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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Jonathan Freedland

A British minority faces a murderous threat on our streets. Where are the so-called anti-racists?

A member of private security group CST, a charity dedicated to protecting the Jewish community, on patrol in Golders Green, London, 1 May 2026.
A member of private security group CST, a charity dedicated to protecting the Jewish community, on patrol in Golders Green, London, 1 May 2026. Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock

For me, it’s mostly sadness. Among others, the overriding emotion is fear. For some, it’s anger. It was certainly anger that was most vividly on display in Golders Green after the stabbing on Wednesday of two men, both Jews, in the broad daylight of a spring day – much of that fury directed at the government. When the prime minister came to visit, they shouted: “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer.”

I understand that fury, even if I think it’s aimed at the wrong address. British Jews are angry because this was just the latest in a spate of attacks that has included, among other incidents, the torching of ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity and the attempt to burn down not one but two synagogues, all in the course of a few weeks. Jews want those in charge, the government, to make it stop.

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