Richard says he now lives in a constant state of anxiety.
"I don't feel safe walking down the street," he says. "I have to look over my shoulder. I'm constantly aware when I drive my car and I'm checking the wing mirrors."
"This isn't happening in a distant place," Richard points out. "It's the United Kingdom. It's England. It's Manchester. It's Salford. And it's round the corner to me."
"This isn't happening in a distant place," Richard points out. "It's the United Kingdom. It's England. It's Manchester. It's Salford. And it's round the corner to me."
Richard is not an isolated case, As The Guardian reported:
"British Jews feel under siege and worry about their children displaying religious symbols in public, community leaders have said. There have been a series of attempted arson attacks at Jewish sites ... including incidents at two synagogues in London and one at a building used by the charity Jewish Futures. Four Jewish community ambulances were also set on fire in north London in the early hours of 23 March. Parents are picking children up from stations, fearing drop-offs at nurseries and schools, and choosing universities based on safety rather than academic fit. Some avoid wearing religious or Hebrew symbols, while many think twice before attending large Jewish events".
The concern for the safety of British Jews is set to have political consequences. Keir Starmer has said that there is a case for some protest marches against Israel to be banned. As the BBC reports today:
"Asked if he wanted tougher policing of language used during marches, or if he wanted to stop some protests altogether, Sir Keir Starmer told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter."
The "instances" include chants which call for violence against Jews. I doubt that policing of language will go unchallenged, as, unless the chants and slogans are overt calls for violence, forms of words can be interpreted in different ways. But it needs to be discussed.
Another issue is that of the anti-Zionist lobby and their role in promoting, or rather not promoting, anti-Semitism. Stop the War Coalition says:
" We believe that the statements by Jonathan Hall KC, suggesting that the Palestine marches should be subject to a ‘moratorium’ because of the series of antisemitic attacks in North London, are unacceptable.
"Asked what went wrong with Calocane's care in the community, he said he had learned 95% of what he knew about Calocane since the fatal attacks in June 2023.
"Basically, this man in a nutshell, he lied, he deceived, he out-manoeuvred medical staff in particular, on the ward and in the community. He wasn't honest," he said.
We condemn unequivocally these attacks, as we do all forms of antisemitism and racism. No one should be attacked for their race or religion.
...Our marches are against the treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza in protest at the role of the Israeli government, and the complicity of the British government in these attacks.
These marches are supported by many Jewish people who attend. They are not the ‘hate marches’ described by right wing politicians but expressions of solidarity and support for those under attack".
Now, I have maintained from October 7th, 2023, that the whole Gaza tragedy was deliberately provoked by Hamas, who launched vicious attacks against Israel in the full knowledge that there would be a ferocious Israeli reaction. I believed then, and believe now, that Hamas wanted to lure Israel into a war of attrition which would bring international opprobrium, with the possible beneficial side-effects of (1) widening the conflict and (2) causing political and social turmoil in the lands of Israel's allies. I hardly need to spell out that, thanks to considerable help from Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the first of these strategic aims has been remarkably successful. The rise of anti-Semitism and pro-Palestinian activity in the UK are examples of the success of the second strategic aim.
Hamas knew they could count on support from pro-Palestinian organisations in the lands of their enemies. This is not to say that organisations such as Stop the War support Hamas directly, but they can be relied upon to side against Israel. After 7/10/23, had Israel held back from retaliation and just fired one artillery shell into Gaza, killing one dog in a Palestinian family's back yard, Stop the War and others would have been demonstrating in London, protesting against this wicked Zionist murder of a family pet. This does not mean that I blame anti-Zionist organisations and individuals for the rise in anti-Semitism, but their campaigning, combined with the Gaza and Iran wars themselves, has undoubtedly raised the political temperature whereby real antisemites, be they fascists, IRGC/Hamas supporters or just plain anti-social psychotic thugs, feel empowered to attack Jews.
Which leads me to my last cause of concern: the man in the picture above, Essa Suleiman. Regular readers of this blog know that one of my recurring themes has been, and still is, the unprovoked attacks on innocent members of the public by dangerous mental health patients. This issue continues to haunt us, as we have seen in the inquiry into the Valdo Calocane murders in Nottingham, June 2023. At the inquiry, a former psychiatric nurse, Gary Carter said of the triple murderer, Calocane:
"Basically, this man in a nutshell, he lied, he deceived, he out-manoeuvred medical staff in particular, on the ward and in the community. He wasn't honest," he said.
It looks as if something similar happened with Essa Suleiman. If anything, his being at liberty is even more baffling, as he had a history of violence, a hatred of Jews and mental instability.
In December 2008, when (incredibly) working as a security guard at a primary school, he was jailed for 9 years for stabbing two policemen and an Alsatian police dog.Besides this, it has been reported that he had other convictions for assaults on police officers. He had been referred to the Prevent deradicalisation programme in 2020, but it was - obviously - unsuccessful. There are also reports that he haunted vigils held for the hostages formerly held by Hamas in Gaza, where he was verbally and physically abusive towards Jews.
As for his mental instability, the Jerusalem Post says:
The similarities with the Valdo Calocane case are pretty clear to me. We can only be thankful the the three knife attacks he carried out last Wednesday did not result in three deaths, as did those carried out by Calocane. In turn, let's hope that the victims make a full recovery, that there will be a full investigation into why Suleiman was at liberty and serious action taken to prevent dangerous individuals like him being released from secure incarceration.
