Imagine if they talked about Jews as they talk about Muslims…

JVL Introduction

This is an article from the USA and I could take issue with some of the points (eg criticism of Zohran Madani’s foreign policy) but there is much here to make us think.  It starts by asking us to imagine that some of the derogatory ways in which Muslims are talked about were used against Jews and our practices.  The idea that this is just “those crazy Americans” can be scotched quickly.  For example; the Shadow Justice Secretary said that having Muslim prayers in Trafalgar Square (at the annual Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan) was an “act of domination”.  His Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, went further and said that the Ramadan event in central London should not have been allowed to go ahead at all. (see BBC here). Predictably Nigel Farage of the so called Reform Party said: “we have to stop this kind of mass demonstration, provocative demonstration, in historic British sites.” (as reported in The Guardian, for example.)

The event has happened many times before without any problem of even objections and, of course, these politicians have never objected to Trafalagar Square hosting events that include prayer for other religions.  These comments were condemned by many, including by Jewish Establishment organisations, but they are still part of, at best, considering Muslims as “other” and at worst demonising Muslims.  The UK’s response to Islamophobia is muted when compared with  how antisemitism is addressed.  An example is the extensive coverage of the attack on the four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity: this led the Radio 4 news bulletins for most of the day and is still news. But when Mosques are attacked, they rarely make, let alone lead, the news. A recent attack on a Mosque in Greater Manchester  was not designated a hate crime and was only reported on BBC online.  The Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) in their weekly update on 26th March told us that the Chief Executive of the BoD “and other communal leaders met Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street to discuss concrete steps to safeguard the Jewish community and accelerate government action to tackle antisemitism.” Have Muslim leaders been called in to address Islamophobic attacks, which, as in the USA, are also rising?

We also see it reflected in the response to the West Midlands police decision not to allow the aggressive Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to come to Birmingham for the match with Aston Villa where among general public order concerns were also the need for local Muslim community members to feel safe. Don’t Muslim people’s fears count?

A strong argument made here is that there are similarities between Islamophobia and antisemitism; both are filled with tropes about “taking over” and domination. Of course as humanitarians we think that is enough reason to oppose both.

LL

This article was originally published by The Forward on Wed 25 Mar 2026. Read the original here.