'Your Time Is Finished!' Facing Shocking Antisemitism, British Jews Prepare to Leave

LONDON – In Britain today, one only needs to watch anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrations to hear where the nation is headed. An angry man calls Zionists "filthy animals." A man with a bullhorn bellows at passersby, "Like obedient sheep, you obey Israel." Another protestor says on camera, "This whole condemning Hamas, I'm not going to condemn them. And Israel doesn't exist." And an angry woman in a burqa shrieks at Jewish protestors, "Your time is finished. You're finished!

Most British Jews now believe they no longer have a future here. Recent polling has also found that most hide their Jewishness in public and do not feel welcome in the United Kingdom.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism says, "A lot of people have talked about whether they have a future in this country. Do I think the Jewish community in the UK is going to evaporate? No. But I do think there is a sizable conversation now happening within the community of people saying, 'Hey, is this the place that we've got a future?'"

There were nearly 2,000 antisemitic incidents reported in the first half of 2024 – the highest number ever recorded for a six-month period. Nine out of ten British Jews say the government is not doing enough to stop the violence and discrimination.  

Jewish investigative journalist David Collier says, "I know some who left. I know some who are actively, seriously looking at leaving."

And Collier says he constantly feels the anti-Jewish hate. "I get death threats every single day. But I'm also being contacted by Jews either who are having trouble at work, at home, students..."

Campaign for Antisemitism interviewed Jewish Oxford students who said, "The amount of antisemitism we've had in Oxford last year has been really awful. We've had swastikas. We've had Jews being accused of 'weaponizing antisemitism.' We've been told we're not welcome at the university. We've had people chased down the street."

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Collier says the Jew hatred continues to worsen. "It's been escalating. And this is the big message. It's about the escalation, you know. It's getting gradually worse. October the 7th was a tipping point, and we saw a sudden rush," Collier said. 

This is all happening in a nation where the adopted national song is "Jerusalem."

In the song "Jerusalem" the British sing, "We will not cease until we have built Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land." But this Judeo-Christian connection, which goes back centuries, has begun to fray. 

Polling shows British Jews consider Islamists to be the most serious threat, and in a close second is the far-Left. Falter adds that the nation's young people are being indoctrinated against Jews.

"We are seeing young people who believe that they are doing a righteous thing by discriminating," Falter said. "They are becoming radicalized on the internet. They are imbibing bigotries that their parents themselves don't have. And then they're teaching this from one kid to another kid. And so, we've got a generation which is extremely hateful and not just hateful. They're extremists."

Some non-Jews see the danger and are publicly supporting Britain's Jews. Mark Birbeck began the group Our Fight after he witnessed the lack of public support for Jews and Israel following October 7th.

Birbeck said he felt "Complete shock at the lack of empathy that people had for the Israeli people, the Jewish people, after October the 7th. In that period, a few of us were going to these vigils that were being organized by the Jewish community and sort of thought, 'We have to do something.'"

Another group supporting Britain's Jews is Christian Action Against Antisemitism, led by Pastors Tim and Hayley Guttmann. Tim told us, "We passionately believe we owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people, and want them to know that we're with them, and as Christians, we love them, we stand with them, we pray for them and support them."

David Collier is afraid demographics have already decided the future course of Britain's Jews. The most popular name for baby boys in Britain today is Mohammed. 

Collier says, "The entire dynamic has changed. The entire atmosphere has changed both towards Israel and in extension, towards the Jewish community. It's completely different. It's a different country with a different demographic, a different outlook. Everything about it is different. You're talking to these Jewish people and you know that things are only going to get worse for them, not better. There's no, there's no way back for the United Kingdom from this point. As far as I see, no way back."

Falter has decided to stand for the future, with the hope that more non-Jews will join him. 

"I think a lot of people don't realize how antisemitism relates to them," Falter said. "They don't see it as something that's going to actually hit home, hit them. Whatever happens with antisemitism in this country, if extremism continues to surge in the way that it is now, this country's in for dark days... And so is the West."