Post by The Dark Knight on Aug 20, 2011 22:19:31 GMT
Hatred of one’s fellow man on the basis of race or religion is one of the ugliest aspects of human nature. So it depresses us to report today that anti-semitic incidents in Greater Manchester have risen by a third.
Such stark statistics require explanation, and this rise follows a campaign by police to encourage victims to report incidents. So perhaps some or all of this rise is made up of assaults, threats or abuse which would previously have gone unreported.
In a way that is even more alarming, for it tells us that many Jewish people had previously felt it was not worth going to police when they had been subject to blind prejudice. And if simple encouragement can so boost the official tally of hate crimes, how many more people are still suffering in silence?
Only this week, M.E.N. columnist Angela Epstein wrote of how her 18-year-old son was taunted with a Nazi salute, but ignored the slight – another hate crime unrecorded. Even leaving aside the official statistics, there is anecdotal evidence that Jews here in Manchester are experiencing what seems like even more casual abuse than in the past.
The worst of it will still make headlines, like the recent case of the Iraqi Kurd taxi driver Taha Osman who, caught in a traffic jam outside King David School in Crumpsall, ranted that "all Jewish children must die" and referred to Jewish people as "animals". He was found guilty of causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and sentenced to a community order.
This is ignorant, unreasoning, illogical hatred. It goes against cherished British values of tolerance and fair play.
Greater Manchester is an immigrant area, which has for generations gladly assimilated wave after wave of new citizens from every corner of the world. The Jewish community in Manchester has a history stretching back two centuries, and many who came here did so because they knew they would find safe haven from persecution.
If any Jewish person now fears to walk down the street because of abuse, then we need to root out and punish the cause of that fear.
Such stark statistics require explanation, and this rise follows a campaign by police to encourage victims to report incidents. So perhaps some or all of this rise is made up of assaults, threats or abuse which would previously have gone unreported.
In a way that is even more alarming, for it tells us that many Jewish people had previously felt it was not worth going to police when they had been subject to blind prejudice. And if simple encouragement can so boost the official tally of hate crimes, how many more people are still suffering in silence?
Only this week, M.E.N. columnist Angela Epstein wrote of how her 18-year-old son was taunted with a Nazi salute, but ignored the slight – another hate crime unrecorded. Even leaving aside the official statistics, there is anecdotal evidence that Jews here in Manchester are experiencing what seems like even more casual abuse than in the past.
The worst of it will still make headlines, like the recent case of the Iraqi Kurd taxi driver Taha Osman who, caught in a traffic jam outside King David School in Crumpsall, ranted that "all Jewish children must die" and referred to Jewish people as "animals". He was found guilty of causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and sentenced to a community order.
This is ignorant, unreasoning, illogical hatred. It goes against cherished British values of tolerance and fair play.
Greater Manchester is an immigrant area, which has for generations gladly assimilated wave after wave of new citizens from every corner of the world. The Jewish community in Manchester has a history stretching back two centuries, and many who came here did so because they knew they would find safe haven from persecution.
If any Jewish person now fears to walk down the street because of abuse, then we need to root out and punish the cause of that fear.
