We must not import the Israel / Palestine conflict into the UK

Israelis and Palestinians are deeply divided by the conflict, which affects so many aspects of their lives, and which at present is leading to many deaths.

However, the conflict also arouses passions around the world, particularly in countries with significant Jewish, Muslim, or Christian populations, due to the religious significance of the territory being disputed.

Since I helped to set up the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester in 2005, one of our key messages has been the importance of not importing the conflict into the UK.

On 16 November 2023 I visited the GB News studios to be interviewed by Richard Tice about Keir Starmer's problems with resignations from his shadow ministerial team over the Labour Party not calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. (I have appeared on GB News twice before, but those were over Zoom.)

An important benefit of visiting the studios is meeting other people in the "green room." After I had finished my interview, I met Paul Goodman, Editor of ConservativeHome, who I have known since 2009. He asked me about the impact of the conflict on community relations in Manchester. Our conversation led to my promising to write an article for him, but only after 26 November since I wanted to first see the attendance at the next Muslim Jewish Forum event.

The article was published by ConservativeHome on 28 November, and you can read it below. It attracted many comments from readers, which you can read below the article on the ConservativeHome website.

Mohammed Amin: Muslims and Jews don’t have to import the Israel and Palestine conflict into Britain

British Muslims and Jews have a number of common interests which are pursued more effectively by acting together. To list just three examples:

All of the founders understood that British Muslims and Jews have widely divergent views on Israel and Palestine. That is why many people were bemused whenever we mentioned what we were doing, asking “Don’t Muslims and Jews always fight?”

Accordingly, the purpose clause (current version reproduced below) was drafted very carefully.

It limits the Forum’s geographical coverage very tightly. Israel and Palestine are not in Greater Manchester and therefore out of scope!

Did that work?

The Forum began with significantly more Jewish attendance than Muslim attendance, even though there are about ten times as many Muslims in Greater Manchester than Jews. However, from the beginning it had reasonable Muslim attendance.

Unfortunately, a year after the Forum got going there was the 2006 second Lebanon War. Muslim attendance plummeted, almost to zero. Once the fighting was over, Muslim attendance built back up again. Then in late 2008 there was conflict in Gaza with Operation Cast Lead. Muslim attendance plummeted again, but as time passed after the conflict, it built back up again.

The history since then has been very different. Despite significant conflict in Gaza in 2012, 2014, and 2021, there was no impact on Muslim attendance at Forum events. While the Forum never says anything about the Israel/Palestine conflict itself, from time to time it finds the need to say something about the local implications. For example, in 2014 its “statement on attitudes to the conflict in Gaza” and statement about “Boycotts and protests directed at the Kedem store in Manchester.”

The current Gaza conflict

The Hamas attack into Israel on 7 October was of a scale different to anything else during the life of the Forum. Hamas killed more Jews than have died on any single day since the Holocaust. Within days, large numbers of Palestinians had been killed during the Israeli response.

This struck a chord. The following day, I appeared on the BBC 1 North West regional news (interview recorded from my hotel balcony in Spain), and on the Friday the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester issued their own statement which mentioned the Forum’s statement and quoted a sentence from it. The Forum’s leaders also made other media appearances.

Given the collapse of Muslim attendance in 2006 and 2008, I did not know whether that would repeat now, or whether attendance would hold up as occurred in later conflicts.

Last Sunday, the Forum had a panel event with two Jewish and two Muslim lawyers discussing “Does English matrimonial law betray Muslim and Jewish women?” Gratifyingly, there was excellent attendance by Muslims and Jews, as well as people of other faiths and none.

My view is that this demonstrates an increase in maturity between 2006 and now. People do understand that conflict “over there” is not a reason for division and conflict “over here.” I believe it shows that over the last 18 years, the Forum has helped to build much better links between the Muslim and Jewish communities of Greater Manchester.

Mohammed Amin MBE was a Conservative Party member for over 36 years, but is now a Liberal Democrat. While he is Co-Chair of the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester, he is writing in a personal capacity.