WATCH: Jewish activists disrupt Melanie Phillips and Douglas Murray talk
Protesters held up a 'Say no to Islamophobia' banner at the Jewish Book Week event, later criticising organisers for hosting 'speakers 'accused of spreading anti-Muslim hatred'
Four Jewish activists disrupted a talk by controversial commentators Melanie Phillips and Douglas Murray this week over Islamophobia concerns.
Both writers spoke at Tuesday’s talk, which was organised as part of Jewish Book Week, an annual festival now in its 68th year.
The Jewish Solidarity Action protesters were removed from the venue by security.
Footage released online by the group formerly known as Jews Against Boris shows activists holding up a banner marked “Say no to Islamophobia” from a balcony at the Kings Place event on Tuesday.
An activist can heard in the clip telling the speakers and audience members to stand in “solidarity with trans people.”
Tonight JSA disrupted a talk by Melanie Phillips and Douglas Murray at @JewishBookWeek because we will not stand by while our communal spaces legitimise Islamophobia and bigotry #JBW2020 pic.twitter.com/ZpqLDhgpyi
— Jewish Solidarity Action (@JewishSolidAct) March 3, 2020
A spokesperson for the campaign criticised organisers for hosting an event “with speakers who have repeatedly been accused of spreading anti-Muslim hatred.”
“At a time when many migrants and people of colour in this country feel under attack from the government, and the far-right is on the rise, it is absolutely crucial that we build safety through solidarity,” the spokesperson said.
“For Jewish Book Week to host this event sends a message that the Jewish community is not willing to stand in solidarity with our Muslim siblings against the bigotry they face in the media,” the spokesperson added.
The Jewish Chronicle sparked a backlash last year with its decision to publish an op-ed by Phillips describing the concept of Islamophobia as “profoundly anti-Jew.”
“To equate it with the dehumanising, insane and essentially murderous outpourings of Jew-hatred is obscene,” the columnist and author wrote.
A Board of Deputies statement criticised the newspaper for running the piece, describing the editorial decision as an error. “Anti-Muslim prejudice is very real and it is on the rise. Our community must stand as allies to all facing racism,” the group said.
The newspaper’s editor Stephen Pollard apologised to “any reader … angered or upset by the piece” in a statement acknowledging criticism.
He said the piece “reflects an argument about the origins and utility of the notion of Islamophobia, as opposed to anti-Muslim bigotry, that is part of political debate today. ”
Phillips told Jewish News on Wednesday: “As the audience who called for these intruders to be thrown out made very clear, their attempt to smear and intimidate stands directly against the Jewish ethic of truth-telling, reasoned discussion and resistance to bigotry.”
Meanwhile, campaigners criticised Murray, an associate editor at the Spectator, for previously describing the term Islamophobia as a “crock term.”
The writer had made the comment last year in a piece for the weekly magazine entitled “The false equivalence between ‘Islamophobia’ and antisemitism.”
Those who “wield the term”, he wrote, “seem to hope that they can present the situation of Muslims in modern Europe as so dire that they have pretty much already suffered an equal amount to the Jews of Europe in the twentieth century.”
In a tweet to campaigners on Wednesday evening, Jewish Book Week said it has “always been a platform for a diversity of voices.”
“We take pride in providing our audiences with the opportunity to hear and question different perspectives ¬- including those they may not themselves share – on the topics that matter,” the tweet read.
Murray described the disruption in a tweet on Wednesday as a “small disturbance” featuring “accusations of ‘transphobia’ and other thought crimes.”
Douglas Murray and Jewish Book Week were approached for comment.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
