by Julian Mann, Christian Today
Lord Toby Young’s powerful speech in London in support of British Jews sets an example for the Church of England. The leaders of the established Church need to be much more vocal in speaking out against the rising tide of hatred against Britain’s 270,000 Jews.
The Free Speech Union founder was speaking at the Campaign Against Antisemitism protest opposite Downing Street on April 30. This was the day after the stabbings of two Jewish men in Golders Green, north London.
He said: “I want you to imagine what Britain would look like without British Jews. What kind of country would we be if Jews had not been tolerated in Britain since the mid-17th Century and fully emancipated since the mid-19th Century? … Well, for one thing, there probably wouldn’t be a Labour Party.
“Jewish trade union organisers in London, Leeds and Manchester played a pivotal role in the creation of the party – the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906 lists 39 Jewish unions set up between 1882 and 1902 – and left-wing Jewish intellectuals like Harold Laski and Ralph Milliband provided the party with its conscience.”
He continued: “Without Benjamin Disraeli, that great radical Prime Minister who passed the 1867 Reform Act, we might not have a Conservative Party either.”
He then addressed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer directly: “Prime Minister, has there ever been a religious or racial minority in the history of these islands who’ve contributed so much to our national life, who’ve been so public spirited, so eager to contribute, so happy to serve?”
Young concluded his speech by telling Starmer: “We only have to imagine how much poorer our country would have been without the contributions of British Jews over the last 200 years to realise just how much poorer we will be without them in the future.
“Prime Minister, we need to protect this precious, vital, patriotic minority. For over 200 years they have shown us in so many ways how much they love our country. If we want them to stay, it’s time for us to show how much we love them.”
Indeed. And one of the ways to support British Jews is to combat the lie that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. That lie incites hatred against all Jews.