It's time to stop dismissing Jewish fears Mick Davis

For Jews the attack on a Manchester synagogue was devastating but also devastatingly unsurprising. Jews have had enough of being gaslit about the hatred we face.

- Mick Davis

Don't tell us the hostility we see, hear and feel is imagined, exaggerated or understandable.

Hatred, often in the guise of "anti-Zionism", has festered for years and surged following Hamas's massacre of Jews on 7 October, 2023. Jews around the world are traumatised by events, not just thousands of miles away, but in the streets, campuses, workplaces and public spaces of their countries, including Britain. On the day of the Manchester attack, spontaneous "pro-Palestinian" demonstrations sprung up. Concern for Palestinians motivates some protesters but those who mobilise them include Islamists and other violent ideologues who find nothing more energising than dead Jews, and the Palestinian cause a convenient vector.

Here are two simple facts: firstly, British Jews are not the Israeli government and should not be conflated with it. Secondly, the overwhelming majority of British Jews have a profound connection to Israel - through religion, history, culture and family ties.