Jemima Goldsmith has pleaded for Britons to unite, having personally felt the fallout from the Israel-Gaza conflict with rape and death threats sent to her and her family.
The film producer and former wife of Imran Khan, the ex-prime minister of Pakistan, is joining a vigil outside Downing Street this weekend aimed at bringing different religious communities together.
Race attacks have flared in the UK since the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October and the retaliatory Israeli bombardment and invasion of Gaza.
Writing in The Independent, Ms Goldsmith describes how her Jewish background and Muslim marriage has led to her family being targeted by both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“My Jewishness was used as a baton to beat my politician ex-husband Imran Khan, in Pakistan, where Zionist conspiracy theories about me were fabricated and fervour was whipped up by opposition politicians & by a partisan media.
Imran and Jemima Khan join a demonstration outside Downing Street— (AP)
“This led to decades of death threats and threats of rape and violence towards me and my children, which continue to this day.
“After the attack, the would-be assassin declared in his confessional video that the motive for the shooting was (Imran’s) ‘acceptance of Israel’.”
She went on: “Equally, Muslim hatred is also on the rise and it affects many people I love, including my children.”
Sunday’s vigil is being organised by Together for Humanity, a charity co-founded by the widower of Jo Cox, the MP who was murdered in 2016 by a far-right extremist. The organistaion aims “to stand against rising antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate amidst the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine”.
The meeting has been organised against the backdrop of dozens of pro-Palestine marches and demonstrations against the rise of antisemitism.
Calling for understanding on both sides, Ms Goldsmith said: “You can be horrified by Hamas’ massacre of Israelis AND condemn Israel’s ongoing killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians.
“This conflict has rendered each side deaf and impervious to the other’s suffering and fear... It’s not a competition. And if you only see one or the other, you are part of the problem.
“On Sunday we invite people to step outside their tribes, to put down their flags, and to come together at our vigil, led by Israelis and Palestinians who have lost loved ones in this conflict.”
Imran Khan and Jemima Goldsmith became engaged in 1995. Goldmsmith says her ‘Jewishness’ led to death threats— (Rex Features)
Since 7 October, the two movements are yet to march together, though both claim to stand against all racism. Jewish and Muslim protesters have been present at both forms of demonstration.
Over the last eight weeks there has been a marked rise in antisemitism and Islamophobic offences, according to the Metropolitan Police.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said that “between 7 October and 25 November 2023, we received: 909 reports of antisemitic offences and 1079 reports of antisemitic incidents. This compares with 75 offences and 82 incidents in the same period in 2022.
“We received reports relating to 420 Islamophobic offences and 433 Islamophobic incidents. This compares with 117 offences and 108 incidents in the same period in 2022.”
And this trend is evident in other areas of the country.
Greater Manchester Police said last week they had seen a “significant increase” in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia hate since the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Community Security Trust, a charity focusing on private security for British Jews at risk of antisemitism, said they “welcomed” the march on Sunday.
Police have expressed concern about rising incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia— (PA)
Spokesperson Mark Gardner told The Independent: “The increases in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hatred in Britain over the past two months have shown how important it is for everyone to actively push back against the extremist narratives that divide communities and fuel prejudice.
“This initiative is a vital and welcome effort to promote our shared values and resist the messages of hate that seek to push us further apart.”
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) said they “support” the initiative but that “it is important that calls for peace, humanity and harmony are not used to whitewash the suffering of Palestinians who are living under an illegal occupation and a brutal system of apartheid”.
A spokesperson for MAB told The Independent: “We must stand together for justice for all, and we must be united against all forms of hate.”
The spokesperson added: “Today [Friday] Israel has resumed its indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip after a pause that was, for many Palestinians, a temporary stay of execution.
“Any interfaith event must be unequivocal in calling out Israeli war crimes, calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine. Neutrality in the face of injustice cannot be an option.”
