Outcry over 'one-sided' Palestinian meeting

Hackney Council has promised to tighten bookings procedures after a complaint about a pro-Palestinian event held in one of its libraries on Tuesday night.

Martin Sugarman, chair of the Hackney Anglo-Israel Twinning Association, had called for the cancellation of the "one-sided" meeting at Dalston library, addressed by a group of visiting Palestinian women.

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Outcry over 'one-sided' Palestinian meeting

Hackney Council has promised to tighten bookings procedures after a complaint about a pro-Palestinian event held in one of its libraries on Tuesday night.

Martin Sugarman, chair of the Hackney Anglo-Israel Twinning Association, had called for the cancellation of the "one-sided" meeting at Dalston library, addressed by a group of visiting Palestinian women.

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Top Marks by Ofsted

Ofsted inspectors have issued a positive report on the Simon Marks Jewish Primary in Hackney, rating the school as "good" on all fronts.

They found that it got pupils off to a "strong start", and that they achieved "particularly well in English".

As for new head Gill Ross and her team, Ofsted reported that "good leadership and management have enabled the school to identify successfully its k

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Returning rabbi could fill Bevis Marks vacancy

The vacant pulpit at Bevis Marks Synagogue could be filled by a rabbi from Israel who grew up in London's Sephardi community.

Rabbi Jonathan Cohen, who belonged to Lauderdale Road Synagogue, is meeting members of the London East End community during a visit this weekend to discuss the post.

Rabbi Cohen, who is in his early 50s, has worked both as a rabbi and IT consultant in Israel and is th

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Sandys Row is fully restored to its former glory

An historic east London congregation is looking to the future after extensive synagogue restorations.

Grade II-listed Sandys Row in Spitalfields has spent £400,000 on repairs to its leaky roof, rotting windows and Huguenot plastering.

The Heritage Lottery Fund contributed £250,000 to the restoration project.

Now the synagogue intends to continue to fundraise in order to transform its la

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Moving times for the Bevis Marks diners

The restaurant at Bevis Marks is moving from the historic East End of London synagogue and reopening on Monday in new premises a few minutes away.

"It is going to be the most glamorous kosher restaurant in London," claimed Kenny Arfin, owner of Bevis Marks the Restaurant, as it will continue to be known.

"The reason we are going is that we wanted larger premises.

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Crunch time for Mother Levy's

Hopes of preserving the site of the former Jewish Maternity Hospital are focused on a Tower Hamlets Council meeting next week.

Developers Peabody want to demolish the buildings as part of a project for a multi-storey housing association block.

Known as Mother Levy's, the hospital was the birthplace of many well known East End Jews, Arnold Wesker and Lionel Bart among them.

Local historian

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Fight to save ‘Mother Levy’s’ suffers setback

East End campaigners have failed in their bid to stop Tower Hamlets planning officers approving the first stage towards the demolition of “Mother Levy’s” Jewish Maternity Hospital.

Chicken Soup with Barley playwright Sir Arnold Wesker, who was born in the hospital, is one of 250 signatories to a petition to save part of the former hospital from the bulldozers.

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Anger over Yomtov clash

A Jewish councillor has protested to Hackney Council at the holding of a civic event on the first night of Rosh Hashanah.

Councillor Linda Kelly - who switched from the ruling Labour group to the Conservatives in summer - criticised the council's speaker, Susan Fajana Thomas, for the timing of the fundraising dinner.

"If this is a civic event, all the communities should be invited," Councill

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Historian fights to preserve East End landmark

A Tower Hamlets campaign group is fighting to save the former Jewish Maternity Hospital building in Whitechapel from demolition by developers.

Retired teacher and local historian Tom Ridge is spearheading a letter-writing campaign to preserve the building, which is more than a century old.

Arnold Wesker and Lionel Bart were among famous Jews born there.

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Fury over construction on site of cemetery

Strictly Orthodox leaders have pledged to organise mass protests against plans by Queen Mary, University of London, to build on the site of a Jewish cemetery in Mile End Road, east London.

The Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe is leading the campaign against the development of the Novo Sephardic cemetery, which now belongs to the university.

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