Chief Rabbi's far right fans
The Chief Rabbi was unwittingly hailed a hero of the far right this week after white supremacists seized on claims in his new book that multiculturalism is destroying the moral fabric of society.
In The Home We Build Together: Recreating Society, which is published today, Sir Jonathan Sacks writes that multiculturalism encourages individual ethnic groups to define themselves as victims and “has led not to integration but to segregation."
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After seeing an extract in The Times, the claim was quickly taken up by members of the far right. On the website of the Stormfront White Nationalist Community – where common topics for discussion include Holocaust denial and claims that Judaism allows Jews to kill non-Jews – the message board was buzzing with excitement. One post read: “Holy s**t! Am I seeing things? A Jew going against multiculturalism! You have to give the guy credit, everything he said is spot on. Now will the rest of this dumb country see sense?”
Another said: “Although this guy is a Jew, he is helping us out big time by releasing articles such as this one.”
On his blog, meanwhile, BNP leader Nick Griffin referred to the extract he read of the book as “a very important and welcome piece at various levels”.
That Sir Jonathan’s words could have dangerous implications were noted by Deputy Mayor of London Nicky Gavron. Writing in the Jewish News today, she said: “Attacks on multiculturalism can all too easily feed upon ignorance about other cultures and religious faiths, which can lead to intolerance. And we all have a duty to fight this.”
The Chief Rabbi also came under fire from the black human rights organisation the 1990 Trust, which accused him of deliberately courting publicity by attacking multiculturalism. The group said in a statement: “Sir Jonathan Sacks’ views come across as contradictory and confusing, calling for ‘integration without assimilation’, which is in effect multiculturalism whilst at the same time stating that multiculturalism rewarded victimhood.”
Explaining his position on ‘integration without assimilation’, Sir Jonathan told the Jewish News: “People are confused. There is no such thing as British identity and that makes integration difficult.
“Multiculturalism is a form of separation. It’s a hotel where no one belongs. Each group has its own room.”
And stressing that he was proposing the creation of a unifying culture, he said: “We need a national Britishness day and the development of a national narrative.”
Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.
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