WHAT was your reaction when two gunmen murdered Jewish people celebrating Chanukah on Bondi Beach last Sunday?
I bet it was shock, horror and revulsion.
And what did you think when you heard the victims ranged from ten year-old Matilda to Alex Kleytman, an 87 year-old Holocaust survivor shot shielding his wife, and Eli Schlanger, a British-born Rabbi?
I was heartbroken at the pictures of that little girl.
And I was absolutely livid at the evil scum responsible.
Furious as once again Islamist terrorists murdered innocent people simply because they are Jews.
Dale Vince however, blamed Israel.
He’s that woke multi-millionaire eco-warrior with the trendy energy company who gave £5 million to the Labour Party.
Just hours after the massacre, he tweeted: In a social media post on Sunday, he wrote: “Netanyahu said – antisemitism spreads when leaders stay silent.
“Nothing to do with Isreal committing genocide in Palestine then. Netanyahu wants antisemitism to be a thing, it validates him – he acts to make it so.”
Some 15 innocent people shot dead and 40 injured as they celebrated Chanukah in the biggest attack on Jewish people since October 7th, yet he accused Israel of ‘committing genocide in Palestine’.
I think it is disgraceful to blame Jewish people for the attacks they suffer. The people responsible are the terrorists who carry them out.
Adding insult to injury, vegan Vince then said: ‘Ten Million Turkeys are killed every year – to celebrate Christmas. It’s a Turkey Holocaust.’
The Holocaust was the systematic murder of six million Jewish, men, women and children.
It was an attempt by the Nazis to wipe out the whole of the Jewish people, yet he compares it to the turkey you tuck into on Christmas Day.
Politicians were quick to jump on Mr Vince’s remarks. Kemi Badenoch said it was morally repugnant and Wes Streeting said the comments were completely wrong
But we need to hear from the rest of the government too.
Mr Vince tried to backtrack on his comments by saying he condemns all acts of terror, but he has still not apologised.
And it is clear Labour could never take another penny from Mr Vince ever again.
Accepting any more cash from this donor would clearly be unacceptable.
Islamist terrorists and extremists often want to blame Israel but anti-Jewish racism goes back centuries and culminated in the Holocaust, all before the country even existed.
The obsessive campaigns against the Jewish state are just the latest incarnation.
Disgracefully, antisemitism has exploded in Britain and Jewish people live with the fear of attacks every day.
We saw that when two people were killed after a lunatic Islamist attacked Heaton Park Synagogue in October.
Jewish kids get targeted on their way to school. Students have their lives made a misery on campus. Buildings and businesses owned by Jews have been smashed up.
I once visited a Jewish school in London. It looked like a prison with massive walls, CCTV and permanent security.
Toddlers are taught safety drills. Volunteers stand guard outside every Synagogue.
Churches, temples or Mosques don’t need anything like that level of security. And permanent guards aren’t needed at mainstream schools.
Last Sunday’s attack was shocking but given the level of anti-Jewish hatred and extremism, it was sadly not surprising and without urgent action, I fear it won’t be the last.
It is about time we said enough and the authorities got a grip.
Start by clamping down on Islamist extremism. Arrest and prosecute anyone supporting terrorism with chants like ‘globalize the Intifada’.
Change the law if necessary.
Last weekend extremists in Birmingham paraded behind a banner saying ‘One Solution Intifada Revolution’ and the Hamas symbol.
The police did nothing – the same force that banned Israeli fans from the city.
The intifada was a campaign of terror attacks in which ordinary Israelis were shot and stabbed.
We saw what those chants mean in Sydney and Manchester.
This week Manchester Police and London’s Metropolitan Police said they would start arresting protesters who chant “globalised the intifada.
But there has been a deafening silence from other forces. They must do the same.
Crack down on crazy clerics preaching hatred too. Ban people who hate Jews or think Israel should not exist from coming to Britain.
Since 2023 Parliament has discussed Israel and Gaza more than the economy and jobs, the NHS, crime or immigration.
The BBC is just as obsessed and unbalanced.
MPs falsely accuse Israel of the worst crimes possible. Senior politicians accused Israel of causing a ‘man-made famine’.
A British official at the UN claimed 14,000 children would starve in 48 hours.
Our government concluded Israel is not committing a genocide, so they need to start pushing back when backbench MPs or the Labour conference claim it is.
All this matters because the obsessive demonisation of the world’s only Jewish state drives hostility towards people who are identified with Israel, which is the vast majority of Jewish people.
Non-Jewish people have a responsibility too. We must stand up for the values that make this the greatest country in the world: democracy, equality between men and women, freedom, fairness and tolerance.
And if people don’t believe in that, they have no place living in Britain.
Most important of all, we need to stand up for the Jewish community. They need to know we’ve got their back.
