This is how we are future-proofing our community

A year has passed since the launch of the Jewish Leadership Council’s ambitious Forge the Future programme, which was established in response to the unprecedented challenges our community has faced since October 7.

The core aim of this long-term strategy is to empower the Jewish community to thrive, contribute positively to British society, and live in safety and harmony for generations into the future. Through nine projects and extensive cross-communal collaboration, we are building and facilitating new structures and networks to address the gaps in our communal infrastructure.

The past 18 months have been the most difficult in recent memory for our community as British Jews continue to face record-high levels of antisemitism on our streets, on campus, in the workplace and online.

In the face of this, the JLC is constantly working to strengthen the political security of our community by forging new relationships with government ministers, opposition spokespeople and backbench MPs following the General Election.

Our external affairs team are focused on bringing these issues to the attention of government whilst continuing their regular work of facilitating meetings between our members and prominent politicians.

To further protect the community’s legal rights, we have established a legal action triage group, now led by our new in-house general counsel, David Toube, to evaluate and pursue strategic legal actions.

Crucially, our collective efforts to raise concerns with the Metropolitan Police, City Hall and the Home Office regarding regular pro-Palestinian marches within the vicinity of central London synagogues have resulted in a positive outcome.

The Metropolitan Police recognised the cumulative impact of these protests on the Jewish community by imposing conditions on the National March for Palestine held in January. These conditions ensured that, for the first time in 15 months, congregants attending central London synagogues did not have to navigate through hostile crowds to practice their faith. This work also resulted in the Home Secretary’s announcement of new measures to be included in the Crime and Policing Bill, which will give the police greater powers to protect synagogues and other communal sites from intimidating and disruptive protests.

In addition to our political engagement, the JLC also aims to strengthen our community’s messaging and advocacy efforts. As part of this initiative, the JLC has commissioned research, including immersive studies, focus groups and polling, to establish the British public’s views on Jewish people, antisemitism, extremism and Israel. These findings will help shape and develop messaging across different projects and will serve as a valuable resource for numerous communal organisations in the future. To break down misconceptions about Jews, improve community cohesion, and celebrate British Jewish history and culture, we also continue to work with the Board of Deputies on their initiative to create a British Jewish Culture Month.

October 7 also exposed divisions within British society along religious and ethnic lines. These divisions significantly impact Jewish life, contributing to tensions in workplaces, educational institutions, and communal spaces.

On campuses across the country, Jewish students and young people have faced relentless waves of antisemitic abuse and harassment. Our members, the Union of Jewish Students, together with the University Jewish Chaplaincy and others, are doing exceptional work to combat this rise in anti-Jewish hate and foster a supportive and welcoming environment for Jewish students. Working with these core student-focused organisations, we have convened campus strategy roundtable meetings to share ideas and strategies for campus engagement.

To further strengthen young people’s Jewish identity and connection to Israel, the JLC commissioned quantitative research from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research alongside qualitative focus group work from Rosov Consulting. In total, we have connected with more than 100 young people aged 16 to 25 from across the broad spectrum of our community to hear their views. We are now planning a summit for young people on 29th June, where we will present our findings and hear more from participants about what most impacts their Jewish identity and connections with Israel, how they wish to engage, and how the community can best encourage their future involvement.

We know that post-university, there is a cliff-edge for our young people in how they engage with the community and find each other in social settings. With their advice and guidance, we aim to help fill this vacuum.

Moreover, from a survey conducted in partnership with the Board of Deputies and Work Avenue, we learnt that nearly two-thirds of respondents have encountered antisemitism in the workplace since October 7. To build resilience and alleviate isolation for Jews in the workplace, we must reach out to the “silent majority” for whom antisemitism is abhorrent. Within our cultivating external allies initiative, a pilot programme of 12 ambassadors have been recruited from across a range of different sectors. They have met with senior business leaders to encourage the adoption of the IHRA antisemitism definition and to call for companies to integrate antisemitism awareness training into their EDI offerings. We have some wonderful antisemitism training providers within the community, with whom we are working to facilitate introductions and engagements for them more widely across civil society.

Finally, plans are underway to establish an online communal hub, which will serve as a centralised resource for information on a wide range of organisations, services, events and activities across the Jewish community. We have conducted a listening campaign with nearly 20 significant communal organisations to gather feedback on the hub concept; they have been unanimous in their support for it and desire to be included.

One year on, the progress we have made is a testament to the unwavering commitment and dedication of our community. These are difficult times, but despite all worries, our community is long on energy and vitality. I am truly grateful to everyone who has shared their insights, time and financial support, enabling us to reach significant milestones across all nine projects.

Together, we can build our community’s resilience and secure the future of Anglo-Jewry for generations to come.