Allison Pearson.
If the fire-bombed synagogues had been mosques, the Government would respond very differently.
As attacks escalate, those in power offer platitudes instead of protection. The failure to confront anti-Semitism is shameful.
Published 22 April 2026 12:31pm GMT+01:00
In the wake of the attempted arson attack at the Finchley Reform Synagogue last week, Britain is undeniably failing to protect its Jewish communities Credit: Lee Thomas I was at a friend’s birthday party the other evening when a woman around my age came over and introduced herself. Instead of shaking my hand, the stranger, who knew about my support for Jews and British Friends of Israel, hugged me and when she pulled away I saw that her eyes were full of tears. “I was born here,” she said, “and I’ve always thought of myself as British first and then Jewish. But now I know I’m Jewish first.”
This is a painful realisation for so many Jews in our country who have never before had to worry about their ethnicity or religion. Our oldest, flawlessly-integrated minority is suffering amidst a truly shocking epidemic of anti-Semitism. Correction. I am no longer using that word. Call it what it is. This is racism of the most hateful and monstrous kind, raising spectres of the murderous past. In the aftermath of the October 7 massacres, criticism of Israel’s response to the rape, murder and kidnapping of its men, women and children by marauding barbarians has morphed into an escalating campaign against Jews here.
The attempted firebombing of Kenton United Synagogue in north-west London on Saturday was just the latest in a heinous wave of arson attacks. Last month, masked men set fire to four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in Golders Green. Life-saving vehicles that helped the whole neighbourhood for goodness sake – and there was abundant goodness in that caring community. Four people were subsequently charged by police.
Last week, a synagogue and the former premises of a Jewish charity, both in north London, were attacked. Two people have been arrested in connection with an attempted arson attack at Finchley Reform Synagogue. On the same day, a Persian-language media organisation opposed to the Iranian regime was also attacked. Three people have been charged with “arson with intent to endanger life”. Unsurprisingly, the evil Islamic Republic, with its stated aim of annihilating Israel and the Jews (before coming for the rest of us), has been implicated in the attacks.
All this while British Jews are still reeling from an assault on a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur in which two men were killed as a result of action by a terrorist called Jihad al-Shamie. When he carried out the lethal attack, Jihad (clue: it means Holy War) was out on bail after being arrested on a rape charge. In Two-Tier Keir’s Britain, Islamist rapists are allowed to wander around freely and murder Jews while a Northampton childminder and bereaved mother who posts one furious, swiftly-deleted tweet about illegal migrants is remanded in custody and jailed for 31 months. The introduction by our craven Government of an “anti-Muslim hostility” definition is set to make protesting about this kind of double standard even harder.Jews I speak to are upset, frightened, angry, bewildered. Not here, surely this can’t be happening here, not in the land the late great Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks called “the kind country”? One in five British Jews tells pollsters they are planning on leaving the UK in the next five years. I know a middle-aged couple who left for Israel recently saying that a new government which took a hard line on mass immigration and integration might improve matters, but it was too far away and too risky to wait.Thankfully, many are still defiant and know that this is their home. Michael Wegier, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, says the community is feeling “anxious but resilient”. “I’m hearing people who are nervous about sending their kids to Jewish schools or coming to synagogue, but one also hears exactly the opposite,” he said. “There are people who are saying, ‘We won’t be cowed, we’ve been here since the mid-17th century and we’re not going anywhere.’ I’d like to think that was true. But how can they feel safe when every other day brings some fresh report of Jewish students threatened by pro-Palestinian protesters on campus or disgusting graffiti sprayed on kosher restaurants? A football match involving Israel in the West Midlands was disgracefully called off after police caved in to “community tensions” (ie anti-Jewish bigotry). There have even been sickening examples of NHS staff posting pro-Hamas sentiments.The response of the Government and the authorities in general has been pitiful. After the Kenton synagogue attack, London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, parroted the usual “they will not divide us” platitudes. As writer and comedian David Baddiel posted on X: “Confused as to why politicians say, on another attempted arson attack on a Jewish building, ‘These terrorists are trying to divide us – and will not succeed etc’ Are they? I’d say that divisiveness is not the object. I’d say it’s trying to kill Jews.”Such bluntness is as refreshing as it is rare. There is a reason why anti-Semitism is the hatred the authorities dare not name. It undermines their narrative that “diversity is our strength” when, as Jews are discovering to their cost, too much diversity of the wrong kind can be devastating. After attacks that everyone assumes were carried out by radicalised Muslims, leaders like Khan do everything they can to obfuscate, conveniently placing the blame on free-floating “hate”. As if the British people in general somehow share the blame for a problem posed by Islamist fanatics.The other strategy is to immediately segue from an attack on a synagogue to concerns about repercussions for Muslims, which haven’t happened. “Islamophobia” is their first resort. The broadcaster Mehdi Hasan once said that anti-Semitism in the Muslim community is “our dirty little secret”. Not something you will ever hear from the mouth of Sadiq Khan. Imagine the furore if the recent spate of attacks on synagogues had been against mosques. Starmer would have called out the Army. Jews are just told to be vigilant and are thrown a lump of money to beef up security. One primary school I saw looked like Alcatraz. Heartbreaking. DT.
Award-winning journalist Allison Pearson is a columnist and the chief interviewer of The Telegraph.