What the Golders Green Tragedy Revealed about Power in the UK

A terrible event took place on the 30^th of April in Golders’ Green, London. A man tried to murder two people with a knife. The Metropolitan Police publicly stated the man had been charged with terrorism and attempted murder. Thankfully, all victims survived, and the culprit was taken into custody and also to hospital. 

The two victims were Jewish, although the man did not seem to have been charged with an aggravating factor (religious or racial). His case is not simple – he had also tried to murder a Muslim man earlier that day. That is about as much as I can say about the actual event – I’m not the police case worker.  

Instead, I want to focus on something I can write about – namely, the reactions by the powers-that-be. Some called for greater solidarity with Jewish communities. Keir Starmer chastised British people for failing to empathise with Jewish people; the Guardian Editorial stated British people needed to do more to challenge antisemitism; MP Sarah Sackman asked British people “to call our (Jewish) neighbours. Listen to their experiences”. 

There were also calls to action in response to the event. David Rich, director of the Community Security Trust, wrote that the Golders’ Green attack was a logical conclusion of rising “violent language and antisemitism” in the UK. He recommended that the state “address the ideas” that he believes cause antisemitic attacks using “every lever available” i.e. reducing funding for antisemitic artists or banning them from performing at certain venues. 

I question how anyone can extrapolate from the tragedy that the British population has failed to adequately “show empathy” or “challenge” antisemitism in everyday lives. I also question how those, such as David Rich, deduce that if artists such as Bob Vylan or Kneecap were financially targeted, then instances of hate crimes would be reduced – especially considering he speaks only in terms of the offence of antisemitism (not defined in UK law). 

Were I policymaking in response to this event, I would probably zoom out. Since 2020, recorded hate crime incidents across all five protected groups have risen. What caused that long-term increase in incidents of hate crime across all protected groups, including-but-not-specific-to Jewish people? 

I would probably find that the medium-term increase is caused by gradual changes in wider society. When I found out that people who commit hate crimes are typically young men with poor impulse control, a random opportunity to commit a crime, previous criminal records, and evidently unaddressed mental health issues, then I would have to deal with the issues which exacerbates these motivations. 

I would have to stop pushing the stereotype of hate crime offenders as being violent and ideological Islamists and instead figure out how to change the behaviours of young men in environments of abuse or neglect, instability, marginalisation, criminality, and poor social mobility. I would also need to ensure health and justice systems are adequately resourced. 

However, I am not in a position to influence relevant policymaking. Those who are instead have decided on a route which sounds a lot more thrilling than my one. The Labour Party has spun an emotional fairytale where a British public, who has shrugged off Jewish experiences, has an epiphany, rings Jewish people’s phones en masse to hear their traumas, and walks contemplatively into the sunset with newfound wisdom, or something. 

In Shabana Mahmood’s world, the UK is under siege from a rising tide of Islamist and right-wing terrorists, and the Home Office must increase funding for extra security measures in Jewish neighbourhoods. She also needs powers to unilaterally proscribe organisations suspected of acting in the interests of foreign states, which is somehow a related issue to Golders’ Green. 

Media outlets feel free to ham up the rising antisemitic threat, stirring Boy George’s experience at Golders’ Green into an article with fears about pro-Palestine marches. Kemi Badenoch declares an “epidemic” of antisemitism. The government’s adviser on terrorism can similarly and irresponsibly announce there is a “national emergency” of antisemitism. 

The main questions I have are whether the powers-that-be actually know or care about what to do to prevent and reduce rises in hate crime. Can the powers-that-be actually implement a real solution to rising incidents of hate crime? If they can’t, have they just resigned themselves to having situationally ironic craic?

My answer is that some of them probably know and care about preventing hate crime, but they cannot implement an actual solution. They have no money to do so, because others would rather use that money to have the situationally ironic craic, or indulge emotional fairytales, aesthetics, power, and greed. That is the second tragedy of Golders’ Green.

Image: Flickr/No 10 Downing Street (Simon Dawson)

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