What does Tunisia and London have in common? They both think Jews provoke antisemitism by being alive

Last week, a Jewish man in London was threatened with arrest because he was "quite openly Jewish" near an anti-Israel protest:

Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, was wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap when he was stopped by police while trying to cross a street in central London as demonstrators filed past on April 13.

One officer told Falter he was worried that the man’s “quite openly Jewish” appearance could provoke a reaction from the protesters, according to video posted by the campaign group. A second officer then told Falter he would be arrested if he refused to be escorted out of the area because he was “causing a breach of the peace.”

London’s Metropolitan Police Service on Friday afternoon apologized for the language the officer used in describing Falter’s appearance, but said counter demonstrators had to be aware “that their presence is provocative.”

The Met later deleted that apology from its social media accounts and issued a second statement.

 That first apology confirmed, rather than mitigated, the idea that walking around while Jewish provokes violence, not the violent protesters.

At least British media is up in arms about this story. 

But the Metropolitan Police have a lot in common with Tunisia, which just canceled its annual Lag B'Omer  pilgrimage for Jews to the ancient synagogue in Djerba for the same reasons - any gathering of Jews is provocative to the peace of the nation.

Tunisia decided to cancel the annual Jewish celebration held at the Djerba Synagogue on the island of Djerba...

On Saturday, the Monte Carlo International Radio website quoted Perez Trabelsi, head of the body organizing the annual visit of Jews to the Ghriba Synagogue, as confirming that the annual visit this year will be limited to limited rituals inside the temple only.

Trabelsi explained that the tense security situation and the war in Gaza cast a shadow on this event, and the decision to cancel the pilgrimage did not come out of nowhere, but rather came as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of everyone in light of the current conditions the region is witnessing. He added that Tunisia, which has a long history of supporting cultural and religious pluralism, found itself forced to make a difficult decision that reflects the magnitude of the current security challenges.

This is how antisemites win. They create an environment where Jews are unsafe, and when the cost of protecting them is too high, the authorities suddenly find reasons to ban and blame the Jews for "provoking" violence against them with the crime of breathing while Jewish.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this is that in both cases, the antisemites insist that they are not anti-Jewish at all - but everyone knows that this is a lie, or else the Jews would be free to do whatever they want to do without fear or need for protection. 

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