Last week’s demonstration by approximately 2,000 Jews in central London against overt anti-Semitism in the British Labour Party provoked one very definitive outcry by observers of all religions. To summarise: How is it possible that in the year 2018, in a country that prides itself on accepting differing cultures and where Jews have made such a contribution for hundreds of years, they feel threatened and unsafe?

Seasoned journalist and commentator, Melanie Phillips, penned the penetrating observation that:

What the left cannot grasp is that the new antisemitism uses almost identical tropes against Israel, the collective Jew…..Labour will never rid itself of antisemitism while it supports Palestinianism. The choice it faces is said to be between Corbyn and the Jews. In fact, the choice is between Palestinianism and the Jews.

I connect these remarks to a small yet pertinent stat that I read this morning. This coming Wednesday evening, for 24 hours, Israel will commemorate the annual Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism. 23,645 people make up this number (so far), including 3,134 civilians, while the total population today is about 8.1 million.

However, what shook me was that of the 101 names added to the list during the past twelve months, 12 of them were civilians killed….just because they are Israelis. It shows most candidly how the one Jewish country in the world remains an anathema to so many and thus becomes an excuse for anti-Semitism.

A nickname for an Israeli is “sabra”. This is a fruit indigenous to the Holy Land, known to be prickly on the outside yet sweet inside. However, Israelis do not forget too readily. Yesterday was Holocaust Day, where the sirens sound at 10.00am for two minutes. People stand in silence. Drivers stop their cars and briefly step outside.

There is even a video on Facebook of Israeli tourists in Thailand, standing in remembrance at 10.00am local time around the pool. That is the meaning of the sanctity of life for Israelis.

And elsewhere in the Middle East? Should I write about chemical attacks on innocent civilians in Syria? Should I contemplate the public executions of homosexuals in Iran? Or the fact that today, the Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border with Israel will continue their peaceful spontaneous protest with all the violence they can muster, planned in advance.

I’ll stick with the values of Israel, 70 years old this week and still going very strong, for the benefit of its citizens, the UK and the rest of the world.