UK minister under police protection after receiving antisemitic threats
Opponents towards the planned Holocaust memorial sent various threats to the minister, including threatening to murder his family and set his home on fire.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFBritain's Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, September 30, 2020.(photo credit: HANNAH MCKAY/ REUTERS)
UK Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick has received police protection following death threats and antisemitic hate mail made regarding his involvement in the handling of the proposed Westminster Holocaust Memorial, the Jewish Chronicle reported Monday.The incident occurred following a High Court hearing last month, where London Historic Parks argued that there was a conflict of interest regarding the proposed memorial, though Jenrick and the Housing Communities and Local Government Ministry (MHCLG) argued their involvement was handled "in an objective manner," the Jewish Chronicle reported.Opponents towards the planned memorial subsequently began sending various threats to the minister including threatening to murder his family and set his home on fire, the report stated.“The allegations made against MHCLG, myself and the project team by those who seek to stop the memorial were baseless and disgraceful," Jenrick tweeted on Monday.“That I was subject to antisemitic smears for supporting it only confirms its paramount importance.“There will now be an independent planning inquiry at which the arguments for and against will be heard. As the applicant for the project, I will continue to make the case strongly. This critical project is a national symbol of our determination to #neverforget.”Speaking to the Jewish Chronicle on Monday, Jenrick explained that “The behavior of some of the opponents to the memorial has been shocking and disgraceful.“The fact that I have been subjected to these smears, and my family to antisemitic abuse and death threats only shows the paramount importance of the memorial.”Jenrick also gave praise to intervention from leader of the UK Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, who voiced his support for the project alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former prime ministers Gordon Brown, John Major and Tony Blair.“I am pleased that the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer has joined the prime minister, all living former prime ministers and leaders of all the major faiths in strongly supporting the memorial," he said, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
“I hope we can all unite behind it now.”Jenrick has been active in fighting antisemitism in the United Kingdom, and is a driving force pushing for the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance ALliance's (IHRA) definition of antisemitism at all higher education institutions in the country, and has sent numerous letters to higher education leaders to this effect.
