Tony Gordon, 80, president of the Bristol Jewish community, said the local synagogue has been forced to lock its gates because of threats facing worshippers.
In an interview with the British radio station LBC, Gordon said: “As a youngster, I was brought up in Leeds, which is the third largest Jewish community in the country. And in my youth and in my early teens, there were a few antisemitic incidents. It was the time of the rise of the National Front. But I've never seen anything like this.”
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The scene of the attack in which two Haredi men were stabbed in London last month
(Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay)
Gordon added: “This is way, way worse than it has ever been in the last, well, I can only count for the last 80 years, but certainly in the last 80 years.”
He compared the situation in Britain today to that in Nazi Germany some 95 years ago. “There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that there is a recognizable relationship between what is happening now and what was happening in Germany, for example, in the early '30s,” Gordon said. “And we know what that led to in the long term in Germany. And the question I wake up to every day is, ‘are we currently at peak lunacy? And it will decline and get back to something livable with, or is this a trend? And in which case, what's the end result?”
The British government has announced funding for Jewish communities across England aimed at combating antisemitism and strengthening community cohesion in places facing the highest risk. But Gordon said he has seen “members of the congregation considering moving abroad for fear.”
British prime minister greeted with boos at the scene of the stabbing attack
Gordon said the situation has had a major impact on his local Jewish community: “We have to make sure the gates to the synagogue, the entry gates, are permanently locked. So, we only know if somebody's attending a service because we see them on CCTV and have to leave the service to go to the gates to let them in. Fortunately, we have good support from the local police, and there is a two-man police presence now whenever we have a service or whenever we have an educational visit to the synagogue.”
Later in the LBC interview, Gordon said: “But who wants to live like this and worry that we will be next? The fact that nobody has actually confronted me in the street does not mean that I'm not living with a level of fear. Which quite frankly I'm entitled not to live with.”
In recent weeks, Jewish communities in Britain have faced antisemitic attacks, stabbings, vandalism, arson and physical assaults in the street. The government and police have announced increased police patrols, but antisemitic incidents have not stopped.