A local woman has spoken out about living in fear as a Jewish resident in Frome, saying many in the town’s Jewish community have been hiding their identity amid a rise in antisemitism.
The resident, who is remaining anonymous for safety reasons, told the Frome Times she felt compelled to share her experience and support the local Jewish community. She said the rise in antisemitism has been fuelled globally by the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and emphasised that Jewish people in Frome are separate from the conflict.
“I wanted to say something about what has been the experience of people who are Jewish in Frome,” she said. “I want to call out for people to stop because whatever people might feel, we are just residents of Frome who are Jewish who want to go about our lives and join in with the community; we are not part of the conflict.”
The resident said that the attacks at a synagogue in Manchester last month, where two Jewish people were killed on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Judaism, had deeply shaken the local community.
“A lot of people in Frome who are Jews have been very afraid,” she said.
“We have all been saying it is only a matter of time before there is a killing. Yes, that happened in Manchester but that could equally have happened anywhere. Jewish people in Frome have felt quite intimidated and afraid at times. Over the last two years, Frome residents have been hiding the fact they are Jewish. By speaking out, I want the community to come out of hiding.”
She said she is a ‘secular Jew’, identifying as Jewish ethnically and culturally, but not practising Judaism.
“The experience of some people in Frome is scary,” she said. “It has got to a point where there has been fear and there has been a feeling that being a Jew is a bad thing.”
She described local incidents that have heightened fear, including leaving a church after it began hosting pro-Palestinian events.
She added that she feels local pro-Palestinian rallies have fuelled antisemitic views, and that the US-brokered ceasefire, which began on 10th October, brought ‘a great sense of relief’ to the community, with ‘enormous’ caution that antisemitism would ease.
Pictured: Frome town centre
