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  • I think in the UK, people are just sort of reckoning now with

  • the existence of anti-Semitism and I think that,

  • that sort of self-interrogation is very difficult for people.

  • I think it's an identity crisis in the UK - people understanding

  • that anti-Semitism does in fact exist.

  • I have experienced anti-Semitism from people who are on the far left

  • and the far right, and people who are black and white, men and women.

  • Anti-Semitism is not restricted to one party or gender or race.

  • Anti-Semitism is for everybody.

  • This is a news clip from the late-1950s.

  • A swastika got painted on a synagogue in Leeds.

  • Finally, are you worried?

  • No, not in the least, there's nothing to be worried about -

  • one ignores these things.

  • I think that's so British, to just be Iike,

  • "Yes, there's nothing to worry about, one ignores these things."

  • But I also think that's sort of the reason that...

  • The vast majority of people are not actively anti-Semitic.

  • And when anti-Semitic stuff like that did happen,

  • and for many years when it has happened, it's sort of like,

  • "Oh well, we'll wash it off the wall and get on with business as usual."

  • And now that it's back in the forefront, I think it's shocking for

  • people precisely because it is the kind of thing that

  • you would move past.

  • It's so interesting to watch this, because this feels like

  • 1930's rhetoric.

  • This Orban speech sums up so much of anti-Semitic rhetoric,

  • because he says,

  • "Not open, but hiding. Not straightforward, but crafty."

  • And then he goes, "Not national, but international."

  • It's that tie between nationalism and anti-Semitism

  • that Jews are somehow not from here - they don't belong here.

  • They're part of this global cabal,

  • that's here to take stuff away from us.

  • And always the crafty thing.

  • There's no way to describe Jews that doesn't sound ludicrous

  • when they go into sort of that stereotype they're like,

  • "They're crafty" or "They're sneaky" "They're wily."

  • I think Jews get bludgeoned with Israel sometimes.

  • I think Israel is like a very weird lead pipe for a lot of people

  • they're just like,

  • "Well, you're Jewish, so explain this Israeli policy."

  • And you're like, "Well, I don't know if I 100% agree with that policy,

  • because, you know...

  • And they're like, "Well, then do you think Israel shouldn't exist?"

  • And you're like, "Well no. That's not what I said either."

  • Israel is a very complicated issue,

  • and it is the only sort of Jewish homeland on earth

  • so for that reason, Jews do have a special affiliation with it.

  • And it is a place, by the way, where I love my time in Israel,

  • because it is one of the only places where I do not feel

  • othered for being Jewish.

  • I've taken issue with many of its policies in the same way that

  • I take issue with many of the UK's policies and many American policies.

  • But I do think...

  • ...or it's used to justify anti-Semitism.

  • My favorite quote about anti-Semitism is this Jean-Paul Sartre quote,

  • which is that...

  • ...and I think about that all the time.

  • I do think that a good way to reduce anti-Semitism

  • is for people to understand that Jew is a label

  • or Jew as a type is a label that is entirely constructed.

  • It doesn't mean that you are a type of person or a certain way.

  • There is a strong heritage which you may opt into if you so choose.

  • I think it's crucial for people to understand that Jews are complicated

  • in the same way that everybody else is.

  • There are rich Jews and poor Jews, and Jews who are educated,

  • and Jews who are not.

  • And if you think all Jews are sort of powerful and educated and rich,

  • I have a bunch of cousins that you should meet,

  • because it's not the case.

I think in the UK, people are just sort of reckoning now with

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