By David Morris MP
This week in Parliament I met with leaders of the Jewish Community to discuss the rise of Antisemitism and to pledge my support for the Community to combat racism in all forms.
The briefing I received was from three organisations which represent the Jewish Community. I met with Marc Levy North West External Affairs Manager for the Jewish Leadership Council, Jonny Newton from the Community Security Trust and Danny Stone from the Anti Semitism Policy Trust.
The Community Security Trust (CST) are a body which have been a charity since 1994 with the sole purpose of protecting the Jewish Community against Antisemitism and Terrorisim. This includes protecting Jewish Schools and Synagogues, building relations and better understanding across communities and working with the Police and security services following anti Semitic incidents. The CST also record all incidents of antisemitism so have a wealth of information regarding trends and the nature of incidents.
The Jewish Community are often very private and in their words like to keep their heads down and not draw attention to themselves, but at the moment we are seeing a sustained increase of antisemitism incidents which are unfortunately at an all time high. We cannot sit by and allow this to happen, it is simply unacceptable that a community are staring to be worried about their future in the UK because of racism. It needs to stop.
During the meeting I was also briefed on the ‘Stand up Education’ programme. This is a programme set up to provide anti- discrimination education and focuses on antisemitism and anti Muslim hate. This programme educated children in school greater understandings of these communities to promote tolerance in society. This work is vitally important as along with the Holocaust Education Trust they are promoting a greater understanding of all faiths.
The APPG on Antisemitism are working together cross party to represent the views of the Jewish Community and to ensure that they are protected. I have pledged my support to the group and will be working with them in the future on any legislation changes where we can promote education and tolerance of faith issues.
Incidences of Antisemitism are deeply troubling and it is the responsibility of us all to call out any inappropriate behaviour we see and educate those around us about the tolerance of all faiths. I have pledged to the Jewish Community that I will always stand up in Parliament to highlight racism and to ensure that the whole community feels safe to live in the United Kingdom.