Jubilee

Anti-Israel activists urge Queen to decline 'blood diamond'

Jennifer Lipman — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:13:58 +0100

Supporters of a boycott of Israel have issued a call to Queen Elizabeth II, asking the monarch to divest herself of her “blood diamond”.

Activists from the Boycott Israel Network want the Queen to take action on the Steinmetz Forevermark Jubilee Diamond, put on display by De Beers in the Tower of London to mark the monarch’s 60 years on the throne, because of the company’s support for Israeli soldiers.

The 35.60 carat pink diamond is not one that falls under the general understanding of a blood diamond, a term which covers stones traded to finance rebel movements or their allies aimed at undermining legitimate governments.

According to the company’s website, Steinmetz, which has offices in Tel Aviv, supports the Tzabar Unit of the IDF’s Givati Brigade, via the charitable foundation of Agnes and Benny Steinmetz.

The foundation “fosters a close relationship with the commanders and their soldiers, helping the brigade to organise events, buying equipment for end-of-course ceremonies and giving aid to needy soldiers”.

The boycott campaign is backed by the Sammoni family of Gaza, which lost 29 members during Operation Cast Lead.

“We are shocked and disappointed by the decision of De Beers to present the Queen of England with a diamond manufactured by the Steinmetz Diamond company,” said Helmi Sammoni.

“We, the Sammoni family, call on the Queen of England and the British people to decline this gift.

“We demand that De Beers be instructed to remove this offensive blood diamond display immediately.”

Anti-Israel activists target Queen over Jubilee diamond

Jennifer Lipman — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:24:28 +0100

Supporters of a boycott of Israel have issued a call to Queen Elizabeth II, asking the monarch to divest herself of her "blood diamond".

Activists from the Boycott Israel Network want the Queen to take action on the Steinmetz Forevermark Jubilee Diamond, put on display by DeBeers in the Tower of London to mark the monarch's 60 years on the throne, because of the company's support for Israeli soldiers.

According to the company's website, Steinmetz, which has offices in Tel Aviv, supports the Tzabar Unit of the IDF's Givati Brigade via the charitable foundation of Agnes and Beny Steinmetz.

The foundation "fosters a close relationship with the commanders and their soldiers, helping the brigade to organise events, buying equipment for end-of-course ceremonies and giving aid to needy soldiers".

The campaign is backed by the Sammoni family of Gaza, which lost 29 members during Operation Cast Lead.

"We are shocked and disappointed by the decision of De Beers to present the Queen of England with a diamond manufactured by the Steinmetz Diamond company," said Helmi Sammoni. "We the Sammoni family call on the Queen of England and the British people to decline this gift.

"We demand that De Beers be instructed to remove this offensive blood diamond display immediately."

Proud and British

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:10:13 +0100

As the photos in our Community section reflect, the Jubilee was celebrated with relish. Young and old, religious and secular, we revelled in kosher street parties, celebrations in schools and special events in synagogues bedecked in red, white and blue.

Welfare homes also entered into the Jubilee spirit, with residents in Union Jack bowler hats offering up vivid recollections of the Queen's accession. And what an effort by teachers, who did so much in schools to organise the various Jubilee teas and lunches at Jewish primary schools.

There was also a more sober communal context, as expressed by a Manchester-based Holocaust survivor, who said his participation in the celebration was a debt of gratitude to the country where he made his home. We may never see another Diamond Jubilee again, but the pleasure gleaned from this one will last a lifetime.

Sixty years celebrated on the BBC boat? It felt even longer

Maureen Lipman — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:05:13 +0100

I'm up to my earrings in suspicion, filming Midsomer Murders, when the offer comes to join the Jubilee flotilla, alongside Sandi Toksvig, Omid Djalili, Griff Rhys Jones and Frank Skinner. I'm flattered. I'm fond of Her Majesty, and, now I have a grandchild, I fancy one day bragging to her about it all.

I balk at the BBC's requested 8.15 pick-up, given that we don't start recording until 1.30. It doesn't bode well, organisationally. I'm to do my own make-up, bring my passport for identification, a kagoul and flat shoes. Still, it'll be amazing to be part of it, instead of watching on a Bush 12 inch like for the coronation. As it happens, I wake up at 6.20, dress in as much red, white, and blue as my wardrobe can regurgitate, don a rakish Panama and leave my passport at home. If I take it, it will end up in the drink, found years later by a 22nd-century Mudlarker.

At Putney Pier before the camera crew, I stare incomprehensibly at dinghy ropes and sail clamps. In the words of Jackie Mason: "There is no greater anomaly than a Jew on a boat.'' The runner brings me a polystyrene cup of coffee and runs to Pret for porridge, returning later with several bags of baps. "Lunch?" I ask. It is.

Griff arrives with a nautical cap and a tan, having cut short his holiday. Next, Omid, bleary from nightly West End shows. Frank sends apologies. I'm beginning to wish I had, too. I'm cold and there's a massive queue for the water taxis.

A friendly, possibly corrupt, official is found and we are ushered by muttering "sorry, BBC," as though on a life-saving mission. We reach our boat, "The Zephyr", which is packed with BBC equipment, another 50 Pret baps and Sandi, who sees my face and offers to lend me her vest.

We embark, and wait. For hours. There's nothing to look at save a warehouse on one side and a pub on the other. The comics yawn and talk shop. We are offered more coffee. Griff and Omid eat their salad lunches. I eat beetroot crisps.

Suddenly the skiffs start passing us, portside. It's rather touching to see it all in action. I'm particularly cheered by the Maori skiff, with semi-naked guys brandishing oars like spears and doing a fear-inducing Haka, and by the Venetian gondola. Elsewhere, boating afficionadas pop fizz over plates of smoked salmon. I eat a flapjack. There isn't so much as a bottle of Blue Nun on the BBC boat. At 1.30, we are miked up and arranged on the deck. We clump up together so the camera can get us all in. The boat judders into movement and we wave at the few damp rubberneckers on the bank. Half an hour later, we dry off without having been on air.

We are told we'll be on at three. At three, we repeat the procedure, agreeing that Sandi will do the intro and each of us will say one line about the Queen. We rack our brains. I produce a gas-fired heated brush and attempt frizz repair. Down an earpiece we are told "they are cutting to a bloke in a pub talking to Anneka Rice". We go back in, drink tepid tea and read the papers.

It occurs to me we will never get on screen because we are merely "cover" in case of rain. We eat biscuits. I call the head of outside broadcast an eight-letter word. The rain intensifies as we are again hurried out and re-miked, this time to be interviewed as we pass the National Theatre. There must be something that four actors can contribute to a day of British pageantry.

"So-so sorry" groans Elliot, the director, throwing down his cans in frustration. "They've decided to cut to one of the puppets from War Horse."

Her Majesty, in a wrap but no coat, is struggling to muster another wave but the horse seems to cheer her up. At 5.15, with the river looking rather bedraggled and after the TV commentator has said "the atmosphere here is amazing'' for the 60th time, Sandi finally introduces us.

The most powerful weapon on telly is silence and I consider just glowering at the screen and raising one finger, but it might be misinterpreted as a Republican stance. Instead, I burble something about Hull and the whole thing looking better on the telly and we are off air again.

When they next want us, we're too far down or maybe up river - out of camera range. Can we go home, then? No. At 6.30 we'll be allowed to head back. No we cannot get off nearer our homes because we'd be arrested by the river police.

I spend the rest of the journey, listening to Griff's tales of weekends at Sandringham and lengthy impersonations of Prince Charles. A cynical part of me says hats off to Prince Philip for possibly saying; "Dammit, Liz, I am not spending another bloody six hours frozen to my gatkes, watching Elton Bloody John and Shirley Bassey murdering your wretched anthem. Book me a night in hospital and get sharp about it."

Diamond Jubilee concert director says celebrities 'packed away their egos' for the Queen

Simon Round — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 11:19:41 +0100

Millions of people enjoyed the Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace on Monday night. Geoff Posner was not one of them.

Mr Posner, who directed the BBC’s coverage of the event, was far too busy juggling the logistics of such a massive operation even to think about what he was watching.

He said: “I’m sitting in front of 30 monitors, wondering if this camera will work, if there is anything I should be covering which isn’t in the script, or if we should change the running order. It was all a blur.”

Mr Posner started work in January and for the past two months he has been working “practically 24 hours a day”.

It was his idea to have projections on the façade of Buckingham Palace during the performance of Madness’s Our House.

“The moment I knew we were going to have Buckingham Palace as a backdrop, I immediately said, why don’t we try projecting? The problem was that when you hold a concert on June 4, close to the longest day, and you come off air at 10.45pm, you don’t have much time, because these projections only work in the dark.”

He added: “Strangely enough, although there were lots of egos, they all seemed to get packed away when they were in front of the Palace. We took bets as to how many running orders there were going to be. You get the final running order, superseded by the final, final, running order, but in the end it was more about logistics than ego.”

Mr Posner, a veteran of several huge live events including a Eurovision Song Contest, Live 8 and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee concert, reflected on how privileged he was to be involved.

“It’s not very often you can be in a job where you’re listening to Tom Jones, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. I’m thinking, how does a little Jewish boy from north-west London end up working with these great stars?”

Shimon Peres congratulates the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee

Jenni Frazer — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:49:31 +0100

Israel's president, Shimon Peres, has sent warm wishes to Queen Elizabeth II to mark her Diamond Jubilee.

Mr Peres, noting the Queen's recent birthday as well as the 60th anniversary of her Coronation, said it was "a welcome opportunity to extend, on behalf of the people of Israel and myself, warmest wishes and sincere congratulations for Your Majesty's well-being, for the happiness of the Royal House and for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of Great Britain."

The Queen, he said, represented "The great spirit of Great Britain, a spirit of respect and freedom recognised all over the world."

President Peres is expected in Britain during the summer Olympic Games.

The Chief Rabbi's House of Lords tribute to the Queen

Lord Jonathan Sacks — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:50:14 +0100

Many tributes have been and will be rightly paid to Her Majesty for the six decades of her sustained and dedicated service to the nation, but one in particular should not be forgotten.

It is not easy for any society to undergo change, least of all when that change touches on such fundamental markers of identity as religion, ethnicity and culture. It is even harder in a nation where there is an established church, to make the members of other faiths feel welcomed, valued and at home.

But that is precisely what her Majesty has done, and I believe I speak for all of us if I say that we are lifted, blessed and enlarged by the generosity of spirit in which she has done so. Many noble Lords will wish to add their perspectives, and we will be hearing today from Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Zoroastrian and other Jewish members of this house, as well as being honoured by the Most Reverend Primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, together with his predecessors, has done so much personally to contribute to our national ecology of tolerance and mutual respect.

Let me simply therefore say on behalf of the Jewish communities of Britain and the Commonwealth how much we have appreciated Her Majesty’s kindness to us and to others. This is something of a miracle in itself since Jews rarely agree on anything; but on this we are united. It is in fact astonishing how far this spreads. For the past year wherever I have travelled to Jewish communities throughout the world, one of the first questions I have been asked, is “How was the royal wedding?” And in the United States in several synagogues I visited in February of this year, to my astonishment, they sang “God save the Queen.” This may be the first time since 1776 they have done so. Each

week in all our synagogues we say a prayer for the Queen and the royal family, and this week we will be saying a special prayer of thanksgiving to mark Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee and the great gift of her leadership and service. There are rare individuals whose greatness speaks across all ethnic and religious divides. Her Majesty is such an individual and we are truly blessed by her.

She has spoken often of her personal faith and of the Church of England of which she is the head. But she has spoken equally of the contribution all other faith communities have made to the life of the nation. At Lambeth Palace, in February, in one of the first official engagements of the jubilee year, she reminded us of how faith itself, not just Christian faith, recalls us to the responsibilities we have beyond ourselves, and about how, together with the Church of England, other faith communities were increasingly active in helping the sick, the elderly, the lonely and the disadvantaged.

In 1952, in the first year of her reign, her majesty became the patron of the Council of Christians and Jews, the organisation founded ten years earlier, in the holocaust years, by Archbishop William Temple and Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz. That was one of the first great interfaith organisations in Britain, and today there are hundreds of such groups, creating friendships across the boundaries between faiths, where otherwise there might have been suspicion and fear.

One of the greatest of them, the Interfaith Network, is this year celebrating its silver jubilee; and as we speak, another new initiative, Interfaith Explorers, is being launched at the Regents Park Mosque in the presence of His Royal Highness the Duke of York. That too is a reminder of how greatly other members of the Royal family like His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and others, have done in their own right to make all nine of the major faith communities in Britain feel recognised and respected.

We are enriched by our religious diversity. Each faith is a candle; none is diminished by the light of others; and together they help banish some of the darkness in the human heart. I know of few places in the world where friendship across faiths is more vigorously pursued than Britain; and for the way she has led and encouraged this great opening of hearts and minds to one another, as for so much else, Her Majesty has lifted our spirits and earned our thanks.

Toast the Queen with Jubilee champagne

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:16:04 +0100

I have a love-hate relationship with champagne. I love drinking it, but hate paying for it — or at least paying for what I most achingly long to drink. Pol Roger’s Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill costs £112.35 at Berry Bros & Rudd (www.bbr.com) and is by no means the most expensive in my personal pantheon.

Why am I grumbling? Because I have a sneaking suspicion that a few of us will be popping the cork on something fizzy in the next few days, and I am wondering what it ought to be.

The answer depends partly on the headcount, as I have a strong opinion about sharing champagne. If the bottle is good but basic, total drinkership of six is perfect: one 125ml glass per person. If it’s mind-bogglingly exceptional, three is the number: two glasses apiece. Three people, or six — no more and no less. A bottle between two is too much, and if there are more than six, no one gets enough.

No disrespect to HM , but the coming weekend is not an occasion for hauling out a really fabulous bottle. The best champagne is for serious gastronomic occasions rather than weekend festivities.

For good basic fizz, the best price/quality ratios are found in supermarkets. Waitrose is the champion — their own-label Brut NV is beautifully balanced, with a generous dose of black grapes adding richness. Sainsbury’s also does well, and its lively Blanc de Blancs NV (on offer at £14.99, down from £22.49, until June 12) is pretty much unbeatable.

If you want to do some flag-waving as you sip, English sparkling wine can, at its finest, equal some of the best champagnes.

My third bottle this week is Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2007 — the producer that first got people noticing English fizz. It’s sold by Waitrose and numerous independents (search at www.nyetimber.com) for £25 to £30. That’s similar to the price you will pay for most grande marque champagnes, and this wine goes head to head with them — toasty, elegant, mature. A good reason to celebrate, if you need another one.

Analysis: The monarchy helps political stability

Vernon Bogdanor — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:13:12 +0100

The Queen is a constitutional monarch who reigns but does not rule. Constitutional monarchy is, I think, a Jewish invention.

When, after being defeated by the Philistines, the ancient Jewish tribes asked to be “like other nations” and to have a king, his powers were to be limited by the Mosaic laws; and, according to II Kings, monarchs who infringed them, such as Queen Jezebel or Queen Athaliah of Judah, were to be overthrown.

The Queen’s powers are today minimal. Almost all of her acts are undertaken on the advice of ministers. This serves to protect her from political involvement, since criticism of the policies emanating from the state is criticism of the government, not of the Queen.

This political neutrality enables the Queen to act not only as head of state, but also as head of the nation, to represent the nation to itself. Queen Victoria’s last Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, once said: “When I knew what the Queen thought, I knew pretty certainly what view her subjects would take”. Perhaps modern prime ministers think the same about the Queen, who seems to have an intuitive understanding of the soul of the British people.

The monarchy is a remarkable example of the evolution of an ancient institution. By providing a fixed constitutional landmark in a sea of change, monarchy makes an important contribution to political stability.
Times columnist Danny Finkelstein recalls his grandmother, who had been arrested and deported by Stalin, insisting that “while the Queen is safe in Buckingham Palace, I’m safe in Hendon Central.” All very well to have a Russian soul, but better perhaps to have a British passport.

Prince Charles ‘sure to visit Israel within next three years’

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:12:00 +0100

Prince Charles is more likely than ever to make a state visit to Israel and could travel there within the next three years, a Royal observer has claimed.

The Queen is seemingly destined never to visit Israel, but it is thought foundations are being laid for her heir to become the first Royal to make an official visit.

There has never been a state visit to Israel, although a small number of private trips have been made by members of the Royal Family since 1948.

Zionist Federation president Eric Moonman predicted Prince Charles could soon make a groundbreaking visit.
“There will be a chance for a senior royal to go to Israel, although it’s unlikely to be the Queen because of her diary and the prominence she gives the Commonwealth. So it falls to Prince Charles, or perhaps even Prince William and Princess Catherine,” he said.

The Foreign Office has long insisted that it does not have an official “no royal visit to Israel” policy, .
But the Prince of Wales’ interest in the environment and Israel’s green successes have made him increasingly enthusiastic about a visit, Mr Moonman said.

“People who are close to him have told me he has kept abreast of countries which have made a real impression in that area.

“Prince Charles has one or two Jewish people who he trusts and these are the people, combined with the right approach and a peaceful situation in Israel, who can make it possible.”

The Duke of Edinburgh visited Israel in 1994 to re-bury his mother, Princess Alice of Greece, on the Mount of Olives. Princess Alice was honoured as a Righteous Gentile. She had opened her home in Nazi-occupied Athens to save six Jewish friends, protecting them for a year in 1943.

During his visit Prince Philip met then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and was hosted at dinner by President Ezer Weizman. He also presented medals to Jewish and Arab youths who had taken part in a course linked to the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

The following year Prince Charles travelled to Jerusalem to represent the Queen at Mr Rabin’s funeral.
Also in 1995, Princess Margaret made a five-hour visit to the Sea of Galilee during a break in a private trip to Jordan. In 2007, Prince Edward visited Israel to meet members of a youth programme affiliated to the DoE scheme.