Anti-Semitic graffiti painted outside a Stockholm school. Photo: Calle Nathanson via Twitter.

A leading British journalist said that the country should grant asylum to Jews looking to escape rising anti-Semitism on the European continent to make up for Britain’s failure to do so during the lead up to World War II.

His assertion was made on Friday in a column for London’s Daily Mail newspaper.

“Britain may have been shamefully slow in the Thirties to grant asylum to Jews fleeing Hitler, but we should warmly welcome here those who are now seeking a new home,” wrote Simon Heffer, who edits the Mail‘s RightMinds section.

“The shocking murder of three people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum last week by a French Islamic extremist reflects an increase in anti-Semitism in Europe, and, above all, in France, where there is a large Muslim population,” he added.

Heffer’s article was largely focused on UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party and its recent loss of votes to the rising UK Independence Party.

The UK editor also called for a ban on the gratuitous use of the word “racist,” saying: “Quite rightly, the ‘N’ word has become so offensive as to be unmentionable. I think it’s time the ‘R’ word was banned, too, given the damage its casual and ignorant use can cause.”

The May 24 fatal shooting at the Jewish museum in Brussels and the recent surge of right-wing parties in European parliamentary elections have brought the threats faced by Europe’s Jews to the fore.

The problems stem from the “right-wing, certain elements of the Muslim community, and at the same time also from the radical left, which is viciously anti-Israel,” Daniel Schwammenthal, director of American Jewish Committee (AJC) Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, recently told JNS.org.