There is a scene in Annie Hall where Alvy Singer, played by Woody Allen, recounts to his friend instances of supposed anti-Semitism against him: ‘You know, I was having lunch with some guys from NBC… So I said, “uh, did you eat or what?”, and Tom Christie said, “No, didchoo?”. Not did you – didchoo eat. No, not did you eat, but Jew eat. Jew. You get it? Jew eat?’ Among other examples, Singer also claims that a music-shop assistant is being anti-Semitic by telling him there’s a sale on Wagner records. His friend, Rob, dismisses his concerns as paranoia.
This will raise a smile with most Jews. Our paranoia about anti-Semitism can be a source of great amusement within our community. When I first started out as a news reporter, at the Jewish Chronicle, we would compete to see who could take a newsdesk call with the most ridiculous example of imagined Jew hate. One of mine was a call from a woman who wanted to report a big clothes retailer for selling striped pyjamas with a star on them.
Unfortunately, the laughter has long since stopped. Over the past few weeks in particular – that is, since the Manchester synagogue attack – I feel like I’m living inside Singer’s head. Except that I’m not paranoid, it’s now just daily life for a Jew living in Britain today.
It is now over a month since Jihad Al-Shamie attacked Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, leaving two Jewish men dead and more injured. And while Britain’s Jewish community is still reeling from what happened on that terrible day, the knocks just keep coming.
Mere hours after Al-Shamie’s act of Jew hatred, pro-Palestine protesters couldn’t help themselves. Instead of cancelling or even just postponing their pre-planned anti-Israel protests scheduled for later that day, they pressed ahead. They gathered in major UK cities, including Manchester itself. At a protest outside Downing Street in London, one protester was filmed saying, ‘I don’t give a fuck about the Jewish community right now’. No kidding.
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