‘Antisemitism is just part of my day-to-day life’: Coping mechanisms adopted by Orthodox Jews in North London
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/02697580211006663 |
| Author | Maya Flax |
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
‘Antisemitism is just part
of my day-to-day life’:
Coping mechanisms
adopted by Orthodox
Jews in North London
Maya Flax
University of West London, UK
Abstract
This paper analyses the coping mechanisms which Orthodox Jews in North London have adopted
in managing antisemitism. The study, which was informed by a sociological framework, employed a
qualitative approach using 28 semi-structured interviews and five focus groups. The findings reveal
that despite the high frequency of the victimisation, and despite the awareness among respondents
that antisemitism has seen a resurgence in recent years, Orthodox Jews have managed to accept
the victimisation. The way the Orthodox Jewish community has managed their victimisation of
antisemitism is argued to be profoundly different from the dominant narratives of hate crime
victims, in that by and large the majority of respondents accepted their victimisation. It proposes
that respondents were able to show agency and to normalise the victimisation because of their
strong religious identity and close community ties.
Keywords
Normalisation, acceptance, victimisation, religious identity, community ties
According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), hate crime has been on the rise
(Home Office, 2020) and antisemitism is no exception. The resurgence of antisemitism within the
UK is documented among police and communal records(CommunitySecurityTrust,2017;
Corcoran and Smith, 2016). These records show the prevalence of antisemitic victimisation among
the Orthodox Jewish community and yet the everyday experiences of the Orthodox Jewish com-
munity appear marginalised in academic literature. Whilst there is a vast amount of research on
Corresponding author:
Maya Flax, University of West London, School of Law and Criminology, St Mary’s Road, Ealing, London W5 5RF, UK.
Email: Maya.Flax@uwl.ac.uk
International Review of Victimology
2021, Vol. 27(3) 295–310
ªThe Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/02697580211006663
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antisemitism, there is very little empirical research specifically on the antisemitic victimisation of
Orthodox Jews. This article aims to include voices of Orthodox Jewish individuals in the devel-
oping literature, in particular, the coping mechanisms which they adopt in order to manage the
victimisation. It is important to understand their coping mechanisms because levels of antisemit-
ism are on the rise.
Records of antisemitic incidents in the UK have reached an all-time high in the last 3–5 years.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a charitable organisation that represents and advises the
Jewish community on matters of antisemitism, security and terrorism, has recorded the highest
level of reported antisemitic crimes since statistics were first assembled. CST Chief Executive
David Delew said, ‘Anti-Semitism is having an increasing impact on British Jews and hatred and
anger that lies behind it is spreading’ (Morgan, 2017). The previous UK Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan
Sacks, warned of a ‘tsunami of antise mitism’ sweeping the world (Hast ings, 2005). Kushner
(2013), in referring to Sacks’ comments, states that ‘There is a much greater implication that
antisemitism can erupt, very quickly, at any time, and, like a virus out of control, wreak devasta-
tion’. The Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Efraim Mirwis, in oral evidence given on 14 July 2016 to the Home
Affairs Committee, in preparation of the 2016–2017 report on antisemitism (Corcoran and Smith,
2016), echoed that, overall, British Jews are happy to be living in the UK. But that within this
context, the problem of antisemitism, which used to be smaller, is now getting bigger: ‘And it
could get bigger and bigger, unless we deal with it effectively’.
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA, 2013) compared the perceptions of
British Jews with the perceptions of Jews among seven other EU Member States. The survey
demonstrated that in 2013 Britain was considered more of an accepting and tolerant environment
for Jews than certain other part s of Europe. However, the CST sta tistics reveal that it is the
Orthodox Jewish community which faces the highest rate of physical assaults among British Jewry
(CST, 2017). It is their high visibility and highly distinctive dress which makes them particularly
vulnerable to attack and hence more likely targets than secular Jews. Unlike secular Jews who are
not easily identifiable as a distinctive group and are more integrated into secular culture, the
Orthodox Jewish community are prime targets of antisemitic victimisation and are most vulnerable
to attack.
The impacts of hate crime are well documented (Iganski and Lagou, 2014). Hate crime has been
described as a form of terrorism, as these offences incite inner turmoil and terror with the victims
(Herek et al., 2002). The potential scale of harm of hate crime offences is greater than the same
crimes without the bias element (Dzelme, 2008). Studies show that victims of bias crimes por-
trayed considerably higher levels of psychological distress (intrusive thoughts, anger, feelings of
helplessness, anxiety, stress and depression) than victims of non-bias crimes (Herek et al., 2002).
The Leicester Hate Crime Project outlines the mental and physical impact of hate crime victims,
with 51%feeling depressed, 46%feeling suicidal and 41%turning to alcohol (Chakraborti et al.,
2014). A recent study examines the emotional and behavioural responses to hate crime, high-
lighting the role of anger for some respondents and for others taking action against perceived
injustice (Walters et al., 2020). The most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales on Hate
Crime (Home Office, 2020) reiterated the extent of the impact, by describing that victims of hate
crime are more than twice as likely to experience fear, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, panic attacks,
depression or crying, compared with overall victims of CSEW crime.
On a wider scale, hate crimes have major implications for communities, not merely targeted
individuals (Craig, 2002; Dzelme, 2008). Hate crimes were defined by Levin and McDevitt (1993)
as ‘message crimes’. They aim not only to subordinate the victim, but to send a message to the
296 International Review of Victimology 27(3)
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