Message!
To the Labour leadership:
You have a problem. You owe not only Jewish people an apology but also Black and other ethnic minorities. You have had not just three years but the years before that to change. The feelings and fears of a community required dignity, empathy and a sense of justice. Your approach has been a political response and not a human one and has become a battleground for journalists and politicians. Your benchmark for success cannot be how other parties have dealt with these issues. There is little faith in your complaints process, and you are being begged to accept this and change it. For it to be more independent of the political factions within the party. Be and do better.
To Labour supporters:
As Jews, we have every right to speak up about the antisemitism we face. It is wrong to say that it is all in bad faith and if it is not your lived experience, it is not for you to diminish what we say. Other forms of racism and discrimination also exist within the party. If you truly live by Labour values, use these to change your behaviour and actions.
To the mainstream Jewish communal leadership:
You also owe Jewish, Black and other ethnic minorities an apology. There are Jews within the community whose views you have disregarded because they do not align with yours. You have given the impression that the British Jewish community is a monolith; it isn’t. There is a rise of antisemitism on the right which is also concerning. Your approach is contributing to the fracturing of relationships with Britain’s other minority groups whilst at the same time expecting solidarity. Some campaigners against antisemitism openly show that they have no concern about other groups and the very real harm they currently and will continue to face.
Several ‘community spokespeople’ have dabbled in ‘imagine if it were black/Asian/other people, they would not be treated like this,’ when it is far from their lived experience and in many cases, these groups are treated worse than non-Black Jews.
You must do better to protect all Jewish people which includes Black Jews. That also means, not just hearing but, listening to our voices, our concerns and proactively working with us and other groups to dismantle racism with decisive action.
To the media and journalists:
Well done! You achieved the prize for creating a “hierarchy of racisms” in your approach to reporting, interviews and analysis. Antisemitism and, to a lesser extent, Islamophobia have become your political playground. The energy you have given to these whilst ignoring anti-black racism is stark.
More than this, it is apparent that the lack of diversity within the media is leading to a specific preference in reporting, interviews and analysis. Apart from a handful of journalists, who happen to be Black or brown, the critical analysis of the harm done to those disproportionately affected by current and future policies has been woeful.
