It was the news we all dread — but which we have come to expect. Perhaps the worst aspect of the siege in Beth Israel synagogue on Shabbat was that it was so entirely unsurprising. Which of us has not feared a similar incident in our own synagogue? We protect our places of worship with tight security, just as we do our schools and other communal meeting places, because we have no choice.

Even now, as we give thanks that the hostages escaped without physical injury, we know there will be another act of antisemitic terror played out somewhere else at some time in the future. 

We are fortunate to live in a country where successive governments of all parties have committed large sums to protecting the Jewish community from attack, and where the expertise of our own Community Security Trust is invaluable. But as the CST itself points out, it simply does not have the funding to provide everything that is needed. There will always be gaps. And terrorists will always seek to exploit those gaps.

That is one reason why it is so important that there is a widespread understanding of the threat we face, of its volume, its makeup and — critically — of its motivation. Jews are targeted because we are Jews.

It is unconscionable when reports of attacks ignore the driving force of antisemitism, as the BBC decided to do in its woeful coverage of last weekend. How can anyone begin to understand the nature of the threat if the motivation behind it is ignored? Getting this right matters, because it is a matter of life and death.