Phillips: Take pride in being Jewish
EQUALITY AND human rights campaigner Trevor Phillips has called on Jews and members of other minorities to be proudly vocal about their identity without fear of attracting racism.
Delivering Leo Baeck College’s Lionel Blue lecture online, Mr Phillips said: “The idea that if you don’t say something it makes it all go away is nonsense.
“Of all groups of people — including the one that I come from — Jewish people know that better than anyone.
“We have every right to be proud of our different identities, to shout about them and also to allow other people to share in parts of them that will enhance their lives too.”
Speaking from the Sternberg Centre in Finchley, where the college is based, Mr Phillips also spoke of the impact the late Sir Sigmund Sternberg had made on his life, describing him as “a person who tried very hard to bring people of different backgrounds together”.
It is an approach at the heart of Leo Baeck’s rabbinical training, which emphasises tolerance, individuality and expression of faith.
In discussion with Leo Baeck faculty member Dr Keith Kahn-Harris, Mr Phillips also queried the focus of some of those in the UK backing Black Lives Matter.
“I don’t want people to support BLM to show they are not racist,” he said. “I want them to support BLM to make a difference.
“I worry about the focus on symbols. A lot of energy is going into pulling down statues at a time when the number of directors of FTSE 100 companies who are black is actually going down.
“Instead of having demonstrations in Parliament Square, I’d like to see [protesters] approaching the temples of capitalism.”
We have every right to be proud of our different identities’