Antisemitism is making Jewish people fearful to stay in Britain, the home secretary Theresa May said on Sunday.
She called for a redoubling of government efforts to wipe out such prejudice. May was speaking alongside the communities secretary Eric Pickles at a ceremony to commemorate the Jewish victims of the terror attacks in France.
Pickles, along with the Tory peer and junior minister Lord Ahmad, has written to leading mosques urging them to explain how the Islam faith can be part of the British identity.
May promised more police patrols in key Jewish areas, including synagogues and schools, after senior counter-terror officers warned of a “heightened concern” about the risk to the Jewish community. She also vowed to bring in more measures to deal with hate crime.
In an impassioned speech she said: “The dreadful events in Paris are a reminder of the serious terrorist threat that we face. The attack on a Jewish supermarket, where four people were killed, is a chilling reminder of antisemitism, not just in France but the recent antisemitic prejudice that we, sadly, have seen in this country.
“I know that many Jewish people in this country are feeling vulnerable and fearful and you’re saying that you’re anxious for your families, for your children and yourselves.
“I never thought I would see the day when members of the Jewish community in the United Kingdom would say they were fearful of remaining here.
“And that means we must all redouble our efforts to wipe out antisemitism.”
Source: The Guardian
