Ray Hearne

Sir David Bell’s decision to treat antisemitism as a “distinct form of racism” in schools – separate from other racisms and requiring special safeguarding procedures to protect Jewish pupils – is exactly the approach fiercely rejected in an earlier inquiry, one also set up by Keir Starmer. Martin Forde KC was appointed in early 2020 to investigate claims of an antisemitism problem under Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer’s predecessor. Much to Starmer’s annoyance, Forde’s report, published in 2022, found that Corbyn had been largely correct that antisemitism was weaponised during his tenure as leader for factional gain, chiefly by the right of the party that Starmer had come to head. Forde also criticised the rightwing Labour bureaucracy, which had opposed Corbyn, for “in effect operating a hierarchy of racism”, privileging antisemitism while ignoring or downplaying other forms of racism. Further, he berated staff for using antisemitism for political point-scoring against the left instead of taking a serious approach to tackling antisemitism. With the help of the media, Starmer has succeeded in largely wiping Forde’s report from the record. It is almost never referenced. With the Bell review, we seem to be back to square one: the weaponisation of antisemitism to create a hierarchy of racism is being extended from politics to schools. Hidden in the report’s later pages, Bell actually notes that there has been no rise in antisemitism, observing of recent years: “Anti-Jewish attitudes are typically less prevalent and have remained more stable.” Perhaps not suprisingly, in parallel Bell points out that opposition to Israel has steadily risen during the period that the world watched Israel murdering, maiming and starving Gaza’s children. Or as the report observes: “Anti-Israel sentiments are more prevalent and have been increasing.” Bell himself points to a survey conducted in 2025 – at the height of the Gaza genocide – in which a quarter of all Britons and half of those aged between 18 and 24 said they were uncomfortable “spending time with people who openly support Israel”. By contrast, only 3 per cent said they were opposed to having a friendship with someone because they were Jewish. In other words, Bell implicitly accepts the very premise of his review is flawed: antisemitism is not more of a problem than it was. It is opposition to Israel’s atrocities that is on the rise. And that, it seems, is what the Bell review and the government’s new “antisemitism” policy towards schools is really seeking to stifle: criticism of Israel. This is an extract from my latest article A new UK hierarchy of racism will gag Israel critics from Westminster to the playground. Find a link to the rest in the reply post below ⬇️