Stephen Fry to deliver Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message

18 December 2023

Fry condemns the rise in antisemitism and the “real fear” felt by the Jewish community in Britain

Self-declared atheist and humanist Stephen Fry will deliver the 2023 Alternative Christmas Message with an impassioned plea for us all to recognise and call out antisemitism for the racism it is.

Moved to speak following the alarming rise of antisemitism in the UK following the October 7th Hamas attacks and the subsequent response from Israel, Fry reveals he has been driven to overtly claim his Jewish heritage in order to stand up to antisemitism and “hateful abuse”.

In the deeply personal speech, Fry celebrates how far Britain has come in accepting and tolerating difference since his youth. He reveals that growing up he feared he would not be accepted for his sexuality but that he never suspected it would be his Jewish heritage that would make him afraid of how others behaved.

He says, “One truth about myself however, that I never thought for one single second would ever be an issue about which I had any cause to worry in this country, was that I’m a Jew.”

Quoting the Metropolitan Police statistics on the 1350% increase in reported incidents of antisemitism in London since October 7th, Fry lists, “Shop windows smashed, Stars of David and swastikas daubed on walls of Jewish properties, synagogues and cemeteries. Jewish schools have been forced to close.”

Adding “There is real fear stalking the Jewish neighbourhoods of Britain. Jewish people here are becoming fearful of showing themselves. In Britain, in 2023. Can you imagine, Jews afraid to be themselves in the open for fear of reprisal?”

Whilst Stephen Fry grieves that Jews feel unsafe in Britain in 2023, he is relieved his grandparents are not alive to witness the upsurge in antisemitism in the country they fled to for safety. He states, “My Jewish grandparents loved Britain, believing that Jews were more welcome here than in most countries. I am glad they aren’t alive now to read newspaper stories that would have reminded them of the 1930’s Europe they left. They believed Britishness meant being fair and decent, but what can be more unfair or indecent than race hatred, whether antisemitism, Islamophobia or any kind?” 

In a rousing plea for solidarity, Fry calls on all of us to stand up to antisemitism as we would any form of racism stating,  “Standing upright means speaking up and calling out venomous slurs and hateful abuse wherever you encounter them.” He adds “Knowing and loving this country as I do, I don’t believe that most Britons are ok living in a society that judges hatred of Jews to be the one acceptable form of racism. So speak up, stand with us, be proud to be Jewish or Jew-ish - or, if not Jewish at all, proud to have us as much a part of this great nation as any other minority, as any of you.”

Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian Katz, comments: “It’s inevitable that the horrific events in Israel and Gaza have caused strong feelings across the world but the sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents in this country has been profoundly shocking and left many British Jews feeling fearful and isolated. I hope Stephen’s brave and personal intervention will draw attention to a form of racism that does not always attract the same concern and condemnation as other forms of hate and remind us that we all have a role to play in defending British values of respect and tolerance.”

First airing in 1993, Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message has served as an alternative to the monarch’s annual televised address to the nation to bring viewers a thought-provoking message that is pertinent to the events of the past year.

The message has previously featured an illustrious and varied selection of presenters, including the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; whistle-blower Edward Snowden; Afghan war veteran Major Andrew Stockton; William Pooley, the British nurse who survived Ebola; Adam Hills; Katie Piper; Quentin Crisp; the Reverend Jesse Jackson; Doreen and Neville Lawrence; children who survived the Grenfell Tower disaster; The Simpsons; 9/11 survivor Genelle Guzman; former speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow; Danny Dyer, a ‘deepfake’ digitally created depiction of Her Majesty The Queen, Tom Daley OBE, and most recently, in 2022, from Ameca, one of the world’s most advanced robots, who delivered a speech generated entirely by AI.

The 2023 message was produced by Ben Turner and Leo Pearlman for Fulwell 73. It was commissioned by Cimran Shah and Timothy Hancock for Channel 4.

The Alternative Christmas Message will air at 17:10, Christmas Day on Channel 4

 

Ends

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF STEPHEN’S MESSAGE:

Merry Christmas! As a child I was almost unbearably excited by stockings, games, chocolates and presents. To this day the aroma of mince pies triggers me into gulping fits of sentimental ecstasy.

But as I grew out of childhood, realising I was gay, I saw a long, lonely line of Christmases ahead of me. Exclusion, exile, and disgrace had been and surely always would be the fate of the homosexual. But look! In my short lifetime (well I think of it as short) Britain has moved towards an understanding and acceptance of gay love.

Alright, it’s not , it’s not perfect of course, but what an improvement over the grim culture in which I grew up.

One truth about myself however, that I never thought for one single second would ever be an issue about which I had any cause to worry in this country, was that I’m a Jew. Yes, you heard me correctly, I am a Jew. That may surprise some people. It surprises me really. I don’t think of myself as especially Jewish. Indeed sometimes people rather embarrassingly refer to me as ‘quintessentially English’ whatever that means. I suppose it’s because I love cricket and Shakespeare and the Archers on radio 4 and my vocal chords appear to be made of tweed. But if you take a swab of my spittle - as I did with one of those genetic services - up comes 52% Ashkenazy Jew. More than half, which was a bit of a surprise. My mother’s Jewish family came over from Central Europe in the 1930s, but my father died without knowing that he was a fraction Jewish. Maybe you are a fraction Jewish too without knowing it. Does it matter? I mean, I don’t really “identify as Jewish” any more than I “identify as English” or British.

Then again, I know, because I’ve been warned, that I’ve been on lists of British Jews that some ultra-right wing newspapers and sites have published over the years. And I’m frankly damned if I’ll let anti-Semites be the ones who define me, and take ownership of the word Jew, injecting it with their own spiteful venom.

 So I accept and claim the identity with pride, I am Stephen Fry, and I am a Jew. The great Irish thinker and writer Conor Cruise O’Brien once said that “antisemitism is a light sleeper”. Well, it seems to have woken up of late. The horrendous events of October the 7th and the Israeli response, seem to have stirred up this ancient hatred. It’s agonising to see all the violence and destruction that’s unfolding, and the terrible loss of life on both sides brings me an overwhelming sadness and heartache. But whatever our opinions on what is happening, there can be no excuse for the behaviour of some of our citizens. Since October the 7th there have been 50 separate reported incidents of antisemitism every single day in London alone, an increase of 1350% according to the Metropolitan Police. Shop windows smashed, Stars of David and swastikas daubed on walls of Jewish properties, synagogues, and cemeteries. Jewish schools have been forced to close. There is real fear stalking the Jewish neighbourhoods of Britain. Jewish people here are becoming fearful of showing themselves. In Britain, in 2023.

My Jewish grandparents loved Britain, believing that Jews were more welcome here than in most countries.  I am glad they aren’t alive now to read newspaper stories that would have reminded them of the 1930’s Europe that they left. They believed Britishness meant being fair and decent, but what can be more unfair or indecent than race hatred, whether antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any kind?

So what is my message this Christmas: the simple truth that we are all brothers and sisters? It’s naive, but it’s as good a message as any other. At this time in the face of the greatest rise in anti-Jewish racism since records began, Jews should stand upright and proud in who they are. And so should you, whatever your genetic makeup.

Standing upright means speaking up and calling out venomous slurs and hateful abuse wherever you encounter them. Knowing and loving this country as I do, I don’t believe that most Britons are ok living in a society that judges hatreds of Jews to be the one acceptable form of racism. So speak up, stand with us, be proud to be Jewish or Jew-ish - or, if not Jewish at all, proud to have us as much a part of this great nation as any other minority, as any of you.

And so this mad quintessential queer English Jew wishes you – whatever your race or creed, however you identify yourself – all peace, joy, and a very merry Xmas, formerly known as Twittermas. And now let’s all exhale that great sigh that Jews have sighed for thousands of years. Oy.