Last summer it happened again. Violence flared between Israel and Gaza. As those events unfolded in the Middle East, and we witnessed the extremely worrying backlash here at home the all-party parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism began its work. Today it comes to a close with the publication of our report and recommendations.

In an increasingly interconnected world Britain has not been immune from the antisemitism that has erupted on the continent and beyond. But the virulence of antisemitism makes it no less abhorrent or unacceptable.

That summer saw a deeply troubling rise in antisemitic incidents – so we have to act. Our report constitutes a unique action plan to address and meet the challenges of home-grown antisemitism.

Our report was undertaken with the global perspective very much in mind. Colleagues travelled to Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin with a view to better understanding what had happened in those cities and to learn the requisite lessons.

One of the most urgent messages from across Europe was that it should not be left to the Jewish people to fight antisemitism alone. Racism and hatred must be challenged by all of society.

SoS Racisme, for example, showed that where anti-racist organisations of the left had spoken out their efforts were not only appreciated by the Jewish community but had a significant impact. In the United Kingdom, with a few honorable exceptions like Hope Not Hate, we have much work to do.

We also looked at social media and the tenor of our public debate. While social media can be a wonderful tool, bringing people together and allowing for a global flow of ideas, it also means – as we were told – that antisemitism is no longer contained between victim and perpetrator. As a result, we have seen the cross-pollination and spread of both express and covert antisemitic tropes in discussion of the Middle East. The ability of Jews all over the world to have a window on this, has led some to feel that antisemitism is, as one Jewish student put it to panellists, ‘like a shark coming to get us’.

Our report recommends looking at the potential for using prevention orders in relation to cyber-hate, but as a progressive community we all have our own part to play in creating a culture of responsible discourse.

Too often during the summer the language used to discuss the Middle East included trivialisation of the Holocaust, accusations of Jewish dual loyalty and malign influence and the categorisation of Jews as ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ depending on their particular viewpoint regarding Israeli policy. There has been much discussion of ‘the right to offend’ in recent weeks and free speech is fundamental, but inaccurate, and sometimes antisemitic implications should not be acceptable. We have made recommendations about what can be done, but as progressives we share a collective responsibility to discuss the Middle East in a responsible way.

Our report also puts forward proposals for improving the security of synagogues, the guidance available to police and prosecutors, the inter-communal cooperation that exists and the communication of successful action already taken. We will work hard to ensure the recommendations are implemented but of course there is much more to do.

It will take a vocal, global, progressive alliance to fully meet the challenge of antisemitism. We must all play our part.

———————————-

Tessa Jowell MP is a member of the all-party parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism. She tweets @jowellt