Are British Jews starting to worry a bit too much about "attacks on the community"? Does the amount of thought being given by some commentators actually whip up a belief that the Jewish community are being singled out by those who wish to cause violence towards it?
While there is no doubt that anti-semitism exists and that attacks on the community exist, why are some individuals constantly focused on the "Islamic" or "Neo-Nazi" threat. Are we as a community any more of a target than say the Sikh or Hindu community?
The excellent British Asian blog Picked Politics picks up on some comments that Melanie Phillips has made yet again when she listened to a Radio 4 programme that looked at the work of the Community Security Trust.
A rabbi working in the community raised the point that he himself saw no huge rise in anti-Jewish feelings that somehow seemed to cause offence to Phillips.
A rabbi called Gluck who was involved in Jewish-Muslim dialogue and -- surprise surprise -- saw no evidence of anti-Jewish feeling whatsoever.
Of course there will be those Jews who feel that something is happening around them and may even produce evidence, likewise there will also be Jews who feel it is not as bad as some folks think it is and oddly enough may even want it to be that way for their own political or personal motives.
The point is for many Jews they are not coming into contact with any form of anti-semitism but for others they may well be. But we need to be careful about how we label "anti-semitism".
So what is wrong with the feelings this rabbi expressed? None, that is what he feels, just like how Phillips feels everything is going pear shape.
Phillips does have some valid points in her piece as well. Describing the programme as
This is the first time the story has been told of British Judaism’s “private volunteer army” – its security operations, training, intelligence-gathering and influential (hyped and hysterical, critics say) reports on anti-semitism.
It is a bit odd calling it a "private volunteer army". Using a word like army in this context is a bit off and can play into the hands of those who wish to denounce anything the Jewish community is doing.
The Community Security Trust does provide a valuable service to the Jewish community but to make it sound like some secret undercover operation smacks of some sort of Elders of Zion plot going on.
I didn't listen to the programme as I missed it, so I'm using third hand information but when you view the description given of the programme by the makers themselves, you have to question how objective the programme really was.
But Phillips just lets herself down and to a certain extent the Jewish community. She concludes:
I have said it before, and here it is again: Britain’s Jews – including those who, in tragic repetition of history, refuse to see it – are under siege.
I fail to see how Britain's Jews are under siege. Most of the problems we face are not so much of "them" against "us" or how "they" hate "us", but it is to do with our internal conflicts and how our so-called "leaders" many of whom are unelected are allowed to decide things in the best interests of the community without actually speaking to people on a day to day basis.
There are plenty of Jews who get along with other sections of the community and indeed, there are plenty of people who are getting along with Jews. There is also a small minority who just hate us.
Phillips is great at raising her voice and expressing herself, but I'm also a bit worried for her. All this hatred she seems to have for others that also seem to have for her is not good.
I wonder where she sometimes gets her "facts" from when it comes to how bad the country is for Jews and if things are really that bad, isn't it time she stopped writing about things and rolled up her sleeves and actually did some work inside of the community?
Then she might see for herself what is going on, rather than assuming it is all bad. And if things weren't bad, what else would she be able to write about?
All the money Phillips makes out of her writing, how much of that is ploughed back into supporting the community? You see, sometimes, writing about the bad things is quite lucrative that you will keep on doing it because it pays well.
We need people like Phillips, if only to show the world that not all Jews are like this.
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