Stephen Pollard
AS A newspaper columnist I would not be doing my job properly if I didn’t get a reaction. But as a Jewish columnist the reaction is very different to what others would expect. Death threats, for example, are so normal that I don’t even register most of them.
As for anti-Semitic abuse, I can’t recall a week when I have had less than 100 antiSemitic messages. Most weeks it is nearer 250.
So let’s talk about the death threats. Usually, they are along the lines of “you’re going to die, Jew boy” and go straight in the bin (or, since most are by email, the delete folder).
Occasionally they make a direct threat in which case they get sent straight to the police. Last month for example, I had one that told me to watch my back and look under my car. And that my children would be killed with me. The email also referred to the area of London in which I live.
Charmingly, the writer also said that he would perform a circumcision on me, which would be all the more fun – to use his words – because he would simply cut my penis off. Chances are that those are simply the deranged words of a keyboard warrior but you never know, which is why I called the police.
BUT if death threats are not something one can ignore, if I was even remotely bothered by the day-to-day anti-Semitic abuse I would have quit my job years ago. It has to be water off a duck’s back or it would all be too much.
I have blocked about 700 people on Twitter so I don’t even see most of what is directed at me. But barely a day goes by when I’m not accused of paedophilia (all Jews are child molesters, you see), being a paid agent of the Israeli government (my bank manager would be relieved if that were true), and being a member of that old theme, the Jewish conspiracy.
However, in recent years things have taken a clear turn for the worse. And that turn is linked to the rise in popularity of Jeremy Corbyn. My impression is that at least 90 per cent of the anti-Semitic messages I receive are from people who also support Corbyn.
In recent weeks the prevalence of Labour anti-Semitism has been a major news story. But that has also prompted an increase in the number of antiSemitic messages I receive all of which describe the stories about Labour anti-Semitism as a smear or part of a political ploy by the Tories (of which I must be one because I have highlighted the issue).
So the dilemma I wrestle with is this: has the rise of social media given voice to an anti-Semitism that has always been with us but which has never before had a vehicle in which to express it, or is the anti-Semitism itself new?
My guess it is a bit of both but it seems unlikely that people have suddenly decided to hate Jews simply because of social media. After all, it is the oldest hatred.