In January 2025, The Runnymede Trust published Facing antisemitism: the struggle for safety and solidarity, a new report on antisemitism in the UK by Professor David Feldman, Dr Ben Gidley, and Dr Brendan McGeever of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism.
Situated in a post-7 October 2023 context, the report argues that “antisemitism is deeply embedded into our common culture…as a reservoir of racist stereotypes and narratives about Jewish people, which are normalised and widespread.” Through this analytical lens, the authors examine the manifestations of antisemitism today and engage the politics of anti-antisemitism as practiced by the Jewish community, the state, and the left.
The report concludes that the current approach to combating antisemitism in the UK is not working. The authors call for the UK government and wider anti-racist organisations to “move beyond framing and discussing antisemitism in ways that pit communities against one another, prohibit solidarity and encourage division” and to adopt a “360-degree antiracism” that develops alliances between Jewish people and other racialised minorities.
Professor Feldman, Dr Gidley, and Dr McGeever recently spoke to Vashti about Facing antisemitism. In a wide-ranging interview, the authors discuss the framing of their report, the concept of “the reservoir of antisemitism”, and address possible points of contention in their analysis of the relationship between Zionism and anti-racism.
Interview by Matthew Gordon. ….more
