Sunday, July 31, 2016

United Kingdom: Scottish Jews scared to reveal their Jewish identity



Via Express:
A damning new report has found that public attitudes have changed dramatically in the past two years, with many Scots now scared to reveal their Jewish identity.

Disturbingly, some second or third generation Holocaust survivors even compared modern Scotland with Germany in the 1930s due to the growing sense that Jewish people are not safe or welcome here.

The study blames “unbalanced political comment”, a lack of confidence in the police and widespread anti-Israel sentiment for the rapidly worsening situation.

One Jewish man in his 60s, living in Glasgow, said: “When people are murdered just because they shop in a kosher deli in Paris or attend a batmitzvah in Copenhagen, it’s natural for everyone who goes to the equivalent venues in Scotland to think that it could just as easily have been a Glasgow deli or an Edinburgh batmitzvah, and to change their behaviour.

Another man in his 30s, living in Edinburgh, said: “I have come to realise that identifying myself as a Jewish Israeli, or just identifying my wife as Jewish or our house as one where Jewish people live, might pose a risk to our lives and our property.”

A woman, in her 50s living in the Highlands, asked: “Is it safe to advertise a Jewish event in a local newspaper?”

The two-year study, What’s Changed About Being Jewish in Scotland, was commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC).

Director Ephraim Borowski said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was trying to make Jewish people in Scotland feel safe but the report questions the lack of support from some in her party.

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