The Observer view: we cannot allow Britain to become an unsafe haven

The right to peaceful protest must be upheld. Those who wanted to gather yesterday in solidarity with the people of Gaza were entitled to, regardless of others’ sensibilities. Sir Jonathon Porritt may even have been right to say those taking part in a silent vigil in Trafalgar Square would show “huge respect and real grief” for those affected by Thursday’s attack. But he was choosing to ignore the bigger picture: of worsening extremism on the left and right, toxic online language and now physical violence threatening Jews – and not just Jews.

Two weeks ago, The Observer used this column to call out speakers at an anti-immigration rally in Whitehall, where Elon Musk stole the headlines but others used hateful, incendiary language about Muslims. They were labelled rapists and murderers. There were calls for their traditional dress and places of worship to be banned. These are the very tropes and threats that have been used by antisemites against Jews for generations – tropes which should have been consigned to history but pollute the present.

The number of antisemitic incidents recorded by the Community Security Trust, the Jewish volunteer organisation that provides security at synagogues, has trebled since 7 October and more than doubled between 2023 and 2024. Then, last Thursday, Melvin Cravitz was murdered by Jihad Al-Shamie, and Adrian Daulby died as a result of a stray bullet fired by police.

Turbocharged by algorithms, violent language lodges in credulous minds. Occasionally, it begets violent behaviour. Frequently, it helps to blur the distinction, which should be crystal clear, between the Jewish people and the state of Israel under its current leadership. Places that allow the build-up of hate and confusion become places where people feel unsafe.

Britain should not be one of them. From the 1650s, for 300 years, there was no record of a Jew being killed in Britain for being a Jew. In the 19th century, this country welcomed Jews fleeing the pogroms. In the 1930s, it welcomed those able to flee Nazi Germany. Since at least the 1830s, it has been a safe haven from crueller regimes for people of all religions and none. At least, it has seen itself that way, which is why the violence in Manchester and the language in Whitehall are connected. They are ruptures in society and in the history that made Britain a beacon of freedom and safety.

The prime minister has promised more security at synagogues and Jewish schools. It is a tragedy that this should be necessary in the country that organised the Kindertransport.

Photograph by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images