Europe ‘dangerous ground for Jews’
WHILE Jews in parts of France, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands appear to have more to fear from Islamist terrorism than Jews in Britain, there is an increasing risk for Jews throughout Europe from radicalised Muslims and ineffectual government action against them, according to British journalist, broadcaster and author Melanie Phillips.
Commenting to The AJN from London, Phillips, who will be in Australia for the United Israel Appeal (UIA) this month, said the Paris terror attacks were part of a “troubling history of anti-Jewish attitudes”.
“However, I believe that indifference or blindness to Jewish victimisation is not particular to France but is a more general European phenomenon rooted in both specific Holocaust guilt and a more general aversion to confronting the culturally-rooted European dislike and resentment of Jews,” she said.
Israel is receiving a large wave of Jewish immigration from France “because life there has become an intolerable risk for Jews” but “that point has not been reached in Britain”, she said.
However, a Paris-style attack in the UK is very much on the cards, she added. “London has already experienced a near-beheading in broad daylight by two Islamic fanatics, and numerous Islamist terror plots are being constantly monitored and disrupted. The UK security service has issued chilling warnings that such attacks are almost inevitable.”
Turning to the Martin Place terrorist siege and attempts to portray Sydney gunman Man Haron Monis as simply an unstable “lone wolf”, Phillips said: “Some of these ‘lone wolves’ are indeed clearly mentally unstable. However, these attacks are nevertheless all linked by jihadi aims. The question therefore is why radical Islam appears to have such disproportionate success in attracting and recruiting mentally unstable people.”
Phillips’ weekly column, which appears in The Times, has been featured over the years in the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times and Daily Mail. Her best-selling book Londonistan, about the British establishment’s capitulation to Islamist radicalism, was published in 2006.
Melanie Phillips will address a UIA-Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council public forum on February 26. Contact 03 9272 5533, info@uiavic.org
She will address two events of the UIA Women’s Division in NSW on February 24. Contact 02 9361 4273, info@uiansw.org.au
PETER KOHN
Melanie Phillips will be in Australia for the United Israel Appeal this month.
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