12 may 2016, jewish news, issue 950

8/17/2019 12 May 2016, Jewish News, Issue 950

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SADIQ KHAN finally gave Jewish Labour Party supporterscause to cheer this week after he was overwhelminglyelected as London’s new mayor – and made the community’s Yom H aShoah commemoration h is firs t p ubli c e vent , writes Justin Cohen.

Khan made a pledge to be mayor for all Londoners a centre-piece of his campaign and was a leading voice in condemninganti-Semitism in his party in the weeks leading up to polling day.

Despite questions over his past dealings with extremists andrevelations he had lobbied for sanctions against Israel sevenyears ago, he was greeted with applause from the 3,000-strong

audience at Allianz Park on Sunday. It came a day after his sign-ing-in ceremony was attended by faith leaders, including RabbiMark Goldsmith.

The new mayor told Jewish News : “I’m not surprised but hopeothers noticed the warmth and generosity with which I was re-ceived. I think people recognise I’ve worked extremely hard to

engage, to listen. For me that’s what London is all about. Wedon’t tolerate – we respect, we embrace.”

Asking how he would use his office to tackle prejudice in thecity, he told Jewish News : “We’ve got to accept there are somepeople who are Muslim and some people of the Jewish faith whodon’t like the fact I’m here at a Jewish community event – sittingnext to the Chief Rabbi.”

He added: “My message to those people is we live in thegreatest city in the world and we’ve got to get along. I’m themayor of London, the most diverse city in the world and I’ll beeveryone’s mayor. There can be no preferential treatment. I have

a role to build bridges. My signing in ceremony was deliberatelydesigned to show the sort of a mayor I’ll be and I started as Imean to go on.”

He has previously worked with organisations – including theCoexistence Trust and Alif Aleph UK – that are specifically in-volved in enhancing Jewish-Muslim relations.

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LONDON’S BRIDGEWarm welcome for new mayor, after anelection dogged by Labour anti-Semitism

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan stands in front of Tower


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TOM WATSON has said he is “ashamed” of cases of anti-Semitism in Labour and pledgedto fight to ensure Zionism is not used as aterm of abuse, as he launched a thinly-veiledattack on Ken Livingstone.

He also backed the Jewish Labour Move-ment’s proposals for tougher rules to make it

easier to expel party members responsible foranti-Semitism or Islamophobia.

Meanwhile, former prime minister GordonBrown has said Labour must “stand verystrong” against any anti-Semitism in its ranksand said he was sure party leader Jeremy Cor-byn was determined not to tolerate such views.

In a message to JLM members for YomHaShoah, Labour’s deputy leader (pictured,right ) stressed the importance of remem-brance and education of the Holocaust .

“Part of that commitment to memory andeducation is standing steadfast against thosewho seek to deny or revise the history of theHolocaust itself or the events leading up to it,”he wrote. “Whatever their purpose. Whatevertheir agenda. Whoever they are.”

Far from supporting Zionism, the Nazileader had described it as a scam in MeinKampf , Watson pointed out. He added:

“Much of the language of today’s anti-Zion-ism makes exactly the same claims.”

Israel, he insisted, was “testimony toHitler’s ultimate failure,” as is the vibrancy of British Jewry and he insisted non-Jews muststand up against continuing anti-Semitismtoday, as those who were involved in the War-

saw Ghetto uprising risked their lives to do.“It survived in Poland, where Jews res-

cued from concentration camps after the warwere attacked and hundreds were killed,”Watson wrote.”It survived in Iran, which heldanother disgusting cartoon contest a fewweeks ago, denying and belittling the Holo-caust and spreading hate further.

“And it survives, most troublingly, here inthe UK – in social media and dinner-tablechatter; in our schools and in our universities,in our politics and in our parties.

“I’m ashamed of the recent cases of anti-Semitism in my party. I’m working with theJewish Labour Movement and the Jewishcommunity to ensure that racists and anti-Semites have no place in British politics.Together with many colleagues, I am backingthe JLM proposals for tougher rules.”

He vowed to ensure “Zionism is not used

as a term of abuse or as a code word I will fight to ensure that the right tnational self-determination is preserrespected. Jews are the target of antism, but I will fight to ensure that theleft to oppose it alone”.

Asked about the issue after a spee

London School of Economics, Bro“Anybody who is concerned about pdiscrimination and the treatment of groups in our society will want to senclear message that anti-Semitism is illegal, but it is wrong and it has gopunished. It is very clear to me thatwe have got to stand verystrong against anybody whocommits anti-Semitic abuse.I think Jeremy Corbyn wouldsay the same, if he wasspeaking here today.”

MP Naz Shah andex-London mayorLivingstone areamong individualswho have beensuspended bythe party.

LABOUR’S ANDREW Dismore has saidpushing for the expulsion of Ken Living-stone from Labour will be a priority, afterbeing re-elected as the London Assemblymember for Barnet and Camden.

The former MP (pictured ) triumphed bya large margin of 16,000 over Tory DanThomas, despite concerns the anti-Semi-tism scandal that has dogged Labour couldcost him significant support among theJewish community.

While it was down on his 21,000 majorityin 2012, he admitted the result was far bet-

ter than anticipated.He told Jewish

News : “I knew itwas going to beclose, but we didrather better thanI thought.

“I am gratefulparticularly to allmy Jewish con-

stituents whokept faithwith me. Iwill keepfaith withthem as I

have throughout my political career, andone of my first objectives is to continue mycampaign to have Ken Livingstonechucked out of the party for good. I can-not believe he won’t be out of the LabourParty before too long. So many people to-wards the centre of the leadership havehad enough of him, and so have I and sohave the people of Barnet and Camden.”

Turning to the wider issue of anti-Semi-tism within the party following the suspen-sion of around 20 members, councillorsand an MP, and the creation of an inquiry,he said: “At long last we’re seeing peopleget to grips with this problem.

“We’re not talking about hundreds of people, I don’t think, but they have to goand Ken Livingstone should be top of thelist.” He added: “Jeremy has to do some-thing to reach out to the Jewish commu-

nity far more than has happened so far.”An administrative error saw hundreds of voters across Barnet unable to vote lastThursday morning, including the Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Mirvis. A small margin of vic-tory either way could have made a legalchallenge inevitable.

Thomas, who had been “cautiously op-timistic” about the result ahead of the

vote, said the party of governmesuffered at local elections and addDismore’s name recognition from an MP and incumbency as an AsMember prved a major advantage

Mike Katz, vice-chair of the Labour Movement said: “Andremore’s re-election in Barnet and Caa real testament to the hard workdone to champion the interehis Jewish constituents.”

Meanwhile, former deputy mLondon Nicky Gavron, number Labour’s London-wide list, won term on the London Assembly.

Elsewhere, Labour suffered sigloses in councils with large Jewish nities in the north.

Sedgley Park in Bury and Eastwolargest Jewish seat in Scotland

switched to the Conservatives.MP John Mann, chair of the AGroup Against Anti-Semitism, saclear the Jewish vote, which for tions in families has been firmly has now gone against Labour. This going to define Jeremy Corbynership of the party. He has to getof it.”

NEWS

2 The Jewish News 12 May 2016 www.jewishn

Corbyn’s deputy is ‘ashamed’ of anti-Semitis

DISMORE: LIVINGSTONE’

EXPLUSION IS A PRIORIT

SHADOW CABINET minister Luciana Bergerhas called on Jewish members of her party tokeep faith in Labour politics in the wake of thebitter anti-Semitism row, singling out KenLivingstone as an “absolute disgrace”.

The Liverpool Wavertree MP made her com-ments amid concern over a series of anti-Se-mitic incidents, over which around 20members have been suspended.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Jewish Women’sAid’s annual lunch to an audience of 250women at The Montcalm in Great Cumber-land Place, Berger said: “Some people haveasked me if the Jewish community shouldabandon the Labour Party. I think it would beabsolutely perverse if people like me and my

Jewish parliamentary colleagues… lLabour Party. It’s the anti-Semites wholeave the Labour Party.”

She also reacted to Livingstone’s remaweeks ago, claiming Hitler was a Zionfellow MP Naz Shah’s post on Faceboosparked the controversy. Berger said themayor of London was “an absolute disgra“certainly does not speak for my party”.

She also spoke about tackling domelence against women for the charity, whicsupport and counselling for victims of ab

The MP also reflected on her role as a minister, outlining her aspirations for imthe exposure of mental health and health services.

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Luciana Berger speaking at JWA

THE LABOUR MP for Ealing Cen-tral and Acton has said she was“massively misrepresented” inreports on her comments that aLabour government could apolo-gise for the establishment ofIsrael.

Rupa Huq, who was quoted

speaking at an all-party generalelection hustings last year, wasasked about the possibility of anapology, given Britain’s control of the territory in the run-up to 1948.

In response, the Mail on Sun-day reported that Huq said: “Thathappened under a British govern-ment. To my mind, an apology –yes. You could do one. A LabourGovernment could probably get

that through.’She then

added: “Butit sounds abit TonyBlair to met h o u g h ,

and we allknow whathappenedto him.”

The timing could not havebeen worse for Huq, who lastmonth defend suspendedLabour MP Naz Shah after thelatter was revealed to have sent aseries of anti-Semitic messageson social media.

This week, Huq reacted angrily

to the reports, telling JewishNews: “It was a tough crowd. I re-stated my belief in a negotiatedpeace working within the boundsof international law towards atwo-state solution repeatedlyover the two hour meeting.”

She said it was “a massive mis-representation,” adding: “I am asignatory to the We Believe inIsrael charter and have attendedLabour Friends of Israel events inthe past.”

Pro-Palestinian Labour politi-cians have come under intensescrutiny in recent weeks, with for-mer London mayor Ken Living-stone suspended for saying Hitlerwas “a Zionist… before he wentmad”. An internal inquiry hasbeen set up to look at the issueand devise a code of conduct.

Labour MP hits back at criticism

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Continued from page 1

“There are lots of wonderful proj-ects going on,” he said. “I’m such abig fan of Mitzvah Day. There’s somuch we can do. One of my criticismsof previous mayors is they didn’t un-derstand the power of the role It’s notsimply the power given to you by Par-liament, it’s also the pulpit of persua-sion and I intend to use the powers Ihave to change our city for the better.”

At a time when relations betweenmany British Jews and the party’sleadership are severely strained andafter weeks of negative headlinesaround anti-Semitism, Khan won plau-dits for the energy of his campaignwithin the Jewish community.

He condemned cases of anti-Semi-tism within his party as a “badge of shame”, insisted his party could domore on the issue [prior to JeremyCorbyn’s announcement of an inquiry

into anti-Semitism in the party] andwas one of the first to call for Ken Liv-ingstone’s suspension following his re-marks on Hitler supporting Zionism.He also spoke out against the boycott,divestment and sanctions campaign,insisting it did not bring peace closer.

Jeremy Newmark, chair of the Jew-ish Labour Movement, said: “Sadiq’scampaign set a gold standard in howrelations between a high-profile politi-cian and the Jewish community should

work. Sadiq won the hearts and mindsof many Jewish Londoners, remainingtrue to his core anti-racist principles,being open about where he had

changed his perspective and prioritis-ing the need to be a mayor for all Lon-doners. He set a template from whichothers in the Labour Party and acrossBritish politics can learn a great deal.”

He said he had received abuseonline, but pledged to continue “tostand up against what I think is wrong,stand up to inequality, injustice”.

Khan said it was a “privilege” tomeet survivors and their families beforetaking his seat for the moving two-hour

event, organised by Yom HaShoah UKand backed by 120 communal organi-sations. He had been “worried” as acommunities minister about what the

dwindling number of survivors wouldmean for passing on the memory of theNazi horrors. But he said: “What’s greatis that children were on stage, involvedin lighting candles. It’s important – not

just for people of the Jewish faith.”Board of Deputies president

Jonathan Arkush said: “We very muchwelcome the fact that [Khan’s] first pub-lic engagement was the Yom HaShoahcommemoration. We look forward toworking with him in his new role.”

IT WAS a Twitter abuse magnet foranti-Semites and Islamophobes alike. Wewere asked to pose for a photograph, thesenior rabbi and the new Muslim mayor. Itset a positive example, but we still mustlook at what lies beneath the surface of many communities in Britain.

The recent jolt regarding anti-Semitismwithin politics has alarmed us all, and theperpetrators have righty been condemned.However, we need to cast our gaze wider.We need to consider how all of us in Britainview those from other communities aboutwhom we know very little, but assume a lot.

Last week I went to Bradford to learn moreabout Muslim communities in Britain, whattheir views are of Jews, and how we mightall improve our opinion of ‘the other’ –thosewe don’t see as the same as us.

My first meeting was with a groupof 15 Muslim women. It looked like the usual‘tea and samosas’ dialogue that we often

engage in – it’s soft, it’s friendly, it’s basicallygood. But it doesn’t move us on or help usreally tackle the prejudices within us.

I changed things by inviting thesewomen to ask me any questions they liked.Bradford Muslims’ views of Jewish peoplehave been formed through the prism of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a perspec-tive likely to leave a bitter aftertaste.

There were questions about Jewishpower and wealth, and about Israel.

One of the women, Sobia, who asked

questions most vociferously, invitedinner at her family home. Throughconversations, robust relationshmade. I believe that what happenemy stay in Bradford was a small shiftme and for those Muslims with who

I will return to Bradford and cworking with Sobia, her family, thford Jewish community, local Chand all those who want to build bederstanding between people in B

We need to talk about difficult that divide us, such as Israel and extremism. I am partnering with otand Muslims to start a practical iniBradford that can be spread throug

country. I invite others to join me inI believe Sadiq Khan is a man w

and ideals. We should immediabeyond his ethnicity. To see him as Muslim mayor’ is to continue to seefemale religious leader’. When we other as ‘the mayor who happens tolim’ and the ‘senior rabbi who happefemale’, we’ll have taken a step towbigger goal – building a Britain wsee ourselves first as human beingsthen discuss the issues that divide u

‘I will change our great cityfor the better – for everyone’

Sadiq Khan sits next to Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis at the Yom Hashoah UK event

Sadiq Khan wi th Laura Janner -Kl

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SPECIAL REPORT: YOM HASHOAH COMMEMORATION

The raucous noise of a rugby match was

replaced with eerie silence on Sunday,as more than 3,000 people honoured thevictims of the Holocaust a t the community’s main

Yom HaShoah commemoration at Allianz Park.The silent tribute to the six million murdered

Jews was part of a moving two-hour ceremonythat included video testimony from camp sur-vivors, refugees and former British soldiers whohelped to overcome the Nazis – more than 150of whom joined the event.

In a sign of the cross-communal nature of theevent, leaders of synagogue movements acrossthe religious spectrum lit six memorial candlestogether with survivors and members of thethird generation, as dignitaries including newLondon mayor Sadiq Khan looked on.

Survivor Ben Helfgott, part of the organisingcommittee from Yom HaShoah UK, told thegathering that the lessons of the Shoah andevents leading up to it remained asrelevant as ever. And while the num-ber of those who directly experiencedthe horrors grow fewer, he told thegathering: “All the survivors are proudyou’ve come here. We are passing onthe baton to you with confidence.”

Young people, he insisted were notresponsible for the past but are “for sowing the seeds for what might hap-pen in the future”.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis hailedthe survivors “heroes” who emergedafter the war to tell their stories in aneffort to ensure their memory lives on.“They are a remarkable resource andinspiration to us all,” he said. “Butthey won’t be here forever, so weneed a new generation of heroes.

“We are blessed in Britain to haveso many outstanding organisationsspreading Holocaust education. Weowe it to the remarkable survivors andthe children who perished – the shad-

ows which will never leave us.”The event returned to Barnet Copthall Sta-dium a year after it hosted the country’s largestever event marking Yom HaShoah, the memorialday for the Jewish community, with 5,000in attendance. Yom HaShoah UK once againbrought together 120 organisations from acrossthe religious and political spectrum to support the‘Remember Together – We Are One’ campaign.

The event, compered by former Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald, was pep-pered with poignant musical interludes from TheMale Voice Choirs and a choir of children fromfive Jewish primary schools.

The sombre gathering was reminded that thevictims would fill 20,000 Allianz stadiums byMarch of the Living participant Deborah Tamir,before representatives of youth groups reciteda joint pledge to gather to mark Yom HaShoahin future years.

Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev, who is theson of a survivor, said: “Preserving the memoryof the Holocaust is more important than ever before to remind us where humanity’s oldesthatred can lead.

“Israel is assaulted with the same slurs and li-bels that have been leveled at the Jews sincetime immemorial. The anti-Semitic Hamas charter reads like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,accusing Jews of orchestrating both world wars.We’re no longer a powerless people. Today, weprotect ourselves and defend our freedom. Whenwe say ‘never again’ we mean ‘never again’.”

Yom HaShoah UK chairman Neil Martin saidhe hoped the event would return to the samevenue on 23 April next year. “Sunday was ameaningful and historic day for our communityand our society at a much-needed moment,” hetold Jewish News . “We were honoured that

the new mayor of London attended as his firstpublic engagement and show as Londoners westand together as one. But, most importantly,we had the privilege of more than 200 survivors,refugees and veterans joining us, providing anopportunity to thank them publically for all they

have done for our community and country.”

Television personality Robert Rinder, ber of the third generation, said: “The of Jewish family life is to remember anour children that the best answer to thoseek to deny is not to pass them a histobut to say: ‘I was there; my father was th

grandparents were there’.”

Justin Cohen was one of 3,000 people – including survivorefugees and former soldiers – at the community’s main YoHaShoah commemoration held at Barnet Copthall Stadiu

‘THE SHADOWS WIL

NEVER LEAVE US’

Clockwise: United Synagogue President Stephen Pack, Bergen-Belsen survivor Mala Tribich and Jish News’ Justin Cohen light memorial candles; Israeli ambassador Mark Regev addresses the au

surrounded by choirs from five schools; Regev with mayor Sadiq Khan, Ben Helfgott and the Chie


5/44


AN ARAB Israeli preacher hailed by JeremyCorbyn as an “honoured citizen” has been jailedfor racist incitement he made in 2007.

Sheikh Raed Salah, 57, the vehemently anti-Is-rael head of Northern Branch of Islamic Move-ment, began serving an eight-month sentence onSunday, after being acquitted of the charge in2013. The decision was then reversed a year later.

“We have never allowed ourselves to knead[the dough for] the bread that breaks the fastin the holy month of Ramadan with children’sblood,” the former poet is alleged to have said inEast Jerusalem nine years ago.

“Whoever wants a more thorough explanation,let him ask what used to happen to some childrenin Europe, whose blood was mixed in with thedough of the holy bread.”

After the speech, up to 1,000 Palestiniansbegan rioting, throwing stones at security forces.His comments were investigated and a year later he was charged by Jerusalem Magistrates Court,which convicted him of incitement to violence,but acquitted him of racist incitement.

A year later, Jerusalem District Court over-turned that decision, and found him guilty of racist incitement, too.

A FORMER PRESIDENT ofOxford University’s Jewish Soci-ety is to replace Ken Livingstoneas a contender for the Labour Party’s governing body.

Rhea Wolfson, 25 who previ-ously worked as outreach direc-tor for the New Israel Fund, isco-chair of Scottish Labour

Young Socialists and women’sofficer at Scottish Young Labour.

Currently branch secretaryfor the GMB union, she will beamong six candidates for thecentre-left slate backed by thepro-Corbyn grassroots organisa-tion Momentum.

She has been subject toanti-Semitism on Twitter andtweeted that she was“shocked at the abuse beingtweeted at not only me but myfamily – using literal Nazi prop-

aganda”.A further six candidates, in-

cluding We Believe in Israel di-rector Luke Akehurst, will makeup a centrist slate.

Labour’s membership of nearly 400,000 will elect sixmembers in total to the na-tional executive committee inJuly’s election.

Wolfson told Jewish News:“I’m really exited to be ableto make a contribution to theslate and hopefully to theNEC. It’s going to be a chal-lenging campaign across thecountry, but I’m throwing my-self in to it.

“I’m confident I have a shotas much as anyone else. I’vebeen involved in youth politicsacross the country and I thinkhaving more young voices is

very important. I think having aScottish voice is also importantfollowing the recent elections.”

Livingstone is ineligible tostand following his suspension

for suggesting Hitler supportingZionism. Wolfson campaignedfor Jeremy Corbyn at the lastelection, saying he “bestreflected” her values.

Corbyn’s ‘honoured citizen’ starts jail term

Jewish candidate to replace Ken on NEC

Rhea Wolfson replaces the suspended Ken Livingstone

NEWS

Prison: Sheikh Raed Salah

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6 The Jewish News 12 May 2016 www.jewishne

UK NEWS UK NEWS NEWS

FORTY-TWO COUNTRIES setup camp in the Swedish capitalthis week ahead of Saturday’sEurovision final, writes Spencer Barnett in Stockholm.

On Monday night the Israelidelegation hosted a huge partyattended by more than one

thousand revellers – 18 years tothe day since Dana Internationalwon the contest in Birmingham.

Despite worries that therecould be anti-Israel outbursts inlight of the deteriorating rela-tions between Jerusalem andStockholm, the Israeli delegationhas been treated as Eurovisionroyalty.

Nicky Byrne of Westlife fame –representing Ireland this year –

opened the live performances,followed by Belarus and thenBulgaria.

The message Eurovisionwants to portray is tolerance,acceptance and diversity, whichwas demonstrated when a fangot up on the stage cloaked in

a Lebanese flag to rapturousapplause and cheers.Israel’s Hovi Star finished the

show and brought the housedown with his rendition of MadeOf Stars , which had high hopesof qualifying from the secondsemi-final on Thursday night.

Cyprus and Malta qualifiedfrom the first semi-final on Tues-day, which saw the shock exit of Iceland. Earlier, there was a Yom

Hazikaron ceremony at the Jew-ish Community Centre remem-bering Israel’s fallen soldiers andvictims of terror.

Explaining why it is soimportant to take part, IsraeliAmbassador to Sweden, IsaacBachman, said: ”It’s crucial for

Israel to be involved in Eurovi-sion. This is just another brickin the wall in us building upanother side of our country.Diplomatically and politically,this is very important for us.”

The European BroadcastingUnion is keen to clamp downon those trying to use Eurovisionto promote their cause andhave banned the waving of thePalestinian flag and all other

non-UN states. Security hasbeen tighter than usual after itwas reported that ISIS hadthreatened to attack, accordingto Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter.

Hovi told Jewish News :“There is a place for politics and

this is not it. We all have to geton together and that is so obvi-ous here. Countries that may seethings differently politically leaveall that outside, which is certainlytrue in Israel’s case.”

• For more information on this year’s songs, go to urovision tvThe 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast on Saturday at 8pm on BBC1

Westlife’s Nicky Byrne performs at the Israel Party. Inset: Spencer, pictured right, with Hovi Star

Israel’s Hovi Star is on song for Eurovision! EWAN MCGREGOR admits hefollows more Jewish beliefsthan the Christian traditionswith which he was brought up.

In an interview with The Daily Beast , the 45-year-old Scottishactor (pictured ), who will soonstar as Jesus in the forthcomingLast Days In The Desert, re-vealed he is more involved withthe traditions of his French-Jew-ish wife, Eve Mavrakis.

McGregor said: “I’m not areligious person. I’m married toa Jewish woman, so my childrenare Jewish and my involvementin religion has more to do withthe Jewish faith now and notthe Christian faith, which I wasvery vaguely brought up in.”

The actor and his wife, a pro-

duction designer, havdaughters and live in Loles. He was speaking ahis latest dual roles as of God and the devil in Garcia’s film.

He has also been direadaptation of Philip 1960s-set novel Ameritoral, in which he plays acharacter, Swede Levov• Last Days In The Desert isUK cinemas on 30 June

JEWISH CELEBRITIES havepenned an open letter criticisingthe Chief Rabbi’s “sensationalistallegations” of anti-Semitism inthe Labour Party and his equa-tion of anti-Zionism with Jew

hatred.Comedian Alexei Sayle and ac-

tress Miriam Margolyes wereamong 88 signatories to a letterin The Guardian on Tuesday, fol-lowing Ephraim Mirvis’ com-ments written in The Telegraphlast week.

The group claimed thatMirvis now “joins in the sensa-tionalist allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party,

where the headlines’ level is in inverse propothe evidence supporting

They added: “Mirvisas anti-Semitic those warate Judaism from Z

Yet most Jews who perthe Holocaust were indto Zionism and many oit… Is he recasting thtims of the Holocaust mously as enemies of Jand therefore as anti-Se

Mirvis had written: “Ono more separate [Zfrom Judaism than sepacity of London fromBritain.”

Chief Rabbi accused of ‘sensation

Ewan: ‘I feel mostly Jew

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STUDENTS AT Lincoln Universityhave voted to disaffiliate from theNational Union of Students,becoming the first to leave after NUS delegates elected an anti-Israel president last month.

The university, which does nothave many Jewish students, voted

to withdraw its membership,which costs Lincoln’s Students’Union (ULSU) over £50,000 per annum in fees and related costs.

ULSU president Hayley JayneWilkinson said: “For some time,we have felt the focus of debatewithin the NUS has been farremoved from the issues ourstudents tell us are important tothem.”

Of the 1,734 Lincoln studentsvoting on the motion (12 percentof the student population), 881opted to disaffiliate from theNUS, with 804 voting to stay.

It comes after Jewish societiesacross the country voiced con-

cern about newly-electpresident Malia Bouattdenied claims of anti-Safter she spoke of the led media” and referreUniversity of Birmingha“Zionist outpost”.

This weekend in TheTimes , Chief Rabbi Ephrawarned that Jewish studtending university were “wall of anti-Zionism, whfeel and know to be Jew

TRIBUTES HAVE been madeto an Ilford Chabad rabbi de-scribed as a “real go-getter”who died on Sunday aged43 – leaving a wife and eightchildren.

Rabbi Moshe Muller “influ-enced people far beyond his[Gants Hill] community,” saidfriends and colleagues, whowere this week coming toterms with his sudden death.

Muller died of a heartattack while in hospital, wherehe had gone after feelingunwell several days earlier.He had no known heart orhealth conditions, accordingto Chabad Lubavitch chiefexecutive Rabbi Bentzi Sudak.

“Everyone’s in absoluteshock,” he said. “He had anamazing effect. He alwayshad a smile on his face. A lot

of kids in north-east Londonwent on camps with him, andhe helped hundreds of peoplekosher their kitchen. He wasone of those guys you justwant to be around.”

At his funeral – which wove

through Stamford Hill wherehe taught at a Chasidic school,as well as through Ilfordand Enfield – were Chasidim,Charedim and others repre-senting “a complete cross sec-tion” of the Jewish community.

“His reach wasn’t just in hislocal community,” said Sudak.“On the youth side he led daycamps, the overnight campand ran youth groups, but forothers he would organise

whiskey tours in Scotland, vis-iting distilleries and such. Hewas just so upbeat, a real go-getter. It’s a huge loss. I can’tput it into words.”

Jodeci Joseph, a youngmember of Chabad of Buck-hurst Hill, was one of manywho recalled Muller’s influ-ence, paying tribute to himduring a speech at the ChabadLubavitch UK ONE Dinner inMarch.• Community members havebegun fundraising for his family.To donate to the UK campaignvisit: http: uk virginmoneygivingcom fund rabbimuller

Rabbi Moshe Muller’s sudden death has left his community in shock

Community in shock after rabbi dies, aged 43

NUS president Malia Bo

EasyJet removes passengers from planeEASYJET THIS week put theblame on Spanish police forthe removal of more than100 Jewish passengers froma Paris-bound flight leavingBarcelona, after reports of “dis-ruptive behaviour” led to one ar-rest and a six-hour delay, writes James Marlow .

EasyJet chiefs explained thatall 180 passengers on board flightEZY3920 on 1 May continued as

were ordered off the aircraft.EasyJet PR manager Andy

Cockburn said passengers were“returned to the gate in Barcelonaand were met by police due to agroup of passengers behaving ina disruptive manner”.

He added: “While such inci-dents are rare we take them veryseriously and do not tolerateabusive or threatening behaviour on board.”

A MAN HAS been arrested over an online videothat reportedly shows a dog making a Nazi salute.

The 28-year-old, from Coatbridge in north La-narkshire, faces hate crime charges over the video,Police Scotland said. The clip allegedly shows apug sitting in front of a screen showing footage of Adolf Hitler and making Nazi salutes.

Officers said the video had been shared onlineand “caused offence and hurt to many people inour community”. A Police Scotland spokeswomansaid the man was arrested in relation to the “al-leged publication of offensive material online”.Dog’s Nazi salute

Man arrested over dog’s Nazi salute

Lincoln Uni splits with N

Weidenfeld Fund: ‘We’ll pay for refuA FUND SET up by the late LordWeidenfeld has offered to helppay to resettle 3,000 unaccom-panied Christian refugee childrenfrom Syria.

In a letter to the prime minis-ter, Fund president Lord Wolf of-fers “a financial contribution” tochildren from Christian minoritiesbecause Weidenfeld had himself been taken in by a British Chris-tian family in 1938.

Viennese-born Weidenfeld, a

publisher and philanthrodied in January, set up tin response to sectarian acommitted by Islamic St“in part as a debt of grto the family, said Wolf.

“It is our hope that thcontribution will demleadership and spur on omake their own contribusaid, noting that the Fbacked by “prominenbers” of the Jewish com


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10/44



JEWISH CAREhas signed a dealto supply kosher food toLondon hospitals.

Working in partnership withthe Hospital Kosher MealsService (HKM) and followingdiscussions with NHS food sup-plier Medirest, the charity will

provide specialist meals to pa-tients within the M25.The food has been designed

for people who suffer fromdysphagia, a difficulty in swal-lowing and is the first range of kosher reformed pureed mealson offer in the UK.

The launch range will includefive meals which are meat andvegetarian parev, packaged ina double-wrapped container toensure kashrut and labelledwith instructions for hospitalstaff to either microwave orreheat in a regeneration oven.All meals are glatt kosher.

Jewish Care’s chief eSimon Morris said: “patients will be servedspecialist food that ntastes good but, impoprovides them with thtion to aide their recov

Hospital Kosher Mevice’s Michael Freedm“This represents a sigimprovement in the rfood which we provideish hospitalised patient

Former JFS boyscoops a Bafta

FORMER MP Lee Scott has beenappointed by the government to

conduct a reviewof special edu-cation servicesin Britain.

The former Ilford North MPwill visit schoolsand colleges

and holdd i scus -s i o n s

with parents and young people aswell as organisations providingsupport to increase understand-ing of the impact of policy on theexperiences and outcomes of young people with special educa-tional needs and disability(SEND). He will report back to theSecretary of State in the summer.

A statement from the Depart-ment for Education said: “LeeScott has accepted an invitationby the Secretary of State, acting

as an adviser, to develop our un-derstanding of the experienceparents of children with SEND,and young people with SEND,have of the education system.”

Scott told Jewish News : “I amdelighted to do this and will bevisiting all aspects of this vitalarea before doing a full reportfor the Secretary of State.”

Scott is expected to consultwith charities including Norwoodand Kisharon.

A DOCUMENTARY producer hasrevealed his “immense pride”following a Bafta win for hisgroundbreaking series, The Mur- der Detectives .

Neil Grant, the executive pro-ducer behind the Channel 4 se-

ries, which aired last November,picked up the award for best fac-tual series at the ceremony onSunday night.

Filmed over 18 months, thecrew were given unprecedentedaccess to detectives investigat-ing the apparently motivelesskilling of Bristol teenagerNicholas Robinson.

Grant, who is managing direc-tor of Films of Record, said hehad been “astounded” by thecritical reaction to the series,which also picked up two BaftaCraft awards for director DaveNath and editor Ben Brown.

He said: “I’m immenselyproud of the team, but it’s alsoimportant to remember this isessentially a story about parents

who have lost a child. To cele-brate that would be inappropri-ate, but if there is one lessmurder as a result of knife crimebecause of this documentary,then it’s a job well done.”

The north London-based pro-ducer – who describes himself as“a JFS boy”, having been a for-mer pupil, teacher and schoolgovernor at the secondaryschool in Kenton – also revealeda second series is in the pipeline.

FOOTBALLING ICON DavidBeckham is to speak at JW3next month.

The former Manchester United and England star’s firstappearance at a Jewish com-munity event will see him dis-cuss his work as a goodwillambassador for Unicef and a20-year footballing career dur-ing which he won titles in four countries, including six Premier League crowns.

Beckham – who has de-scribed his Jewish grandfather Joseph West as his footballing“inspiration” – will be the mosthigh-profile figure yet to ap-pear at JW3. He will be inter-viewed on 14 June bybroadcaster and Unicef UKpresident Kirsty Young as partof the Alan Howard Founda-tion-JW3 Speaker Series that

has already brought the likesof PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Nigella Lawson and GarryKasparov to the Finchley Roadvenue.

The series was the brainchildof Alan Howard, whose foun-dation has been planning, run-

ning and funding all the eventsin partnership with JW3 sincethe end of 2014.

The event has been organ-ised in top secret in partner-ship with Unicef.

According to the JW3 web-site, free tickets will be avail-able through a ballot tomembers only, although thoseinterested can still join to standa chance. “We know thatdemand for them will exceedthe number of tickets avail-able,” it said.

In his tenth year as a good-will ambassador, Beckhamestablished a fund to help chil-dren in danger across theworld, working with the charityto press world leaders for “new development goals tohelp prevent violence, pre-ventable death and poverty”.

High-profile guest David Beckham

David Beckham to star at JW3 Jewish Care to launch hospital f

One of the specialist kosh

Former MP to review special education services

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A specially commissioned 90th birthday card was delivered to the Q Jewish and Muslim faith leaders. Presented at St James’s Palace, themessage written by a calligrapher was signed by 24 rabbis and ima

Rabbis and imams sign Queen’s 90th c


11/44

www.jewishnews.co.uk 12 May 2016 The Jewish Ne

UK NEWS WORLD NEWS

A NEW FILM has revealed theheart-rending reunion of twobrothers separated at Bergen-Belsen, with one also meetinghis biological mother for thefirst time since he was ababy.

The two men, who grewup in Canada and Israel,were brought together byresearchers after sevendecades of silence from their mother, Aida, who refused tospeak about what happened.

Aida, who lives in Canada,gave birth to Izak in the camp

just after the war ended. Izakwas adopted by an Israeli fam-ily in 1948, when he was threebut, although he was reunitedwith Aida when he was 11, she

never told him who his father was – or that he had a brother in the camp.

That brother, called Shepsyl,followed his mother toCanada, changing his name toShep on entry. It was onlywhen Izak’s nephew contacteda heritage company that Shepwas finally tracked down andreunited with Izak.

The film, called Aida’sSecrets , premiered in Torontolast week, and revealed theinput of MyHeritage, whichwas approached for help in2013, after Izak received somerevelatory documents from theBergen-Belsen archive.

“I can’t tell you what itmeans to finally meet mybrother after 65 years,” saidShep, a visually-impairedParalympic skier, cyclist, andmarathon runner who repre-sented Canada.

“What’s even more amazingis fulfilling my lifelong dreamof finding my birth mother.Finding her alive was the icingon the cake. It closes a circlefor me and gives me peace of mind that I am not alone.”

The two brothers, nowaged almost 70, met inCanada before meeting Aida,who is in a nursing home in

Quebec.A third brother is believed

to be living in Toronto.Genealogists at MyHer-

itage, who traced Shepthrough his daughter Melanie,tracked the emotional reunionafter their search througharchives at Bergen-Belson inGermany, Yad Vashem inIsrael, as well as Canadian andIsraeli vital records, and onlinefamily trees.

Lead researcher LaurenceHarris said: “Seeing howmeaningful the outcome wasfor the brothers and their fam-ilies is the very best reward.”

Shep Shell and Izak Sagi meet after being separated at Bergen-Belsen

Belsen brothers finallyreunited after 65 years

Gag on conflict reportISRAELI PARLIAMENTARIANS cannot discuss aleaked report critical of Israeli leaders’ handlingof the Gaza conflict in 2014, a governmentlawyer has said.

Eyal Yanon told the Knesset that members’discussion of State Comptroller Yosef Shapira’sreport would mean “collaboration” in the ille-gality of the leak.

Israeli media sources who saw the 70-pagedocument say it slams Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu, Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alonand then-IDF chief Benny Gantz for withholdinginformation from the cabinet about Hamas’ tun-nel construction and capability.

Netanyahu and Ya’alon are also said to be crit-icised for failing to give the security cabinet real-time updates on the threat of war with Hamas,and for concealing warnings by Shin Bet in earlyJuly 2014 regarding the potential for war.

Two women stabbedTWO WOMEN in their 80s, one of whom is aHolocaust survivor, were stabbed by assailantsas they walked along a promenade inJerusalem on Tuesday.

The victims, aged 82 and 86, were ap-proached from behind by two masked men.They were taken to hospital where doctors saythey are comfortable and in a moderate con-dition.

The attack occurred at the Peace Forest,near the Armon Hanatziv promenade in south-ern Jerusalem.

The attackers were last seen fleeing towardthe adjacent East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.

Magen David Adom medic Shlomi Tedgisaid he found the women “in the field near thepromenade lying in the dirt, conscious, withstab wounds”.

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Israeli scouts light torches dur-ing a Memorial Day ceremony at the military cemetery atMount Hertzl in Jerusalem onTuesday, as the country re-membered its 23,447 fallen soldiers and victims of terror.Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu, who lost his brother Yoni in Operation Entebbe in1976, said: “I, like you, carry the burden of grief, as we fallto the abyss of sorrow and ag-onise over the pain of loss.”

Flames for the fallen


12/44


JEWISH NEWS ONLINE

JEWISH NEWS has firmly estab-lished itself as the UK’s biggestJewish media brand with a newglobal digital partnership with The Times of Israel .

A sparkling new website – tai-lored to showcase breaking news,exclusive features, a vibrant blog-ging platform, Weekly Editionnewsletter and numerous other ele-ments that have helped give The Times of Israel widespread andgrowing resonance – launchestoday.

As part of the deal, The Times of Israel will promote the Jewish News content among its readers in the UK via its homepage and other pages,ensuring high resonance and visibil-ity for the Jewish News ’s articles.

Jewish News editor Richard Fer-rer said: “This exciting partnershipfirmly establishes Jewish News asthe UK’s biggest Jewish mediabrand. The Times of Israel is on thecutting-edge of digital journalism.As its UK partner, Jewish News willdeliver an unrivalled platform forlocal and world news and a vastcommunity of bloggers – all on astate-of-the-art website cateringfor an audience of millions.”

Times of Israel editor David

Horovitz said: “As an ex-Londoner,I’m particularly delighted that theJewish News has become our UK partner. Meeting with their young,smart editorial team, led by editorRichard Ferrer, at their offices a fewweeks ago, I quickly saw how it isthat the Jewish News has becomesuch an essential read.

“Its writers and editors are dedi-cated, curious and skilled – a win-ning combination in journalism. I’mdelighted that our partnership willhelp ensure their work is widelyread online, complementing theirweekly print edition.”

After four years of continuedgrowth, The Times of Israel cur-rently has some 20 million monthlypage views; it publishes in French,Arabic, Chinese and Persian as wellas English; it has more than150,000 daily email subscribers andover 5,000 bloggers.

In time, the aim is also to utilisethese journalistic partnerships tocombine forces – with local news-rooms working together on storiesof global interest, to be publishedtogether.

The result will be better journal-ism for readers of all the partneredtitles.

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SPECIAL REPORT: INSIDE ISRAEL’S CULTS

It’s a bright Monday morning in a smart Is-raeli industrial park. Workers with IDbadges and electronic fobs rush busily be-

tween the high-tech offices. On an upperfloor of B building, alongside a chemicalsfirm, I’ve discovered Jesus.

Inside Beit Asaph in Netanya, I could be ina non-orthodox shul. A drum kit and micro-phones are clustered in one corner; there aremenorahs on display, an ark. A beautiful wallhanging depicts a lion’s head. A closer look re-veals the message, appliquéd in large Hebrewletters down each side, “Jesus the Messiah”.

Not your typical shul, then.In fact, I’m in one of around 200 messianicchurches operating throughout Israel, whosemission is to encourage Israelis to accept“Yeshua” (Jesus) into their lives. With me isRachel, a young American friend, who, whenshe was a student and new immigrant in Haifanine years ago, was targeted by several mes-sianic communities.

She’s keen to find out about this growingchurch community practically on our doorstep.Plus, she can perfectly adopt that hippy vague-ness that will allow us to wander in and sn ooparound.

So we breeze towards a young man beatinga carpet vigorously outside the heavy metaldoors. “Is this the church?” Rachel asks.

“Abba!” He calls, looking behind him. “You wait here,” he tells us, and disappears inside.Instead we follow him, and meet his dad, LevGuler, the church’s deacon. According to their website, Lev and his wife, Ora, emigrated to Is-rael from Russia in 1994. They have five chil-dren. Their congregation of 200 “committedbelievers and seekers” is “predominantly Jew-ish” and is made up of Russian, English, Hebrewand Amharit speakers. Services take place everySaturday and on “Jewish and Christian festi-vals”. Bar- and bat-mitzvahs are celebratedhere, with traditional Jewish elements com-bined with teachings from the “BritHachadasha” – the New Testament.

There are estimated to be around 10,000-20,000 Messianic Jews in Israel, which makesthem a tiny, but growing, minority. MessianicJews believe Jesus is the Jewish messiah andthat the Bible prophesies that God’s plan is for him to return to Jerusalem, win an apocalypticshowdown against the Antichrist, and rule theworld from the Temple Mount.

According to Ellen Horowitz, content and re-search director for the lobby group Jewish Is-rael, Israelis are currently facing a “missionaryonslaught” by “evangelical missionaries target-

ing Jews for conversion”.Horowitz believes that by actively embracingChristian evangelical “friends”, who provideideological and financial support for the stateas well as a welcome boost to the tourist indus-try, Israel has ended up in an unholy alliancewith fundamentalist evangelical organisations.She says much more needs to be done to edu-cate Israelis about what she calls “the old-newmissionary threat”.

The Israel branch of the Jehovah’s Witnessesorganisation, headquartered near the CarmelMarket in Tel Aviv, has launched a new leafletand door-to-door campaign. The Hebrew flyersask, cryptically, “What’s the Key to Happy Fam-ily Life?” above a colour rendering of a man andwoman staring sternly into each other’s eyeswhile a child looks on. “Is it Love? Money?Something Else?” You have to be pretty sharpto spot that the “Food for Thought” overleaf,

atop the same illustrated couple, now smilingas they listen to an expert (a doctor or a coun-sellor, you’d think) is two Bible quotations – onefrom Leviticus in the Old Testament, the secondfrom Colossians 3 in the New.

Ravit Chason, an Israeli woman living in Ne-tanya, was stunned to receive a visit from theJW. She describes how two people, a manand a woman, rang thebell. “When I openedthe door, and they sawI’m religious, theystraight away pre-tended they didn’tspeak any Hebrew andthat they’re looking for Russian families.” shesays. “But then I sawthem talking to myneighbour straight after-wards and with her theyspoke excellent He-brew.”. She says she did-n’t hesitate to write amessage to her social-media contacts, warning

them not to answer thedoor to the evangelisers.Back in Beit Asaph,

Deacon Lev assumes

Rachel and I have turned up to particthe weekly Good Deeds initiative.

Every Monday, apparently, church mhelp to distribute parcels of cooked fooceries and clothing to the needy in the cluding Holocaust survivors. Sure enoua dozen people come bustling througing bags of food.

A woman who introduces herself asfrom Hadera, comes in laden with Tupcontainers and asks us where the kitc“Uh, through there,” we gesture vaguelying her towards the back. She thanks

fusely and rushes off.Among these cheerful people, clearl

freely of their time to help others, it’s imagine there’s a sinister motive. But crBeit Asaph, and other messianic churcit, are deliberately flouting the law with tivities. For example, according to exiraeli law, nobody can “discuss religionminor (under 18 years of age) without thents’ permission.”

The Beit Asaph site states proudly tpercent of the congregation is under 1of age. We provide a comprehensive education system for our children and y

A glance at the Beit Asaph noticeshows an upcoming “Youth Trip” and a Holiday Camp”.

Currently, a proposed new law aimtackle “cults” has passed its first readinKnesset, but it’s unclear how this woulthe messianic Christian movement.

In 1998 there was a move to draft asionary legislation but, faced with strongtions from the American right and also f

Jewish Anti-Defamation the bill was scrapped.

I make my way out Asaph, clutching a copMessianic Times and a a performance of Handesiah. Leaving the lift is volunteer, bringing inbags bulging with shop

Back on street levback in the centre of hIsrael and wonderinmany of the workers care that Jesus is upst

200 messianic churches are hard at work in Israel seeking tredeem the country from its Jewishness. Lisa Sanders investigat

HE’S NOT THE MESSIAH

A new leaflet from Israeli Jehovah’s Witnesses

False idol: Graham Chapman as the alternative Jesus in the Monty Python film Life Of Brian

Literature collected from the growing messianic movement

P i c t u r e s : M o v i e s t o r e / R E X / S h u t t e r s t o c k


15/44



16/44

EDITORIAL COMMENT AND READERS’ LETTERS


KEN’S VIEW HAS LONG

BEEN LABOUR ATTITUDE Israel is the one and only Jewish nationin the world, where those wish to live ina Jewish land should be free to so, in thesame way as Muslims are free to live in aMuslim land if they wish.

I have had many professional experi-ences in the past with detractors of theJewish state, Ken Livingstone for one, andcan assure you his and Jeremy Corbyn’slong-held attitude has existed within their branch of the Labour Party for many years.

Harry Levy Pinner

YOM HASHOAH EVENT WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE Having attended many communal events,

I was extremely impressed with Sunday’s Yom HaShoah commemoration.

It was well-organised, well-paced andhad the right balance of emotion andcontent. In addition, the choice of locationensured it was well-attended.

Congratulations go to the organisingcommittee and Henry Grunwald. On aspectacularly warm day, it all went to plan.

Jeremy SternBy email

AS KEN SHOULD KNOW,HITLER WAS NO ZIONIST I would not expect Ken Livingstone toknow details about the population of thatregion of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, butI would expect him to note the tragic ironyof his proposal that those Jews who

survived the Holocaust should have beensplit between the UK and the USA.The tragic irony is that had the British

empire (Canada, Australia, South Africa etal) and the USA accepted Jewish refugeesbefore the Holocaust, millions may nothave died. The USA even sent back toEurope a ship of Jewish refugees thatreached the coast of Florida, knowing theywould likely be killed.

The British Mandatory government inPalestine closed the gates to Jewishrefugees when their lives were clearly indanger. How can Ken suggest the UK andUSA would have taken in the few survivors,when they could have done so much more

before the Shoah?Regarding the utter nonsense that Hitler

was a Zionist, even a GCSE pupil wouldn’tbe taken in. Zionism was a mainly EasternEuropean Jewish movement to restoreJewish nationhood.

Few German Jews were Zionists becausethey were “more German than theGermans”. Hitler followed German racialscience that said mixing ‘pure’ Aryan bloodwith “mongrel” Semitic blood must bestopped because the Aryans were themaster race meant to rule the world.

Hitler wanted a judenrein [cleansedof Jews] Deutschland and the Zionistswanted more Jews to build the Jewishstate, which was irrelevant to Hitler.

By saying Hitler was a Zionist, one impliesthat Zionists were friends of the Nazis.

Joseph Feld By email

THANKS FOR THE VOTE – AND IN THIS CLIMATE I would like to thank the voters of Barnetand Camden for re-electing me to theLondon Assembly for a second term with

such an overwhelming majority.I especially thank those

constituents who supported me, desissue of anti-Semitism in the LabouWithout your backing, I would nevbeen able to win. I promise I will doto continue to support your causesing the fight to root out anti-Semitiour party and UK politics as a wholewill especially continue to campaignexpulsion of Ken Livingstone.

A few words about the dreadfuministration of the election in Barnis where the Conservatives’ polnever-ending cuts, privatisationcomplete lack of scrutiny and oleads. There must be a swift andinvestigation to allow all those wtheir vote be heard, and urgent rsteps taken before the EU referendmonth. Heads must roll, as Barbecome a national laughing stock.

I look forward to working for tfour years with our Labour maLondon, Sadiq Khan, implementprogramme to address the desperafor affordable housing, freezing trfares, restoring neighbourhood pand healing division in our society

Andrew DLabour London Assembly mem

Barnet and C

YACHAD ET AL WOUJUST HAND OVER ISRThank you, Chaim Scott (Jewish NMay), for drawing attention to thIsrael Fund and Yachad.

I have been trying in vain to wJewish public about their motivesseems to fall on deaf ears.

People say: ‘But they are Jewish, they be against Israel?’ As Mr Scot

states, they give the impression theIsrael, but in fact would be prepareit taken over by the Palestinians.

They are financed by some sympathetic to the Palestinian cahave been allowed to spread their unabated here and in the US.

I was recently at a meeting Yachad’s Hannah Weisfeld spoke.end of a boring talk, I was none thand neither was the audience. All was quote statistics. I wanted to as

Yachad’s donors but couldn’t get aedgeways.

JudB

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Letters to the Editor

Sketches kvetches

By Paul Solomons www.daftoons.com

‘Anyone else think that there’sa problem with me casting

my vote?!’

A powerful message of unityIN THE seminal 1994 filmShawshank Redemption, about

the bond between twoAmerican prisoners, Red says hisfriend Andy Dufresne “crawledthrough a river of s*** and cameout clean on the other side”.

That unpalatable phrasecame to mind on Sunday, withthe sight of newly-electedmayor of London Sadiq Khanat Holocaust Memorial Daywithin hours of winning acampaign that contained far more muck than Dufresne ever encountered.

Standing with the Chief Rabbi,the Israeli ambassador and thou-sands of British Jews, it sent apowerful message of unity –days after Ken Livingstone’s“Hitler was a Zionist” commentdid the opposite.

If Khan’s time at City Hallproceeds in the way his firstdays have suggested, his pres-ence will be a healing one – for interfaith relations and, perhapsalso, relations between his

party and Anglo-Jewry.While many will still harbour

reservations – some of themunderstandable – the earlysigns suggest Khan will be anexcellent city leader and onewho understands not onlycommunal concerns but our reasons for them.

His opponents had been rightto ask questions about his linksto extremists, but the way it wasdone sometimes left a verybitter taste. Khan now has theopportunity to show just howunfair some of those commentswere through his actions.

We now look forward to thesight of a Muslim mayor cele-brating Chanukah in the Squarelater this year.

As Khan himself said at theJewish News ’ hustings: “Think

of the message this will send.”So mazeltov to Sadiq and to

those who campaigned for abetter, more tolerant capitalcity – one that celebratesdiversity.

THIS WEEKEND’S SHABBAT TIMES

Shabbat comes in at:Shabbat goes out at:

Sedra:

Kedoshim

20:28

21:49

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17/44


OPINION: RABBI MIRIAM BERGER AND MARK MAIERPINION ALEX BRUMMER

IT IS the small insidious things that you start tonotice. Sipping coffee in the ‘green room’ at a TVstudio the comedian, who is to appear before me,cracks what he thinks is a funny joke: “PhilipGreen, fancy yachts and Ken Livingstone, it allmakes sense doesn’t it.” The friendly lettersI have received from Daily Mail readers praisingour passionate coverage of BHS and then remind-ing me, as if I didn’t know, in bold underlined let-ters he is a ‘JEW’ after all. And the Tory MPRichard Fuller calling for Parliamentary justice for the BHS pensioners after infelicitously talkingabout the owners taking their ’20 pieces of silver’.

Regarding Sadiq Khan’s campaign for mayor of London: it is an enormous achievement for theson of a bus driver from Tooting and human rightslawyer to be elected as mayor of the world’s fi-nancial and global city. His opponent Zac Gold-

smith, my MP in Richmond Park and proud of hisJewish heritage, is accused of ‘dog-whistle’ poli-tics for daring to question the affiliations of someof the radical preachers and Hamas supporterswith whom Khan has shared platforms.

We know from Ken Livingstone’s revealed viewsthat the radical Islamic company he has kept wasno accident. We also know from the way in whichthe anti-Zionism of the left has flourished in theLabour Party of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDon-nell, when it was largely sidelined and controlledunder the previous leadership, that something

dramatically changed. Even after weeks of reve-lations of hostility to Jews and Israel in the nationalmedia, it is not considered safe in Britain to voiceconcerns. One narrative heard from politicians of the left is that anti-Semitism has been whippedup by the right-wing press as a means of harmingKhan and others, so it can be safely ignored.When my colleague Isabel Oakeshott questionedthe Labour leader’s sympathy for Hamas andHezbollah on the BBC1’sQuestion Time, the boo-ing rang out across the hall in Manchester.

For a long time both as journalist and (in thelast triennial) as an elected officer of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, I bought into the ideathat anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism could beexaggerated and that we were uniquely lucky inBritain that we are such a tolerant society.

We applaud the election of the first Muslim

mayor of a major European city. We are acceptingof the idea that Britain’s biggest Islamic charity,Islamic Relief, is taking advertising space on buseswith the strapline ‘Subhan Allah’ – glory be to Godin Arabic – as part of a Ramadan campaign to raisemoney for use in war-torn countries such as Syriaand Iraq. Would Britain’s secular society be happyif the Church of England spent its money on big busposters proclaiming the name of Jesus during Lent?

The return of anti-Semitism to Europe is ex-plored in detail in an article by Brendan Simmsand Charlie Laderman in the New Statesman

under the heading: The longest hatred: Anti-Semitism is resurgent in Europe. Can this ancient poison ever be eradicated? Anyone who hasclosely monitored the rise of nasty far-right andleft parties in Europe, amid the spread of eco-nomic desperation, could not but be fearful of what is happening. At home, anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish sentiments have become mainstream. Weknow from the Brussels attacks how ISIS gained ahold in Belgium. What we also need to under-stand is that the Brussels Jewish community haslong felt under siege f rom anti-Zionist elements.

The good news, such as it is, in Europe is thatanti-Semitism tends to be where you wouldexpect among radical Islamists and in fringe par-ties such as Jobbick in Hungary, Greece’s GoldenDawn and deep within the National Front inFrance. The mainstream parties and politicians,

such as French President François Hollande, haveno truck with such sentiments.The disturbing thing in Britain is that anti-

Semitism is polluting Labour, the nation’s mainopposition party. That makes it so much harderfor mainstream parties to build a common frontagainst extremism. One wants to believe thatLabour is still the party of Harold Wilson, Tony Blair,Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband: all great sympa-thisers to things Jewish and to Israel. But it clearlyis not and Britain is in danger of allowing the oldesthatred to more broadly affect our culture.

Alex Brumm

‘Anti-Semitism is pollutLabour, which makes it m

harder to build a commfront against extremi

City Ed

Daily M

Could the oldest hatred

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18/44

OPINION: RABBI MIRIAM BERGER AND MARK MAIER

18 The Jewish News12 May 2016

www.jewishn

OPINION: ADAM WAGNER LUKE AKEHURST

WE NEED to talk about Theresa May andMichael Gove. What could there be to talkabout? They are friends of the community.They speak at our charity dinners. They areglowing about Israel.

The problem is their views on Europe.Gove, the Justice Secretary, is campaigningfor Brexit. May reluctantly wants to stay, butsaid recently she thinks we should leave theEuropean Convention on Human Rights in-stead – an option currently not on the table.They are both proposing fundamentallydangerous paths. I want to explain why Jew-ish people should be very worried.

The EU and ECHR exist because of sepa-rate international treaties but have a com-mon origin, growing from the ashes of theSecond World War, the Holocaust and whatwas known as the European Movement.

The movement’s big idea was that to pre-vent another disastrous conflict in Europewe needed to bring states closer throughpolitical, social and economic cooperation.

Churchill was the driving force, under-standing that, to defeat communism andextreme nationalism, Europe must be rebuilton the foundations of common values:democracy, equality and the rule of law.

From that simple idea sprang the twomost effective international organisations inhistory. The ECHR is a treaty drafted mostlyby Conservative British politician DavidMaxwell-Fyfe, the UK’s prosecutor at theNuremberg trials. It contains a list of rights,such as free speech, freedom of religion andthe right to privacy; a mirror image of the

rights taken away by the Nazis. The ECHRisn’t just fancy words; anyone can apply toit to enforce his or her rights. In the UK,it has enforced press freedom, enshrinedprotection against child abuse and ensuredequality for gay people, among many other things.

The EU grew from a different set of treaties, allowing Europeans to work andtravel where they like, reducing economicprotectionism between countries and intro-ducing important basic standards for work-ers, such as laws protecting them fromdiscrimination on grounds of race or reli-gion, guaranteeing maternity leave andequal pay for workers of equal value.

So far, so idealistic. Of course, both insti-tutions have problems. They are prone toempire-building and bureaucracy.

The ECHR is overstretched and some feelmakes decisions which should be left toelected politicians.

It also makes controversial judgments,for example delaying the deportation ofextremist cleric Abu Qatada until Jordanchanged its laws on evidence obtained bytorture.

Which brings me back to May and Gove.They pick on those relatively minor criticismsand amplify them.

They use phrases such as “restoringsovereignty” or freeing Britain from the“chains” of Europe so it can realise itspotential. Let the lion roar, and so on.

The Jewish community needs to see thismovement for what it is – nothing less than

the re-emergence of British nationalism.And it isn’t just happening in Britain .

There is a worldwide trend to focus onnational concerns at the expense of the in-ternational community. In the US, DonaldTrump’s “America First” foreign policy isreminiscent of the policy of the same nameused by Charles Lindbergh to whip up anti-Jewish prejudice in the 1930s.

The unifying cry of the neo-nationalistmovement is to withdraw from, and possiblydestroy, the institutions that have been cen-tral to maintaining peace and increasingprosperity in Europe for more than halfa century. May and Gove are at therespectable end of a dangerous coalitionthat includes little-Englanders such as UKIPand the likes of George Galloway.

Nationalism has never been good for Jews. Jewish communities have thrived inoutward-looking liberal societies, whichcelebrate religious freedom and promotecommunities with links in other countries.I am not arguing that if we undermine inter-national organisations, the jackboot willimmediately follow.

But as Pierre-Henri Teitgen, one of theECHR’s founding fathers, eloquently said:“Democracies do not become Nazi countriesin one day. Evil progresses cunningly… It isnecessary to intervene before it is too late.”

The Jewish community should listen andintervene in this negative, narrow anti-Euro-pean movement before it is too late.

• Adam Wagner tweets @adamwagner1

Adam Wagn

‘The Jewish community msee the Brexit movement what it is: the re-emergen

of British nationalis

Why both May and Gove are

on highly dangerous pathsBarrister and wr

WHEN WE scheduled Zionism Month for May, we couldn’t have expected it to bequite so timely.

Ken Livingstone’s latest appalling slursdemonstrate how important it is to promotea proper understanding of Zionism and com-bat the way it has been tur ned into a pejora-tive smear by anti-Israel activists andanti-Semites.

It is time to stand up and

loudly, proudly reject apublic discourse by Israel’senemies who define Zion-ism as a malign colonialor racist ideology, or, inLivingstone’ s case, evenmake a grotesque claimthat in his early days inpower, Hitler was a Zionist.

Zionism Month has been or-ganised jointly by We Believe in Israel(WBII) and the Zionist Federation (ZF) toincrease understanding of the origins andcontext of the Zionist movement and thenecessity of a national liberation movementfor the Jewish people and the creation ofIsrael.

There are many different strands of Zionistthought. All of them can be celebrated

during Zionism Month.One aim is to promote Zionism Month

across the country and promote a simpleunderstanding of Zionism as support forJewish national self-determination throughthe creation and continued support for aJewish state in Israel.

This is something we believe all Zionistscan agree on, whatever their politics

and however religious they are.

May seemed the mostappropriate month becauseit coincides with TheodoreHerzl’s birthday, which fallson 2 May; Yom Hazikaron(Israel’s Remembrance day,

11 May) and Yom Ha’atzmaut(Israeli Independence Day,

12 May). It was always going to bea busy month.

We have already launched an emailcampaign to members of parliament, soactivists can explain to their MPs what beingZionist means and find out whether thoseMPs share basic Zionist principles and sup-port Israel as a Jewish state.

We are encouraging people to put an‘I am a Zionist’ Twibbon [an electronicbadge – see inset image] on their Twitter and

Facebook profiles and use the Twitter hash-tag #ZionismMonth2016. We’ve even pro-duced old-style ‘I am a Zionist’ badges.

There will be a series of publicationsincluding statements from famous supportersof Zionism, and a pamphlet of essays aboutwhat Zionism means today.

We will be discussing at a unique paneldebate what it means to be a Zionist andcelebrating at the Zionist Federation’s spec-

tacular annual Yom Ha’atzmaut concert fea-turing Dana International.In addition, all local communities are

being encouraged to hold their own eventsto celebrate Israel and Zionism with their civilleaders and organisations.

The events of recent days – where thehistory of Zionism and the very meaning of the word have been debased – make thismonth of celebrating Zionism even moreessential. We are proud of Zionism andeverything that it has achieved. It’s timeto explain to the wider British public whatZionism is and what it means to us all.

As a non-Jew, I am proud to identify asa Zionist – a supporter of Jewish nationalliberation and self-determination in Israel.

Now is the time to shout our Zionism fromthe rooftops!

Luke Akehur

‘Continued support foJewish state in Israe

something we believeZionists can agree

It’s Zionism Month – time toproudly say: ‘I’m a Zionist!’

Direct

We Believe In Isr


19/44


OPINION: RABBI MIRIAM BERGER AND MARK MAIERPINION: TULIP SIDDIQ MP

FOLLOWING A disheartening month, the elec-tion of Sadiq Khan as mayor of London is a relief for those who place community relations at theheart of their politics. His victory marks a tri-umph for those who demand that our politicsworks for the common good, rather than pittingindividual groups against each other. Now is thetime to act decisively to ensure the spirit of Sadiq’s victory is here to stay. It is clear that boththe Conservatives and Labour have key deci-sions to take in the weeks ahead.

Sadiq’s campaign was victorious as it spoketo the long-term challenges facing Londoners.His personal drive and work ethic was clear throughout, particularly in contrast to the lethar-gic and pitiful Goldsmith. But this election wasabout more than Tube fares and pollution levels,vital though they are. Goldsmith’s incessant at-

tempts to portray Sadiq as an ‘extremist by as-sociation’ ensured that the vote effectivelybecame a referendum on London’s diversity.

It is a matter of personal pride that London’sriposte to Goldsmith’s dog-whistle racism wasa resounding victory for Sadiq. That said, it is notgood enough for senior Tories to now denouncethe campaign through mealy-mouthed words tothe media. With a few notable exceptions, notleast former chairman Baroness Warsi, they werelargely silent as he defamed Sadiq’s characterin pursuit of victory. If the public is to believe

that the Conservatives accept responsibilityfor Goldsmith’s tactics, action must follow. I lookforward to seeing how that takes shape in theweeks ahead.

As for my own party, I can only repeat Sadiq’swords with sorrow when he says ongoing casesof anti-Semitism are a badge of shame.

For almost 20 years, I have lived alongsidethe Jewish community in Hampstead. Visitingfriends’ houses for Shabbat and the occasionalseder formed a routine part of my teenageyears. The pride I feel in representing this com-munity knows no bounds.

Following the recent birth of my daughter, thewell wishes I have received from the synagoguesin the constituency have been remarkably similar in their wording to those I have received frommy family. When I walk around the block, my

Jewish neighbours are giving me the samestern, health-related advice that I hear from mymother. However, recently, they have also toldme of their despair over the spate of anti-Se-mitic incidents within Labour. This is not some-thing they should have to tolerate.

Labour must be unequivocal in its oppositionto anti-Semitism. We must take swift and deci-sive action where individuals or groups havebeen found to advocate anti-Semitic ideals, or indeed, have taken to the airwaves to deny anti-Semitism is a problem.

Anti-Semitism is a problem and Labour mustlead the fight against it, not cower in fear of self -inflicted wounds.

My general lack of sleep has been a welcomechallenge in the first few weeks of bondingwith my daughter. Listening to Ken Livingstone’sdisgraceful rants over this period has beenconsiderably less welcome. I called for his sus-pension almost immediately after hearing hisremarks, and do not hesitate to say thereshould be absolutely no way back for him fol-lowing his perverse reimagining of the Holo-caust’s narrative.

The terms of reference and the respective out-comes of the Royall and Chakrabarti inquiries willbe crucial in restoring the Jewish community’sconfidence in Labour Party. It is a credit to organ-isations such as the Jewish Labour Movement

and the Board of Deputies that they have showna willingness to engage, and Labour must deliver the action that will create a future of certainty inthe fight against anti-Semitism.

The past month in British politics has beentrying at best. Both parties must do more tostamp out two distinct but equally deplorableprejudices that have no place in our society.Sadiq Khan’s victory is a seminal moment, butthe spirit of his victory must be utilised across thepolitical divide, in order to deliver the positivefuture that we all desperately require.

Tulip Sidd

‘Both political parties mdo more to stamp

deplorable prejudices thave no place in our socie

Labour MPHampstead and Kilb

London mayoral vote was

a referendum on diversity

EARLY BIRDS

WILL BENEFIT

H E B R E W

W H Y C O M P R O M I

S E F O R 2 nd B E S T W H E N

Y O U C A N B E N E F I T

F R O M T H E V E R Y

B E S T

• 3 ne w

12 may 2016, jewish news, issue 950

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