The Duke of Sussex has written a rare opinion piece in the New Statesman about the ‘deeply troubling’ rise in antisemitism in the UK, calling for a clear distinction between legitimate protest and prejudice.
The Duke of Sussex has voiced his concerns about the “deeply troubling” surge in antisemitism across the UK in a fresh opinion piece.
Harry emphasised the significance of “legitimate protest”, explaining that he felt driven to speak out because in his opinion remaining silent enables “hate and extremism to flourish unchecked”.
Writing in The New Statesman, he highlighted recent “lethal violence” targeting the Jewish community in Manchester and London, stating that “hatred directed at people for who they are, or what they believe, is not protest. It is prejudice”.
Harry also addressed the “deep and justified alarm” regarding the scale of loss in Gaza and Lebanon but maintained people need to be more “clear” about where their anger is aimed.
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The Duke wrote: “We have seen how legitimate protest against state actions in the Middle East does exist alongside hostility toward Jewish communities at home – just as we have also seen how criticism of those actions can be too easily dismissed or mischaracterised.
“Nothing, whether criticism of a government or the reality of violence and destruction, can ever justify hostility toward an entire people or faith.”
He acknowledged he had learnt from his own “past mistakes”. In January 2005, aged 20, Harry was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform to a party.
The article criticises the absence of nuance in much of the media conversation following the recent wave of antisemitic incidents in the UK. The duke laments how polarised public debate has become, warning that it deepens the confusion that “fuels division”.
Harry acknowledged that the instinct to speak out, march and call for an end to suffering was “human and necessary” but that people must be clear that the “onus falls squarely on the state – not an entire people”.
While he makes repeated references to “the state” throughout the piece, he does not name Israel at any point in the New Statesman article.
Harry wrote: “We cannot ignore a difficult truth: when states act without accountability, and in ways that raise serious questions under international humanitarian law – criticism is both legitimate, necessary and essential in any democracy.
“The consequences do not remain contained within borders. They reverberate outward, shaping perception, inflaming tensions.”
During an investiture ceremony on Wednesday, the daughter of Holocaust survivors revealed that the Prince of Wales told her it is important to “preserve the truth” as she received an OBE.
Speaking to the Press Association following the ceremony, Dr Bea Lewkowicz said William “pointed out that, especially now, it is important to, kind of, preserve the truth, because we live in this era of digital media” with “Holocaust distortion and rising antisemitism”.
Harry rounded off his piece with a plea for “unity” and urged people to stand firmly against antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate “wherever it appears”. “When anger is turned towards communities – whether Jewish, Muslim, or any other – it ceases to be a call for justice and becomes something far more corrosive,” he wrote.
