Anti-Semitism

Lord Dodds of Duncairn Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2011 Westminster Hall

[Mr Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ilford North (Mr Scott). I am sure that the sympathy of all Members across the House goes out to him for what he had to experience during the general election campaign. As someone who has represented an inner-city Belfast seat for many years, both at local level in the Northern Ireland Assembly and here at Westminster, I can empathise with the personal security issues he has experienced. The business of police protection is all too familiar to many of us from Northern Ireland who have been the subject of various direct attacks and threats. I therefore fully sympathise with the hon. Gentleman, and heartily endorse his call for a more explicit Government response on the election campaigns. I also endorse what the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) said on that issue, and congratulate him and the other Members who secured this very important debate.

The hon. Member for Ilford North mentioned education, and I join those who have praised the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust, which is extremely important. This week, the opportunity has been afforded to Members in the House to sign the book of commitment, which honours those who perished during the holocaust and supports the sharing and safeguarding of untold stories so that we can learn from the experiences of survivors.

Like the hon. Member for Ilford North, I had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau recently, as part of a group from Northern Ireland involved in a project entitled “The thin end of the wedge”, run by the charity Forward Learning. I was greatly moved as I stood there with people from communities in Northern Ireland that have been ravaged by sectarianism, violence, indifference and hatred over the years. The project is designed to encourage community activists to get involved in what is a unique learning experience, and to positively tackle sectarianism, racism and anti-Semitism in Northern Ireland by learning from the past, including from this most extreme example of hatred against another people—the holocaust—on the very site of the worst atrocity that humanity has ever inflicted on a people.

The project, run by the tireless director and great worker, Frank Higgins, and by Drew Haire, who works with the charity, has been supported by the EU, and has received money from other sources as well. It was very moving for me to stand there with those folk, and very graphically see at first hand what racism and anti-Semitism can, and did, lead to. Education in schools and universities, and beyond that in communities, as exemplified by that project in Northern Ireland, is extremely important, and I heartily endorse the work that “The thin end of the wedge” does in my constituency, and in my community.

Before I deal with some wider issues, I want to say that in the United Kingdom we have not had the extremes of anti-Semitism that other countries have had. Nevertheless, it is there, and Members have referred to the role that this country now sadly plays as a hotbed of Islamist extremism. It unfortunately seems to attract an awful lot of that, and to export hatred and violence to a greater extent than other countries. In Northern Ireland, however, we have the unique experience of our troubled past and perhaps we have something to contribute. Organisations such as the British National party, which is trying to organise and recruit in Belfast in particular, feed on the usual grievances and try to use them to engender support, and it has been excellent to see the reaction of communities in Belfast to those attempts. The BNP made a recent attempt outside one of our main football grounds to get support, organise people and get them to sign petitions, ostensibly about an issue with which most local people would agree. However, there was a strong reaction from the football supporters, the club, the local community and elected representatives across the board, and it was greatly appreciated by Jewish representatives and others in Belfast.

On the other hand, a number of organisations associated with the extreme left and Hamas have issued pro-Hamas propaganda. Again, people have pointed out, not least in the Northern Ireland Assembly, that the idea of twinning local schools through the Hamas Ministry of Education risks poisoning the minds of children in Northern Ireland. There is little chance that those children will learn any Jewish narratives or the truth about life under the Hamas regime for women, Christians, homosexuals and others.

I will be brief, as I know that others want to speak. On a more general application of the issues that we are discussing, as the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) said, Islamist propaganda and activity are the greatest threat today in terms of anti-Semitism. We know all about the far right, but there is almost a consensus that the far right is beyond the pale. However, Islamist propaganda and activities seem to be tolerated. People are careful not to say “Jew” or “Jewish” explicitly; instead, anti-Zionist or anti-Israel language and activities are substituted for what is effectively anti-Semitism.

[Robert Halfon]

The right hon. Gentleman makes a powerful point in his speech. One thing that has always astounded me is that, at demonstrations about the conflict in the middle east, people walk around in T-shirts that say, “We are all Hezbollah now”. It is, whatever one’s views about the conflict, a symptom that they are willing to associate themselves with extremism and fundamentalism.

[Mr Dodds]

That is absolutely right. The fact of the matter is that Hezbollah and Hamas are not just anti-Israel but exist explicitly to wipe out Israel completely and, by extension, Jews. People who associate themselves with that are making it clear that they are part of anti-Semitism. That needs to be said and exposed, but it is not said as clearly as it should be. Debates such as this are useful in highlighting that.

I reinforce the point that criticism of Israel, as the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane) said, is absolutely legitimate and perfectly acceptable. There are people within Israel and the Knesset who criticise Israeli policy and foreign policy all the time. What verges on anti-Semitism, though, is the disproportionate singling out of Israel for the sort of criticism that it gets, with no or disproportionately little reference to the faults, difficulties and problems of the other side. We have seen some examples recently. Unfortunately, some trade unionists from Northern Ireland went to the middle east and were vociferous when they came back in their condemnation of Israel in the most extreme terms. There was not a single reference to what Hamas was up to or what it stood for. When that was pointed out, it was of course said, “Oh, you can’t say anything against Israel, or you’re labelled an anti-Semite.” That is the accusation used against people who stand up against anti-Semitism.

Conscious of the time, I will leave my remarks there. Again, this is a timely debate, and I thank those responsible for bringing it about.

--- Later in debate ---

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

Thank you for allowing me to speak in this important debate on anti-Semitism, Ms Clark. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) not only on initiating the debate, but on giving such a fine and thoughtful speech on the whole subject. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Mike Freer) on all his work, not only now but in the past and in the future, on this important subject.

I should start by mentioning the fact, also noted by the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane), that my party chairman is today making a major speech—she may already have made it—on Islamophobia. We should not try to divorce this hatred of different people because of their different religions. One of the problems is that in this Chamber we are, largely, talking to ourselves. We are all committed to combating anti-Semitism, so we have to reach people who are anti-Semitic and who promote those views. We have to re-educate them and bring them back to the real world so that we can participate in a proper democracy, and so that people can celebrate their religion and background without fear.

Anti-Semitism is not new; it has been around for more than 2,000 years. It is grounded in ignorance and the fact that people look different, and they celebrate a religion that is different from other people’s. Anti-Semitism is, therefore, bounded by ignorance and prejudice. We have difficulty in combating prejudice. Most people, I am afraid, are prejudiced in some shape or form, but we can make sure that we address that prejudice by ensuring that discrimination does not take place and by educating people to combat some of those natural prejudices.

I live next door to a synagogue. There is another synagogue some 200 yards up the road. My next-door neighbours on the other side are Muslims. Beyond them are Hindus, and across the road there are Catholics and people from other Christian religions in the space of a few hundred yards. We live in peace and harmony. We know that everyone should be allowed to celebrate their religion properly. I represent a constituency that has two major synagogues, and shares another on the border of the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr Offord). I salute the work that all of them do.

I grew up in north-west London with many members of the Jewish faith and, although I am not Jewish, I regard myself as an honorary Jew, with many Jewish friends—people I have grown up with. I trust that we will always live in peace and harmony.

We live, however, in a time when anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic attacks are on the increase. We have to combat that in all its shapes and forms. I salute the work the Community Security Trust does to make sure that people who go to a synagogue or a Jewish school can do so safely. I commend its work in gathering information on anti-Semitism and the attacks on the Jewish community, but is it not a sad indictment in this day and age, that in this country, which regards itself as free and fair, people have to have security at their places of religion or education? I congratulate the Government on providing the funding and on supporting the necessary security, but I condemn the fact that it is necessary. Anti-Semitism is one thing that we have to constantly guard against.

Before coming to this House, I was a councillor in the London borough of Brent. Two years ago, there was an attempted firebombing in a synagogue in Brondesbury. It led to a dramatic increase in tension among all communities. That is the sort of thing that emanates as soon as we allow anti-Semitic remarks and anti-Semitism to arise. People start to attack places of worship or educational facilities, and we must not allow it to go on. I commend the London declaration and the recent Ottawa protocol, because they set out the stall by which we can help to educate people to prevent anti-Semitism from gaining further root.

We must always remember the international dimension. Hon. Members have referred to the situation with the President of Iran and in other countries, and to people who seek to deny the holocaust, who seek to deny that anti-Semitism exists, and who promote the view that Israel and people of the Jewish faith should be eliminated from the face of the earth. We have to be constantly on our guard to prevent those people from gaining any semblance of ground.

There is nothing new in this. When I was at university we had what was probably the biggest meeting at Liverpool university for many years. There was an attempt by some sections of the university to seek a ban on the then Israeli Prime Minister visiting this country. I am delighted to say that the attempts to put that proposal were roundly defeated by the broad mass of students. I commend the work done by the Union of Jewish Students across the country to ensure that there is free and fair debate in universities, but we constantly have to be on our guard. Parliamentarians and people from outside know that there are frequent attempts to boycott Israel and to boycott Israeli academics. Those attempts give rise to the facets of anti-Semitism that we seek to combat.

As is probably well known by most of my hon. Friends, I am a Tottenham Hotspur fanatic. I have a season ticket home and away. I did not realise why Tottenham Hotspur had so many attacks from fellow fans until I got my season ticket in the west stand at White Hart lane; the first time I went there was like going to shul on Sabbath. I have been to football grounds all over the country and combated attacks by opposition fans who routinely say, “Gas the Jews. Kill all the Jews. Hitler was right.” To witness that at first hand is to realise why we must always be eternally vigilant against anti-Semitism. Next week, when we honour and commemorate the 6 million Jews who were killed by the Nazis, we must always remember that those racist, anti-Semitic remarks are the tip of the iceberg. We have to combat them wherever and whenever they are made.

[Mr Dodds]

The hon. Gentleman mentions the thin end of the wedge, referring, as it were, to the project in my constituency. On football, he mentioned Spurs in particular. I was struck the other day, on going to a premier league match here in London, by the fact that people supporting a rival club—although not in the club itself—were selling openly anti-Semitic and racist paraphernalia. It seems that such paraphernalia is on open sale and nothing is done about it. That is not an infrequent observation. I wonder why the authorities do not stamp down on that kind of thing, because, as the hon. Gentleman said, those small things add up—they matter.

[Bob Blackman]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. There has to be more foresight in the clubs and the authorities that allow that type of memorabilia to be promulgated and, therefore, accepted in broader society. One problem is that many young people go to football matches, and their views and attitudes are formed by the people they mix with and what they hear and see. We must prevent them from having the view that that sort of attitude and behaviour is acceptable.

Growing prejudice is a problem we face in society. However, when there was an attack by the English Defence League on the central mosque in Harrow, it was important that the whole community came together. Not just Muslims, not just Christians but Jews, Hindus and everyone came together to say, “The English Defence League can pack up their banners and go home. The mixed and vibrant community does not want you. We will not tolerate you. We will not tolerate intolerance.” The great thing about the society that I want to promote and see, is that when any part of the community is attacked, the whole community comes together to defend itself and does not allow intolerance to grow.

I end by borrowing a quote that sums up the debate so far: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” We can no longer turn a blind eye; we must always be intolerant of intolerance. We must always combat the snide anti-Semitic remarks. I am well aware of what my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Mr Scott) went through during the general election. In many ways, I was subjected to it as well, although I did not feel it personally in the way that he did. No one should have to go through that, whether they are an MP, a representative in public life, or just going about their law-abiding business. We have to send a strong message from this place that we will not allow it to continue; we will not allow these attacks to proliferate, and we will always defend people of all walks of life and all religions.