Do you have any Jewish friends? Do you know any Jewish people?
- May 10
- 2 min read
These two questions - the first by Daily Telegraph journalist Suzanne Moore and the second by Culture Club pop star Boy George – were asked in the wake of the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, north London on 29th April.
Both people are, admirably, calling for solidarity and support for the British Jewish community.
But I have a problem with the basic presumption of both questions.
First, from a purely mathematical point of view. The Jewish community in Britain numbers less than 280,000, most of them in London and our other big cities. With a national population approaching 70 million, it’s highly likely that most people have never met anyone Jewish.
But why would you need to? Does it matter? Should it matter?
In my view, the answer is a resounding no.
If we have brought up and educated our children to be civilised people with a good character and a humane personality and outlook, then it doesn’t matter a jot whether they know any Jews or not.
Jews do not have to pass our ‘test’ of friendship or neighbourliness. They do not have to prove themselves worthy of our approval.
The test, if there is one, is on us all – individually. Are we of sufficiently good character and personality to show respect to all people, whoever they are, whatever their religion and background, even when we do not know them personally?
In my view, racism starts with a catastrophic failure of human character and a deep personality flaw – but as we know, it does not end there.
Educating our children to understand the need to promote fundamental British values - like mutual respect and tolerance for people with different faiths - goes someway to ameliorating the effects of racism, but we also need to educate our children to understand the role of the rule of law too - in ruthlessly punishing perpetrators.
So, I urge you to ask your class this week:
Do you have any Jewish friends? Do you know any Jewish people? Should it matter whether you do or not?
Alan Newland is the author of ‘Becoming a Teacher’ - available worldwide on Amazon.
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