British conservative leader says antisemitism in UK a 'national emergency'

The leader of the Conservative Party in Great Britain, Kemi Badenoch, has been taking a strong stand against antisemitism in the United Kingdom, saying the normalization of hatred towards Jews was comparable to the 1930s and describing it as a “national emergency.”

In an interview on the BBC’s "Today" program, Nick Robinson questioned Badenoch's choice of words, saying: “You said it was stark – we don’t want to see the 1930s repeated. To people who hear that and say it’s a massive overstatement about where we are, why do you think they’re wrong?”

Badenoch insisted: “They are wrong.
I’m actually calling this a national emergency. What we saw in the 1930s was a climate of intimidation, starting with misinformation, blood libels, it’s the Jews that are causing all these problems and legitimising Jewish hatred. I'm talking about the normalisation of hatred towards Jews.”

“It's coming from two particular groups, Islamic extremists, but also a very particularly nasty strand of hard left ideology,” the 46-year-old leader of the opposition elaborated, decrying the conspiracies and accusations that have flourished particularly since Oct. 7, 2023. “We see it most prevalent in these marches, which I call now a ‘festival of hatred.’ 
They've gone on for very long,” she added.

When asked why she would ban pro-Palestinian marches but not those organized by anti-Islamic activist Tommy Robinson, Badenoch replied, “It's not even the same. Criticism of religion is allowed in this country. We mustn't mix the two things. I am talking about the attacks on Jews; it’s not the faith that's being attacked. It's the people,” referring to the stabbings in Golders Green last Wednesday, the firebombing of Hatzolah ambulances the week before and the terror attack at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur.

The MP for North West Essex expressed her frustration with the “Whataboutery” of introducing the subject of Islamophobia into discussions about antisemitism.

“Why is it that whenever we're talking about Jewish hatred, we always have a what about? What about? 
When something happens to black people, when there are atrocities, no one does the whataboutery. When something does happen to Muslims, we don't say what about antisemitism. Why do we have this double standard that whenever there's an issue with antisemitism and Jews being attacked, we have to broaden it out all the time?”

Badenoch first suggested that the situation constituted a national emergency in her response to the attack in Golders Green last week. “As a black woman in this country, I have never seen the level of racism, discrimination, intimidation, and attacks that have been directed at the Jewish community.” 

She added, “I think that if people were firebombing black churches… the way that synagogues have been attacked, people killed, being firebombed, the ambulance services being firebombed, I think there'd be a national emergency. I think we're getting to that stage.”

Badenoch has been vocal in defending the Jewish community and Israel’s military activity in Gaza, and has received considerable opposition for her statements. However, she has made it clear that she refuses to back down from her position. 

In a strong rebuttal to a protester who came to harangue her yesterday, she said.

“I go to Jewish primary schools that have security guards outside. I don't see that outside any other primary school in this country. I go to supermarkets that has security guards. I go to businesses, Jewish businesses, that are having their windows smashed in. Gale's Bakery, having graffiti sprayed all over it. We need to stop pretending that this isn't happening. We do not want the 1930s repeated again. And what we see are people making excuses for this; you will never get excuses for me. We need to protect Jewish people.”

She warned, “This is how the 1930s started, with people pretending not to see what was happening in front of them,” insisting, “What I'm doing is supporting our Jewish people from this sort of ignorance people like you put out there. And I will never be intimidated by it.”