Tribute to archbishop

A Board of Deputies reception this week honoured the outgoing Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.

Board president Henry Grunwald, the Chief Rabbi and Lord Janner were joined by representatives of other faiths to acknowledge the cardinal’s contribution to Catholic-Jewish relations.

Dr David Ryall, assistant general secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference, said the cardinal had been “very touched by the sentiments expressed”.

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Anti-Israel bias taken out of UN racism paper

A new version of the final document produced by the UN’s next major human rights conference in Geneva has left out all criticism of Israel, prompting cautious optimism from the Board of Deputies’ president, Henry Grunwald.

The anti-Israeli language that characterised the final document of the original conference in South Africa, in 2001, has disappeared.

However, almost every reference bar one each to Holocaust commemoration and antisemitism has also been taken out of the new draft.

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Storm over latest Hizbollah UK visit

The Board of Deputies will ask the Home Office to exclude a former Hizbollah fighter and leader of a radical Muslim group in Belgium who has been invited to speak in Britain.

Dyab Abou Jahjah has been invited to speak at a meeting of the Stop The War Coalition on Monday evening in central London. It is thought that he will also be present on Tuesday at the launch of a British branch of International Union for Parliamentarians for Palestine, of which he was made operational director in May last year.

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Dayan attacks plan to twin shuls with mosques

A Board of Deputies plan for synagogues to twin with mosques in order to improve Muslim-Jewish relations has been attacked by a senior Orthodox rabbi as contrary to Jewish law.

Dayan Yisroel Lichtenstein, head of the Federation of Beth Din, wrote to communities under its aegis last Friday to say they should not take part “on religious grounds”.

The initiative was among a number discussed by Jewish interfaith organisations at a special meeting at the Board last week to discuss Jewish-Muslim relations.

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Board reaches out to repair faith relations

An Islamic community centre will host a major Jewish exhibition as interfaith groups attempt to repair relations in the aftermath of the Gaza conflict.

The Board of Deputies’ Jewish Way of Life exhibition will be held at the centre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in the spring.

At a meeting on Tuesday, members of the London Jewish Forum, synagogue bodies and the Board reaffirmed their dedication to developing stronger ties with the Muslim community.

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Board asks for help for Iran Bahá’is

The Board of Deputies president, Henry Grunwald QC, has written to Foreign Secretary David Miliband with a renewed call to the government to support the persecuted Bahá’i community in Iran.

The Board made representations to the government last May when six community leaders were arrested and detained. The group, including a seventh leader already in custody, has now been charged with various crimes including “insulting religious sanctity”, “undermining the Islamic Republic of Iran” and even “espionage for Israel”.

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