A quota on Jewish MPs?

Earlier this month, the House of Commons resolved to established a "Speaker's Conference" - in effect, an all-party committee of inquiry chaired by the Speaker - to "consider, and make recommendations for rectifying, the disparity between the representation of women and ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large".

Whatever the detailed outcomes emanating from this investigation, its conclusions have the potential to affect adversely the status of Britain's Jewish citizens.

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I say silence the Shabbat siren

I had to read the story twice to be sure I had understood it correctly.

In Stamford Hill, a "Shabbat siren" has been announcing the arrival of the Sabbath. Actually, I'd better be precise. It is not, strictly speaking, a siren. It is "a selection of music and songs being played over a number of loudspeakers". Apparently, those who established it want to make the area "more like Jerusalem".

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You can bank on old prejudice

Readers of this column will know that I hold a healthily jaundiced view of the Jewish Leadership Council, a self-appointed body answerable to no one. But that does not mean that I necessarily discount the research that it sponsors, or that I necessarily disagree with everything that it says.

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Keep new German Jews Jewish

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Obama pressure Israel? Bad idea

The election of a new American president is always an anxious time for the state of Israel. More than a third of the world's Jews live in the USA and, although these Jews account for a mere two per cent of the USA's total population, they tend to punch very much above their weight, being prominent in business, commerce and the professions. Last week, around three-quarters of them appear to have voted for the Democrat ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

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Try America’s new dream, Israel

As one marathon election campaign ends, another begins. Though something tells me the world will not be following the battle of Tzipi Livni and Bibi Netanyahu - which will rage from now until February - with anything like the obsessive interest they showed in the clash of Barack Obama and John McCain.

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Beware of doing Hebrew A-level

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Corfu, and the nature of hate

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Denial is not a criminal matter

In its issue of October 3, the JC ran the story of the arrest, at Heathrow airport on an EU warrant issued by the German government, of a German-born Holocaust-denier, Frederick Toben. Mr Toben is actually an Australian citizen. No matter; he arrived at Heathrow from the USA, en route to Dubai. The Metropolitan Police arrested him because the German government alleges that he has persisted in posting material on the internet denying or "playing down" the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews.

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How we’ll beat natural hostility

We all knew it would happen, didn't we? The question of whether it would didn't come up. We just instantly knew. So I want to ask a different question, the question "why?" And then I want to put this to you - are we all that much better?

The moment Lehmans went belly-up we knew there would be people who would blame it on the Jews. And when Congress rejected the President's bailout plan, we all just waited for the newsreaders to point out that a new plan couldn't be agreed because of Rosh Hashanah, and for the conspiracy nutters to get to work with that.

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