Sir Oliver Dowden, the former deputy prime minister, said that his Jewish constituents are increasingly hiding their identity since October 7.
He told a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party’s annual conference on Monday there were “people in my constituency who are now afraid to wear their Stars of David. They disguise it. Students disguise their religion at university because they are worried about harassment and intimidation.”
The MP for Hertsmere, the parliamentary constituency with the second largest number of Jewish voters in the country, was speaking at an event titled “Are we living in a new antisemitic age? Anti-Jewish racism and the post October 7 landscape”, hosted by the Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT) which was chaired by Labour peer and Times Radio broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika.
Dowden also accused public institutions like universities of having a more relaxed attitude towards antisemitism. “The number one point we must all agree on is that racism is racism, and it doesn't matter who it's directed to”, he told the audience.
Also speaking was the Community Security Trust (CST)’s director of policy Dr Dave Rich who said the huge increase in antisemitism since October 7 should not be viewed as a reaction to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Rather, he stated: “People saw what Hamas did in Israel and were excited about it. That is what started it.” They were “excited by sight of mass killings Jews in Israel” and committed antisemitic attacks.
Despite the rise in antisemitism since October 7, Rich said the Jewish community had huge amounts of support in wider society. Adding that one of the first people to contact him in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s atrocities was Iman Atta, director of Tell Mama, an organisation that monitors anti-Muslim hate.
Asked about antisemitism from within the Muslim community, Rich said that although polling data suggests that antisemitic attitudes are higher compared to the rest of the population, the majority of British Muslims do not hold antisemitic views.
Rich said the topic was one that people shouldn’t shy away from talking about: “I think this is a topic that all of us, politicians, media, find it difficult to discuss in a way that is accurate, that is precise is constructive that is not inflammatory and generalising, but it also doesn't ignore the problem.”
Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, who is Muslim, expressed concern that many, in particular young Muslims, were being radicalised by content on social media.
Danny Stone, the APT’s chief executive also voiced concern at the apparent lack of seriousness antisemitic incidents are treated.
He recalled an incident he described as an “antisemitic trope” at the Labour Party’s annual conference last week, when a banner that said “Zionists are in control of the Labour Party” was on display near the entrance to the conference.
Stone questioned whether the incident would have been taken more seriously if another group had been the target: “had this been anti-black racism on that sign, had it been homophobia, I would hope that they would have been booted out where they were standing. But because it said ‘Zionists’, it was different.”
The APT had also organised similar events at the Labour and Lib Dem party conferences.
Stone told the JC: “The party conferences are an ideal opportunity to engage in serious policy discussion with senior politicians. We were delighted to have such a great turnout at the Conservative Party conference, and to have such a rich discussion, one that rightly focused on policing, community cohesion and online harm.”
He continued, “It is only sad that we had to question whether we are living in a new antisemitic age. Across all the party conferences, whilst there was disagreement about whether we are or not, the resolute commitment of all was to keep on fighting anti-Jewish racism, and we look forward to continuing to work with parliamentarians across the parties to do just that.”
