As
in many other towns and cities across the UK, Norwich held its annual event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27th, the
anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The city of Norwich has its own particular
event in the past that echoes down the centuries as we remember such cruel acts of brutality and
discrimination. We recall how in 1144 the first recorded case of blood libel
anywhere in the world took place in our city: the libel that a child was
murdered and their blood used by the Jewish community in the making of
unleavened bread for their Passover commemoration. At the time when this happened medieval Norwich was the second city in the country after London and it saw several outbursts of anti-Jewish persecution. On this particular occasion, a young lad, William was murdered and his death was wrongly blamed on the Jews of the city. Over the next few years a cult grew up at the newly built Cathedral which venerated William as a Christian martyr, and pilgrims, bringing prosperity in their wake flocked to his shrine for several centuries, until it was abolished at the time of the Protestant Reformation.
This
notion of blood libel was exported from our city, first to other places in the
UK, and then across Europe. It became one of the themes in Der Sturmer, the
Nazi magazine of the 1930s which was used to stir up
antisemitism within Germany and prepare the way for the slaughter of 6,000,000
Jews in the decade that followed. This wrongful slander against the Jews is not
an event much marked in Norwich’s own account of its history but it is
remembered in the Chapel of the Holy Innocents in Norwich Cathedral; a memorial
that places the victims of the Nazi Holocaust alongside the children murdered
by King Herod in Bethlehem.
To help ourselves deal better with this event in
the history of our city, we are holding a study day on March 26th where Jews
and Christians together will be able to reflect on the issue of such antisemitism
and work out ways of remembering it more effectively, as well as devising programmes
to educate today’s tourists and pilgrims about all forms of discrimination and
hate crimes against those who are different from ourselves.
In preparation for this day I have been looking at some contemporary incidents of anti-Semitism of
which there are still too many in the UK. The definition of an anti-Semitic
incident used by the authorities is ‘any malicious act aimed at Jewish people
or property where there is evidence that the act has anti-Semitic motivation or
content, or that the victim was targeted because they are Jewish.’ Thankfully
such incidents have recently been decreasing in the UK, but there is no room
for complacency.
In 2012, the last year for which figures are available, there
were still 640 confirmed antisemitic incidents, the majority occurring in
London and Manchester where the largest Jewish communities are to be found.
These incidents range from violent assaults against people to desecration of
buildings and monuments. Although the overall figures show a downward trend the
reverse has been true in schools and colleges where there has been an increase.
An example of this kind of incident occurred when two Jewish schoolboys boarded
a bus and went to sit upstairs. There were two white males sitting near the
back of the bus, one of whom addressed them with the words, ‘a f**king Jew. I
hate f**king Jews, they really p**s me off… What are you looking at? Keep
looking and I’ll push your f**king head through the window.’ We can all
immediately sense the horror of such an experience in the life of a teenager.
Over
the years various world events have produced spikes in such antisemitic
incidents, e.g. the conflict in Gaza in 2009 led to the highest recorded total
in the UK. The pattern of a rise in antisemitism as a result of such events is paralleled
also by an increase in Islamophobia when terrorist attacks by Islamist
extremists hit the headlines. At such times fear and anger too readily look for
a victim to punish for events with which they have no personal connection.
At
the same time, the ongoing and near-intractable situation in Israel Palestine
has led to confusion in the minds of many about what constitutes antisemitism.
To some, any robust criticism of the policies or actions of the government of
the State of Israel is seen as antisemitism. While to those, both Christian and
Jew who are committed to particular Zionist convictions, any criticism of the
state of Israel may offend their strongly held beliefs, fair criticism on the
grounds of justice is not rightly to be judged as anti-Semitic. If such criticism
is given in a manner that recognizes the right of Israel to exist within secure
borders, it must surely be accepted as valid opinion and conviction.
The Jewish
organization particularly concerned with the protection of their community (the
CST) acknowledges the validity of the distinction between anti-Semitic
incidents and anti-Israel activity. They often reject reporting certain
incidents because they are the latter rather than anti-Semitic, though they
sometimes find it difficult to decide in a given case. To quote from their most
recent report, ‘Graffiti reading ‘F**k Israel’ would probably be classified as
an anti-Semitic incident if it appears to be targeted at an area known for
having a large Jewish community but would probably not be counted as anti-Semitic
if it appears in an area where few Jews live.’
Naturally
Christians have a particular affinity with our fellow Christians in Israel
Palestine and feel an obligation to protest at the injustices they suffer as a
result of certain actions and policies of the Israeli government. We also, of
course, have a natural affinity in religion with our siblings within Judaism - as
well as those within the Muslim community, our other Abrahamic near neighbours.
With these different relationships often pulling us in different directions, even the
most caring among us, must take care that as we seek justice for one group we also exhibit care for those who may also become innocent victims
themselves of others’ prejudices.
