Rally: Free Speech on Palestine !! No to Anti-Semitism!! 
Sunday 16th September at 12 noon
In front of Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PDStatement  by organising group, who are a group of Jewish people in Manchester, who have come together for the purpose of responding, in the most reasoned way to the current debate.

We invite all people from all walks of life to come and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

We are a diverse group of Jewish residents of Manchester who have come together to challenge the well- publicised campaign of the Board of Deputies, prominent Labour Party members and the organisers of the “Say No to Anti-Semitism” rally in Manchester. Although anti-Semitism is said to be rising, it is not part of our lived, every day experience. There are many Jewish communities, we are not all the same and we do not feel represented by the organisers of the rally.

We live in a richly multi-ethnic city which has serious problems of racism and social exclusion, but we have come together to celebrate our cohesion in campaigns like We Stand Together. The fight against anti-Semitism should go hand in hand with a more active involvement of the Jewish establishment in fighting racism and in support of refugees.

We celebrate, as Jews, our long tradition of internationalism and support for the poor and oppressed at home and abroad, built on our collective memory of anti-Semitism, ethnic cleansing, seeking refuge – and mutual aid. We worry that the effect of the negative campaign “Enough is Enough” will divide, rather than unite us. With the exaggeration of the extent of anti-Semitism in British life, it instils unnecessary fear in the Jewish population in the UK. It also detracts attention from the real threats of anti-Semitism, from the increasingly well-funded alt-right in the USA, in far-right organisations in Britain, and in explicitly anti-Semitic European governing parties (e.g.in Poland and Hungary). The virulence of their well-publicised diatribes of Jewish leaders has the effect of silencing Palestinian voices and denying a platform to supporters of Palestinian rights. Whilst in Gaza since March 30th, over 170 Palestinian protesters, mostly displaced refugees, were killed by the Israeli military and more than 18,000 wounded, including medics, journalists, disabled people and many children. Meanwhile Israel’s brutal and entirely racist decades-long military occupation of Palestine continues.

The well-documented abuses of human rights by the Israeli government, contravening international law, need to be called out. Jews should be standing together with Palestinians now. To fight hate and racism in all of its forms, even when it is in our own communities.

We urge you, people of all faiths or none at all, to join us this Sunday 16th September at 12pm outside the Central Library to stand united against all forms of racism. Show the wider Manchester community that there are many Jewish people who reject racism and anti-Semitism, support free speech on Palestine and Israel and wish for an end to Israel’s violent subjugation of the Palestinian people.