5 May 2016, Jewish News, Issue 949

8/17/2019 5 May 2016, Jewish News, Issue 949

1/36

5 May 2016 | 27 Nissan 5776 | Issue 949@JewishNewsUK

JewishDANA IS BACK!Eurovision special, p16

F R E E

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER

see page 8 for det

It’s not too late to b

for this Sunday

MO NDAY TO FRIDAY

THEWEEK THAT

ROCKED LABOUR

THE ANTI-SEMITISMrow engulfing the LabourParty spilled into the House of Commons yes-

terday, amid warnings that the inquiry into theissue must not be a mere “sticking plaster” –

and concerns that the scandal couldimpact on today’s elections.

The issue has dominated nationalheadlines since last Wednesday,when MP Naz Shah was sus-

pended over social media posts from 2014 endors-ing the “transportation” of Israelis to America – andthe subsequent suspension of Ken Livingstone [pic-tured, left ] for suggesting Hitler supported Zionism.

They are among a total of 18 Labour memberswho have faced similar action, including a five coun-cillors over the past 48 hours.

With polling day fast approaching and claims theleader wasn’t doing enough to tackle the scourge, Je-remy Corbyn [pictured, right ] told Jewish News lastFriday that he would recommend a new code of con-duct to the party’s national executive committee thismonth. He also announced the establishment of an

picture caption xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ANTI-SEMITISM SCANDAL: Pages 2, 3, 4, 13, 14, 16 & 1

Continued on pages 2 & 3

Labour suspends

five more members

over anti-Semitism

Concerns over

party’s inquiry

into the scandal

Khan warns row

could affect today’s

mayoral election

Jeremy Corbyn

fails to disown

Hamas ‘friends’

jewishnews.co.uk

BY JUSTIN

COHEN @JewishNewsUK


2/36

IN FOCUS: LABOUR ANTI-SEMITISM SCANDAL

2 The Jewish News 5 May 2016 www.jewishn

inquiry into anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, chaired by the former

director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti.The leader’s office said the in-

quiry would look into the bound-aries of acceptable behaviour

and language; transparentcompliance procedures for dealing with allegations of racism; and training pro-grammes for parliamentarycandidates, MPs and coun-cillors. “There is no placefor anti-Semitism or anyform of racism in theLabour Party, or anywherein society,” Corbyn said.

“We will make sure that our party is a welcoming home to

members of all communities.”The “much needed”probe was cautiously

“welcomed” by the

Board of Deputies,which said: “The inquirymust be rigorous andfair in order to ensure ithas credibility. We hopethat the new inquiry willmark the beginning of amore certain and clear Labour attitude against

anti-Semitism, from theleader to the grass-

roots, including

clarity about people and groups with whomappropriate to share panels.”

However, its terms of reference have ypublished and it is not known who Chakrabarti and vice-chair Professor Davman, of the Pears Institute for the Study ofon the panel. There are also concerns abfact the existing investigation into intimidthe Oxford Labour Club will feed into tprobe and questions over the role that Milne, the leader’s director of strategy whoscribed Israel’s foundation as “a crime”, w

Senior communal figures are known to wary” about the inquiry, while there has ano welcome from the Jewish Labour Moor Jewish politicians.

The Jewish Leadership Council initiacomed” it, before revising its statementlowing day. It said: “We hope it will bindependent and comprehensive,” said thment. “We trust it will draw upon expert efrom groups including the CST and will tiously reach robust conclusions and mastructive recommendations to deaanti-Semitism within the party, which will

lished and acted upon by the leadershipWriting in the Daily Telegraph, the Chiwarned: “If this inquiry turns out to be nthan a sticking plaster, designed to placdiffuse until after the elections, the probsurely get worse and not better.”

The central role of Professor Feldman sparked concern over his failure to adEUMC definition of anti-Semitism in a recmission to the All-Party Parliamentary InqAnti-Semitism. His report said: “DefinitionSemitism based on double standards, th

SOMETHING IN the mediafury about Labour’s anti-Semites

doesn’t add up.We’re told that JeremyCorbyn, being a stiff old radicaland noted friend of Hamas,has helped to turn a once re-spectable party into a seethinghotbed of Jew hatred. But thepeople being suspended fromthe party for having said dodgythings joined before Corbynbecame leader. And they’rebeing thrown out by Corbyn.

The media narrative can beturned on its head: Corbyn couldbe seen, not as the importer of anti-Semitic thinking into Labour,but as the first Labour leader totake serious action against it. Per-haps he isn’t facilitating Labouriteanti-Semitism but rather is doingsomething about it.

Whether it’s Ken Livingstone,

who’s been in Labour since theStone Age, or Naz Shah, who be-came an MP under Ed Miliband,these people ascended the partypole when Corbyn was just ascruffy Islington MP. Holding himresponsible for their party mem-bership or past comments iswrong.

It’s hard to dodge the feelingthat some in the media, whetherTory columnists or Labourites

hankering after the Blairite era,are using the anti-Semitism crisisto dent Corbyn’s leadership. Thisis a dangerous thing to do.

First, because it will make peo-ple even more cynical about theproblem of anti-Semitism. Some

will equate accusations of anti-Semitism with political point-scor-ing. And the last thing we need inthis discussion is more doubt thatanti-Semitism is a real problem.

Second, the narrow focus onCorbyn underestimates the depthof anti-Semitic thinking today. Themodern left’s strange, heated ob-session with Zionism, and its viewof Zionism’s supporters as warpedpeople unwelcome in polite soci-ety, has been growing for years.

It springs from the left’s aban-donment of progressive thinkingand its embrace of the conspiracytheory mindset, meaning it isalways on the hunt for one evilforce that might be held respon-sible for the world’s ills. Israelnow plays that role, meaning left-ists sometimes slip into an anti-

Zionism that echoes the paranoiaof the old anti-Semitism.

This is a long-brewing, pro-found problem. The Corbyn-bashers think they’re seriouslytackling anti-Semitism when, infact, they’re elevating their ownurge to topple the Labour leaderover the serious debate we needabout the moral decay of theleft and the return of an oldprejudice.

BRENDAN

O’NEILLEditor Spiked Online

Don’t blame Corbyn for this mess

Continued from page 1

COMMUNITY ‘WARY’ OV


3/36

working definition, perceptions and outcomes havenot been adopted in this sub-report.”

He is also a signatory to Independent Jewish

Voices, which this week questioned some claims of anti-Semitism made in recent weeks. While thegroup “shared” concerns over anti-Jewish preju-dice, a statement said: “Some of the allegationsagainst individuals are, in our view, baseless anddisingenuous; in other cases, ill-chosen languagehas been employed; elsewhere, there have beenstatements which, deliberately or otherwise, haveclearly crossed the line.” The current climate, itclaimed, is “coming to resemble a witch hunt”.

Feldman – who said there was an urgent needfor constructive proposals, said: “All alllegations of anti-Semitism require investigation. My startingpoint is that the rules and norms applied to identifyracism for other minorities in British society shouldbe applied consistently, and that means to Jews.

“My position is to work from an initial assumptionthat people are speaking and writing in good faithand are engaged in an honest disagreement. Alle-gations of disingenuousness, which come frommany sides in this debate, can rarely be proven.”

One Labour MP, who wished to remain anony-

mous, said: “It must be an inquiry that has the fullconfidence of anti-Semitism campaigners and es-pecially the Jewish community. Jeremy Corbyndoesn’t have enough credit in the bank to affordto do anything else.”

The anti-Semitism row spilled over into PrimeMinister’s Questions yesterday. David Cameron toldthe Labour leader his words about combatting anti-Semitism would mean nothing if he failed to disowncomments made several years ago when he saidhe had invited “our friends” from Hamas andHezbollah to speak at an event.

He pressed the point on five occasions asking –in a reversal of protocol –“Are they your friends or are they not? Because these organisations in their constitutions believe in persecuting and killingJews. They are anti-Semitic organisations, they areracist organisations. He must stand up and say theyare not his friends.” Corbyn responded: “Obvi-ously, anyone who commits racist acts or is anti-Se-mitic is not a friend of mine. I am clear about that.”

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 people have signeda petition in support of John Mann, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against anti-Semitism,for publicly challenging Ken Livingstone followinghis Hitler remark. North West Friends of Israel andSussex Friends of Israel said Mann, who was calledto the whip’s office in the wake of his vocal inter-vention, should be “commended”. But while hewas praised by many, including some fellow MPs,others backed a 20,000-strong petition againstwhat it described as his “toxic behaviour”.• Editorial comment, page 14

www.jewishnews.co.uk 5 May 2016 The Jewish N

Above: S uspended MP Naz S hah. Left : Ken L ivingsto ne

ANTI-SEMITISM has dominated the news agendaover the past few days, but the nation is still split overthe line between criticism of Israel and Jew-hatred.

Over the past week, Labour has set up an inquiryinto anti-Semitism following the party suspensionof Naz Shah over previous social media commentsand former London mayor Ken Livingstone, whosaid Hitler was once a Zionist.

Just as Labour members seem to be sufferingwith what is and is not anti-Semitic, a YouGov pollhas identified differing views among the public.

The majority of 4,406 UK adults asked – 60 per-cent – felt criticising the Israeli government wasnot anti-Semitism, but results differed when theywere asked if hating the Jewish state or question-ing its right to exist was anti-Semitic.

Just over half (53 percent) felt hating Israel andquestioning its right to exist was anti-Semitism buta fifth felt it was not and 26 percent did not know.

Those aged over 60 were more likely to see itas anti-Semitic, but across all age groups arounda fifth felt it was not.

In all regions, around a fifth felt hating Israel

and questioning its right to exist was nSemitic while 59 percent in London felt idid 57 percent in the rest of the south. Jhalf, 54 percent, in the Midlands, Walesnorth felt it was anti-Semitic. The dropped to 49 percent in Scotland.

Just over 55 percent of men and 50 pewomen felt this was anti-Semitic, while 25

and 18 percent respectively felt it was noAnother 20 percent of men and 32 pe

women did not know.Conservative supporters were more

view questioning Israel’s right to exist asmitic (63 percent), while just 54 percent oand 52 percent of Liberal Democrat suthought so. Almost half, 48 percent, of Scotional Party voters and 59 percent of UKIP ers felt it was anti-Semitic.

Asked how much of a problem anti-Swas in the Labour party, a third did not knanother 30 percent thought it as a very smlem. Another 15 percent felt it was a fairly blem while 15 percent felt it was no proble

YET MORE Labour councillors were suspended thisweek over anti-Semitic comments after suggestingIsrael was behind terrorist group Islamic State and

that the country should be “relocated” to America.Burnley councillor Shah Hussain was suspended

on Monday for tweets sent to Israeli footballer YossiBenayoun. In 2014, he told the former Chelsea mid-fielder: “You are an complete and utter plonker, youand your country doing the same thing that hitlerdid to ur race in ww2 [sic].”

Nottingham councillor Ilyas Aziz and ex-Black-burn mayor Salim Mulla were both suspended aftersharing a post suggesting that Israel should be re-located to the US. Aziz also compared Israel toNazi Germany, while Mulla suggested a “Zionism

game” was the motivation behind IS terroMiqdad Al-Nuaimi, a councillor in Newpor

edly compared Israel to the Nazis and desc

“connection” between Israel and ISIS as “vesting”, while Terry Kelly, a councillor in Renfmade offensive comments on his blog thatreferences to the “American Jewish lobby”,described as “extremely powerful”. He alsoIsrael’s actions, saying “it beggars belief” thbeing done by the survivors of the Holocau

All five suspensions came within hourposts appearing on the Guido Fawkes blog. Over the past two months, 50 membbeen suspended from the party for allegSemitism and racism.

More Labour councillors suspended over anti-Sem

New poll reveals confusion over where the lin

LABOUR’S INQUIRY


4/36

4 The Jewish News 5 May 2016 www.jewishne

THE STORM erupting in theLabour Party has caught the

attention of many of us onthe other side of the pond.UK watchers know this issomething that has beenbrewing for a long time.Google George Galloway if you doubt it.

There is something notablein the response by Laboursupporters who are annoyedby all this attention to these

outrageous expressions of anti-Semitism. (These support-ers do not, of course, considerthem either outrageous oranti-Semitic.) They try to turnthe tables and blame Jews,Israel and their compatriots.

This is a tried and tested

tactic that has been prevalentever since it became unfash-ionable to be an anti-Semite.(It’s an appropriate thing toremember on Yom HaShoahthat prior to the Holocaust,there was nothing particu-larly outrageous about beingan anti-Semite.).

Over the past decade, if notmore, we have seen those

who have expressedanti-Semitic views – politicians, writers, jouor university profesaccuse their accusfalsely labeling theming engaged in anti-Se

It happens far too o

be happenstance. Inthey depict themselveinnocent victims.

Years ago, an ASupreme Court justicepornography: “I can’tit, but I know it when I

When it comes to antism, we can define it know it when we seethis week we have see

ISAAC HERZOG this week in-vited Jeremy Corbyn to Israel ashe waded into the anti-Semitism

scandal engulfing his sister party.The leader of Israel’s LabourParty said he had been “appalledand outraged” by com-ments made by a stringof UK Labour councillorsand an MP from a partywith a “distinguished his-tory of fighting racism inevery form”.

But hours after reportsthat Herzog suggestedhe was considering sus-pending ties with the UK Labour Party, the generalsecretary of Israel Labour,Hilik Bar, reassuredLabour Friends of Israel’sJoan Ryan this was not the caseduring a phone call on Tuesday.

In a letter to Corbyn, Herzogwrote: “Part of the story ofIsrael’s establishment was thecontext of centuries of anti-Jewish discrimination and dehu-manisation and the subsequentneed for a state from which theJewish people could defendthemselves.

“While there are manywithin the British Labour Partythat support Israel and fightevery day against anti-Semitism,and despite the fact the views

recently ex-pressed repre-

sent a minority within the party,this cannot diminish the impor-tance of dealing with this seri-ous problem.”

He invited Corbyn to lead adelegation to Yad Vashem to see“the last time the Jews wereforcibly ‘transported’ was not toIsrael but to their deaths” – a ref-erence to a post promoted byMP Naz Shah advocated thetransfer of Israelis to America.

Israel’s new UK ambassadorMark Regev said he would like tomeet the Labour leader to dis-cuss the issue.

He told the BBC’sThe Andrew

Marr Show :“If you’re saying theJewish people don’t have thatright to sovereignty and inde-pendence, you have to ask whyyou are holding Jews to a differ-ent standard. And there is aword for that.

“Of course they have theright to criticise the governmentof Israel. Israeli people do thatevery day. It’s not about criticis-ing Israel. It’s about demonisingthe Jewish state.

“The comments of the pastfew weeks are demonising, a vil-ification of my country and itsvery right to exist. There’s a dif-ference between legitimate crit-icism and hate speech.”

WHILE COMMENTATORS de-bated whether it was rightto refer to the Labour anti-Semitism saga as a crisis,Ken Livingstone’s interventionmarked a serious escalation.

Until now, most of the inci-dents involved local activists,councillors and other hithertoanonymous figures. By distort-ing the history of the Holo-caust to defend Naz Shah’sremarks (which she herself has

wisely chosen to apologisefor), Ken created a new locusand a dimension to the prob-lem. He brought it to the heartof Labour’s ruling NEC onwhich he sat. The very bodythat is responsible for conduct-ing the suspensions and inves-tigations of those responsible.

So, what next? The an-nouncement of the new pack-age comprising a wider inquiryand code of conduct has thepotential to enable the partyto embark on a long and com-plicated road to regaining theconfidence of the Jewish com-munity. My party needs to getthis right.

The Baroness Royalinto events at OxfordClub and resulting isprogressing impressive

I hope that once it bwork we will be able tosame about this new We are not there yettions remain about its rwhom it will report; hopendent it will be. Ithave been better forhave been addressedsultation with our combefore it was announc

It needs to be a mbest practice in theI hope we reach thavery quickly.

IN FOCUS: LABOUR ANTI-SEMITISM SCANDAL

Israel’s Labour Party leaderinvites Corbyn to Jerusalem

Above: Ambassador Mark Regev. Inset: Isaac Herzog

DEBORAH

LIPSTADT Author and historian

JEREMY

NEWMARK Chairman Jewish

Labour Movement

We know anti-Semitism when we se

Inquiry must be model of best practi

EARLY BIRDS

WILL BENEFIT

Tel: 020 7794 4655 • www.spiroark.org

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 to ta l beg i n n

e r s c la s se s, da y a nd

e ve n i ng i n d i f fe re n t

pa r t s o f lo ndo n, c lo s

e to w he re yo u l i ve a

nd wo r k

• O ngo i ng c la s se s fo

r a l l o t he r le ve l s da y

a nd e ve n i ng, jo i n a

nd yo u a re s u re to lo

ve i t !

Yo u w i l l lo ve t h i s e x

pe r ie nce a nd be a m

a zed a t yo u r p rog re s

s ! T W O W E E K

S O F I N T E N S I V

E E V E N I N G S U

M M E R U L P A N

I N E V E N I N G

S: 1- 1 1 T H A U G

U S T

6. 3 0- 9. 3 0 P M I N C E N T R A

L L O N D O N

W I T H N I T Z A S

P I R O & H E R R

E N O W N E D T E A M

For consultation and registrationemail [email protected]


5/36


Est. 1999Spread betting losses can exceed deposit

SPREAD BETTING

iPhone appwith Touch IDsecure login

Spreadex is authorised and regulated by the FCA

Place financial spread bets on our UK 100indices markets and earn a 5% bonus on netprofits during your first three weeks of

account opening. Terms and conditionsapply, see site for details.

*Find out more at

WWW.SPREADEX.COM/FINANCIALS

ON UK100 TRADES*

WITH A 5% PROFIT BONUS


6/36


SPECIAL REPORT: MARKING YOM HASHOAH

L ATIN AMERICA is perhaps better knownfor giving sanctuary to Nazi war criminalsthan to helping Jews scarred by the Holo-

caust. But thousands of survivors did find a safehaven on this Continent, with many arriving inthe sunshine city of Rio de Janeiro.

One of them was Izak Kimelblat, 94, born in thePolish shtetl of Lozyst in 1922. Together withhis parents and three siblings, Izak grew up inan observant atmosphere, attending yeshiva asa teenager. He recalls that “there was little anti-Semitism” in his early years, making him believethat the local population would not collaboratewith the Nazis against the Jews. When the warstarted, the Russians occupied his town as partof the Nazi-Soviet pact. Izak found that life con-tinued as normal, except that the Soviet authori-ties closed down some Jewish institutions.

After the Germans invaded the Soviet zone,Izak’s village was surrounded by Ukrainians whomassacred nearly all its inhabitants, including his

parents and two siblings. Together with his brother Natan, Izak hid in his aunt’s house before meetingup with other survivors in a local forest. The smallgroup of Jewish villagers formed a partisan groupand obtained a variety of weapons, some from

discarded Russian tanks. In combat, they began todevelop a reputation for military prowess.

The men survived during the war, he re-called, “by taking cows while walking”, al-lowing them to consume enough milkand beef. They marched to Belarus,where they were put under the commandof Russian partisans led by General Kov-pak. This group carried out a heroic mis-sion to destroy the oil fields in theCarpathian Mountains, although 70 per-cent of the fighters died in the operation.

“What kept me going was revenge,”Izak said, a desire to avenge all thosewho had been massacred. Later in thewar, he was wounded by a Dum-dumbullet and spent six months recoveringin a hospital in Kiev.

Of the original 28 Polish partisans fromhis village, only eight survived, with mostmoving to Israel. But after the war, Izaktravelled to Rio, where he continued asuccessful career in dental prosthetics

and later set up an engineering business.Niunea Rozentul, 86, was born in the Romanian

town of Brichon in 1929, the older of two boys.Aged 12, he was transported to the Mohyliv-Podil-skyi ghetto along the Dneister River, where hewould remain for much of the war. In the ghetto,the inhabitants were forced to do hard labour.

Conditions could be harsh and diseases werenot uncommon in the insanitary environment. Ni-unea tragically lost his younger brother to an out-break of typhus.

Niunea was among many people forced to con-struct a bridge for the benefit of the Axis powers.But with the Russians closing in on Romania, thebridge was blown up and the ghetto abandonedby the Germans. Together with the rest of his fam-ily, Niunea fled the ghetto and moved to Bucharest.

From there, he eventually made his way to Brazil,where there were established family connections.His post-war life saw him peddle goods in thestreets of Rio, like many other immigrants, but helater set up a successful business selling furniture.He never had a formal education but as he pointed

out: “I never needed it: life has taught meAnother man with an incredible story is

Somlo, the younger of two boys born intular family in Budapest in 1936. Aged juwhen the Nazis invaded Hungary, hememories of wartime life marked by braids and occupation. “There was a cli

fear,” he recalls, and a distinct lack of foHe remembers Hungarian collaboratorsto deport people east, to Auschwitzlater found out. His own father was transpMauthausen where he survived the war.

Initially, Robert thought he was safe wmoved with his family to a building under diplomatic protection.

But on 8 January 1945, Robert’s family, with dozens of others in his buildingmarched to the Danube River by Hungalaborators. The river was already overflowJewish blood from the thousands of victcuted there. When his mother warned himhis head low to avoid the gaze of the among them Adolf Eichmann, Robert res“I want to see (the killers) because I wamember them.”

Suddenly, a car pulled up with four pasone of whom was Raoul Wallenberg. Afteations took place, the fascists who had mRobert’s family to death were forced to retu

home. It was an incredibly fortuitous escaAfter participating in the Hungarian up

1956, Robert found political asylum in Brazhe later became a distinguished photogra

These are three remarkable individualsspiring stories of courage, resilience and d

Jeremy Havardi with Izak Kimelblat, who was awarded medals from five countries for his heroics

With Niunea Rozentul, who was born in RoHe was forced into slave labour by the Axis pbefore making a new life in Brazil after the w

Robert Somlo’s family in 1941. From left: Tamás, 11, Robert,then five, his mother Klara Breuer Somló and his father Ödön Somló. Behind are two aunts who were murdered in Auschwitz

Jeremy Havardi travels to Rio de Janeiro to

meet three men who have never before

spoken publicly about how they survived the

Shoah and made a new life for themselves

THE COURAGEOUS BOYS

FROM BRAZIL

Investing doesn’t have to be boring.(It’s just better that way.)

For more information visit our website, contact us on 020 8953 3444 or email us at [email protected] www.hbfs.co.uk


7/36


COMMUNITY MEMBERS havebeen laying tefillin and putting upmezuzahs in just some of several

efforts to do mitzvahs after former JFS pupil Liora Rosenberg passedaway, writes Marc Shoffman.

Ms Rosenberg, the 20-year-old who was hospitalised after ableed to the brain and pneumo-nia, died on Saturday andmourners have filled a Facebookpage, Do a mitzvah in the merit of Liora, with good deeds theyhave been doing in her honour.

Videos and comments on theFacebook page show a mezuzahbeing installed and students at-tending local minyans.

She had been critically ill inhospital for more than a weekand died last weekend – fivedays after being placed on lifesupport. Her funeral took placein Bushey on Wednesday.

The family has also set up aJustGiving page asking people to“do a mitzvah” and raise moneyfor ambulance charity Hatzola.

The page says: “Liora’s dream

before she passed was to helpraise money to buy an ambu-lance for Hatzolah to replace the

one that recently crashed.”They are looking to raise£100,000 and have so far reached almost £27,500.

The family has been sup-ported by Hendon United Syna-gogue, which has held tehillimgatherings and special prayers.

Hendon Rabbi MordechaiGinsbury, said: “We are doingwhatever we possibly can to sup-port Liora’s family in any andevery way at this tragic time. Somany good and caring people

just want to help and show their support and it has been remark-able to see how the communityhas pulled together on socialmedia and in the real world.

“This has been a great sourceof strength, encouragement andcomfort to Liora’s parents Lau-ren and Stuart and their familyas they have had to deal withsuch a deeply painful set of cir-cumstances.”

Tributes and charity drive inmemory of ‘beautiful Liora’

Mourned: Liora Rosenberg

COME CELEBRATE YOM HA’ATZMAUT AT OUR

ISRAELI STYLE BBQ Thursday 12 May

NW London, 4-6pm

£6 per adult / £4 per child

For tickets or more info: [email protected]

020 8732 6118

JNF Registered Charity No. 225910

Summer is on its way! Authentic and delicious houmous, dips,new green cucumbers, soups and more.

Available at your local shops and from 16 May at !

www.metoofoods.com

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: MeTooFoods

Look outfor our new

falafel soon in a store

near you!

64 Watling Street, Radlett, WD7 7NPTel: 01923 850444 | Fax: 01923 850456

Email: [email protected]

www.radlettpremierbathrooms.co.uk

UK NEWS NEWS


8/36


LAS YEA 5,00 PEOP E PLEDGED TO REMEMBERthi sun ay HONOUR THAT PLEDGE

www.facebook.com/yomhashoah @yomhashoahuk

BOOK YOUR free TICKETS NOW AT

WWW.YOMHASHOAH.ORG.UK/NationalEvent

“Coming together once a year

is simple enough, but standing

together in force of numbers is the

most powerful statement we can

make.”

Jonathan Arkush

President, Board of Deputies

Parking is available for 1,000 cars. Pre-booking is essential to receive your permit

“I was moved to tears as I watched the

children’s choir sing ‘Never Again’ and

heard the leaders of our youth movements

commit to marking Yom HaShoah each year.

We are passing the baton of remembrance

onto the UK Jewish community with a lot

of confidence.”

Ben Helfgott MBE, Survivor

oi ith s n b u in force o e e b r h urde e ,

h n u the S rviv r a d Re u e s - n s a d nt d, S E.

Operating under the auspices of The Board of Deputies Charitable Foundation Charity No. 1058107

It’s not too late to book for this Sunda y


9/36


UK NEWS NEWS

THE VATICAN has come under pressure to mon-itor the use of its charitable resources after reve-lations that an East Jerusalem sports club fundedby the Papal agency for Middle East relief and de-velopment hosted a tournament named after arenowned Fatah terrorist, writes Marc Shoffman.

Pope Pius XII set up the Pontifical Mission forPalestine in 1949 to “feed, clothe and educatePalestinian refugees,” but an article in the offi-cial PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Sundayshowed The Jerusalem Clubs Association, whichis funded by the Vatican, sponsored a footballtournament named after Fatah’s Abu Jihad.

According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW),Khalil Al-Wazir, who was known as Abu Jihad, wasa founder of Fatah and deputy to Yasser Arafat.

Papal knight, Rabbi David Rosen, internationaldirector of interreligious affairs at the AmericanJewish Committee, said: “The pontifical missionfor Palestine is a charitable organisation run bylocal Palestinian Christians. I am confident the Vatican and the New York Archdiocese respon-sible for the work of the mission are unaware of the political abuse of their philanthropy and callon them to exercise greater control.”

LABOUR FRIENDS of Israelchair Joan Ryan has called for the suspension of UK govern-ment aid to Palestinian civilservants amid claims that fundsare being used to pay salariesfor terrorists, writes Marc Shoffman.

Ryan has called for theDepartment for InternationalDevelopment (DFID) paymentsto be suspended pending aninvestigation following claimsfrom Palestinian Media Watch(PMW).

A PMW report released lastweek found evidence that thePalestinian Authority is continu-ing to pay terrorist salaries,despite pledging it would stopand move responsibility to the

Palestinian Liberation Organisa-tion in order to continue receiv-ing US and European aid.

The PA shut its Ministry of Prisoner Affairs in 2014 andinstead a PLO Commission of Prisoner Affairs was set up.

But the PMW research foundthat, as many predicted, lastyear the PA transferred extramoney to the PLO equivalentfor what the organisation claimsused to pay the prisoners.

The PA raised the amount ittransfers to the PLO by 481mil-lion shekels, from 294 million in2014, to 775million in 2015,

according to the report, thesame amount the PLO Com-mission of Prisoners’ Affairsneeded to take on the respon-sibilities of the PA Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs, which is pri-marily paying terrorists salaries.

Responding to the reportin a letter to InternationalDevelopment Secretary JustineGreening, Ryan said: “I am astrong supporter of interna-tional aid, including the valu-able work that DFID does.

“However, the continuingconcerns about the alleged

misuse of aid by the PA riskboth undermining publicconfidence in the value ofinternational aid, as well asdoing nothing to help promotepeace and coexistence be-tween the peoples of Israel andPalestine.”

The MP repeated calls fora cross party independentinquiry on UK aid spendingin the region, and said allDFID transfers related to civilservant salaries should be sus-pended until the PMW claimsare investigated.

Convicted Palestinians released in a prisoner exchange with Israel

MP’s warning over

terrorists’ salaries

Vatican under pressure

over ‘terror’ sports event THE FIRST nationalZionism month hasbeen launched toincrease understand-ing of and celebratethe movement.

An email cam-paign asking MPswhether theyagree with theprinciples of Zion-ism, a public debate and the publication of abooklet of short essays will be part of the ini-tiative, launched by We Believe in Israel and theZionist Federation. Lapel badges and twibbonsproclaiming: ‘I am a Zionist’ will be available.

May has been chosen as it sees Israel’s inde-pendence day and the anniversary of the birth of Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism.

“In recent years, the concept of Zionism hasbeen undermined by hostile propaganda into aterm of abuse and is used as an anti-Semitic slur,”a statement said. “The two organisations want to...educate the wider public that Zionism is the na-tional liberation movement of the Jewish people.”

Cambridge University to vote on quitting NUSTHE UNIVERSITY of Cambridge’sStudent Union has voted to hold areferendum on 17 May over itsmembership of the National Unionof Students following the contro-versial election of anti-Israel activistMalia Bouattia as president.

CUSU members voted for theholding of a referendum, backedby the Jewish Society andother students, on disaffiliation

from the NUS.University newspaper Varsity

said a motion mandating CUSU’ssabbatical officers to send a let-ter to NUS condemning anti-Semitism, and to mandate areferendum on CUSU affiliationwith NUS was passed.

The motion was moved fromspecifically mentioning Bouattiato claiming that the NUS has

“structural problems with anti-Semitism”.

In a statement after the vote,Jack May, founder of NUS: LetCambridge Decide campaign,said: “The representatives of over 22,000 students at the universityof Cambridge have said in thestrongest terms they condemnthe language used by the newpresident of the NUS.”

Registered Charity No. 259480

Disability, not dependency.Like any other young man Adam

always wanted his own place but he

couldn’t imagine it ever happening.

Thanks to Jewish Blind & Disabled he

now enjoys living life as he chooses in

his own apartment, with on-site support

available round the clock if required.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW WE

GIVE THE GIFT OF INDEPENDENCE OR TO

MAKE A DONATION VISIT WWW.JBD.ORG

OR CALL 020 8371 6611

‘Zionist month’ aims to

boost understanding


10/36


UK NEWS SPECIAL REPORT

‘THE BOYS’ – a group of 732 child survivors,both girls and boys taken in by Britain at the end of the Second World War –held their 71streunion on Monday.

JENNI FR ZER

attended and heard moving tributes to Ben Helfgott,the indomitable founder of the ‘45 Aid Society and former Olympic weightlifting champion

It was, perhaps, one of Ben Helfgott’s grand-children who summed up the founder of the‘45 Aid Society so precisely. It was “a huge

thing”, she said, “to be so strong on the insideas well as on the outside”.

The inner strength of Polish-born Beniek Helf-gott in surviving the Holocaust – and his outer strength in becoming an Olympic weightliftingchampion, as well as his sterling work for Holo-caust education – were celebrated this week atthe 71st reunion of the Boys.

These were the 732 child survivors taken in byBritain at the end of the war, boys and girls, whofounded, at Ben Helfgott’s initiative, the ‘45 AidSociety in 1963.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who camebefore the event to pay his own private tribute

to Mr Helfgott, told Jewish News : “This is anamazing event, full of love, of hope and promise.It is wonderful to have that atmosphere in thesemost challenging times.”

More than 400 people, survivors andmembers of the Second, Third, and evenFourth Generation, crowded into the ballroomat London’s Wembley Hilton for a typicallyraucous celebration.

As Maurice Helfgott, Ben’s son and a leadingmember of the Second Generation, kickedoff the party with a perfect opener – Mark Ron-

son’s Uptown Funk , accompanied by a terrific1930s and 40s video mash-up of Hollywoodstars – the survivors took to the floor and prettymuch outdanced the younger participants.

Six candles were lit in memory of the sixmillion and a pledge was made by AngelaCohen, chairman of the Second Generation,to continue the work of the ‘45 Aid Society.Such work, she said, in a pointed aside, shouldbe of interest “to certain members of theLabour Party”.

It was a tacit point later made by the presence

of Communities Secretary Sir Eric Pickles, who joined in the tributes made to Ben Helfgott.It was done in the form of This Is Your Life,

with film and physical contributions fromfellow survivors, Ben’s family – including his in-trepid survivor sister, Mala Tribich – anda rather extraordinary song parody performedby five professional women who work with BenHelfgott, ranging from Holocaust EducationalTrust chief executive Karen Pollock to the direc-tor of Holocaust Memorial Day, Olivia Marks-Woldman. All the women said fervently

afterwards that they would have sung aformed for no one but Ben.

Judge Robert Rinder hosted the Big Revent in place of Eamonn Andrews.

He said that the book contained scoreing and affectionate tributes, ranging frvidual survivors – such as one of “theHanka Ziegler, whose brother Wolf had

in the same glass factory as Ben during thcaust – to national organisations suchImperial War Museum and the nHolocaust Memorial Foundation.

West End star James Freedman, knowMan of Steal, earlier gave a virtuoso pance in picking pockets.

But the evening belonged to Ben Helegendary terrible driver, the most persmen, who by decades of warmth, chatolerance, has drawn a positive story foout of the horror of the Holocaust.

Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive Karen Pollock [centre] leads a rousing musical tribute to BenHelfgott. Inset: the former Olympic weightlifter rolls back the years

Celebrating Ben – one of The Boy

Pictures Jo hn Rifkin

10 Golders Green Roa

London NW11 8

Opposite Cafe Ne

Open everyday &Sundays til 5:00pm

Lightweight suits from

£79.50

Spring/Summer jackets

from £49.50

Bargains in raincoats

from£49.50

Brook Taverner shirts and

knitwear from £25

outstanding value

We accept


11/36

www.jewishnews.co.uk 5 May 2016 The Jewish Ne


12/36


SPECIAL REPORT

On a kibbutz high in Israel’s northern Galilregion, troubled Israeli teenagers showus how they’ve trained abandoned dogs

so the dogs can find new homes. It’s a touchingscene – kids and dogs – until they bring out aretriever named Ally, at which point it suddenlybecomes hugely symbolic too.

Ally is scared stiff of us, a UJIA delegationtouring projects funded by the charity. Just apup, Ally was thrown into a sewer, where shewould have died had someone not finallyfound her in October, six months ago.

Emaciated, she was sent up to Kibbutz Esh-bal, which houses 40 at-risk youths from low

socio-economic backgrounds, many of whomwere ordered here by a judge as an alternativeto jail. Ally didn’t eat for two weeks, and every-one feared the worst, until one day, out of theblue, she began copying another dog’s actionswhile it was being instructed nearby. It wasa huge moment for the whole team.

Progress was slow. For months, she wouldn’teven come out of her cage, and the teens hadto feed her from behind; she was so terrified,they couldn’t risk eye contact. They worked withher throughout the winter months, giving her confidence, until finally, on this sunny afternoon,here she is on a lead in front of us, cowering,very unsure of herself, but able to.

Smack! The significance hit me: vulnerableteenagers helping vulnerable animals, bothgiving the other confidence and self-esteem,both learning, preparing for new lives.

The youngsters here comprise Jews, Arabsand Bedouin, which reflects the local popula-tion. British and American students come herein their gap years to teach English, working inlocal villages and urban areas where help ismost needed. Israeli students come here too,and head for the Arab villages, working insideschools, running Hebrew lessons.

“It’s not only linguistics, but basic dialogue –how do you speak with a Jewish person,because most don’t meet Jewish people ona person-to-person level,” says Gilad, whofounded the kibbutz on the site of an old armybase while he was in a youth movement.

“Education in the Arab villages is very poor,"he says, “so we also have after-school activi-ties, clubs, seminars, we take them on hikes,we let Arab and Jewish groups meet eachother. Dialogue can create things”.

He sees Kibbutz Eshbal as a “co-existencecentre, to create a bridge that will allow Israelto be both a Jewish and democratic state,”adding: “There are moments in every Jew’s lifewhen he thinks about doing something for him-

self and for the nation.”Nearby, at Gordon School in the WesternGalil, Jewish and Arab children play footballtogether as part of the Equaliser Programme,which UJIA also funds. This is a poor region, or-ganisers explain, where football can be a com-mon language. “Often the kids have nothing todo after school, so they’re making trouble,”says Iran, the project founder. “And you know,as kids, if you look for trouble, you usually find it.”

With support from Israel’s Ministry of Educa-tion and the British Embassy (ambassador David Quarrey joins us for a kickabout), Iranbegan organising after-school football training,with monthly tournaments for Jewish and Arabchildren aged 10 to 12 (grades 4 to 6) who livein disadvantaged communities.

“There was no existing framework for kids’football,” says Iran. “And what there was,parents couldn’t afford.”

It followed a simple formula, he says, eachschool choosing a team of youngsters whowould benefit most from the programme.

It soon expanded beyond the pitch, withchildren taught organisational skills, and howto set personal goals. Volunteers – mostlyyoung Jewish students in their early 20s –began offering extra tuition in maths, Hebrewand English. But football remains the core, saysIran, in part because it is brilliant at breakingdown barriers.

“When a Jewish kid sees that an Arab kidwants to win, like him, or cries when he loses,like him, they realise that the kid they’re shak-ing hands with at the end doesn’t actually want

to kill them,” he says. “Same goes for the Arabkid. They accept each other.”

Equaliser and Eshbal are but two of the proj-ects UJIA funds across the region. We saw thesame cross-communal commitment at DarcaDanciger School and Tel-Hai College in KiryatShmona, Israel’s northern-most town, and at theAcademic College and Faculty of Medicine inZfat. As a non-Jew, I was struck by this untoldstory: a Jewish charity pumping money into theeducation not only of Israeli Jews, but of Chris-tians, Arabs, Druze, Circassians and Bedouin.

Often, it is more than just an educational leg-up. Karmiel Youth Village, another UJIA-fundedproject, provides homes and families for 200

vulnerable children whose homes hachronic alcohol, drug and/or mentaproblems. “These kids need to be refrom harm’s way,” explains a foster moher husband prepares a meal (“it’s InterWomen's Day, so I have a day off!”)

Here, the foster children live in famisurrounded by an army of social workepsychologists, therapists and universitteers to help with their rehabilitation. Wvisit, walls and kitchens come secondhappy children playing all around us.

They’re too young to realise, but thhave a future, and – just like Ally – cforward to a better life as a result.

Volunteers, and the occasional ambassador, join in the soccer kickabouts On the road to recovery – Ally, who was abandoned as a

Learning the common language – cross-community youngsters joining in UJIA’s Equaliser programme at the Gordon School in Wester

SECOND CHANCESStephen Oryszczuk visits a UJIA-funded kibbutz in the northerGalil that’s giving troubled youngsters a new outlook on lif


13/36


Residential care

at its best.

“We spoke with people who use the service and relatives.

They told us they were happy with the care provided.

For example, a relative told us that the care provided was

“really, really good” and said, “the carers really engage with people,

they are excellent.” We saw staff interacting with people in a

caring and sensitive way and responding to their needs.”

Extract from summary of CQC report June 2013

❝ ❝

Spring Lane 170 Fortis Green, Muswell Hill, London N10 3PA

Spring Grove 214 Finchley Road, London NW3 6DH

• Spacious, fully fitted bedrooms with full en-suite facilities• Extensive communal lounges with free Wi-Fi to all areas• Dedicated activities teams managing a varied programme of

entertainment, arts and crafts and external visits

• A varied and extensive menu catering to individual tastes

• First class care backed up by the local GP practice, deliveringbespoke programmes for each individual resident

• Highly experienced staff with the necessary expertise incaring for older people, chosen for their understanding of the

unique circumstances encountered in older life

• Specialist units including High Dependency for people withgreater needs

With over 45 years of providing care, the Springdene Group is

run by the same family that established its first care home in

1970. Having welcomed over 13,000 local people into its homes

since then, the Group has developed an excellent reputation for

providing care of the highest standard.

For more information, or to arrange

a visit, just call

020 8815 2000 or visit

www.springdene.co.uk

SpringdeneC A R E H O M E S

Because life is for living

Part of the Springdene Group with care homes in

Enfield, Hampstead and Muswell Hill.

45 +YEARSof CARE

E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 7 0


14/36

EDITORIAL COMMENT AND READERS’ LETTERS


CORBYN WON’T HIDE TRUE COLOURS LONGPoor Comrade Corbyn. Despite his bestefforts, he eventually had to suspend NazShah, MP for Bradford, (who won the seatfrom the charming George Galloway) for saying on social media what he and manyothers in his Islington mafia think but aretoo astute to admit.

It is no coincidence that since theworst-dressed man in politics becameLabour leader, the incidence of anti-Se-mitic rhetoric from within his party hasrisen dramatically, in stark contrast to thelevel of action taken against those whohave been responsible.

This is all because Labour elected thedoomed Ed Miliband as leader instead of his more credible brother.

Since the election disaster, we have the

shambles of a shadow cabinet that simplycan’t run a bath, let alone the country.However, the genie will be out of the

bottle during the next inevitable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Then Corbyn and hisgang of usual suspects will show their true colours.

Russell BalenBy email

THE BIG DIVIDE AT THE HEART OF JUDAISM Martin Stern is quite right that Liberal Ju-daism is a new and different religion toTorah Judaism (Jewish News , 31 March).The two have very little in common.

Liberal Judaism is a subset and part of the world of secular liberal-leftism and po-litical correctness. Torah Judaism is the

traditional religion and culture of the Jewsdating back to when Israel emerged as anation and distinct society when Ramses IIsat on the throne of Egypt.

The values and beliefs of the two areradically different one to the other. Indeed,the two are antithetical to each other.

In many respects the two are enemies.The two groups have different interests andgoals, which are often in conflict with eachother.

The two do not even have British/west-ern culture in common: one is of liberalmetropolitan culture, the other sociallyconservative.

For Torah Judaism, the traditions andvast literature of the past 3,200 years arethe living and vibrant foundation of Jewishculture and existence today, as in everypast generation.

For Liberal Judaism, they are “anti-quated” and irrelevant to modern life.

Liberal Judaism has so distanced itself from Torah Judaism that intermarriage be-tween people of the two sides of the reli-gion is becoming very difficult as manyLiberal Jews are not Halachically Jewish.

Dr L B Sokolic By email

DROP THESE CHARITY APPEALS IN THE BINAdam Ognall of the New Israel Fund wrotea misaligned article delegitimising Israel’’scitizens and armed forces (Jewish News ,31 March). A closer inspection of the NewIsrael Fund, and its sister organisation

Yachad, reveals the truth.

Both charities masquerade as pro-Jew-ish, all the while under pressure to opposeIsrael.

Both organisations have Jewish-sound-ing names but in reality are not. What is“New” Israel to these people? It would besome pseudo-Palestine state to whichgullible and naive Jews have contributed,an act tantamount to buying our own sui-cide.

While hardline Arabs are hell-bent onone type of our destruction, so-called mod-erate Arabs craftily exploit anti-Semitismand befriend people such as Mr Ognall –and we are being conned.

I urge all readers to give both these or-ganisations a wide berth and throw their appeals in the bin – where they belong.

Chaim Scott By email

HELP NEEDED FOR APALESTINIAN REGISTER May I ask your readers through this let-ters columns to assist me in a seriouspiece of research I am undertaking witha non-political, privately-funded MiddleEastern educational trust.

I am attempting to create an historicallist of Palestinian writers, philosophers,artists, physicians, entrepreneurs, reli-gious and political leaders and/or anyother reasonably identifiable Palestiniansof historical note.

Each should be at the very least an in-dividual who, if sought out online, wouldappear as a Google referral.

The parameters for this rather unusual,interesting and vital task are straightfor-ward and simple.

Only those who are regarded astrue Palestinians by birthright will be ho-noured – no Syrians, Jordanians, Saudis,Egyptians, Yemenis, Lebanese, Iraqis or similar will qualify.

The list unfortunately is designed for the creator’s specific, historical referenceto exclude those of the Jewish faith,who are to be listed in another, similar

compilation.Finally, the required dates a

time immemorial to 1967.Currently, the number of pr

people among Jeremy Corbyn’s icle exceeds those Palestinians wirequired parameters.

Therefore as much help as pwould be highly appreciated.

PetWestclif

FOR KOSHER, CHEWHAT YOU’RE BUYThere is much competition wcomes to kosher for Pesach fooone must note that major superwith kosher sections all year roundon’t separate what is kosher cfrom what is kosher for Pesach, of large signs wishing you aPassover.

We can’t assume supermarket sdistinguish between minute Hebbels, eg kosher parev and koshsach and it is therefore importbuyers to check what they are bu

Jose

ISLAMOPHOBIA NETO BE TACKLED TIt was heartening to read your froreport that Fiyaz Mughal has wafellow Muslims that they cannot cof Islamophobia while simultaneopressing anti-Semitic views (Jewis14 April).

Is it not time for Jewish leadto recognise that “it cuts both wa

to be much more active in seekand publicly condemning Islamowithin our community?

This would properly recognise promotion of prejudiced views abother minority is incompatible wfight against anti-Semitism.

Gabriel

ACKNOWLEDGE TDEEP SEA OF HAT

Your le tter writer Marti n Saffer facknowledge the sea of hatred trounds Israel (Jewish News , 7 Ap

In Gaza, for instance, children tematically taught jihad, virulent tred and that the entire land obelongs to the Muslim Arabs.

And what about Iran, which clared its intent to wipe the Jewifrom the face of the world?

What about the castigation frUN, which singles out Israel repabove any other country’s far wohaviour?

He also forgot the positive facrael. In areas of disaster around thIsrael is one of the first countries state-of-the-art medical help.

They also produce medical antific innovations which benefit the

And don’t forget the numbers oPrize winners.

Sandra

PO Box 34296, London NW5 1YW • [email protected]

Letters to the Editor

Sketches kvetches

By Paul Solomons www.daftoons.com

Exorcising the demonIT’S BEEN a woundingweek for the Labour Partyand a surreal one for BritishJews.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone’s odiousHitler defence of BradfordWest MP Naz Shah’s Face-book faux pas has plungedthe UK into a profound na-tional debate on anti-Semi-tism.

What is it? When doescriticism of Israel becomeit? And can you get awaywith referencing the Nazidictator in defence of it?

All the while our commu-nity has looked on aghast,wondering when andwhere all this might end.

After days of damagingrevelations, Jeremy Cor-byn finally announcedmeasures to crack down onanti-Semitism in his party,including a new “code of conduct” to make clear

“for the first time” withinthe rules that Labour willnot tolerate such hate.Corbyn has also an-nounced the establishmentof an inquiry to be chairedby the former director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti.

There are considerablereservations about the newinquiry’s make-up andprocesses. Who will sit onit alongside Chakrabartiand Professor David Feld-man, director of the PearsInstitute for the Study of Anti-Semitism? What are

its terms of reference?Who will it ultimately re-port to?

There are many ques-tions to answer and noclear path ahead for aparty facing some pro-foundly alarming prob-lems. Time will tell if thesenew processes can help toexorcise the demon.

The Jewish News reserve s t he right to make any alterati ons necess ary to conform to thestyle and standards of The Jewish News and does not guarantee the insertion of any particular advertisement on a specified date or at all – although every effort will be made tomeet the wishes of the advertisers. Further it does not accept l iability for any loss or damagecaused by an error or inaccuracy in the publication of an advertisement. Signatures of bothparties involved are sometimes required in the case of some announcements. An order for an advertisement shall amount to an acceptance of the above conditions. Hotels, products and restaurants whichare not supervised are marked with an [N]. The Jewish News reserves the right to edit letters for size and contentwithout prior consent. Submission of letters is no guarantee of publication.

Printed in England: West Ferry Prin ters LimitedPublished by: The Jewish News & Medi a Group. www.thejngroup. com. All rights reserv ed.No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form of advertising without prior permission in writing from the editor. Registered as a newspaper by Royal Mail

Member of Audit Bureauof Circulations

THIS WEEKEND’S SHABBAT TIMES

Shabbat comes in at:

Shabbat goes out at:Sedra:

Acharei Mot

20:17

21:35

Publisher Rob [email protected]

Editorial Director Richard [email protected]

@RichFerrer

Head of Sales Russell Bahar020 7692 [email protected]

News Editor Justin Cohen020 7692 6952 justinc @thejngr oup.com

@CohenJust

Foreign Editor Stephen Oryszczuk020 7692 [email protected]

Community + Sports Editor

Andrew Sherwood020 7692 [email protected]

Features Editor Francine Wolfisz020 7692 [email protected]

@fwolfisz

Online Editor Jack Mendel

020 7692 6942 [email protected]

@mendelpol

Production Manager Diane Spender020 7692 [email protected]

Production Designer Jodie Goldfinger jodieg@th ejngroup. com

Production Designer Sarah [email protected]

SalesMarc Jacobs020 7692 [email protected]

SalesBeverley Sanford020 7692 [email protected]

CONTACT DETAILS Jewish

ZIONara Ken!


15/36


A CHINESE CURSE, apparently, is: “May youlive in interesting times.” By that measure, wehave all been damned, because the past weekor so has provided us with a tsunami of head-line-grabbing events, from Hillsborough to Sir Philip Green and the collapse of BHS, fromthe junior doctors’ strike to the meltdown of the National Union of Students.

Not forgetting, of course, the tragic implo-sion of the Labour Party, aided and abetted byKen Livingstone, a man who never saw a band-wagon without jumping on it. I very rarely getto call myself a prophet but, in this case, Iwarned as soon as I saw Jeremy Corbyn’sname on the Labour leadership ballot – in pur-suit of “diversity” – that trouble lay ahead, andso it has proved.

But I want to talk about one issue that has per-haps been overtaken by all the attention-grab-

bing headlines about anti-Semitism – and yet, of course, has a visceral connection to our liveshere as Jews. It is the issue of child refugees fromEurope and the amendment to the ImmigrationBill, tabled in the Lords by Lord Dubs, who, aseverybody surely knows by now, was himself saved by the Kindertransport.

It is worth remembering what happened to thesix-year-old Alfred Dubs, who was born in Praguein 1932. His father, who was Jewish, had fled toEngland on the day the Nazis arrived in Czecho-slovakia, 15 March 1939. The little boy was res-cued – along with 669 other, mainly Jewishchildren – by the heroic Sir Nicholas Winton.

Alf Dubs was told he would meet his father at

Liverpool Street Station. He later said that heclearly remembered leaving Prague station at agesix and not touching the food pack given to himby his mother for the next two days. His mother was initially denied a visa, but was able to join himand his father in London shortly afterwards.

I can’t imagine what it must have been like, asix-year-old, travelling with a lot of other strangechildren, emerging, ultimately, in an enormousrailway station in a foreign country, in the des-perate hope that his father would be there.

Dubs was not just lucky, but he and theother Kinder on the Winton train were savedby a miracle of far-sightedness, of intelligentadults doing the right thing.

And over the years Britain has, rightly, beenproud of its actions in taking in the kinder. Somany of them have made a contribution toBritish society; some, like Alf Dubs, in the politi-

cal sphere, others in all walks of life.I don’t know for sure, but I have never readof anyone opposing the arrival of the wartimechildren on the grounds of how they might be-come a danger to Britain. So why is the govern-ment so apparently implacably opposed tobringing in a far fewer number – 3,000 unac-companied children, many of whom havefetched up in the swamp that is the Calais jun-gle?

I asked my MP why he had voted with the gov-ernment on the Dubs amendment which was de-feated in the Commons last Monday. I received astandard reply with the worrying paragraph that“we do not want to make matters worse or cause

inadvertent consequences where people traffick-ers encourage more children to put their lives atrisk by making the sea crossing to Europe”.

I watched David Cameron making just thisargument at Prime Minister’s Questions lastWednesday. I have never seen anyone so un-convincing – almost as though he, to use avogue phrase, was “saying things he did notagree with”. Even the Daily Mail appears tohave recognised that the government’s posi-tion is indefensible. It published a full-pageeditorial last week headlined “We must givethese lost children sanctuary”.

The newspaper said: “Nobody has been morerobust than this paper in giving voice to publicconcerns over the impact of mass, unrestrictedimmigration. But... we believe that the plight of these unaccompanied children now in Europe –hundreds of them on our very doorstep in the

Channel ports of France – has become so har-rowing that we simply cannot turn our backs.”MPs will get the chance to vote on a new

amendment, again proposed by Lord Dubs,on 9 May. A number of Conservative MPs aresignalling that they will back this move and thusallow the children into Britain.

These are young children, living in appallingconditions, sleeping on roadsides, in police cellsand in informal camps. This is the grim realityof the real world, not the effluvium of the West-minster bubble. And this could have been thefate of the Kinder, except for intelligent adults,determined to do the right thing.

I hope the government is paying attention.

Jenni Fraz

‘What must it be likebe a terrifed six-year-arriving at a station i

foreign countr

How could MPs vote down

plan to save child refugees?

IT IS always tempting for supporters of onepolitical party to revel in the misfortunes of another. These past weeks I’ve had no short-age of opportunities, from the divisions inthe Tories over Brexit to the open warfarewithin the Labour Party over anti-Semitism.

It is, however, a temptation to be resisted.In both cases, the issues at stake are farmore important than the opportunities toscore points. Neither do I consider the Lib-eral Democrats to be in a position to say: “Itold you so”.

But I do want to ensure that the Liberal De-mocrats are part of the solution, not part of

the problem.I am a passionate believer in a two-statesolution. There is simply no possibility of a

just and sustainable peace within the regionwithout satisfying the aspirations of both Is-raelis and Palestinians for nationhood,and there is no credible model for thatwhich does not require two states withinsafe and secure borders.

So Israeli and Palestinian politicians whorefuse to work towards this goal are rightlydeserving of our criticism.

And yet the instinctive desire of politicalprogressives to stand up for the underdogseems increasingly to blind many to this sim-ple fact.

What’s more, rather than work for a solu-tion, we are seeing the development of acult of victimhood: a childish and destructive

desire to establish that the only injustice, theonly suffering, has been by whichever sideone has chosen to support.

As the stalemate in the conflict has be-come ever more deeply embedded, so thisprocess has, for some people, moved fromsupporting the suffering of Palestinians to asystematic denial of the suffering and rightsof Israelis and Jews.

At the extreme end, this leads straightto Holocaust denial, but for many on theleft, the equating of Zionism with Nazismserves the same job: the victims become –or indeed in the case of Ken Livingstone’s ap-

palling comments – always were, the oppres-sors. This is not legitimate criticism of Israeligovernment policies – this is straightforwardanti-Semitism, guilt by association, based ona perversion of history that we must resist atall costs.

Much as I might like it to be otherwise, thisanalysis of victimhood is not a problem con-fined to the Labour Party. It is a challenge for all political parties, including my own.

But if I dare offer a little advice to my fel-low party leader, change needs to beled from the top. This is not a case of a fewbad apples: it should be abundantly clear bynow that Livingstone is not the cause of theproblem, but a symptom and it will requireinstitutional reform to turn the situationaround.

Meantime, however, the solution must

not be for Jews to join or support the Con-servatives.

As an outsider, it seems to me that theJewish community is by instinct progressive.Insofar as one can generalise, there is nodoubting the commitment to education or enterprise, health care or internationalism.These are progressive values – dare I say it,liberal values. The challenges we face as acountry today need progressive solutionsand Jews need to be able to contribute tofinding them.

I hope for the sake of the country as wellas the Jewish community that the Labour

Party will find a way to become once againan effective opposition to the Conservatives– goodness knows this country needs one.

In the meantime, however, I give thispledge: under my leadership, the Liberal De-mocrats will seek to be part of the solutionnot part of the problem.

That means zero- tolerance of anti-Semi-tism in the UK and passionate advocacy of a

just and sustainable peace for Israelis andPalestinians in the Middle East.

And it means conducting our dialogueabout how this might be achieved in a lan-guage and a manner that builds bridges andtrust between communities, not setting oneagainst the other or assigning blame.

I hope it is not too late for progressivesfrom whichever party to redirect their effortsto these ends.

Tim Farr

‘There’s no possibility osustainable peace with

satisfying the aspirationIsraelis and Palestinia

Prejudice is a problem forall parties, mine included

Lead

Liberal Democ

OPINION:

JENNI FRAZER TIM FARRON, MP


16/36

OPINION: RABBI MIRIAM BERGER AND MARK MAIER


OPINION: DAN A INTERNATIONAL, R ICHARD FERRER, JUDE WILLI

THE NOISE. The size. The crowds,the lights and, most of all, the pride.

If there is one night in my life thatI will never forget, it’s 9 May 1998.On that date, standing in frontof hundreds of people, I won theEurovision Song Contest . In thespace of a few hours, millionsaround the world saw a differentside to my country – Israel – than theone they were used to seeing.

As an Israeli, it was incredible towin for my country, a country thatonly that year was celebrating its50th birthday. As a transgender woman, it was amazing to be thefirst openly trans entrant in the com-petition’s history. And as a humanbeing, it was beyond belief to

achieve recognition, acceptanceand success on such a global stage.So when the Zionist Federation UK

invited me to headline its Eurovision-themed Yom Ha’atzmaut party thisyear, of course I was going to say yes.Another chance to strut my stuff inLondon, while also taking part in thebiggest celebration of Israel’s birth-day in the UK? How could I say no?

But this night is about more than just re-hearing some of our favouritepop songs. The story of me and Eu-rovision is more than that. It’s a storyabout Israel, and what it represents.

It would be easy to joke about

a comparison between the two.A noisy competition between manydifferent candidates offering their unique visions? Watching votes getallocated in mysterious ways thatoften surprise you? A long nightwaiting to see which of the front-run-ners is eventually crowned the win-ner? Let’s be honest – it’s basicallya more fabulous (and only slightlymore frequent) version of our ownKnesset elections!

More seriously, Eurovision andIsrael have a remarkable connection.The message of Eurovision is one of peace, tolerance and hope, of peo-

ple being brought together despitetheir differences. This is a messagethat resonates in Israel, a tiny sliver of those values in a part of the worldwhere they are in short supply.

Eurovision celebrates the freedomto be who you are, and to expressthat freedom as you wish. Freedomis like a thread – from the samematerial you can fashion differentdesigns, and it takes a lot of differentthreads to make any one item.I couldn’t have the freedom to livemy life without you having your free-dom – and vice versa. And it’s allthose different threads, all those

different strands of freedom thatmake up Israel.

Part of that is the freedom to beproudly Jewish. I have Romanian-

Yemeni roots, no longer growing onopposite sides of the world, butnow interwoven in the same soilthat first nurtured the Jewish peoplemore than 2,000 years ago.

Only in the past few months havethe last few Yemeni Jews been res-cued from a county which, tragically,they can no longer call home.

But the response has to be love,not hate. I have many Arab fansacross the Middle East, and mydream would be to tour the region soI could meet them, for them to sharethe freedom I have. Who knows what

we could achieve? For decades, thepoliticians have tried to negotiatepeace, so far without success. ButI know music can reach the placesthey can’t. Art can build bridges, cul-ture can smash stereotypes.

Let’s celebrate our music, our freedom, our Israel! The Zionist Fed-eration’s Yom Ha’atzmaut party isgoing to be the biggest party for Is-rael in the UK, and I want as manyof you as possible to joinin. Eurovision was a night I’ll never forget. Let’s make this year’s YomHa’atzmaut just as unforgettable.• For tickets visit www tiny cc/yh68

Dana InternationIsraeli Eurovision win

‘The messageEurovision is peace atolerance and this tr

resonates in Isr

Q: WHAT IS it about Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party that anti-Semites find so attractive?A: Jeremy Corbyn.

The Labour leader seems to hate Israel and allit stands for. The psychopaths of Hamas remainhis “friends” and Israel the enemy. He has an un-shakable one-eyed view of the Jewish state – re-fusing even to utter the word “Israel” after beingforced to speak at a Friends of Israel f ringe meet-ing at last year’s party conference.

Alongside George Galloway and Ken Living-stone, Corbyn is a poster boy for the British anti-Zionism movement. When the Labour Party, in an

act of self-slaughter, crowned him leader, theJew-haters began hovering around Her Majesty’sOpposition like flies to honey.

It didn’t take the loonies long to causea stir. There have been a litany of debacles inthe past two weeks, from party memberGerry Downing addressing “the Jewish question”to former Parliamentary candidate Vicky Kirbynoting Jews have big noses – culminating inlast week’s suspension of Bradford West MP NazShah, who called for the “transportation” and“relocation” of Israelis as a “solution” to theMiddle East problem and compared Israel to NaziGermany.

Corbyn’s default position on all these outragesis to do precisely nothing, until nothing is nolonger an option. He simply utters the samewarped, weasel words. Literally: “Nothing to seehere… move along, move along.”

He flatly refuses to tackle – even isolate – anti-Semitism, for one far-reaching reason. JeremyCorbyn, a man who questions Israel place in theworld, emboldens Jew haters.

Denounce them, call this filth out for what theyreally are, and he also denounces much of hiscore support. It’s Corbyn’s Catch 20-Jew.

So rather than label a Jew-hater a Jew-hater,he speaks in the broadest possible terms about“all racism being unacceptable”. There’s alwaysa caveat, always a balance. Rather than do theright thing, he obfuscates and draws false com-parison. It’s a very dark art, and every time he

indulges in it, his Jew-hating advocates drawcloser and grow bolder.How ironic that it was Ken Livingstone, Cor-

byn’s kindred spirit – who the Labour leader brought back from political wilderness and intoa senior role in the party – who caused this sim-mering mess to reach boiling point.

With the timing of a Diego Costa tackle, not-so-cuddly Ken, a man who couldn’t spot an anti-Semite at a Nuremberg rally, decided in his finitewisdom to send the party into meltdown byclaiming the man who slaughtered six millionJews was in fact a Zionist, in defence of Labour MP Naz Shah’s anti-Semitic Facebook posts.

Crass Ken, as he so often does, mentioned thewar. Like Basil Fawlty, he didn’t get away with it.

Ken has a talent for provoking Jewish ire, fromhis support for homophobic Jew-hate preacher

Yusuf al-Qaradawi to comparing Jewish journalist

Oliver Finegold to a concentration camp guard.That infamous incident, which saw him suspendedas London mayor after he stubbornly refused toapologise, showed a particularly ugly self-right-eous streak running through his personality.

Had he the sense to keep shtum in the wakeof the Shah scandal [a woman who, irony of ironies, sat on the Home Affairs inquiry into anti-Semitism until stepping down on Tuesday], thiswhole sorry episode may have petered out.

After all, Shah has had a broadly positive im-pact on relations between UK Jews and Muslimsin the year since becoming an MP. The other

week she attended a Passover seder and,tellingly, her constituency’s synagogue quickly jumped to her defence.

She even wrote an apology for the JewishNews, which showed seemingly genuine remorse.

Her suspension was a setback towards bol-stering Jewish-Muslim relations, but the dam-age she wrought is reversible. She should bebrought back into the party.

For Ken, on the other hand, it’s game over.He has proved his credentials time and againas a political survivor, but this latest madcapmanoeuvre surely signals the end of a chequered,often ignominious career. Expulsion is inevitable.

After which, his old pal will inevitably continueto tinker around the edges of Labour anti-Semi-tism, paying lip service to his party’s sickness,until Rome finally crashes at his feet.

The end can’t come soon enough.

Richard Ferr

‘Corbyn’s default positon these outrages is to

nothing, until nothingno longer an optio

Labour, Israel, anti-Semitismand Corbyn’s Catch 20-Jew

Ed

Jewish Ne

Israel, like Eurovision , gave

me freedom to be who I am

Dana International won the Eurovision Song Contest in May 1998 with Diva


17/36


ON THE scale of political mea culpas, Naz Shah'scan be filed in the category marked ‘fulsome’. Itmay have taken three attempts, but her apologyto the Jewish community, as revealed by JewishNews , was a marked improvement on the first24 hours. I’m not aware of any such frank words of remorse from others suspended in recent weeks.

It had to be; it’s a long way back from revela-tions that a serving MP in a country that proudlypoints to its diverse make-up could think it appro-priate to endorse the “transportation” of Israelisor even conceive of posting an article likeningZionism to al-Qaeda.

However, if she means everything she says,then this could be an opportunity both for her andthe fight against anti-Semitism. All the more so if

she is willing to publicly acknowledge the partic-ular problem on the British left, as some reportssuggest. If she does increase her engagementwith Anglo-Jewry; if that leads to an increased un-derstanding of what constitutes anti-Semitism andhow all too often those who see themselves aspro-Palestinian activists trample over the line intoJew-hate. And, moreover, if she is then willing tobe a player in fighting it in areas others can’treach; on the left, in Muslim communities and be-yond, this chance must not be wasted.

Even before this, she had started to associatemore with the Jewish community, including her local shul and with Reform Senior Rabbi Laura Jan-ner-Klausner, whose interfaith event markingPassover she attended just last week. Such meas-ured voices – along with those of the likes of theJewish Labour Movement – could have an impact.

To remove the whip, as has now happened,

could backfire. It could send Shah into the armsof some of those she has associated with, andworse. It could cause someone to be lost to rea-son and balance for good. If this were a factor inthe hesitancy of some to call for the whip to beremoved (even the Board of Deputies did not callfor this) it would not be unreasonable.

But this danger became secondary to theimpact of the party’s inaction on the already frac-tious relationship with the Jewish community andthe confidence that the leadership’s message of zero tolerance will be applied regardless of a per-petrator’s position in the party. A relationship al-ready hanging by a thread simply could notafford this. The Jewish community does not askfor special treatment; it just asks to be treated the

same as any community.It’s not often that the many on the left and rightare on the same page. But as this story movedinto its second day, leading voices such as writer Owen Jones were united with Tory MPs.

Last week’s suspension was necessary for thegood of the relationship with Labour and to sendout a clear message. It was the only possiblecourse of action.

As the wider issue of her position in Labour dominated, Shah withdrew from her role on theHome Office inquiry into anti-Semitism.

Her party suspension, however, need not bepermanent; I realise I risk an online lynching for saying this, but the door should be left ajar andthe opportunity given for the Bradford West MPto prove she is as serious about her journey asthose who know her seem to believe.

Call me naive, but it’s not by talking just to

those whose views we share that we’ll make a sig-nificant difference.

But this must be seen as just the start of aprocess. If she is serious, she will appreciate thatretaining the whip and the status quo was not inthe interests of herself, her party or its ties with theJewish community. If, despite the disciplinaryprocess, she acts on her words to enhance herefforts with the community, we should all take no-tice. She has an opportunity to make a real andmuch-needed contribution. Over to you, Ms Shah.

But there is a far bigger issue here about anti-Semitism on the left, and Corbyn couldn’t be bet-ter placed to address it. Let me be clear: I alwaysstrongly counter the occasional suggestion I hear that he himself could be anti-Semitic and he has

indeed acted swiftly to suspend several members,some before the media got to the story.But he can do a lot more, including backing pro-

posals for a change in Labour’s rules to make it eas-ier to throw out racists. And many might suggestthe leader could do worse than follow Shah by ac-knowledging past mistakes – in his case, aroundthe language used about terror groups andextremists who have espoused anti-Semitic views –as well as Shah’s reported explicit recognition of the source of the hate. That really could make adent in the prevailing narrative, start to make a dif-ference to the relationship with Labour and, justmaybe, to the fight against the new anti-Semitism.

There could be few greater prizes for a manwho is proud of his and his family's credentials inopposing racism.

In his own way, therefore, he too has a goldenopportunity.

Justin CohNews edi

Jewish Ne

‘There’s a far bigger issue habout anti-Semitism on

left, and Corybyn couldn’tbetter placed to addres

If Shah is sorry, she must be

given a chance to prove it

THE EVENTS of last week have been truly dis-turbing and upsetting and remain “hot topics” inour households and on Twitter accounts. Theanti-Semitic remarks we have heard and readabout, and the debate about the nature of anti-Semitism create a deep sense of concern, espe-cially in the vile way in which attempts are beingmade to manipulate the truth of the Holocaust.

How do we take action when we are exposedto this kind of abuse and lies? The most appropri-ate way, coinciding with this week’s annual YomHaShoah commemoration, has to be to stand uppublicly to remember the true tragedy of theHolocaust, honour the memory of the victims andpay tribute to survivors and refugees.

Last year, being the 70th anniversary of the end-ing of the Second World War and the liberation of the concentration camps, our annual commemo-ration ceremony, was moved from the existing

National Memorial to the Victims of the Holocaust,at the Dell in Hyde Park, London, to the BarnetCopthall Stadium. This was to allow far greater numbers of our community to be able to attend,seated and under cover. The communityresponded magnificently to this special commem-oration, with more than 5,000 attending. Thiscompared to numbers of a maximum of 1,000 inprevious years, who made the effort to go to thevery inaccessible and exposed venue of the Dell.

With the tragic events in Paris, Brussels andelsewhere in Europe since last year’s commemo-

ration and these recent events here, there is no

better way to combat both terror and manipula-tive lies, than by us all gathering together, in evenlarger numbers, to commemorate and remember.

Holocaust commemoration and remembrance,combined with Holocaust education, are the onlyways of ensuring that the truth about the Shoah,the unbelievable suffering of the victims and thebravery of the survivors and refugees are neverforgotten and can never be manipulated.

This year’s ceremony is being held this Sunday,8 May, at the Barnet Copthall Stadium. Admissionand parking are free. Doors open at 12.30pm, with

the ceremony starting at 2pm prompt. It will bringtogether survivors, refugees and ex-service per-sonnel who will be joined by Jewish communaland religious leaders across the whole spectrumof our community, together with representativesof more than 100 Jewish communal organisationswhich support this annual event. They will be

joined by – and we will especially welcome – rep-resentatives of national and local organisations.

The ‘family-friendly’ ceremony will last around90 minutes, during which we will hear and, asalways, be inspired by the experiences of sur-vivors and refugees, musical interludes, singingof choirs and, once again, be joined by childrenfrom many Jewish schools, who will also singsongs written for these occasions.

For security purposes, it is important that tick-ets, although free, are booked in advance andonline booking will remain open until 10am on

Sunday morning. Attending without booking willinvolve lengthy queuing and delays to check in.Please join the many thousands who have

already been allocated tickets, to ensure that thisis the largest ever gathering at a commemorationevent. It will continue to define the most appro-priate contemporary message for ourselves andfuture generations, which we must not – and willnot – allow to be distorted by others.• To book your tickets for this year’s YomHaShoah National Commemoration Ceremony see www yomhashoah org uk nationalevent

Jude William

‘The most appropriate actagainst the manipulation of

Shoah is to stand up pubto remember the trage

Chief Execut

Tzed

Help us make Sunday’s Yom

HaShoah event the biggest

P h o t o : J o h n

R i f k i n

Last year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration


18/36

COMMUNITY


NEWS IN BRIEFFAREWELL, RABBI CHARLEY

Kingston Liberal Synagogue (KLS) wasfilled with old and new members lastShabbat, as the community saidfarewell to its rabbi of 10 years,Charley Baginsky. Charley wrote aspecial service for the occasion, whichshe led with Rabbi Danny Rich – thesenior rabbi of Liberal Judaism andKingston’s emeritus rabbi. She is nowthe rabbi for South Bucks JewishCommunity and also co-ordinator for the Alliance for Progressive Judaismbetween Liberal Judaism and theMovement for Reform Judaism.

JONNY SPEAKS OUTOne of the UK’s best-known mentalhealth campaigners is to give a talkto north London parents. JonnyBenjamin, the former JFS pupilwho attempted suicide eight yearsago after being diagnosed withschizoaffective disorder, will sharehis experience of living with mentalillness. The event, which is free,will be held at North Bridge HouseSenior, 6-9 Canonbury Place,Islington, on Tuesday 10 May,between 6.30pm and 7.45pm,although registrationis required. Book tickets at:www.northbridgehouse.com/teen

JLE APPOINTS NEW CEO

The Jewish Learning Exchange hasannounced Rabbi Benjy Morgan asits new CEO. Rabbi Danny Kirschwill remain as the organisation’schairman to the board (director) andsaid: “Rabbi Benjy Morgan hasspearheaded a revitalisation of theJLE Young Professional Programsover the last five years committedto the principles on which theorganisation has been built. Welook forward to working together and wish him hatzlacha and brachahin driving the organisation forwardin the 21st century.”

UJIA COMEDY GOES SOUTHUJIA hosted a comedy evening

for the first time in the southLondon community. Attended bya sell-out crowd of 130 from variouscommunities in south London, theywere treated to a show hosted byaward-winning comedian BennettArron, while acts included ‘JewishComedian of the Year’ – PhilipSimon – and ‘Oldest JewishComedian on the circuit’ – SolBernstein. The evening raised morethan £18,000 towards UJIA’s workin the Galil.

Jewish News staff put their cupcake icing skills to the test as they swapped pens for piping bagsahead of this year's Great Jewish Bake

5 May 2016, Jewish News, Issue 949

Documents

Transcript of 5 May 2016, Jewish News, Issue 949