ITV's Robert Peston In Passionate Plea To End Anti-Semitism And 'Love Our Neighbours'

Robert Peston delivers his powerful monologue.ITV’s Robert Peston has delivered an impassioned plea for politicians to tackle rising anti-semitism in the wake of last week’s terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester.The veteran broadcaster said “hatred of Jews is proliferating, not just here but all over the world” and more must be done to confront it.His comments, in a powerful monologue at the start of his current affairs programme on Monday, came after two Jews were killed and three others were seriously injured in a knife attack carried out by Jihad Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent.Looking straight at the camera, Peston said: “I have a question for you. Do you hold Jews responsible for the mass killing, starvation and destruction in Gaza? And if you say no, are you nonetheless suppressing anger against Jews who don’t speak out against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government?“If so, you are an anti-semite. Unless that is, which I doubt, you also hold Russians in Britain responsible for Putin’s murder of Ukrainian civilians or you hate British Iranians for the actions of the Tehran government. In which case, you’re dangerously nuts.”He added: “Some of you may not be able to suppress the thought that the killing of two Jews is insignificant compared with the killing by the Israeli Defense Forces of more than 60,000 Palestinians.“But take a deep breath before pursuing that comparison because we should lament the slaughter of all innocents – Jew or Muslim.“If you don’t, you need to look at the toxic prejudices that you’re hiding from yourself.”He said that while Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage and Ed Davey all condemn anti-semitism “none have a coherent plan to roll it into oblivion”.“The causes are deep in the subconscious of millions of people,” he said. “They can only be unlocked and expunged by curriculum changes in schools and universities, much greater vigilance by social media companies against hate speech and – dare I say it – politicians with the courage to reject the easy and cancerous politics of identity and nationalism.“The rise in anti-semitism is not unconnected to the remorseless breakdown of the precept to love our neighbours. This stuff is hard, but it matters.”Watch the full monologue here:"The rise of antisemitism is not unconnected to the remorseless breakdown of the precept to love our neighbours. This stuff is hard, but it matters"Here's @Peston's opening monologue from this week's show 👇 pic.twitter.com/BnVukO4VJK— Peston (@itvpeston) October 7, 2025Related...Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Says Synagogue Attack Shows There Is A 'Problem' With Integration'Shame On You': David Lammy Heckled At Vigil For Synagogue Attack VictimsSynagogue Attack: Israel Says Keir Starmer Must Do More To Tackle 'Toxic Wave Of Anti-Semitism'

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