Hamas attack was a ‘Kristallnacht’ Nazi-style massacre – that is why British Jews are in fear

Demonstrators at the latest pro-Palestinian rally in Parliament Square started a new chant, one calling for an intifada ‘from London to Gaza’. As the UK sees a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks, can ordinary Jewish people ever feel safe, asks Mark Honigsbaum

Protesters during a pro-Palestine march in central London last Saturday – the third in as many weeks (Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)

Last week, I signed up for a rally at Scotland Yard called by the Campaign Against Antisemitism. I am not the sort of person – perhaps I should write, “the sort of Jew” – who usually attends rallies or considers himself a target for antisemitism. I do not own a kippa or celebrate Jewish holidays. And though my features are vaguely semitic, I am often mistaken for an Italian or, when people learn my name, a German.

However, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for “jihad” on the streets of London and comparing Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack to “genocide”, I felt it was time to stand up and be counted. Through sheer indolence, I am ashamed to say, I stayed at home.

That was a mistake. Despite the Met’s pledge it would no longer tolerate antisemitic chants by pro-Palestinian protestors on the streets of the capital, at Saturday’s rally in central London – the third demonstration in as many weeks – police made just nine arrests. Meanwhile, chants of “From London to Gaza, we will have an intifada” went unpunished.