Since 7 October, antisemitism in Britain has surged, extremism and hate speech have flourished, and community relations have been placed under strain. Terrorist attacks in Manchester and Sydney last year have brought into sharp focus the serious threats facing Britain’s Jewish community.
Anti-Zionist antisemitism is an obsessive hatred of the Jewish state and a determination to deny the Jewish people alone the right to self-determination.
This challenge is exacerbated by the manner in which Iran’s ideological centres in the UK are promoting its violent and extremist ideology and working to foster antisemitism and hatred.
- Extreme anti-Zionism lies at the heart of contemporary antisemitism and the huge increase in antisemitism seen in the UK since 7 October 2023. Antisemitism can’t be tackled without recognising this.
- The government should lead the way by tackling antisemitism in the public sector and public bodies.
- We need cross-government action to tackle the problem of “hateful extremism” and the role of Iran in promoting radicalisation, antisemitism and destabilisation in the UK.
We want to support the government to:
OPPOSE THE BDS MOVEMENT
Britain should oppose the BDS movement and all attempts to demonise and delegitimise the world’s only Jewish state, and the antisemitism which drives this effort. We should especially tackle the issue of discrimination against Jewish involvement in the arts.
TACKLE ANTISEMITISM IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Britain should tackle the problem of antisemitism in the public sector by requiring all public bodies to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism in full and without amendment; establishing an independent reviewer of antisemitism in the public sector to produce and publish an annual report; work to increase awareness of the threat posed by anti-Zionist antisemitism, especially in areas like higher education; and ensure the provision of basic training on contemporary antisemitism across the public sector.
OPPOSE “HATEFUL EXTREMISM”
Britain should adopt a new counter-extremism strategy to address the culture of impunity surrounding “hateful extremism” identified by the Commission for Countering Extremism in 2021; introduce a new legal framework to allow organisations to be designated as “prohibited hate groups” with a range of accompanying offences; and create an aggravated offence for “hate preachers” – religious, spiritual or other leaders who advocate or threaten violence.
CONFRONT THE IRANIAN DOMESTIC THREAT
Britain should develop a cross-departmental task force to tackle the Iranian domestic threat, including through countering its support for radicalisation; declining extremists’ entry; and identifying and sanctioning Iranian regime oligarchs, elites and proxies in the UK, as well as imposing sanctions on Press TV, Tasnim News, Fars News and other platforms linked to the Iranian regime. We should conduct a thorough review of links between Iran and the charitable and NGO sector, akin to previous reviews of espionage and abuse in the sector carried out with regard to China.