02/04/2024
OPEN LETTER from Jewish Educators to the Minister of Education regarding Antisemitism Training
"... It is all very well to play whack-a-mole with antisemites as they pop their heads above the parapet, but this is highly inefficient and a waste of limited resources. Most people in the UK will very rarely meet a Jew, if ever. In our absence, their mind is easily set to view us as a religion, not as an ethnicity. How can we expect any broad appreciation of our history, genetics, or even our beliefs?
How can a few hours’ training influence people not to be antisemitic when they have already absorbed a narrative that separates our ethnicity and homeland from our religion, nonsensical though that is? The model of diversity training is therefore at best a sticking plaster on a serious infection.
Much better to tackle the source of antisemitism prior to its implantation, with the antibiotic of understanding. Rather than trying to re-educate the prejudices out of people, we do so much better to educate them about Judaism when they are still children. We must reach out, make friends, and explain the bond between Jews as a familial faith community, and at the same time explain the bond between Jews and the land of Israel..”
