Back to school

The recent report  on a horrendous anti-Semitic attack on pupils from JFS, Europe’s largest Jewish school, shocked me for two reasons. Nicole Lampert described vividly how 10 or so teenagers from another school pelted rocks and rubbish at two school buses containing JFS pupils. The perpetrators also shouted “f*ck Israel” at them. Then four teenagers jumped on to one of the buses, swore at the JFS pupils and filmed them.

For me the second shock, perhaps more of a surprise than the first, was a common reaction to the incident among those who were appalled by it. After noting it was terrible many went on to argue that things had always been this way. From their perspective physical attacks on schoolchildren were an eternal part of Jewish life.

In this instance my own experience contradicts such claims. I was a JFS pupil way back in the 1970s and from my recollection the differences from today are more striking than the similarities. It is true that the relationship between the school and the wider community was not incident-free back then but it differed in two important ways. Many of the incidents then seemed to me to be a result of parochialism and plain teenage bad behaviour rather than anti-Semitism. Also Israel was not a contested political issue among the wider public in the 1970s. Hostility to Israel had started to grow in far left political circles but it had not permeated down to the level of local teenagers.

I was in a strong position to observe the situation back then. That was partly because, although the school was in Camden, my travelcard only took me as far as nearby Kentish Town station (pictured). As a result there were relatively few JFS pupils around on the first leg of my way home before I headed home to north London. 

As is always the case with history it is necessary to know something about the context. Back then the school was based in the inner London district of Camden while most of the pupils lived in east and north London. A high proportion (although not all) of the JFS pupils were from middle class backgrounds. In contrast, the local area was largely (although not entirely) working class. JFS pupils also stood out visually as we had to wear bright blue blazers.

The first incident I was involved in was when I was sucker-punched in the face while walking through Kentish Town. I would have been just over 11 and the boy who struck me was much older. After I naively looked down at my watch when he asked me the time he hit me. Fortunately he did not follow up with any kicks and I do not recall him saying anything else. After a short while I got up and walked away.

Soon after that I started carrying a pen knife in my right pocket in case I needed to use it in an emergency ( I am reminded of this every time there is an item on knife crime in the news). After a while I realised possessing a potential weapon could get me into trouble so I took to carrying a steel Parker pen instead. I think someone must have given it to me as a gift. I figured it could do a lot of damage to an assailant but it would be a normal item for a nerdy schoolboy to carry. I am not sure I could have used it in an extreme situation but fortunately I was never tested.

The only other incident of direct physical contact I remember was a few years later when I was walking to Camden Town with a friend. Two boys ran up behind us, pushed us over then ran away. By the time we had stood up, which was not long, they had disappeared into the distance. My friend and I brushed ourselves down and carried on walking.

There were also some near misses. One boy was menacing towards me but when I pointed out a policeman was standing nearby he walked away. I was also once called “Jew boy” – an insult that seems to have fallen out of favour nowadays – but I do not recall the context. Another time boys from a nearby school – I think Holloway – climbed into the school playground but they ran off when they were confronted by a PE (physical education) teacher.

Once I was stopped by a group of boys who demanded to know whether the security guards who had recently been posted at the school were armed. A little context is necessary here too. At some point – I forget the details – security guards started to be stationed at the school after a series of terrorist attacks on Jewish targets. At the time it was highly unusual if not unique for schools to have such protection. In any event I told the boys confronting me that the guards definitely had guns. I knew it was untrue but I figured that was what the local teenagers wanted to hear so it would work in my favour. Fortunately my bluff paid off as the boys seemed pleased I had confirmed their suspicions. They were always friendly towards me when I bumped into them after that.

To put this into context this all happened over a period of seven years. I cannot say for sure but if I had gone to a regular local school I may well have had a similar number of physical confrontations or perhaps even more. Having said that, some things were unusual. For example, schools are not normally considered possible terrorist targets.

It is also not clear that the two physical attacks on me were motivated by anti-Semitism. To me it seemed just as likely they were the result of petty teenager misbehaviour. It is impossible to be sure either way. By the mid-1970s there was also a lot of talk about the rise of the far right but I never saw any sign of it in the local area.

It is also hard to imagine back then that school age kids, even anti-Semitic ones, would refer to Israel in an insult. By that time Israel was already being demonised in far left political circles but the sentiment did not exist at street level. I certainly never heard anyone say “f*ck Israel” or make any equivalent insult.

Admittedly I am referring here to my experience as one individual. Others may have had different encounters. But from extensive discussions with school friends I did not hear any reports of anyone being seriously hurt in any incidents. Nor were there any references to insults from local kids which referenced Israel.

I know that many of my peers would disagree with my account. There was already a significant element who thought anti-Semitism was rife in Britain at that time. In fact I recently saw a Facebook post along these lines from a peer of mine who migrated to Israel at the age of 18. She said that she was not surprised that the Nazis (her term) were taking over Britain now even though she believed there were still many decent Britons.

For me it is important to stand firm against the idea that the terrible recent developments resemble those of the relatively distant past. This has nothing to do with nostalgia on my part. In my view we need to understand what is specific about today to effectively counter contemporary anti-Semitism.

Overt anti-Semitism was mercifully rare in Britain in the period following the horrors of the Holocaust in mainland Europe. That does not mean it did not exist but it was generally at the margins. Things started to change significantly at the turn of the century. It was then that anti-Semitism in the relatively disguised form of a visceral hatred of Israel started to become more prominent. 

Another upshift became apparent after the 7 October pogrom in southern Israel. In certain circles it because increasingly acceptable to hate Jews openly again. The shocking attack on the JFS school buses was, tragically, one example of how things have changed for the worse in the recent period.

Nevertheless it is vital to get the balance right on discussions of this topic. To try to get some sense of what proportion of the general population are hostile, what proportion are supportive and how many are simply passive.

Portraying the recent assault on JFS pupils as part of a long unbroken chain of events diminishes the horror of the assault. It also makes it harder to get an accurate take on the strength of anti-Semitism in Britain today.

Photo: "Kentish Town stn building" by Sunil060902 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.