Far right praises British chief rabbi

By · October 29, 2007

A new book by Britain’s chief rabbi has received accolades from the far right for his views on multiculturalism.

In “The Home We Build Together: Recreating Society,” released on Oct. 25, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks writes that multiculturalism encourages individual ethnic groups to define themselves as victims and has led to segregation instead of integration.

After excerpts of the book were printed in the London Times, message boards for far right groups such as Stormfront White Nationalist Community included comments saying that Sacks’ work was helping them out “big time” even though he was a Jew.

Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, Britain’s most mainstream and organized far-right political party, called the book “important and welcome.”

But London’s Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron, a strong supporter of Britain’s Jewish community, criticized the work, saying that attacks on multiculturalism feed on ignorance about other cultures and religious faiths, which can lead to intolerance. Other human rights groups have accused the chief rabbi of making the statements merely to garner publicity for the book.

In his defense, Sacks told the Jewish News in London that he saw multiculturalism as a form of separation and stressed that he was proposing the creation of a unifying culture, calling for a “national Britishness day.”