The Far Right: Jewish Vote, Jewish Voice
Written by John Speyer Monday, 26 April 2010
John Speyer, Chair of Sheffield and District Reform Jewish Congregation on the threat of the far right in the forthcoming General Election.Amidst the clamour of voices and messages competing for voters’ favour during the seemingly interminable general election campaign is one issue on which all Jews must surely agree: the threat of the far right.
For some, this may seem a marginal issue. Isn’t the big story the economy? Isn’t the far right a sideshow, a passing protest vote, a little local trouble?
At the moment, far right ideologies aren't represented at Westminster. However extremists have won election to the Greater London Assembly and the European Parliament, as well as winning over 50 local council seats. As well as scale, this is about fundamental values. The far right foment fear and stir up hatred. They blame and victimise. The Muslim community is now under attack, its faith demonised, demonstrations and violent attacks on the rise, a whole community branded as the enemy within. As Jews, we surely recognise this only too well from our own history. We also know that the neo-Nazi roots of this populist fascism run deep and that our own freedoms are threatened too.
And as Reform Jews, we are committed to equality and inclusivity and need to be prepared to defend these principles.
At election time it’s clear what must be done: raise the turnout. It’s well known that fringe parties do much better on as low turnout. So at a time of unparalleled cynicism about politics (those MEPs were elected on a particularly low turnout), it is critical to get people to come out and vote.
For a start there is the Jewish vote. Synagogues can encourage their members to register and vote. We can all remind families and friends. A vote for any mainstream party is a vote against extremism and intolerance.
But more powerful than the Jewish vote is the Jewish voice. In most areas the Jewish vote is small. But the Holocaust gives us a distinct and authoritative voice on these issues. We can say: “We know where this kind of thing leads. We remember.” And everyone knows this is true.
We can also do most by working with other faith communities. This is because opposition to the far right is widely spread and working together is always more powerful; because faith is actually the battleground, with the far right’s choice of a religious community as scapegoat and their outrageous claim to speak for the Christian majority; and because Church and other faith leaders have a moral authority far outside their own congregations.
In Sheffield people from the Reform synagogue have done their bit to help bring faith leaders and communities together around these issues. We have worked closely with colleagues from churches and other minority faith communities, and the single-issue Unite Against Fascism campaign, to raise awareness and turnout in the city as a whole. Together we’ve built networks, done media work, put on events. Recently this joint work gave rise to a partnership which secured some funding to employ a small staff team to develop this work across South Yorkshire.
As time has gone on, more people from our community have got involved. For example, a group of committed volunteers from our own congregation joins leafleting days. Early on, we checked the Charity Commission rules on political activity; these encourage charities to engage politically within certain constraints (contrary to the widespread misconception that charities may not do anything political), which we comply with. When we updated our constitution a few years ago we made sure our charitable objects allowed us to do this work. And at our last AGM we passed a resolution supporting the continuation of this work, privately and publicly, as a normal and regular part of the work of our synagogue.
We are a tiny community with limited resources, but I am proud that we have stood up and been counted.
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