The Letter From A Jewish Londoner That Went Viral

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A letter from an "ordinary middle-aged Londoner" expressing fears about growing anti-semitism in Britain has gone viral, with many taking to social media to express their own discomfort.</span><br /> <div class="content" id="mainentrycontent" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The letter from Stephen Spencer Ryde, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/letters-ancient-hatred-stalks-the-land-once-more-9670038.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">sent to the Independent,</a> has been retweeted more than 1,000 times since it was published on Friday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/letters-ancient-hatred-stalks-the-land-once-more-9670038.html" sl-processed="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink"><span style="color: black;">It reads:</span></a></div> <blockquote style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 15px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’m just an ordinary middle-aged Londoner.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I work in an office. I go to football. I like eating out. I enjoy the arts. I am a proud family man. I give up time for charity work. I try to be a decent contributing member of society. I pay my taxes honestly. But there appears to be something that sets me and my kind apart.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At park gates in East London a friend of mine gets told to f**k off for photographing a flag. At a pub in Bath my wife gets called scum when she mentions her background. In a student hall in Manchester a friend’s son is asked to leave as the specially prepared food he chose to eat is not permitted because it carries a label written in a language used by a country that is “banned” by the student union.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In Belfast a historic blue plaque is removed to deny part of my history. In theatres in Edinburgh and London I am told to denounce my opinions or lose the right to perform. A sportsman in Ireland tweets if he sees my kind he’ll punch us in the face and recommends others follow suit.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Protesters across the country show no shame in shouting that my historical persecutors were right and social media is rife with vitriol towards me (even from so-called friends). And in Bradford I’m told that I am not even permitted to enter the city.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What is this? Racism. Where is this? Britain and Ireland. When is this? Now. Who am I? I am a Jew.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Never again, we say, never again.</span></div> <div class="ql" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="qr" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </blockquote> <blockquote style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 15px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/30/sharansky-jewish-europe_n_5635121.html?1406788131&utm_hp_ref=uk" sl-processed="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">Anti-Semitism Means The Future Of Europe's Jews Is Under Threat, Says Natan Sharansky</a></strong></div> </blockquote> </div> </div>

The Letter From A Jewish Londoner That Went Viral

A letter from an "ordinary middle-aged Londoner" expressing fears about growing anti-semitism in Britain has gone viral, with man...

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