Being Jewish and female gives abusers a two-for-one deal

THE SARA “Women Against Antisemitism Against Women” conference was a reminder just how widespread the combined hatred of misogyny and antisemitism is. Hearing personal accounts from MPs like Margaret Hodge, Ruth Smeeth and Luciana Berger of the abuse they have suffered was startling: some of the online harassment they have received as Jewish women in the public eye is horrific.

While I’m not an MP, as a writer with a long-time online presence I, too, have had my share of internet abuse, and it’s remarkable how much of that has been both antisemitic and misogynistic.

I was, some years ago, left terrified and contacting police after a White Nationalist website published my photo and other personal information, saying I was a “Jewess begging to be shot”. The CST immediately offered me support and advice, and I learned that my experience was not at all unusual, sadly.

Last year, my online life imploded after the Ukip former leader Nigel Farage, shared with his 1.2 million Twitter followers a criticism I had made of him.

The abuse that was sent by his fans was shocking. I was receiving messages on Twitter every few seconds, thousands and thousands of people — almost entirely men — telling me I was a “Jewish c*nt” who deserved to die/be raped/be put in a gas chamber.

I was sent Holocaust images and antisemitic propaganda, and images of women being hurt or wounded. His followers said they’d find out where I live and rape me, and sent me outright death threats.

Though I could lock (make private) my Twitter account and mute the messages, these people then moved on to other online platforms, and I had to change my name on Facebook, lock my Instagram account, and redirect my email due to the barrage of hatred. This went on for over a week, first from supporters of Farage, and then by supporters of Donald Trump who’d caught wind of an easy online pile-on to a Jewish woman; the sheer bombardment and frequency of receiving so much hatred across multiple social media services left me a shaking wreck.

Obviously, the far right (and some on the far left) still have antisemitism rotting in their belief system, and it’s not at all surprising to me that they also spout misogyny.

To be both Jewish and a woman offers a two-for-one deal to racists like them: it’s a combined weapon with which to attack.

But let us not underestimate the impact of this specific online hatred: on the receiving end are women who are suffering and who are silenced in fear, and it is this that is the racists’ objective.

By shutting out these voices, it disempowers Jewish women, and makes them less likely to take positions in the public eye for fear of being attacked more. This is why all of us,

Jews and non-Jews, men and women alike, must challenge this as soon as we see it, and prevent the festering hatred from gaining any more footholds in our society.

Zoe Margolis is an author, writer and film critic IN HER speech to the conference, Laura Marks called for more initiatives to “bring the moderate voices together” after admitting that this year’s Mitzvah Day events were “hit by the far right in the Muslim community and the far right in the Jewish community”. Apparently referring to the claim by Press TV’s Roshan M Salih that an event at which Jews taught Muslims to make chicken soup was a “soft infiltration by Zionists”, Ms Marks said the agenda on Muslim-Jewish relations was increasingly

“being driven by extremes”.

The Mitzvah Day and Holocaust Memorial Day trust chair said: “Mitzvah Day is about as moderate as it gets — it’s all about bringing people together through social action.

“Yet this year we have been hit by the far right in the Muslim community and by the far right in the Jewish community because, God forbid, we brought people together. There is a space — most people are moderate, but the agenda is being driven by the extremists.”

Ms Marks added that both Jewish and Muslim women are “facing similar hatred — for different reasons… but they hate us both because we are outsiders. There is an enormous amount more we can do to build alliances.”

She made her remarks after Ruth Smeeth — one of the co-chairs on the conference on antisemtism against women — revealed her past few years had been “somewhat challenging” due to persistent abuse she had faced. But the Jewish MP called for the conference to come up with solutions to the crisis, saying: “Personally, I am fed up with how we have had to deal with the issue.” She called for decisive action moving forward.

The racists’ objective is to silence us

Laura Marks (left) and Nisa Nashim at the conference