📺Antisemitism education campaign - I’m on BBC News today - please watch and share

Yesterday, I spoke to BBC News about my campaign to make antisemitism education mandatory in British schools. The piece is live now: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p048hy18

It will also be airing on BBC News at Six this evening — I’d love you to tune in and share it as widely as possible.

Nearly 40,000 of you have signed this petition — thank you so much. But to turn this into real change, I need you to take one more step.

Please write to your MP using the draft letter below. It takes 2 minutes, and MPs receiving emails from their own constituents is exactly the kind of pressure that forces the government to act. Find your MP at writetothem.com, paste in the letter, and send it. Once you’ve done this, please let me know by email: jonathancampaigns1@gmail.com. And if you've already emailed your MP and heard back, please send me the reply to that email address.

Please also keep sharing the petition with your friends and family and on social media — every signature counts. Let’s keep the momentum going.

Enough is enough. Education can change this.

Thank you, Jonathan

Dear (insert MP’s name),

I am writing to you because I believe that education about antisemitism should be made mandatory in schools.

A Jewish student, Jonathan Frisher, has started a petition in support of this cause, which has now gained almost 40,000 signatures. You can see the petition here: https://chng.it/DCLzkHZLkH

I also ask that you sign Early Day Motion 179, tabled by Connor Naismith MP, which congratulates Jonathan on his campaign and calls on the Government to give due consideration to the concerns raised in the petition. The EDM already has the public backing of 14 MPs.

Jonathan states: “At the synagogue I go to, the Rabbi asked the youth group how many of us had experienced antisemitism. Every single person put their hand up. Every single one of us has been discriminated against purely because we are Jewish.”

Thousands of Jewish students across the country have had the same experiences of being discriminated against because of their religion and background, and it is time for the government to act. The recent attacks targeting the Jewish community show the worrying persistence of antisemitism, and the UK government should take a lead in combating anti-Jewish discrimination through education.

Jewish people make up 0.5% of the population, but are nine times more likely to be victims of hate crime than any other faith group per capita. By implementing compulsory education about antisemitism in schools, it would teach a generation of students about anti-Jewish discrimination and help ensure that it is rooted out of our country.

Whilst it is important to recognise that Holocaust education is mandatory, this does not go far enough. If this was enough, why do antisemitic incidents remain at record levels? The reality is that current education is not sufficiently tackling contemporary antisemitism, and the Government must take further action.

Importantly, this would not be a costly or radical change to the education system. The proposal is simply for a lesson on contemporary antisemitism to be incorporated into existing teaching, providing students with a greater understanding of anti-Jewish prejudice and helping to challenge misconceptions before they become entrenched.

As my local representative in Parliament, you have the power to call for change and lend your support to this campaign. Please use your voice to support efforts to introduce mandatory education about antisemitism in schools by raising this with ministers, and sign EDM 179 to demonstrate your support for the growing number of people calling for action.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely, (Insert your name)