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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 2d

Feels like an unfortunate naming choice

Reposted by Ben Gidley

Parkes Institute @parkesinstitute.bsky.social · 2d

"Synagogue attack: the Manchester I know – by antisemitism researcher and Mancunian Jew" by Tony Kushner, James Parkes Professor of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations theconversation.com/synagogue-at...

Synagogue attack: the Manchester I know – by antisemitism researcher and Mancunian Jew

Manchester Jewry has maintained an extraordinarily strong local identity, but is notable in its diversity.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Ben Gidley

The Cockney Yiddish Podcast @cockneyyiddish.bsky.social · 4d

Today is the 89th anniversary of the #BattleofCableStreet. Find out more about the Battle and East End radical politics, poetry and song in Episode 2
@michaelrosenyes.bsky.social
@thegentleauthor.bsky.social
@misssarahwise.bsky.social
@zackpolanski.bsky.social

open.spotify.com/episode/5Xib...

2. Forverts! Politics and protest

open.spotify.com

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 2d

Powerful speech by Jasr Kawkby, a doctor and activist from Gaza, at @ukfost.bsky.social rally in support of @standing-together.bsky.social in London yesterday.

ukfost.co.uk/a-joint-isra...

“A joint Israeli-Palestinian effort is the only viable path to a lasting and just peace, and true equality.” · UK Friends of Standing Together

ukfost.co.uk

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 2d

PS among those we cite: @atossaaraxia.bsky.social @daphnelawless.com @josiahwalrus1.bsky.social @inbedwiththeright.bsky.social @diagrammes.bsky.social @kenanmalik.bsky.social @sisyphusa.bsky.social @aaronwinter.bsky.social @aurelmondon.bsky.social @tomwetzel.bsky.social @hammerandhope.bsky.social

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 3d

So @danielmang.bsky.social and I wrote something about the left in our current moment. It took us ages and ended up being rather longer than intended. Let us know what you think.

Daniel Mang @danielmang.bsky.social · 6d

Left Renewal in an Age of Waiting, by Ben Gidley and Daniel Mang – 1 October 2025 leftrenewal.org/lraw-en/

Left Renewal in an Age of Waiting, by Ben Gidley and Daniel Mang – 1 October 2025 – Left Renewal Blog

leftrenewal.org

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 3d

2) I don’t think we ever said or implied that Jews feel safer because others get less protection. Some Jews (incorrectly imho) perceive others to get *more* (“Jews don’t count”), but I’ve never heard Jews ask for others to get less, and we’ve never framed it that way.

Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 3d

However, we do know attacks on mosques are common, and rising. These are very recent examples:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

religionmediacentre.org.uk/news/we-belo...

tellmamauk.org/june-to-sept...

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 3d

While both are under-reported, lack of trust in the police and lack of awareness of reporting mechanisms mean that anti-Muslim crimes are more under-reported, and without specific mention of Islam many are simply filed under racial rather than religious hate crimes.

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 3d

1) It’s very hard to compare.

Police record “religious hate crimes” against Jews and Muslims which in 23/24 were almost identical (3,282 vs 3,866) suggesting proportionally far more targeting Jews. (24/25 will be released this week.) BUT…

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

Meanwhile, the government has competed with the right to sound tough on migrants, painting xenophobia as legitimate concern.

**I don’t want a scaling down of anti-antisemitism from our leaders; I want a scaling up of anti-racism.**

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

I think it’s literally two years since Starmer last spoke publicly about Islamophobia. This week his minister spoke about retreating from trying to define Islamophobia in case it infringed on the right to criticise Islam, a sharp contrast with the gov’s stance on IHRA…

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

In 24/25, the UK government spent £29.4 million on mosque protection, and £31.5 million on synagogue protection.

There are 14 times as many Muslims as Jews here.

As well as actual resources, we can see a disparity in rhetorical energy:

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

The public perception of Jews being very well- protected by anti-discrimination law may well have coexisted with a reality that Jews weren't actually receiving much protection at all 2015. In 2025 it’s not true in the UK. The empirical case for this is not about Holocaust remembrance:

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

In the short term, it makes Jews feel safer (vitally important in the current moment) but in the longer term may have the unintended consequence of promoting zero sum competition if other racisms aren’t also treated seriously…

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

To be clear, we do not say, as David says we do, that Jews are “over-protected”. We are NOT calling for less protection. We think heightened security measures is a necessary treatment of a symptom (antisemitic violence) but doesn’t treat the cause...

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

David (one of my favourite commentators on this issue) makes some important points in criticising our report here. bsky.app/profile/schr... My response below in the replies.

David Schraub @schraubd.bsky.social · 4d

In the wake of the Manchester attack I've seen some resurfacing of the claim that the (perception) that Jews receive an inordinate share of the gov's antidiscrim resources contributes to the (perception) that there is a "hierarchy of racism".

I think we should be very cautious about that narrative.

Perceiving the Hierarchy

As you may have seen, there was antisemitic stabbing/car ramming attack on a UK synagogue on Yom Kippur yesterday . Two Jews were killed (on...

dsadevil.blogspot.com

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

This line couldn’t be more true however; “its saturation with activists, who have a penchant for lost causes, kooky foreign-policy positions, and narcissisms of small differences”

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 4d

Reading now. Minor correction: Hussein voted AGAINST taxing private schools, a stance controversial on the left.

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 5d

Statement by University and College Union @ucu.org.uk on yesterday’s attack in Manchester

www.ucu.org.uk/article/1421...

UCU General Secretary Jo Grady said: "UCU is horrified by the appalling car and knife attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Greater Manchester during Yom Kippur.
Our deepest condolences go to the loved ones of those killed, and our thoughts are with all who have been injured or traumatised by this shocking act of antisemitic violence.
"This attack is a brutal reminder of the dangers we face when hatred is allowed to take root in society. As educators and trade unionists, we know that the greatest weapon against ignorance and prejudice is education. Colleges and universities are at the heart of building understanding, tolerance and solidarity.
"We also recognise the terrible shock and distress this will cause for many of our own members, especially those of Jewish faith. Jewish people and all communities must be able to worship, study and live free from fear. UCU stands with the Jewish community and with the people of Manchester, as we recommit ourselves to challenging antisemitism and all forms of hatred wherever they appear."

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 5d

Statement from Syrian NGOs on yesterday’s attack, including Manchester-based Rethink Rebuild Society.

www.rrsoc.org/node/1746

syrianbritish.org/statement-fr...

Cc @sundersays.bsky.social @syrianotes.bsky.social

Statement from the Syrian Community in the UK on the Tragic Attack in Crumpsall
3rd October 2025

The Syrian community in the United Kingdom extends its deepest condolences to the Jewish community in Manchester and across the UK following today's tragic stabbing at a synagogue in Crumpsall. We are horrified by this attack, and we stand in full solidarity with our Jewish neighbours as they grieve. That such violence was carried out in a sacred place of worship, and on Yom Kippur-the holiest day of the Jewish year—makes this tragedy all the more painful.
We stress unequivocally that houses of worship must remain places of peace, safety, and sanctity, never targets of hate or violence. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the Jewish community during this most difficult time.
As Syrians, we know this pain all too well. For over 15 years, Syrians of all faiths have endured devastating attacks on mosques, churches, and sacred spaces. We have buried loved ones, mourned in silence, and lived with the scars. Violence against innocent people especially in places of worship—is something we stand firmly against, wherever it happens.
At this stage, no one within our Syrian community networks—neither within nor beyond Manchester-has been able to identify the individual involved in this attack or confirm knowing him personally.
We appeal to our wider society not to allow this tragedy to give rise to racist incidents directed at Syrians, Muslims, or migrants. Violence must not be met with further division or hatred. At the same time, we hope this incident will not be misused to impose restrictions on freedom of expression—particularly the right to peacefully protest and speak out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The Syrian community stands alongside the Jewish community in rejecting violence, and we recommit ourselves to building a society where every community can live in dignity, security, and mutual trust.

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 5d

Listening to voices from Manchester on #r4today, it seems clear to me (as local resident Josh Aronson said on #R4today) that, going forward, more dialogue not more security is the solution to rising antisemitic incidents. Jewish communal spaces really couldn’t be more securitised.

Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 5d

The @bisa-bkk.bsky.social @runnymedetrust.bsky.social report on antisemitism quoted in the NYT.

@dmf101.bsky.social @brendanmcgeever.bsky.social @shabna.bsky.social

archive.is/tnICz

The Runnymede Trust, a British think tank that focuses on social justice issues, said in a recent report that the current approach to protecting Jews from hate crimes in Britain was not working, and might even have worsened the problem by creating a perception among other groups that they were not as zealously protected.
"The significant funding given by governments to protect Jewish people specifically makes Jewish communities feel safer in the short term but has given rise to perceptions that there is a hierarchy of racisms in the U.K.," wrote David Feldman, director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, which produced the report with the Runnymede Trust.
"These divisions have been made worse by the conflation of anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel with antisemitism when this is not justified," Mr. Feldman wrote in an introduction to the report. "At the same time, the left has too often failed to recognize antisemitism, let alone address it."

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 5d

The @bisa-bkk.bsky.social @runnymedetrust.bsky.social report on antisemitism quoted in the NYT.

@dmf101.bsky.social @brendanmcgeever.bsky.social @shabna.bsky.social

archive.is/tnICz

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Reposted by Ben Gidley

Na'amod @naamoduk.bsky.social · 5d

Our hearts are with the victims and their families at this terrible time.

We are heartbroken to emerge from Yom Kippur into news of the attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester. No one should face violence for attending synagogue services and our hearts are with the victims and their families at this terrible time.
For many in our community, this news may only just be reaching you after a day spent in prayer, reflection, and fasting. To be confronted with such awfulness in this moment is particularly painful: please know that you are not alone.

In moments like this, it is vital that our communities - Jewish and non-Jewish alike hold one another close. Our safety and liberation depend on solidarity between all those who are marginalised and targeted, and we must not allow those who seek to divide us to succeed. Every person deserves to live, gather, and worship in safety and dignity. We condemn this act of violence unequivocally, and restate our commitment to building a world where this kind of horror is no longer possible.

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 5d

This is such a good piece Keith. It was grim watching today how accurately you called it. My feed filled with trivialisers and victim-blamers on one hand, and those instrumentalisong pain to foment yet more division & hate on the other.

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