‘Jews’ Blood Is Cheap’: Shurat HaDin Chief Blasts Europe After Manchester Attack
Two people dead on Yom Kippur in Manchester, and a sanctuary shaken far beyond Britain—that’s the stage Gabriel Colodro sets in a hard-edged interview with Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center. Her charge sheet is blunt: European governments, she argues, have enabled a climate where Jews are targeted while leaders “line up with Hamas” and reward incitement with diplomatic gestures. The attack, she says, belongs to a pattern—not an outlier.
Darshan-Leitner’s case runs on three tracks: politics, courts, and hard power. On politics, she says Europe must curb incitement and stop treating “from the river to the sea” as protected speech when it fuels violence. On courts, she’s clear about limits: sovereign immunity shields governments, and negligence claims rarely stick if basic security was provided. Cross-border cases face jurisdiction hurdles, with a notable exception in the US, where Congress carved out avenues to sue state sponsors of terror. “I would not trust any international forum at this point,” she adds, casting institutions such as the International Criminal Court as hostile arenas.
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Her docket reflects that skepticism. Shurat HaDin has pursued Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian Authority, banks, social platforms, and crypto firms; she says a case against a Qatari charity is next, alongside claims involving UNRWA. Security per se, she argues, is not the answer—synagogues already bristle with guards and barriers—because “words create reality,” and permissive politics breeds attackers.
The takeaway is stark and provocative: Europe is drifting toward a breaking point for Jewish life unless leaders criminalize incitement and apply real consequences to enablers. For the full contours of Darshan-Leitner’s argument—and where she thinks viable legal pressure still exists—read the complete report by Gabriel Colodro.
