Antisemitism, protest and Holocaust revisionism
On the eve of the October 7th anniversary and in the light of events over the past few days, four discussions at the Battle of Ideas festival, on 18 & 19 October, feel especially urgent.
Yesterday, my wife and I took part in a vigil outside the Scottish Parliament, marking the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks and demanding the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The event, organised by Friends of Israel groups in Edinburgh and Glasgow, was a fairly sombre affair attended by a few hundred people, featuring speeches and music. It was vitally important to mark this anniversary. Given much of the media coverage since, you might be left wondering if Israel had launched an unprovoked war on Gaza, rather than the other way round.
The horrific attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday added particular poignancy to the event. The attack is seen by many as the logical outcome of a rising tide of antisemitism in the UK in recent years, and particularly since the October 7th massacre. Before being shot dead by the police, the Manchester attacker, Jihad Al-Shamie’s murderous rampage led to two Jews dead, others seriously wounded – attacked simply for being Jews. The significance of this event was powerfully and poignantly captured by Lord Maurice Glasman, one of our Battle of Ideas speakers, here: Manchester synagogue attack dishonours our entire nation
The same evening, pro-Palestinian activists occupied several railway stations across the UK to protest at the boarding of a ‘Gaza flotilla’ in the Mediterranean. Many were critical that such protests could go ahead, particularly in Manchester. And this weekend, many more people protested in London against the proscribing of Palestine Action, with many arrested for declaring their support for the group.
Among the speakers in Edinburgh, there were three politicians. The first minister, John Swinney of the SNP, had the decency to show up and express his revulsion at antisemitism. I’ve no doubt he sincerely believes what he said. But he was booed and heckled by members of the crowd. After all, a few weeks’ ago, he had travelled all the way to London to mark the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state - something that many believe has only rewarded Hamas’s terrorism. The booing of the deputy prime minister, David Lammy, at the Manchester vigil in the aftermath of the attack suggests the Jewish community have had enough of double standards and platitudes.
The former Scottish Conservative leader, Jackson Carlaw, at least got the tone right, criticised the decision to recognise Palestine and is clearly someone well engaged with the Jewish community. More striking was the speech by John Mason, an MSP who was kicked out of the SNP for having the temerity to suggest on social media that there is no genocide occurring in Gaza. It seems no debate will be allowed in Scotland’s governing party on that issue.
At the Battle of Ideas festival on 18 & 19 October, four sessions in particular will examine the issues around these events. In a Battle Book Club session, author Harry Saul Markham will outline and defend the arguments in his new book, The Melted Pot – Diversity, Antisemitism, and the Limits of Tolerance. Has multiculturalism contributed to the resurgence of antisemitism?
Meanwhile, the greatest crime inflicted on Jews, the Holocaust – seen in the past as unique in its horrors – now seems to be being relativised. Instead of a ‘Holocaust’, there seem to be holocausts everywhere. We’ll explore what that means in the session Never Against – for anyone? The new Holocaust relativism.
While many in the Jewish community and beyond are deeply offended by pro-Palestinian protests, is this the time to ban these groups or hold the line on free speech? In particular, we’ll ask Palestine Action: to ban or not to ban?
We’ll also talk about the issue of genocide, going beyond the facts about Gaza and examining the broader changes in the way we use language today. See the session We need to talk about ‘genocide’.
Tickets for the festival are still available - but possibly not for much longer. Our 2024 festival sold out and tickets are going fast for 2025. So, if you would like to attend, visit our tickets page today.