Antisemitism is endemic

In “One Jewish Boy” (March 15), we read that Stephen Laughton experienced severe antisemitic attacks following the opening of his play One Jewish Boy in London in 2018.

The first autobiographical novel written by a British Jew was Jew Boy by Simon Blumenfeld, published in 1935 before WWII, which’ like Laughton’s play, also described incidents of violent antisemitism. I similarly experienced virulent antisemitism growing up in the East End of London in the 1950s and then going to Cambridge University, where the antisemitism was more subtle (as described in my book Amanuensis, published in 2009).

The message from these three works covering a period of 83 years, during which much changed, is pretty much the same. Namely that antisemitism is endemic in British society, and even though some Jews (and maybe other minorities) can “make it” in Britain, they do not represent an acceptance by the majority of the British population as being authentically British. The Muslims in Britain and the far-Left may have altered the nature of antisemitism, but it’s still very much alive.

This phenomenon is not restricted to Britain; it is also present in other countries, such as France and Germany – see “Israeli born comic mocks Germany’s history with Jews” (February 14).

My decision after my own experiences was to leave, to go to the US and then Israel. Although the US is significantly more accepting of Jews and minorities than Europe, it is evident that in the final analysis Israel is the only safe place for Jews. Notwithstanding the continued hostility of the Palestinian Arabs and the Iranian threat, we have our own army to defend us in our own state.

My grandson stands guard at our border, but as I told him, the number of Jews killed in Israel by terrorism is thankfully small compared to when we were a defenseless minority in Europe.

JACK COHEN Beersheba