Oliver Dowden urges activists to 'show Jewish lives matter like black lives'
Activists should insist that “Jewish lives matter” in the same way demonstrators campaigned that “black lives matter”, the Deputy Prime Minister urged today.
Oliver Dowden said British Jews were "fearful" in the wake of Hamas’ slaughter of 1,400 Israelis last month. Rishi Sunak’s number two said there had not been the "same kind of moral clarity" shown after the Hamas attacks as that witnessed after George Floyd was killed in the US.
"We shouldn't see this just as a matter for the Jewish community, we should see this is as a matter for all of British society,” he told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme. “It is not acceptable to our British values that there should be that kind of intimidation, and I have to say to you that I am a bit disappointed that - if you look at the moral indignation and the clarity that we saw after the murder of George Floyd in the United States with the Black Lives Matter movement - we haven't seen, across civic society, the same kind of moral clarity showing that Jewish lives matter.
"I think that is a cause of hurt to the Jewish community and it is something that disappoints me as well. I see it, whether it is on our campuses or elsewhere, we need to send a very clear signal that Jewish people are safe in this country, not just for the sake of Jewish people but for the sake of British society."
Mr Dowden said that “people need to understand that anti-Semitism is racism, full stop, and the same abhorrence that we show to other forms of racism, we should show towards anti-Semitism." He spoke of his "grave concerns" about a pro-Palestinian demonstration due to take place on Armistice Day. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to London’s streets each weekend since October 7 to show their support for Palestinians. The next rally is due on Saturday, when the nation will mourn its war dead.
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"I think that at a time that is meant to be a solemn remembrance of the sacrifice of previous generations and upholding our British values, I think the police need to think very carefully about the safety of that demonstration - namely whether it could spill over into violent protest and the signal it sends particularly to the Jewish community,” said the DPM. "I understand that the Met Commissioner continues to keep it under review and I think that is appropriate.
"The police are operationally independent, but I do have very grave concerns about that march, both in terms of how it sits with acts of solemn remembrance and the kind of intimidation that is being sent out by the chants and everything else that goes on at those marches. I think it is right that it is the law of the land that the police are operationally independent. But I think it is important that they consider those factors."
Conservative peer Lord Danny Finkelstein said he was worried about his children going into Central London as pro-Palestinian demonstrations take place, including at bg railway stations such as St Pancras and Liverpool Street. “It is quite burdensome to Jewish people to find Central London and lots of mainline stations taken over week after week by people, large proportions of which are asking to drive half of the Jewish population in the world into the sea,” he told Sky News. “You do wonder to yourself how sensible would it be for me or my children to go into Central London in these circumstances. Whether that feeling is justified or not is a different matter.”
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey warned there was a "danger of Israel going too far” in its retaliation against Hamas in Gaza. "There is a danger of Israel going too far and more steps need to be taken to protect innocent lives but it's also important to remember the unique complexity and difficulty that Israel has in trying to take out Hamas who hide its fighters, its weapons, its command centres, its ammunition stores, among and beneath civilians,” he told BBC1's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. "But the right to self-defence is not a blank cheque as Keir Starmer argued this week and Israel must meet its obligations under international law."
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