Motion to condemn and combat anti-Semitism in the UK in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict

That this House:

(1) recognises and condemns the recent rise in anti-semitic attacks across the United Kingdom in light of the war between Israel and Hamas;

(2) recognises the significance of the right to peacefully protest, but condemns the use of extremist rhetoric and physical intimidation against Jewish communities in the United Kingdom, including the weaponisation of chants and slogans with the purpose of inciting violence, and calls for an immediate discontinuation of these attacks;

(3) condemns the exploitation of anodynes and the alteration of semiotics to advertently promote antiquated symbols and glorify anti-semitic behaviour, including the trivialisation of terrorism such as the calling for “the Jihad” and “genocide of Jews”;

(4) further condemns the local and international rise in anti-Jewish online hate, including general and targeted attacks on social media and other digital repositories;

(5) recognises the religious and cultural significance of the United Kingdom for Jewish communities historically, and upholds their basic human rights in regard to freedom of worship and cultural expression;

(6) recognises and condemns any actions or forms of incitement that openly or inadvertently suppress the basic human rights of Jewish communities through the continued targeting of religious and public institutions;

(7) acknowledges the chronic failure of the police and counter-extremism forces in dealing with anti-semitic incidents, both in public and online, and denounces their systematic failure in safeguarding Jewish communities and their liberties across the United Kingdom;

The House calls on the government:

(1) to publicly denounce the trivialisation of terrorism and anti-semitism and proactively address any political, public, or media-related discourse;

(2) to acknowledge the importance of a non-politicised police force and ensure that any rhetoric or action deemed anti-semitic by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition is appropriately penalised, regardless of personal belief, as is on parity with other hate crimes;

(3) to work closely with policing authorities to develop strategies in combating anti-semitism across the United Kingdom and implement extra provisions to safeguard the rights of Jewish communities;

(4) to provide holistic support and resourcing for the protection of Jewish cultural and religious institutions, and crack down on those who otherwise desecrate such;

(5) to work with public and charitable organisations such as the CAA and CST to coordinate a thorough response, and provide them with funding for the protection of schools and other Jewish community buildings;

(6) to work with partners and relevant regulatory bodies to develop a plan with the aim of countering the dissemination of propaganda and anti-semitic sentiment online;

(7) to review the effectiveness of policing and counter-extremism within the United Kingdom in regards to hate crimes and its level of preparedness for future incidents comparable to the status quo;

(8) to regularly update the house on what support is being offered for Jewish communities and progress made in tackling anti-semitism across the United Kingdom;

This Motion was written by the Rt. Hon. /u/BasedChurchill, Shadow Secretary of State for Home Affairs, on behalf of His Majesty’s 38th Most Loyal Opposition.

Opening Speech:

Deputy Speaker,

I present this motion with our Jewish community at heart and in the forefront of my mind after seeing the appalling and, frankly, Kristallnacht-resemblant actions taken by extremists across the nation and worldwide. After all, it’s absolutely immoral for us to sit here and deny Jewish communities support whilst families are unable to worship in security and children are unable to attend school because those very institutions have become a target for those who glorify Nazism.

I’d like to firstly stress that this motion is not about Israel or Palestine. It’s about protecting the fundamental human rights and liberties of Jews within the UK and upholding the rule of law, as should be the case for all hate crimes. Unfortunately though, this clearly hasn’t been the standard set as anti-Semitic attacks have been permitted or poorly managed through a mixture of policing incompetence and ignorance. Any party or individual that demonstrates support for Hamas or glorifies systematic and/or historic anti-Semitism should be treated equally and at parity with those of other extremist views, but evidently this isn’t the opinion of most.

Whilst peaceful protests are supported and encouraged, those that display or verbally chant inherently insensitive slogans and symbols ultimately shouldn’t be allowed to continue to intimidate our nation’s Jewish population, who themselves have significant cultural and historical links to this country and deserve security here also. Unconditionally, there is a fine line between peaceful protest and extremism, and the two cannot continue to be homogenised.

I remind members that, though this isn’t Nazi Germany, the allowed continuation of attacks such as these is what allowed such an ideology to thrive. This is, in part, why we’re seeing a record in both verbal and physical attacks, with the intentional and individual discrimination of those who are Jewish, that are themselves continuing to accelerate in an exponential manner. Evaluating the past is an important step in avoiding the repetition of history.

I therefore urge all across the House to support this motion. There is no room for anti-semitism in our society, nor is there room for inaction and regulatory incompetence.

This division shall end on Monday 6th November at 10pm GMT.