NEW YORK (VINnews) — The quiet wave of emigration by British Jews threatens to turn into a real flood due to persecution and terror threats, warns journalist and columnist Charles Moore in a sharply worded opinion piece published in The Daily Telegraph.

Against the backdrop of recent anti-antisemitism rallies held near the Prime Minister’s residence on Downing Street, Moore argues that the United Kingdom, which prides itself on being a successful multiracial society, is facing the danger of failing to guarantee basic freedoms for its Jewish citizens.

In his article, Moore argues that, without diminishing the contributions of other immigrant groups, it can confidently be said that the Jewish community is the most successful immigrant group in British history. He recalls two major historical waves of immigration: those fleeing Tsarist persecution at the end of the 19th century, and those escaping Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. In both cases, he emphasizes, the immigrants arrived with nothing yet succeeded in rebuilding their lives and advancing socially and economically, while achieving the rare dual success of maintaining loyalty to their traditions alongside deep loyalty to their host country.

According to The Telegraph, it is impossible to imagine the success of modern Britain and its character as a free, educated, entrepreneurial, culturally and artistically flourishing nation, without the presence of Jews. However, the outlook ahead is troubling: Moore states that if Jews now leave the country, the main reason will be the open hostility directed at them by groups of immigrants who arrived in later periods, most of them Muslim.

Moore’s concluding point is both cynical and painful for British society, which long cultivated an enlightened image of itself. Britain, which prided itself on tolerance and openness, now finds that it has effectively provided “a safe home” for intolerance, one that threatens to drive out some of its most educated and entrepreneurial citizens.