Challenging borders with solidarity

JVL Introduction

Julia Bard and David Rosenberg look at events on the Poland-Belarus border and place them in a wider historical perspective.

Large numbers of Jews in Britain have ancestors who come from these regions of Eastern Europe.

It was in these forests that Jews who successfully escaped from the Nazi camp Sobibor in 1943 were forced to seek shelter

And it is here that the latest refugee drama in Europe has been playing itself out in recent months.

As the authors point out, “it’s not minorities who transgress borders; it’s borders that transgress human communities”.

While far-right forces in Poland are fanning anti-refugee sentiment in the area others, including the Polish Chief Rabbi, are speaking out in support of migrants and refugees.

The British government is nowhere in all this – apart from sending military engineers to help police Poland’s borders.

And, more poignantly, where is the voice of those who claim to speak for Britain’s Jews?

Where the voice of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, where the voice of Britain’s chief rabbi?

Shtum. Silent when it matters.

This article was originally published by the Morning Star on Fri 24 Dec 2021. Read the original here.