Prince Harry has condemned what he calls 'lethal'antisemitism in the UKin a strongly worded article published this week, using the piece to denounce violent attacks on Jewish communities in Manchester and London while pointedly revisiting his own past scandal of wearing a Nazi uniform to a party nearly 20 years ago.
The Duke of Sussex was engulfed in controversy in January 2005 when, at the age of 20, he was photographed in a Nazi fancy-dress costume, complete with swastika armband.
The image, splashed across front pages at the time, drew international criticism and has since shadowed his public life. It is that 'past mistake,' as he now calls it, which hangs over his intervention on antisemitism, lending it an awkward but undeniable weight.
In theNew Statesmancolumn, Harry acknowledges those 'past mistakes' before turning squarely to what he describes as a deeply troubling surge in antisemitic incidents across Britain.
He writes of 'lethal violence' directed at Jewish communities in Manchester and London, and warns that staying silent in the face of such hatred allows 'hate and extremism to flourish unchecked.'
There is a deliberate effort to draw a bright line between anger at governments and animosity towards people of a particular faith. 'Nothing, whether criticism of a government or the reality of violence and destruction, can ever justify hostility toward an entire people or faith,' he argues.
It is a simple sentence, but it is also an implicit rebuke to those who slide from protest slogans into threats against visibly Jewish targets on British streets.
Harry also addresses the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, describing what he calls 'deep and justified alarm' at the scale of loss there. Yet he insists that protesters should be clearer about where their outrage is aimed. In his words, the 'onus falls squarely on the state – not an entire people.'
The full Opinion Piece by Prince Harry for The New Statesmanpic.twitter.com/PCwx8T6Ff2
The choice of phrasing is careful to the point of caution, and it becomes even more noticeable for what he does not say.
Source: International Business Times UK
