Jews in the UK

[Supreme]

British Jews (often referred to collectively as Anglo-Jewry) are British people of Jewish descent who maintain a connection to the Jewish community[citation needed], with or without actively practising Judaism. The United Kingdom contains the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide.[1] British Jews span a range of religious affiliations.

British Jews - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here in the UK, we have the fifth largest Jewish population in the world- around 300,000 people (or 0.5% of Brits) profess Judaism as their religion. It is the fourth largest religion in this country, after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. We have around 450 synagogues in this country. In London alone (my city), we have thousands of Jews, particularly in northern London. We have the largest Orthodox synagogue in Europe. I myself have Jewish ancestry- my grandad is Jewish (albeit a convert to Baptist Christianity, but one is Jewish if their mother is, and his mother and father were Jews). Sadly, Judaism has had a long history of anti semitism in this country, although I'm proud to announce that most British people are beyond such nonsense nowadays.

Now, the purpose of this thread.

1) To all British people who frequent here, have you Jewish ancestry? And do you appreciate the contributions Jews have made to British society?
2) To Jews, do you see Britain as a Jewish friendly country? And if you've visited Britain, do you feel that Jews are valued here?
3) To everyone, do you recognize the Jewish history of Britain? And do you admire any British Jews?

Thank you

 

[Mess]

I can't comment on the now, eventhough I do have british relatives, but the British treatment of the Jews has been one of ups and downs. In fact the British kicked out the Jews, untill the arrival of Oliver Cromwell. After he died, they persecuted the Jews, untill the arrival of Dutch William. Funnily enough, the arrival of Dutch William with loads of Jewish people in his wake, saw the start of the rise of the British empire, and oddly enough the end of the Dutch empire. Now fast-forward a bit to the previous century. Seen documentaries on how the British gave the Arabs a get out of jail free card in Israel/Palestine, back when it was still under their control, to murder the Jews. Haj Amin or Mohammed Amin al-Husayni as he is called, led revolts against the Jewish people. The British allowed it, and Haj Amin had actually discussed this with them apparently. The cry went up The government is with us, KILL THE JEWS, and they did, and they were proven right. One example, was when an Arab entered a Jewish house, and slaughtered a young boy, a boy he had known for years, following the revolts he was tried in court. Eventhough his Mother saw it happen, it was ruled that there was no evidence, and he walked away free. In the same periods, the British violated the Balfour Decleration, by preventing the Jews returning to their homelands(I view Israel as the Jewish homelands), and as such added to the millions of death Jews. Even shortly before the second WW. Add to that, that after the war, they did nothing to protect the Jews as they were repeatedly slaughtered by Arabs. An instance was when a group of about a 100Jews tried to go to a hospital, and they were ambushed. A certain Colonel Churchill wanted to intervene and safe the Jewish citizens, but was stopped by his superiors. It is clear to see why the British lost their empire(afterall he who blesses the Jews shall be blessed, and those who curse the Jews shall be cursed). So in conclusion the British empire is a perfect example of that what has been said in Genesis.

 

[Booko]

3) To everyone, do you recognize the Jewish history of Britain? And do you admire any British Jews?

My knowledge of British Jewry is pretty limited, mostly to the period during the 100 Years War when it wasn't legal for Jews to even live in the UK and if they traveled there for business there were severe restrictions.

And of course I know about PM Disraeli.

I know more about the history of Jews in Poland, as my husband's family is part Polish. As far as we know no one has any Jewish ancestry in our family, but like most Americans it's not like our family history goes back very far.