labour Party. Truly, Jerusalem is a cup of reeling that makes the nations stagger (Zech 12:2). Systematically siding with Israel’s enemies and behaving in a way which evidences his commitment to her ultimate annihilation, Corbyn has placed Labour under a curse – which will undoubtedly affect the entire nation should he ever ascend to the office of Prime Minister.

Corbyn has placed Labour under a curse – which will undoubtedly affect the entire nation should he ever ascend to the office of Prime Minister.

House on Sand

Mercifully, most people can still recognise that something has gone fundamentally wrong with the Labour Party, even if they don’t understand why. There is now fresh opportunity for multitudes to be challenged to think about the ‘why’: why a Party so devoted to ‘inclusivity’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘anti-racism’ is manifesting the exact opposite behaviour.

We can pray that God will use their wonderings to open their eyes, to see that the ideological house of the liberal left – in which the vast majority of our politicians now shelter - has been built not on rock, but on sand.

How both MPs and ordinary citizens respond to this current storm will fundamentally shape the future for British Jews and indeed for the entire nation – perhaps as much as or even more than Brexit. As for those in Britain who have committed themselves to Israel’s destruction,

Make them like tumbleweed, my God,

like chaff before the wind.

As fire consumes the forest

or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

so pursue them with your tempest

and terrify them with your storm.

Cover their faces with shame, LORD,

so that they will seek your name.

May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;

may they perish in disgrace.

Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD-

that you alone are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:13-18)

References

1 Phillips, M. Institutionalising antisemitism in the British Labour Party. 20 July 2018.

2 Under Labour’s definition, calling Jews Nazis or Israel an ‘apartheid’ state could be permissible.

3 The 68 are said to represent 30,000 British Jewish households, from ultra-progressives through to haredi Orthodox. This show of unity is exceptional. See also, 68 rabbis from across UK Judaism sign unprecedented letter condemning Labour antisemitism. The Jewish Chronicle, 16 July 2018.

4 Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis writes unprecedented letter, warning Labour not to send 'message of contempt' to Jews. The Jewish Chronicle, 17 July 2018.

5 Labour MPs defy party leadership, vote to back IHRA definition of antisemitism. The Jewish Chronicle, 16 July 2018.

6 Labour rejects full IHRA antisemitism definition - but is accused of 'fudge' for pledging review. The Jewish Chronicle, 17 July 2018.

7 Stewart, H and Elgot, J. Labour MP labels Corbyn an 'antisemite' over party's refusal to drop code. The Guardian, 17 July 2018.

8 Hodge, M. I was right to confront Jeremy Corbyn over Labour’s antisemitism. The Guardian, 18 July 2018. 

9 Proctor, K. Jewish MPs may quit Labour as row grows over anti-Semitism. Evening Standard, 19 July 2018.

10 Phillips, M. Giddy at their boldness – but Corbyn didn’t cause Labour antisemitism. He’s its product. 30 March 2018. 

The Irish political game: North and South.

Have the lives of unborn children now become pawns in the political game? How low can we sink in the United Kingdom?

Satan’s cleverest lie is that he does not exist. Once that lie is accepted, the guard is down and a stream of further lies and deceptions can follow among which is the lie that there is no God presiding over the affairs of men.

In the course of just one generation, the majority of the people of the United Kingdom have become beguiled in this way: as a consequence, the laws of God have become trampled under our feet and some strange concoction of so-called ‘human rights’ has replaced the fear of the Lord. And this has happened in a nation whose Monarch made an Oath before Almighty God in the 1953 Coronation (whose 65^th anniversary is celebrated this very week) to maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel, to the utmost of her power.

Was it not the God of the Bible to whom the Oath was made? The personal God who does exist and cares about the affairs of our nation, to the extent shown in the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, the total focus of the Gospel which the Queen, on behalf of the entire nation, vowed to proclaim!

satan’s cleverest lie is that he does not exist. Once that lie is accepted, the guard is down.

A multitude of our laws have changed over one generation to reverse what was once a much better reflection of the laws of God. Is it any wonder that God’s protection is being removed from our nation when we ourselves have reversed laws that were themselves intended to protect?

Thin End of the Wedge

This week, once more the protection of unborn children is in focus, wrapped up in the more clinical language of ‘abortion’ and the misguided language of human and feminist rights. The surprise referendum result in southern Ireland - a rebellion against the hold of the Roman Catholic religion - has sent a shockwave of opportunism up to Northern Ireland to those also wanting to legalise abortion there.

In 1967 a law was passed in Britain to counter back-street abortions so that women whose lives were at risk could find help in the NHS. We were concerned even with that first partial legalisation of abortion, and now we find that step by step, as the mindset of our nation has turned away from Almighty God, that law has become the thin end of the wedge.

Abortion is now more like a method of contraception than a questionable and sensitive measure in the most extreme circumstances of need to protect a mother or her baby when difficult choices have to be made on the grounds of health. And this week I would suggest that we have gone even beyond this, with the lives of unborn babies becoming pawns in the political power game.

Does God Approve?

Before taking this point further, let us pause and consider whether the Most Holy God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob approves of taking the lives of unborn babies. Does he really work on the principle of a woman’s ‘right’ to take control of her own body?

1967 was the thin end of the wedge.

The God who has protected Britain over hundreds of years until this day calls us to be like him and protect the vulnerable of society - and who can be more vulnerable than an unborn child? This is made clear by a principle of his laws found in Exodus 21:21-24. God shows his concern that we protect unborn children by imposing the penalty of the law when an unborn child is harmed. The penalty is: eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, would for wound, stripe for stripe - life for life!

This is the seriousness before God of our taking the lives of unborn babies so casually - as if what is hidden in the womb to us is also hidden to him! How foolish!

Crossing Another Line

I believe we crossed yet another line on abortion this week. This is highlighted by the attempt of the Shadow Attorney General, Baroness Chakrabarti, in seeking to goad the Prime Minister on the grounds of feminism to enforce the Northern Ireland Parliament to take steps to bring in an abortion law to match the result of the referendum in southern Ireland. This was front-page news on Monday of this week.

Let’s unpack this a little more to see how far we have fallen before Almighty God since the Coronation of 1953. The Attorney General is the senior legal advisor to the Crown and should therefore interpret, on behalf of the Monarch, how to bring the laws of the Bible into the laws of our nation. The Shadow Attorney General, aspiring to this job, should be amongst the most devout Bible students of our nation, trembling daily before the Throne of God in prayer.

Instead, this particular politician has seized an opportunity to attempt to drive a humanistic political wedge between the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), knowing the strength of resolve of the DUP not to allow abortion in Northern Ireland. Against this, the figure of more than 100,000 lives saved in Northern Ireland because of the resolve of the Northern Irish has been quoted by members of the DUP: 100,000 testimonies of children who lived rather than died.

How wonderful it would be to hear about some of these children who were protected and now can grow up and contribute to our world, rather than to have been cast onto the waste heap before they could even take their first breath.

The God who has protected Britain for centuries until this day calls us to be like him and protect the vulnerable of society.

Inferring the Real Motive

God knows if I am right in my further appraisal of this situation: God is the Judge and his judgement will one day be fully applied. Nothing escapes his notice.

I cannot help observing that politics at times is a game of words and we are left to infer what the real motive is behind what is sometimes said. Members of the Labour Party in opposition are likely to seize any opportunity to bring the Government down. It is known that for important issues, including Brexit, the Government needs the support of the DUP. Therefore, much can be achieved if an issue can be highlighted to break this co-operation.

If the abortion law is such an issue, with motives veiled to what this law would really be doing in taking lives of innocent babies, then even this could be a bargaining chip in the quest for political control.

Almighty Spiritual Battle

We are in an almighty spiritual battle in Britain not even considered by those whose minds have been so veiled by Satan himself. Those who understand what is going on in the spiritual realm must continue to sound the trumpet as watchmen appointed by God.

When lives of unborn babies become bargaining chips in the political power game, how far have we fallen? We raised this point in July last year. The battle has intensified even more this week.

Hungary’s populist victory and the disintegration of Europe.

The re-election of Viktor Orban in Hungary’s presidential election last week came as no surprise, but it has caused dismay in Brussels where there is a real fear that Orban’s trashing of the EU rules may spread to other states within the European Union. His campaign was built on fear-mongering and anti-immigration which gave his right-wing populist party a vastly increased majority.

Orban’s victory is a direct challenge to the core values of the European Union which, according to Christian Ultsch in the Austrian press,¹ has caused some to claim the EU is being “shaken to its foundations”.

Many Christians may be happy to see the secular humanist ‘core values’ of the EU being shaken and all those who respect the Christian values that have formed the foundation stones of Western nations will have some sympathy for Victor Orban’s endeavour to protect his country from a large influx of Muslims. He has seen the difficulties that have arisen in Germany following Angela Merkel’s opening the door to one million Muslims and within months some of them became involved in highly publicised terror attacks and sexual attacks upon women and girls.

In France the latest Islamist attack that has shaken the nation was the murder of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Jewish woman and Holocaust survivor. She was stabbed 11 times before her body was set on fire in an anti-Semitic crime that brought 30,000 people onto the streets in protest.

Equality and Tolerance?

Those who uphold the politically correct EU core values of ‘equality’ and ‘tolerance’ believe that over a period of time integration will take place as people live together and accept one another as equals. But this secular humanist, atheist, Marxist dream of a tolerant society is utterly unachievable and simply reveals the ignorance of those who are the driving force behind the secularisation in Brussels that is seeking to remodel Europe.

They simply do not understand Islam, whose Qur’an specifically forbids Muslims to make friends with Jews and Christians: “O ye who have believed, do not choose Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends to each other; whoever makes friends of them is one of them” (Qur’an 5:51).

Those who uphold the EU values of ‘equality’ and ‘tolerance’ believe that over a period of time integration will take place as people accept one another as equals.

Integration is not on Islam’s agenda. Islam’s short-term objective is to rule Europe and the long-term intention is to dominate the world.

There is no compromise in Islam: which is why there is total deadlock between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians do not want peace with Israel: their sole objective is the total destruction of Israel! In Britain we have seen the result of politically correct town councils and secular humanist social workers refusing to believe poor white girls being abused by gangs of immigrant men, so we can understand the widespread indignation in France where similar things are happening and Islamists are particularly targeting Jews.

Islamic Anti-Semitism Exposed

Protests in France against the murder of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll. See Photo Credits.

A letter signed by more than 300 French dignitaries (including former President Sarkozy) denouncing the new anti-Semitism in France has been published this week in a Parisian newspaper.² It calls attention to the alarming surge in Islamist radicalism that is driving a string of attacks upon Jews.

The French Jewish community of more than half a million - the largest in Europe - has seen a wave of emigration to Israel over the past 20 years at least partly driven by the virulent anti-Semitism of Muslim immigrants. The letter highlights the “quiet ethnic purging” that is taking place in working-class city neighbourhoods.

Against this backdrop, the rise of far-right populist parties is understandable. But it is not just the EU’s values that are being shaken. Orban’s victory in Hungary is linked with divisions that are destabilising the whole of Western society – it represents the rise of a new kind of nationalism that has its roots in racism.

Self-Destructing Society

It is strange how wherever you look in the Western world today, division and hatred are on the rise. It is as if our societies are tearing themselves apart from the inside out. While immigration into the West has imported a plethora of new prejudices, home-grown hatreds are also flourishing - at both ends of the political spectrum.

Wherever you look in the Western world today, division and hatred are on the rise.

In the USA, right-wing populism brought President Trump to power, but already his presidency has seen a rise in anti-black racism as well as a spike in anti-Semitism.

In Britain, the populist movement that brought about the Brexit vote has coincided with a rise in racist incidents. But the focus recently has been upon left-wing anti-Semitism in the Labour Party since Jeremy Corbyn became leader. In a meeting last week with representatives of Jewish communities Corbyn was challenged to do something to eradicate the racism that has become apparent in the Labour Party.

Behind the Division

What is it in human nature that drives people to hatred of other human beings?

The answer can only be that we have turned our backs on God. We have rejected the biblical values that have formed the foundation of Western democracy for centuries. Once we depart from these core values the cracks in the structures of society begin to show and it’s not long before all our social institutions, such as the family, begin to crumble.

In the absence of love, justice and unity that stems from God, humans soon turn to hatred. Barely one generation passed in Genesis before mankind turned to murder, brother against brother. The lesson of history is that rebellion breeds hatred and violence. Today, from end to end on the political spectrum, we see people trying to build a world without God – just like at the Tower of Babel. We cannot be surprised to see hatred and division on the rise as a result.

The Litmus Test

The litmus test of the health of a society is the poisonous presence of anti-Semitism, the “oldest of all hatreds”. Whereas other racisms regard hated groups as ‘inferior’ (e.g. anti-black racism), anti-Semitism strangely blames Jews for being ‘superior’ because of their achievements in finance, business, banking and the arts. Whereas all other racisms have definable roots, anti-Semitism transcends time, geography, politics and social class.

In the absence of love, justice and unity that stems from God, humans soon turn to hatred.

It also transcends religion. Islamic anti-Semitism is widespread around the world, stemming right back to Mohammed who turned on the Jews and viciously slaughtered them when they refused to accept his new religion. Christian anti-Semitism has flourished through the ages as Jews have been blamed for killing Jesus and punished for rejecting the Gospel, while Replacement Theology has been manufactured by the Church to write Jews out of God’s purposes altogether.

When people rebel against God and reject his word, this manifests most virulently in a spiritual hatred for the Jews as the covenant people of God, through whom he chose to reveal his nature and purposes to the world. But the Bible says that “The word of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and settle disputes for many peoples” (Isa 2:3-4). This has never been rescinded; and is still God’s intention to fulfil.

The cracks and divisions in our society today have one common root: rebellion against God. This is surely the major problem of our humanity that only the Gospel can cure.

References

1 Die Presse, Vienna, 9 April 2018.

2 Click here for the original letter (in French) or here for the translated page. Please also see this article from Jihad Watch.

Anti-Semitism threatens to spoil big birthday party

Just as news was coming through of failed talks between Jewish leaders and Britain’s Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn, I was watching a TV presenter telling the harrowing story of anti-Semitic butchery in the land of his great-grandparents.

Following yet another debate on the subject in Parliament, during which Jewish Labour MPs received standing ovations after giving testimony to the flak they have had to endure, Mr Corbyn met with representatives of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council.

But they were not happy with the result. In a joint statement, they said he had refused to agree to any of their demands, which included banning MPs from appearing with members under investigation by the party on the issue.

Empty Words

Members of the Board of Deputies feed back to the press after Corbyn's meeting with Jewish leaders. Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/PA ImagesMr Corbyn consistently acts and speaks as though he is the innocent party in all this, committing himself to strong statements of support for the Jewish community without being able to back it up with action.

That is surely because his hard-left agenda has attracted a swathe of followers who are, by definition, natural allies of those who hate Israel which, ironically, also includes far-right extremists and terror groups committed to the Jewish state’s destruction – an unholy alliance, if ever there was one.

Quite a tricky corner from which to extricate himself, really, barring an epiphany of sorts. And we can certainly pray for that.

Television presenter Simon Schama, meanwhile, used some grisly historical facts to illustrate the depravity of anti-Semites who, in the Russian pogrom of 1905, mercilessly decapitated Jewish people and tore their children apart limb from limb.

In the penultimate episode of The Story of the Jews on BBC4, he traced the history of his people in that part of the world; how they were forced to live in rural communities so that they were unable to compete with Gentile city businessmen. But they made the most of life and worked for the benefit of each other while always living in fear of assault – just for being Jewish.

Mr Corbyn consistently acts and speaks as though he is the innocent party, saying he supports the Jewish community but not backing it up with action.

Somewhere…

Fortunately, many were able to escape to America which, with Zion not yet an option, became their New World paradise.

Some 2,500,000 Jews from Eastern Europe sailed to New York from the 1880s to 1920s and, in a substantial way, helped to build modern America – even shaping the emerging film industry in Hollywood and writing ‘the Great American Songbook’. In the latter case, the lyrics often reflected their own longing for peace and safety. In the hit Broadway musical West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein (the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia) and fellow Jew Stephen Sondheim would compose: “There’s a place for us, somewhere a place for us, peace and quiet and open air, wait for us somewhere…”

Over the Rainbow (from The Wizard of Oz) reflected the same sentiment: “Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high; there’s a land that I’ve heard of, once in a lullaby…Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”

Yet just as Yip Harburg collected his Oscar for the song in 1940, the Nazi reign of terror was about to be unleashed in Europe with demonic fury.

Action, Not Appeasement

If we claim to be a civilised society, then words from Mr Corbyn are not enough. Action is required. I’m sure he doesn’t want to find himself backing the wrong side in a Middle East conflict that might erupt at any moment.

For just as Jerusalem reverberates to the sound of singing and dancing in celebration of 70 years as a nation, threats to Israel’s existence are as belligerent as ever. They are surrounded by implacable enemies – specifically Hezbollah to the north and Hamas to the south – with sponsors Iran vowing to wipe the Jewish state off the map.

If we claim to be a civilised society, then words from Mr Corbyn are not enough. Action is required.

More worryingly, the Ayatollahs are infuriated by Israeli attacks on military targets in Syria designed to deter any further incursion of Iranian influence in the region.

Adding to the toxic mix is the involvement of Russia. So it could all blow up in our faces. Therefore, cool heads are called for – but not appeasers backing down at every threat of a dictator. That is why President Trump is such a breath of fresh air, insisting that the nuclear deal agreed by his predecessor must not be extended as it will only further encourage Iran to commit genocide against Israel.

Tearing Up the Rule Book

He has also torn up the ‘rule book’ of Middle East diplomacy by ceasing to refer to Judea and Samaria as ‘occupied’ territories, infuriating the Palestinians in the process. As with the reality of recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the President is simply going a step further by bringing down the curtain on the fantasy world of Palestinian claims to the land.

The mountains of Samaria represent the heart of Israel; here is a view of ancient Shechem (now known as Nablus), home of Jacob's Well and Joseph's Tomb. Picture: Charles GardnerThey flatly refused the offer (of these territories) as part of the UN’s Partition Plan in 1947, Jordan then illegally annexed it during the 1948 War of Independence, and Israel took it back in 1967.

The mountains of Judea and Samaria represent the heart of Israel. Far from inflaming the situation, President Trump’s recognition of this disputed territory as belonging to Israel paves the way for practical thinking in the real world. Here is a President who will not buckle under pressure, but does want to see real peace. No amount of compromise over these past 70 years has ultimately done the trick.

Let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem – and that Israelis will be able to celebrate their 70^th birthday in the perfect safety and unbridled joy that has so long eluded them.

Paul Luckraft reports on Melanie Phillips’ Yom Hashoah lecture.

This year’s Simon Wiesenthal Memorial Lecture was given by journalist and author Melanie Phillips at St John’s Wood Synagogue on 12 April. The theme, as indicated by the title - ‘Time to Leave? Jews in Britain and Europe’ - was an exploration of anti-Semitism, its main causes and current trends.

The talk was powerfully presented and passionately received by a large audience – present among which was our Resources Editor, Paul Luckraft, who brings us this report.

Storm Clouds Over Europe

Renowned social commentator Melanie Phillips, of Jewish heritage, started her lecture by painting a picture of the current climate for Jews in Britain and Europe. The recent realisation that the Labour Party is riddled with anti-Semitism from the top downwards and the latest atrocities in France mean that these are alarming times for Jews. Fear is on the rise again. In 2017 there was the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK since 1985 when records began. Surges like this usually occur in response to Israeli military action - but not this time.

Equally alarming, she noted, are the increasing numbers of synagogues being attacked and Jews being taunted in the streets in countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. This is against the backdrop of the rise of nationalistic parties in Europe and surveys showing that in many countries there is a significant percentage of the population who don’t wish to see Jews in their country - certainly not on their street!

These are alarming times for Jews in Britain and Europe.

Phillips’ sobering conclusion was that it is possible to see clear signs of history repeating itself - a gathering storm similar to that within the Weimar Republic of the 1930s. But this time there are significant differences. In Nazi Germany, anti-Semitism was state policy. This is not the case in modern European countries, but the parties in power seem to be ineffectual in combatting the evident rise in this, the oldest of all hatreds.

Islamic Jew-Hatred

The reasons behind this rise, Phillips argued, also seem more complicated and interconnected than in the 1930s. Some come from the political left, some from the political right and some from the arrival and growth of Islam.

The fruit of the latter, she posited, is growing increasingly apparent in many areas of Western society. For instance, the large number of jihadis now in the UK (25,000), of which 3,000 are under constant investigation or monitoring. Or the level of sexual violence targeting white girls - as highlighted by the Rotherham case, merely one of several such cases in the UK as well as in other countries such as Germany and Sweden. But, she rightly noted, these incidents cannot be adequately reported or tackled nowadays without facing accusations of racism or Islamophobia.

The UK and Europe generally refuse to accept these sorts of incidents (as well as other, directly anti-Semitic ones) as being based on religion. The threats are not acknowledged as being basically Islamic. The charge of being Islamophobic makes it difficult to draw attention to any kind of Islamic hatred – including Jew-hatred.

Not all Muslims, of course, adopt these views, nor would consider doing so. Some also feel under threat from Islamist groups, and do not want to see anti-Semitism increase either. This needs to be constantly stressed, yet these Muslims also feel restricted in speaking out and objecting. Nevertheless, Islam more broadly holds that modernity as found in the West must be destroyed if Islam is to flourish here, and that Jews are a fundamental part of this problem.

The charge of being Islamophobic makes it difficult to draw attention to any kind of Islamic hatred – including Jew-hatred.

Intriguingly, present within European politics and culture is a different, but no less toxic, anti-Western sentiment – the inevitable result of the continent dismantling its own traditional cultures and values. This undermining from the inside out is a threat against which the West, at present, cannot defend itself.

The West’s Cultural Suicide

Phillips argued compellingly that we cannot fully understand anti-Semitism in the UK and Europe unless we realise that the West has ripped up its own cultural foundations. Moreover, the West is now seen as the main oppressor in the world (a view held most strongly by those on the political left). These two facts have changed everything in recent times.

The key driver behind the ascent of these beliefs about Western civilisation was, in Phillips’ view, the Holocaust, which smashed Europe’s belief in itself as a continent of enlightenment and high culture. It wasn’t just the Jews who died in the concentration camps - but the West’s own self-confidence in its values and civility.

As a result, she suggested, the West took an axe to its own roots and began to radically alter the way it operated - especially in areas such as education and the family. Transnationalism became viewed as the best way forward, as nationalistic views were considered too parochial and likely to cause more harm. International groups, such as the UN and EU, were to take precedence over national governments.

This new globalist way forward also meant incorporating a different morality and a sense of multiculturalism as an idealistic norm. Politically, the extreme left became mainstream, as a new version of Marxism was called upon to help reshape our society and culture.

Anti-Zionism: The New Anti-Semitism

Another key event Phillips brought to the attention of the audience was the Six Day War (1967), which fomented a new kind of anti-Semitism centred upon the state of Israel. No longer the victims, Jews were recast as the aggressors. Israel was now to be delegitimised and demonised - not through rational arguments but with a torrent of dehumanising abuse and irrational malice.

Phillips was quick to stress that though this anti-Israel fervour could be called anti-Zionism, in reality it is just anti-Semitism in another form. Any distinction is bogus: the new anti-Zionism cannot be split from its anti-Semitic roots.

Phillips was quick to stress that though this anti-Israel fervour could be called anti-Zionism, in reality it is just anti-Semitism in another form.

Israel is now seen as menacing and powerful, but this, she maintained, is a paranoid delusion. In reality, Israel has only become powerful in order to defend itself. Initially the Jewish nation was accepted by the West, which was crippled with guilt and self-doubt after the Holocaust. Now though, Israel can no longer claim victimhood. They are the aggressors, while the Palestinian Arabs have become the new victim group which demands our support. And this changes everything.

Activists protest in support of the Gaza 'March of Return', New York. See Photo Credits.According to Phillips, victims, by definition, cannot be victimisers. Nor are they held responsible for their own shortcomings. They have a ready-made excuse for their actions – “we’re the victims here!” They are placed beyond criticism and are effectively handed a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ to react however they like to those who are perceived to be victimising them.

Meanwhile, Jews can no longer be regarded as victims. When they emerged from the Holocaust, they were the supreme victims, but since then they have gained power and wealth throughout the world. And this is now resented. Obviously they are intent on taking over the world (and so the old anti-Semitic conspiracies are revived)!

One incredible feature of this diatribe highlighted by Phillips is the appearance of the claim that Jews burnt Arabs in the concentration camps! Here is not just Holocaust denial, but Holocaust reversal.

Victim culture is now at the heart of left-wing politics, and victim culture is essentially anti-Jew. So, Phillips concluded, the Labour Party is caught up in anti-Semitism which is intrinsic to its politics - and will remain so even with a change of leader.¹

Europe’s Lost Soul

Why is anti-Semitism so much on the rise in the West? Because, Phillips argues, the West is in cultural disarray. It is starting to disintegrate, bringing this trouble upon itself.

According to Melanie Phillips, Europe lost its soul after the Holocaust and is now floundering. Immigration policies are creating turmoil, as migration is viewed as inherently a good thing (to say otherwise would be racist). As a result, Islamic ‘no-go zones’ have started appearing in many countries. Traditional cultures have become fragmented and weak. Real threats abound, but governments are helpless, hamstrung by their own policies and beliefs.

Europe lost its soul after the Holocaust and is now floundering.

In such times of transformation and confusion, she noted, prejudices easily arise and old ones will always re-surface. One reason why there is so much Jew-hatred is simply because there is now much more hatred in general.

Europe may be becoming increasingly Islamic, but it will not go down without a fight. Either way the Jews will be caught in the middle and are likely to suffer accordingly. They will continue to be accused of many things, including of fuelling claims of anti-Semitism in tactical pursuit of their own malicious aims.

Is it Time to Leave?

So, is it time for the Jews to leave Western Europe? According to Phillips, it could be said this question is an overreaction based on paranoia, rather than a fair one. Yet the final choice of whether to leave or stay is always a personal one. For individual Jews, the key question may well be, ‘where do I feel safer?’

Although Israel is surrounded by enemies with thousands of missiles pointing in its direction, it is increasingly being said by Jews that they feel safer there than in a continent which seems to be in danger of repeating the grave errors of its past.

A sobering thought indeed.

A video of the Simon Wiesenthal Memorial lecture is now available online. We welcome Melanie Phillips’ insightful social commentary, more of which can be found on her blog, www.melaniephillips.com.

You may also be interested to watch this week’s fiery Parliamentary debate on the rise of anti-Semitism – click here for the full debate.

Notes

1 Moreover, the left asserts that to be anti-Semitic you must be fascist and hence on the right. On that basis it is impossible for those on the left to be anti-Semitic: they exonerate themselves.