Across Europe, the dark tide of antisemitism and anti-Zionism are rising once again, with whispers of history’s most shameful chapters echoing ominously. The United Kingdom, though spared the extremes seen in nations like France and the Netherlands, is not immune. For British Jews, the steady drip of hostility—whether in the guise of anti-Zionism or outright Jew-hatred—is no longer something that can be ignored. What’s more troubling than the hate itself is the institutional failure to confront it, and the pervasive apathy that allows it to fester.

Let us be clear: Britain’s Jewish community has been an integral part of this country’s cultural, intellectual, and economic life for centuries. Yet today, the very foundations of that belonging feel increasingly precarious. One need only look to the events of recent months for evidence. When Hamas unleashed its atrocities on October 7, many in Britain reacted not with outrage at the slaughter of innocents, but with rallies on our streets where cries of “From the river to the sea” thinly veiled genocidal intent. Not protests for peace, but parades of hate.

The response of the British establishment to this wave of antisemitic vitriol has been appalling in its inadequacy. Politicians have offered mealy-mouthed platitudes, desperate to balance condemnations of terrorism with vague nods to “both sides.” Universities have remained silent while Jewish students are vilified. And law enforcement, rather than protecting British Jews, has often been conspicuous by its absence when mobs gather in the streets.

Antisemitism in Britain today is insidious, taking two primary forms. First, there is the old hatred, dressed in new clothes. This includes the virulent strain of antisemitism that has taken root in certain migrant communities—a problem that our leaders seem too cowardly to even name, let alone address. The fear of appearing intolerant has paralysed action, allowing a dangerous narrative to grow unchecked.

Second, there is the intellectualised form of antisemitism, now endemic on the political left, masquerading as “anti-Zionism.” This thinly disguised bigotry seeks to delegitimise the world’s only Jewish state while holding Jews collectively responsible for its existence. No other people are told their self-determination is inherently racist. No other nation is subjected to such relentless scrutiny. And yet, in Britain’s cultural and academic spheres, this pernicious double standard thrives.

The events of November 7 in Amsterdam should serve as a cautionary tale. Bands of so-called “youths” embarked on a self-declared “Jew hunt,” assaulting Israelis and Jews in the streets of a country once celebrated for its tolerance. British Jews watched in horror—not only at the violence but at the recognition that the forces at play in the Netherlands are alive here as well.

Britain’s failure to address these forces is nothing short of a national disgrace. Antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem; it is a societal rot that, if left unchecked, corrodes the very values we claim to cherish. Yet, our institutions respond with paralysing inertia, distracted by the politics of appeasement or paralysed by their own moral cowardice.

The Jewish diaspora in Britain has never asked for special treatment, only the simple right to live without fear. Fear of sending their children to universities where they might be ostracised for their faith. Fear of walking home from synagogue under the wrong set of streetlights. Fear of an increasingly hostile world that seems to have learned nothing from history.

This is a moment of reckoning for Britain. Will we defend the values of fairness, freedom, and dignity for all, or will we allow this growing hatred to go unchallenged, dragging us into the mire of indifference and complicity?

Antisemitism and its enabler, anti-Zionism, are societal poisons. If Britain wishes to remain the tolerant and just society it claims to be, it must confront these twin scourges head-on. Not with half-measures or hollow condemnations, but with decisive action—legislative, educational, and cultural. Anything less is an abdication of our moral responsibility and a betrayal of what this nation ought to stand for.

The time for excuses is over. Britain must rise to the challenge, not just for its Jewish community, but for its own soul. For if we allow this hatred to thrive, it will not stop with the Jews. It never does.