The Secretary of State for Scotland
The Rt Hon Jim Murphy
The London Conference on combating Anti-Semitism
The Royal Banqueting House London
16 February 2009
Good Evening Your Excellency (Sgr Franco Frattini, Italian Foreign Minister), fellow parliamentarians, Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am delighted to welcome you all to the Royal Banqueting House for this evening's dinner. I know that those here tonight have come together from the United Kingdom, Europe and across the globe. I appreciate that you are the midpoint of your conference and I hope that you all enjoyed the reception across at the road at No 10.
When I gave my support for this conference last year I was Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office but the political world doesn't stay settled for long. I am speaking to you now as Secretary of State for Scotland, a post I took over in October last year. My new role has given me exciting outreach opportunities - to meet religious leaders and groups from the wide range of faiths in Scotland.
Earlier today, I was in Edinburgh meeting with leaders from the Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic Church, the Islamic and Jewish communities.
We signed a joint statement encouraging Scots from all faith communities to turn out to vote in June's European election. Given the record of poor voter turnout in previous European elections we do not want extremist parties to win a greater share of the vote and become the focus of greater attention.
The evils of prejudice and hate still stain our society. As we know only too well anti-semitism is not a new phenomenon.
Utilitarian Anti-Semitism
The Jew of the anti-Semites destructive imagination is simultaneously weak and inferior while also being all powerful. And there always seems to be a utilitarian purpose for theories of anti-semitism.
Jews were blamed for the Napoleonic, First and Second World Wars. During the Russian Civil War, Jews were interchangeably portrayed as being behind the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary White forces. White officers circulated the fraudulent late 19th century tome The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Bloody pogroms followed in the wake of the armies.
In Nazi hate propaganda a sinister alliance of sub-human Jewish-Bolsheviks and plutocratic Jewish capitalists sought Jewish World Domination.
The utilitarian function is what is different from the discrimination and violence against other faiths in the past. Anti-Semitism has both predated and outlived many, if not all, other reactionary instincts.
There are of course divergent philosophies which still attempt to legitimise anti-semitism. These include extremists from both left and right as well as some from other faiths.
The extreme Right, such as the NF and BNP has at least two ways to rationalise its stand.
Firstly, its tangible hatred of 'the other' ¿ be it Jew, Muslim or indeed anyone different. Every society has its other ¿ visibly, culturally, ethnically or religiously different individuals in communities that helps a society form its own identity. For long periods in Europe the Jews were the only substantial other. But the Hard Right view of supremacy based on demonising the other is twisted logic.
The Jewish community, of course, understands only too well the destructive power of the myth of the other. Discarded from societies as a pollutant and contaminator.
The second motivation has always been the Extreme Right's (and a tiny minority on the revolutionary Left) conspiring to create a conspiracy theory of influence.
For the extreme Left I would argue that it is their unresolved relationship with Israel which drives their philosophy.
Anti-semitism and Israel
I believe that you can be critical of Israel and Zionism without being an anti-semite. It is one of our greatest strengths in our democracy that we can argue passionately about the Middle East. But with that freedom comes a responsibility and on occasion some have gone beyond criticism of Israel into the entirely darker sphere of anti-Semitism.
But in addition to the anti-Semitism of political extremism there is also of course the anti-Semitic pulse from a minority in the Islamic world. President Ahmadinejad of Iran is the highest profile proponent with his calls to wipe out Israel and his Holocaust denial but he is not alone. Sections of the Islamic media tolerate and occasionally advocate anti-Semitism.
The Community Security Trust monitors anti-Semitic attacks. Their data is disturbing. In the four weeks following the launch of Israel's operation Cast Lead in Gaza they reported an eightfold increase in anti-semitic incidents in Britain compared with the same period a year earlier. Jews have been assaulted and threatened in the street. Synagogues were attacked by arsonists. Vile graffiti such as 'Kill the Jews' appeared in Jewish neighbourhoods.
A feature at some London events to protest against Israel's actions in Gaza were multiple placards showing the Jewish Star of David alongside the Swastika.
This repetitive, irresponsible message, dubbing Israel a Nazi state, will only lead to further attacks, often carried out by those with minimal historical knowledge.
Politicians should know better. We must stand together against this worrying trend. Vigorous debate over the Middle East is part of British life.
But it must not descend into hatred. We must stand up to hatred. That is why it was important that the UK Government passed the Racial and Religious Hatred Act of 2006 which made it an offence to use threatening words or behaviour with the intention of stirring up hatred against groups because of their religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs.
In recent years, alongside legislation, there have been great strides in our never ending work in education and awareness. Since 2000, we have commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.
Younger generations now see the places of evil. The visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau organised by the Holocaust Education Trust are funded in part by the UK Government. I have helped organise these trips from Scotland. Boisterous teenagers board the flight to Poland reading celebrity magazines and discussing their weekend plans. A mere twelve hours later they board the flight home changed. Many describe it as the most important day of their young lives. One of the visits I organised involved a group of young Muslim men. They were humbled and said that some of their friends had said that the Holocaust was exaggerated. They vowed never again would they allow that lie to be told.
All good people had expected that anti-semitism which had reached its catastrophic nadir at the 'Arbeit macht frei' gates would also end there. And how could a sentiment that led to industrialised mass murder survive? But as we are only too well aware anti-semitism in word or action still scars the globalised world on a daily basis.
In a globalised world there are fresh challenges in the ongoing fight against this evil sentiment. The pace of political, cultural and technological globalisation is unprecedented and will quicken further. In a global downturn there will always be some groups or individuals looking for scapegoats. So the internet provides an unprecedented means of instantaneous worldwide exchange of the latest supposed proof of an international Jewish conspiracy.
The Government promotes tolerance and coexistence and condemns anti-semitic attacks and hate crime in all of its forms.
Bodies such as the Pears Foundation have contributed so much to Holocaust education. Interfaith groups make a real impact bringing communities together. Sir Sigmund Sternberg's Three Faiths Forum has the admirable objective of widening horizons, confronting prejudice and encouraging harmony.
Lord Janner
The remarkable man we are honouring this evening has worked tirelessly throughout his career to combat the scourge of anti-Semitism and foster good relations between different faiths.
Lord Janner of Braunstone QC was born Greville Janner in Cardiff in 1928. When Nazi invasion threatened in 1940 he was evacuated to Canada. His father Sir Barnett Janner MP was on a Gestapo death list.
Returning to Britain in 1944 to finish his schooling, he then did his National Service, working as Britain's youngest war crimes investigator in occupied Germany.
At Cambridge University in the early 1950s he excelled. He combined reading Law at Trinity Hall with the presidency of the Union and the chair of the university Union Labour Club.
Called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1954, he nonetheless always wanted to enter politics. In 1970, he followed his father as MP for Leicester North West. He then represented Leicester West from 1974 to 1997.
Lord Janner's prominent role in public life has taken numerous forms.
We know that he was President of the Board of Deputies for British Jew from 1979 to 1985. He campaigned long and hard for the compensation and restitution of Holocaust victims, culminating in the 1997 London conference on Nazi Looted Gold. In Leicester, he campaigned for disabled constituents and in 1972 obtained government assistance for the city when 20,000 penniless refugees suddenly arrived from Kenya and Uganda.
Lord Janner is a man of many and varied parts. Not only has he written some 70 books, including the famed Janner on Speechwriting, but he also speaks nine languages! As a member of the Magic Circle and International Brotherhood of Magicians I am sure that he always has a trick up his sleave in the House of Lords.
He has continued his work promoting interfaith relations. In 2005 he founded, together with Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan, the Political Council for Coexistence which brings together Jewish and Muslim parliamentarians. He remains the joint president.
I am sure that we are all proud this evening to present a Lifetime Achievement award to Lord Janner.
Date: 16 Feb 2009