• ON Friday May 21 home secretary Priti Patel visited a Jewish bakery in Finchley Road and made sure that TV cameras were there to film her.

She announced (on BBC 6pm news) that she was appalled by recent vile anti-Semitic demonstrations, hence she was in Finchley Road to assure Jewish residents of protection. She added that police were notified.

With recent demonstrations against the harrowing situation in Israel, it is not hard to conclude what demonstrations Priti Patel referred to.

I attended one such demonstration and watched another. There was opposition to illegal settlements, unequal laws and increased ethnic cleansing in Israel but there was no anti-Semitic sentiment at all. Indeed I attended, with fellow Jews, all of us eager to bring peace for Jews and Arabs.

It was reported that during one of the recent London demonstrations (Sunday May 16) a man could be heard shouting vile anti-Semitic abuse from a moving car (with a Palestinian flag) while passing St John’s Wood. The police traced the car to the A40 in Hillingdon and four people were arrested.

I have not heard of any further development of this horrific incident but – even if this unbelievably horrific abuse occurred as reported – it cannot be attributed to the sentiment of recent peaceful demonstrations.

On the other hand, such widely publicised assurances for protecting Jews, as promoted by Priti Patel on Finchley Road, actually increase fear among British Jews. It instills the untruth that Jews are under significant threat in London / UK.

The more this fear is manipulated the more it creates resentment among non-Jews who, by default, feel accused and who may question the alleged extra protection for Jewish people while such protection does not seem to be offered to, for instance, people of colour. This scenario actually increases anti-Semitism.

DR AGNES KORY
Jewish Holocaust Survivor
Finchley Road