Mass Religious Observances

For example, this, in Hyde Park.

Or this, elsewhere.

Herewith, the Voice of the Jewish News:

Trafalgar Square is a place for all. Jewish News has been delighted to co-host the community’s annual Chanukah in the Square event many times in the past, as we light the Menorah and sing Maoz Tzur. It plays host to events celebrating other religions as well, from Christian Pentecost prayer events, to Vaisakhi and Diwali celebrations; and this week, to an Iftar celebration during the Muslim month of Ramadan. The uproar in response to that latter has been considerable – and notably ugly in tone.

For one thing, this week’s Trafalgar Square Iftar event had invited those of many different faiths – different Christian denominations, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and others – to attend. At a certain point, those Muslims present who wished to pray, did so. There were no exhortations for those of the many other faiths present to join in – if that was an “act of domination and therefore division”, as some have suggested, it was a remarkably odd one.

The question here is not really one of whether such prayer is in fact an attempt to “dominate” – or the more obvious explanation, that during Ramadan one breaks one’s fast by eating very briefly just before and then more properly after the evening Maghrib prayer (yes, like our own Maariv prayer). Rather it is about whether one has the right to publicly express their religious identity in this country. In this specific instance, an event to mark a key event in the Islamic calendar had been openly and legally booked for Trafalgar Square. Muslims present had every right to pray as a part of that.

At the beginning of Ramadan, another event made headlines – a police officer defending the right to freedom of speech of a Christian preacher in Whitechapel. The officer said, in response to those who claimed that it was “a Muslim area”, that “In this country we have freedom of speech… “I understand that you guys don’t want to hear it, so I would just recommend that you walk away and don’t listen to him. He’s not in your home.” It appears that some of those who so loudly championed that police officer last month have forgotten what she said – or think that there should indeed be a double standard.

There are times when Jews in this country wish to openly and publicly display our faith, whether that is through dozens of public Menorah lightings around the country, Purim parades through neighbourhoods with large numbers of Jews, road closures for a Hachnasat Sefer Torah, visiting streams or lakes on Rosh Hashana for Tashlich or large throngs of Charedim protesting education bills outside Westminster while reading Psalms and then davening Minchah. We are fortunate to live in a liberal, democratic society where such things are open to us – for many centuries such things would have been unthinkable.

We would be wise to defend that right for others, because what guarantee do we have that if it were taken from them, we would not be next? We would urge those members of the Jewish community who are inclined to support condemnation of such public prayer to consider where such things can lead – and it is not particularly difficult to see. Attempts in Western countries to circumscribe the Islamic way of life almost always end up doing the same to Jews. Whether via attempts to ban religious slaughter, religious courts or circumcision – initiatives where a significant percentage of advocates wish to make life more difficult for Muslims will also affect Jews.

Are there Islamists in this country who wish to assert their way of life over others? Of course. But it is hard to think of a more counterproductive way of combating such a thought process than by telling the many moderate Muslims that they – and they alone – should be unable to celebrate their faith in a public venue which they have booked for an event. In fact, there are few things more likely to help Islamists in their portrayal of British society as irretrievably hostile towards Muslims.

There are those in our community who will respond to this by telling us that the situation with Muslims is ‘different’. To that we would encourage them to look across the Atlantic. A number of the most influential right wing voices in the United States were railing against Muslims a few years ago. Now they have switched their sights to target Jews.

If you think that could not happen here, you are kidding yourselves. Uphold religious rights for all – you’ll never know when you’ll be glad that you did.

Those Jewish and Islamic courts are taken up overwhelmingly with keeping people’s religious marital status as far as possible in line with their civil marital status, frankly very much like the Catholic ones that also operate in this country. No court sitting in Britain is ordering that anyone be stoned, and whisper it not, but that would already be illegal. As for the most influential right-wing voices in the United States, their mounting calls to ban Eucharistic and Marian Processions are already implicitly being echoed in Britain by Nigel Farage, with others no doubt to follow. Well, let us give them something to complain about. Let there be the Eucharistic and Marian Processions that this country lacked. Including in Trafalgar Square.