Serious Semite: Politics, Pariahs and Palestinians

These are times of revelation. Hydroxychloroquine may be good for treating coronavirus. The disease may have originated in a Wuhan lab after all, even though apparently it is still good to avoid eating bats, not least because they aren’t kosher. In addition, new horrors have been revealed about a concentration camp that the Nazis operated on the British channel island of Alderney.

Jersey, Guernsey and the tiny Alderney form the Channel Islands, three British territories that are part of an archipelago located 87 miles from the southern coast of England. They are known as “crown dependencies,” although geographically they are far closer to France, just 14 miles off its northern coast. Hitler occupied them as part of his Atlantic Wall, which was intended to protect the European mainland from an allied attack. It was his forward front for Operation Sealion, a planned Nazi invasion of Britain. Wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill abandoned the islands since they were not deemed of military importance, and given their proximity to France nor were they defensible when the Germans occupied the European mainland.

Fortunately, the Nazis never made it to Britain. There is however a growing sense of antisemitism permeating the nation in response to the current conflict in Israel. Some high-profile British Jewish actors resigned from the actors’ union Equity since the organization issued a statement to support the Palestinian cause, criticizing “the disproportionate actions of the current Israeli government,” with no reference to the Palestinians’ murderous initiative when they started the current war. Equity urged members to financially support the Alrowwad Arts Centre “who advocate for the rights of Palestinian performing artists and entertainers.”

Fortunately, the Nazis never made it to Britain. There is however a growing sense of antisemitism permeating the nation in response to the current conflict in Israel.

UK Actors’ Equity may just as well have said, “We don’t like Jews after all.” As of yet, they have not found the grace of “Incredible Hulk” actor Mark Ruffalo who, a few days after the Equity statement, found the strength of the Incredible Hulk when he publicly retracted his own anti-Israel comments. Perhaps his comments were less strength and more strategy since he realized that public antisemitism is not good for his Hollywood career.

The situation is similarly bad in education since 25 teachers resigned from the UK’s National Education Union due to its allegiance to the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and refusal to accept the IHRA’s (International Holocaust Remembrance Association) definition of antisemitism. In a perfect world, teachers should teach, actors should act and politicians should politick.

In a perfect world, teachers should teach, actors should act and politicians should politick.

The 25 resigning teachers are all staff members at JFS, the Jewish Free School, which was once the largest Jewish school in the world with 4000 students at the time (it now has 2200). The high school is completely free to attend, paid for by the British government. An unnamed Jewish teacher also resigned from a non-Jewish institution after students filled the school with Palestinian flags and attacked her by trying to stick “free Palestinian” stickers to her hair and clothing. Britain has a long way to go.

At least there are two Jewish-friendly “at leasts” on UK soil. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sends out cheerful video messages prior to significant Jewish holidays with heartwarming attempts at pronouncing Hebrew words. It almost makes me cry every time.

The other “at least” is similarly ironic. Britain’s “traffic light system” of COVID-safe countries to which UK citizens can travel ranges from forbidden red countries, best-avoided amber countries and permitted green countries. Recently the only green countries were Australia and Israel. Australia’s borders remained closed, which meant that Israel was the only place that Brits were allowed to visit. The entire nation is desperate to go away on holiday after a long miserable winter of lockdowns, grey skies and pounding rain. Their only solution is to tuck away their “Free Palestine” bumper stickers and head to the beach in Tel Aviv.

A car rally is planned for this Saturday with potentially hundreds of people driving from Northern England to London in a “Convoy 4 Palestine,” which will gather some of the nation’s most dedicated antisemites. By the time they reach central London, perhaps they will cause a traffic jam and have time to look out of their car windows at the new Holocaust Memorial that is being built in Westminster near the Houses of Parliament that will commemorate the thousands of people killed during the Nazi occupation of the British Channel Islands. One thing they may not realize is that Israel and the Jews want peace more than anything else, and a peaceful and well-governed Palestinian territory is the best possible solution for all of us.

Marcus J Freed is an actor, writer and business consultant. www.marcusjfreed.com