Quakers to ‘improve’ Israel work through EAPPI programme

A controversial human rights programme on the West Bank, which caused a rift between the Church of England and the Board of Deputies last year, is set to include a new Israel component.

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme to Palestine and Israel was branded “inflammatory and partisan” by the Board, which was dismayed when the scheme was endorsed by the Church’s governing Synod.

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Disgraceful yet all too easy linking of Israelis and Nazis

Come and eavesdrop on a question I was asked by a leading Anglican bishop at an interfaith symposium last summer. "Rabbi," he asked earnestly, "how can your people turn Gaza into a concentration camp after Auschwitz?" This being my first encounter with this type of dovetailing - as employed last week by Respect's Lee Jasper and this week by Liberal Democrat David Ward - my reply was forgettable.

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Tiny church we should support

A recent decision regarding the charitable status of a small church in Devon might not, at first sight, appear to have major consequences for the Jewish community, but the fallout has already led to a front-page headline in the Sunday Times and questions in Parliament.

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Feeling at home in the Synod

It's an odd thing, when you are called Finkelstein, to find yourself commenting on the internal debates of the Church of England. But such was my fate - both on television and in print - when the Synod made its decision not to allow women to become Bishop.

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Beware the women bishops vote

The Church of England found itself the object of widespread anger and derision last week after its governing body, the Synod, narrowly failed to approve the creation of women bishops.

To British Jews, it must seem like another family’s problem. But the fallout may yet have consequences for other faiths.

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New archbishop is ‘a good friend' to Jews

The Council of Christian and Jews has welcomed the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will succeed Rowan Williams next year, as a “good friend”.

The Rt Rev Welby, Bishop of Durham and a former dean of Liverpool Cathedral, who will automatically become a joint president of the CCJ, has been involved in reconciliation work between Jews and Arabs.

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