There's a Jewish version of ‘Muslims must condemn Isis’

This is a parliamentary question by Baroness Jenny Tonge, who left the Liberal Democrats under a cloud in 2012 after saying Israel would “reap what it’s sown”, during an event at Middlesex university.

While she is no longer a Liberal Democrat, Tonge remains a peer - which means she can still ask written questions and speak in the Lords.

It seems to imply that Jewish leaders in Britain have an impact upon the actions of the Israeli government, and suggesting that the government should “encourage” Jewish people to behave in any particular way.

This comes against a climate of increasing fears over anti-Semitism and concerns about the security of the Jewish community in light of the terrorist attacks in France earlier this month.

It’s not a perfect comparison: the democratically-elected Israeli government is clearly not the same as Islamic extremists.

But the question echoes the traditional suggestion after international terror attacks that ordinary Muslims should “condemn” extremism which has nothing to do with them. This is an idea which has led to the now-defunct tumblr muslimscondemningthings and genius tweets such as this:

More: The statistics that show the worrying levels of anti-Semitism in UK

More: Tory grandee invents especially stupid immigration test

More: [7 quotes on why you shouldn't blame all Muslims for Charlie Hebdo]6

More: [The statistics that show the worrying levels of anti-Semitism in UK]7