JC’s anthrax hoaxer escapes jail

A man who sent a letter containing white powder to the JC’s offices escaped jail last week.

Ashraf Ali, 31, pleaded guilty last month to seven offences, five of them religiously aggravated.

Ali was given a nine-month sentence at Portsmouth Crown Court last Friday, but this was suspended for two years. He was also given a two-year supervision order.

The charges related to two offences of blackmail, four counts of racial or religiously aggravated harassment and one count of religiously aggravated intentional harassment.

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Kinder refugee recalls ‘awful’ swastika letter

An 83-year-old refugee from Nazi Germany spoke this week of the “hurt” of being the victim of a campaign of antisemitic and threatening letters. The material came from a Portsmouth postman  who has just received a four-year jail sentence.

In February 2005, Julius Klein, who came to Britain on the Kindertransport aged 14 in 1939, received an envelope containing a swastika-daubed paper. There were references to Adolf Hitler and the number 18, often associated with Hitler, whose initials are the first and eighth numbers of the alphabet.

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Men who ‘conned’ two shuls hunted by police

Police in London are searching for two alleged Israeli conmen who are said have obtained thousands of pounds in “loans” from gullible synagogue members.

The two, saying they were an uncle and nephew, are said to have asked for and received more than £8,000 in loans from members of one synagogue and smaller amounts from another. Although they returned some of the money, they have since disappeared and are believed to have left behind unpaid bills at the Langham Hilton Hotel in London’s West End, where it is understood they had been staying since the end of March.

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Cambridge first for former anorexic

Recovering anorexic Mandy Kaye made history this week as she graduated from Cambridge with starred first-class honours and a distinction — the only student in her geography faculty to do so.

But it could have all been so different for the 25-year-old, who, five years ago, was given just days to live.

Ms Kaye, from Southgate, North London, has been battling anorexia for nine years. At her lowest, she weighed just under five stone.

Now, hopeful of a making full recovery, she is determined to inspire others to do the same.

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Boycott hit by a wave of collaborations

The director of the Academic Study Group on Israel and the Middle East said this week that the enthusiastic take-up by British academics of his seminars in Israel gave the lie to the belief that there was strong support for an academic boycott.

John Levy, who is sending five working groups to Israel this year, said: “We are sponsoring intimate encounters between Israeli academics and their UK counterparts.

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Three held as ambassador faces a riotous Assembly

Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor was given a rough reception both inside and outside the Welsh Assembly on Tuesday on his visit to Cardiff.

Pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police who made three arrests as Mr Prosor arrived at the building on the Cardiff Bay waterfront.

Two women and a man were held for questioning on public-order offences and later bailed.

Four Assembly Members joined the 30 flag-waving protesters while inside Mr Prosor faced a “very aggressive” grilling from other AMs.

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Student leaders pledge to fight campus racism

Manchester University’s growing reputation for harbouring antisemitism is facing a new challenge after Jewish candidates gained a third of the places on the student-union council.

The new team will have four Jewish representatives on the executive and another 14 on the student council. One of them — Rob Pinfold — is the new general secretary.

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A not so Orthodox law of the road: 13 in a Volvo

A strictly Orthodox man has been banned from driving after police caught him taking a spin in his family Volvo — along with 12 passengers.

Teacher Abraham Gniwosch, 31, crammed his wife, sister, two babies, another man and seven children into the saloon’s four passenger seats.

Police pulled over his Volvo S70 at Craig y Don, Llandudno, North Wales, where he and his family were on holiday. None of the passengers was wearing a seat belt.

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Parades expect massive turnout

The Community Security Trust will mount what is thought to be its biggest-ever operation on Sunday to ensure that two Salute to Israel parades in London and Manchester pass without incident.

Around 500 volunteers will join police officers on the streets of London to shadow 25 floats and 29 marching groups, representing a wide range of communal organisations.

A similar turnout is expected at a parade and rally due to take place in Manchester’s Heaton Park.

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Hope’s hit

A video to promote Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks’s CD, Home of Hope, marking Israel’s 60th anniversary, has received more than 134,000 hits on YouTube since its launch last month. Sir Jonathan sings on one track, Oseh Shalom.

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