James Blake performs in Israel despite boycott campaign

British musician James Blake performed in Tel Aviv this weekend despite a concerted effort by anti-Israel campaigners for him to cancel the show.

Mr Blake, a runner-up in BBC's Sound of 2011 poll and a nominee for last year's Mercury Music Prize, was the latest target of the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel.

More..

Board reject Guardian boycott

A proposal to boycott the Guardian newspaper has been rejected by the Board of Deputies.

After debating the newspaper's reporting of Jewish and Israel issues, deputies at Sunday's plenary meeting chose to not hold a vote on the motion which had urged "all who oppose antisemitism to refrain from buying the Guardian or advertising in it".

More..

NUS criticised for building boycotts not bridges

The Union of Jewish Students has said it is "disappointed and surprised" after the National Union of Students launched a campaign challenging the practices of two Israeli-linked companies.

NUS urged students to encourage their universities to consider cancelling contracts with Veolia and Eden Springs.

More..

Performers deny 'dark art' funding

Israeli officials have attacked boycott campaigners in Ireland, claiming dozens have benefited from government-backed Arts Council funding.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign repeatedly disrupted the country's biggest ever showcase of Israeli films last month. And more than 150 Irish creative and performing artists launched a cultural boycott campaign against Israel in 2010.

More..

Educating beyond the 'delegitimisation' debate

Any student of the arts will recognise that the quest for truth is a very difficult endeavour indeed. There are a plethora of theories on any one topic, but our aim as scholars is to ascertain reality in pursuit of knowledge and truth. This, I believe, is also the ultimate value of Jewish education.

More..

Iranian chess player expelled after Israel boycott

An Iranian chess player has become the latest person from the country to refuse to compete against an Israeli player in an international championship.

Iranian Grandmaster Ehsan Ghaem Maghami announced he would boycott the match against Israel's Ehud Sachar. The two had been scheduled to compete in the fourth round of the Corsica Masters competition.

More..

Anti-JNF move fails

Holborn and St Pancras Labour Party has refused to back an anti-JNF campaign, endorsed earlier in the year by local MP Frank Dobson.

He is one of 48 signatories to an early day parliamentary motion in support of the Stop the Jewish National Fund Campaign, which accuses the JNF of "illegal expropriation" of Palestinian land and calls for a review of its charitable status.

More..

Family courts union rejects boycott call

Probation officers and court staff have rejected a boycott of Israel proposed at their union's annual conference.

NAPO - the union and campaign group which represents more than 9,000 officers and family court workers - debated two anti-Israel motions at its AGM in Eastbourne on October 8 - Yom Kippur.

The union's Family Court section had put forward a motion stating that it was "alarmed and

More..

LPO: 'Jewish pressure' led to suspensions

Dozens of musicians, artists, playwrights and activists have urged the London Philharmonic Orchestra to reconsider its suspension of four members for expressing anti-Israel views.

In a letter published in the Daily Telegraph, 117 signatories, most of who have long track records of anti-Israel activism, attacked the LPO's action after the four players put their names and that of the LPO to a let

More..

That was then, this is now: campus change

It's hard for today's students to judge whether campus life is better or worse than in the past. Most Jewish students are at university for three years, and those few who become sabbatical officers in student unions or UJS will only extend that time by a year or two.

More..

Dr Denis MacEoin's letter to the Edinburgh University Students' Association

May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic History in Buccleuch Place under William Montgomery Watt and Laurence Elwell Sutton, two of Britain's great Middle East experts in their day. I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge and to teach Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University.

More..