Britain’s Interior Minister Teresa May has confirmed that government is to fund more than £13 million (€16,9 m, $18,4 m) for the protection of the Jewish community over the next year, as she insisted extremists must not be given “an inch in causing tension and division”.

The renewed funding will be used to provide measures including guards at Jewish independent and state schools, synagogues and other community sites, The Jewish News writes.

The minister’s announcement was made at the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust (CST) in London attended by around 1,000 guests, including donors, politicians, Police officers, Jewish community partners and other supporters of CST’s work protecting our Jewish community.

“No one wants the school where they send their child to need security guards, or have their place of worship to be fitted with security alarms and blast resistant glass. But until that changes, the Government is clear we will stand by the Jewish community,’’ May said.

“We must also do more to tackle the causes of those threats and prevent damaging and destructive narratives, because undoubtedly the biggest challenge we face today is extremism. There is a lot that Government can do and we are doing,’’ she said

She added, .” The government’s counter-extremism strategy aimed to protect against “non-violent and violent” extremism from Islamists and neo-Nazis.

In his address, CST chairman Gerald Ronson spoke of the aftermath of the terror attacks in Europe last year, saying: “Our community was more scared than I can ever remember. The threat has not changed. If anything, it is getting worse.”

“When I was younger, the antisemites had to spread their filth on street corners and in dingy pubs. We used to be called ‘Jew-boys’. Now, we are called ‘infidels’, by Jihadis who film themselves chopping people’s heads off and send the footage for angry young men to watch in their bedrooms and on their mobile phones…''

‘'As Jews, we also know that antisemitism is a warning about the wider state of society. We are the canary in the coalmine. But this is one canary that has no intention of ending up dead in its cage…''

He continued, “Just like the Nazis, the Jihadists are trying to provoke a race war. They want us to hate all Muslims. So, let me be very clear. Yes, there is far too much anti-Semitism within Muslim communities. But it is certainly not all Muslims versus all Jews. CST has always worked with Muslim allies and we always will. I only wish that more Jews appreciated the commitment and the courage of our Muslims friends.”

by Henri Stein