David Miliband

Archbishop's peace dinner

Simon Rocker — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:22:44 +0000

Rowan Williams, who last week announced his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury, had his mind on the Middle East on Tuesday, attending a London dinner for Israeli-Palestinian peace group One Voice .

Guest speaker ex-Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the impasse over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the greatest diplomatic failure in 40 years.

Archbishop's peace dinner

Simon Rocker — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:21:17 +0000

Guest speaker ex-Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the impasse over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the greatest diplomatic failure in 40 years.

Miliband: Mideast peace needs 'wider Arab settlement with Israel'

Jennifer Lipman — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:06:08 +0000

The former Foreign Secretary has claimed that the biggest diplomatic failure of the last four decades is the fact that the two state solution has not yet materialised.

David Miliband, addressing guest at OneVoice's gala dinner in London on Tuesday, said

"The failure to establish a Palestinian state next to Israel is the greatest diplomatic failure in 40 years," he said. "It's the greatest diplomatic failure because, actually, it is one of those international problems to which there is actually a viable solution."

Mr Miliband, who praised the work of peace group OneVoice, expressed disappointment that by 2008 "any notion that there was an inevitability about a two-state solution had disappeared, but more than that, it was no longer fashionable to be talking about a two-state solution in the Middle East".

He added: "In respect to that small piece of land at the heart of the Middle East, I do think my opinion and that of the majority of Israelis and Palestinians, which is that you need two states able to live side by side with each other, is the right answer.

"It is the greatest failure of diplomacy because diplomacy has failed to bring it about, and there is suffering and injustice and insecurity on both sides as a result."

He said a two state solution was necessary now more than ever, because the dominant agenda in Israel was not resolution with the Palestinians, but dealing with the threat from Iran.

"The Palestinian Spring has not yet sprung and it's for those reasons this cause, this cause that I think is vital to the state of Israel and vital to the people of Palestine, has fallen to being fourth or fifth on the regional agenda," he said.

The Labour MP expressed his belief that the "Israel-Palestine question will only ever be settled in the context of a wider Arab settlement with Israel".

"The whole world is more unjust and less safe as a result of our failure in the Middle East, but it is also my conviction that the peoples of the Middle East have some remarkable strengths.

"If only the strengths that we know exist amongst both Israelis and Palestinians could be mobilised in common cause, then the future of the Middle East will not be the bloodletting mistrust that has typified so much of the past."

Mr Miliband was joined at the event by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Miliband reveals family Anne Frank connection

Jennifer Lipman — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:06:32 +0000

David Miliband revealed a family connection to Anne Frank in an emotional speech to the Holocaust Memorial Day lunch of the anti-prejudice organisation set up in her name.

The former foreign secretary told Anne Frank Trust supporters that his aunt had met Otto Frank, Anne's father, in the early 1950s.

He had recently spoken to his aunt, who "had a lovely lilt when she talked about this kindly, extraordinary man who came into her life to talk about his daughter".

Praising the trust's achievements in his South Shields constituency, Mr Miliband said he had another reason for wanting to honour the teenage diarist's memory.

"My mum and her sisters and my father's sister spent the war in hiding like Anne Frank. Their lives would have been ordinary but they were wrenched from normal life to fight for survival. Thanks to the extraordinary bravery of people, they were survivors."

It had been 70 years since Anne received "her precious blank diary" and with the Holocaust "receding from memory into history", the power of Anne's words was even more precious.

"Her diary speaks across generations. One of the things I like about it is that the trust uses her memory to try and bend the arc of history. This is a trust which is committed to honouring the past and learning from it to shape the future. There are many, many Anne Franks who are fighting for their lives around the world."

He added that the diary raised the question of "whose responsibility it is to fight cruelty," citing conflicts in Syria as an example of how this question continued to be relevant.

The 500-strong turnout at the Park Lane Hilton included Stephen Lawrence's mother, Doreen, and Margaret Mizen, whose teenage son was also murdered. Holocaust survivor Renee Salt and Sudanese human-rights campaigner Kamal Kambai were among other guests.

Former Sun editor Kelvin McKenzie, who was on the lunch committee, said that if the trust could have reached more people, "perhaps Stephen Lawrence and Jimmy Mizen wouldn't have died as teenagers".

Knowing Anne Frank's story, "you would literally be stupid to judge anyone by their race or colour. Let's try and create a generation of adults who are prepared to challenge bigotry and hatred with a sense of compassion."

Trust executive director Gillian Walnes said what happened at Auschwitz would "forever scar the human race". The trust hoped "to take the lessons from the past into the present day to show how prejudice and brutality can harm".

The impact of its work was highlighted by Callum McKean, an Anne Frank ambassador from Mr Miliband's constituency, who has spread Anne's message to local schools and youth groups. "It's absolutely changed my life," he said.

The lunch raised more than £275,000 for the trust's work in challenging prejudice and hatred.

David Miliband's erev Yom Kippur Israel trip

Jessica Elgot — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:08:17 +0100

David Miliband has spent the past week in Gaza, Israel, Jordan and Egypt, spending the run-up to Yom Kippur in Jerusalem.

The former Foreign Secretary was in Gaza with Save the Children. It was his first visit to the region, having been barred from Gaza during his time in government because of security concerns.

Mr Miliband, who travelled with Save The Children chief executive Justin Forsyth, told t he Daily Telegraph: "Gaza has gone off the political agenda, and that is dangerous."

He visited a nutrition centre in Gaza, which has received £160,000 from Save the Children.

He tweeted on Thursday morning that he was enjoying time in Israel's capital. "There's nothing like an early morning walk in Jerusalem's old city. Too early for trinkets, just enough time for history."

His office confirmed that Mr Miliband spent half a day in Jerusalem before going on to Jordan on Friday.

On Saturday, Mr Miliband wrote a blog detailing his time in Egypt, meeting 100 young Egyptian leaders. He described them as "the Tahrir revolutionaries of the Egyptian middle class who effectively brought down Mubarak.

"They wanted to ask me about a whole range of things, from campaigning techniques to how to run a Ministry, but underlying it all was the question expressed by one of the young women – what if the rest of the country does not share our vision of a liberal Muslim country, in which some people wear headscarves and others don't, and which is comfortable in the reconciliation of Islam with modernity.

"They were proud and in many cases pious Muslims – but they were determined not to decide for others how they should lead their lives.

"I came away thinking that this is a generation that will work hard to preserve its revolution."

Lord Sugar, Borat or David Miliband for next chief rabbi?

Jennifer Lipman — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:34:08 +0000

Lord Sugar has more chance of being chosen as the next chief rabbi than Borat, according to Paddy Power.

The news that Lord Sacks is to step down in 2013 has prompted the UK bookmaker to suggest some potential replacements.

Rabbi Harvey Belovski of Golders Green Synagogue has been given the best odds, with 6 to 4 that he will be picked.

But other high-profile Jewish leaders, including Mill Hill rabbi Yitzchak Schochet and six others — tipped as candidates by the JC — have also received favourable odds.

However the bookmaker has come up with some more unorthodox suggestions, including Apprentice judge Lord Sugar.

The Hackney-born businessman, who took his seat in the House of Lords in the same year as Lord Sacks, has been given odds of 250 to 1.

Paddy Power also put three wild-card candidates at odds of 500 to 1, including comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, Cambridge-educated like Lord Sacks and television personality and broadcaster Vanessa Feltz, the only woman on the list.

And although David Miliband is likely to be busy teaching politics to north London A Level students, or with a non-executive role at Sunderland Football Club, Paddy Power has named the former foreign minister as a possibility.

Lord Sacks will have served 22 years as chief rabbi when he retires.

Leaders trade blows over Mick Davis Israel criticism

Simon Rocker — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 12:27:28 +0000

A group of prominent British Jews rallied behind UJIA chairman Mick Davis as arguments over his outspoken criticism of Israel reverberated across the community this week.

An open letter signed by 22 men and women, including nine current or past members of the Jewish Leadership Council, backed "public and honest discussion" over Israel and voiced support for Mr Davis for encouraging debate.

The signatories included former UJIA leaders Sir Trevor Chinn and David Cohen, donor Sir Harry Solomon, Bicom chairman Poju Zabludowicz and new peer, JLC vice-president Stanley Fink.

Israel's embassy in London kept out of the public fray, but elsewhere strong reaction against Mr Davis's intervention began to surface, particularly among Jewish leaders in the north.

Mr Davis, who chairs the JLC executive, last week criticised Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, encouraged the airing of moral concerns over Israeli policy and warned that Israel could become an apartheid state if a two-state solution failed to materialise.

He also suggested that Israeli actions had as significant an impact on diaspora Jews as on Israelis themselves.

JLC member Lucille Cohen, the president of the Manchester Jewish Representative Council, doubted whether his opinions "reflect the majority view" there.

She said: "The danger lies in the public airing of democratic debate when it is picked up and utilised to fan the flames of a virulent deligitimisation of Israel."

While some Zionist youth movements came out in support of Mr Davis, Mrs Cohen said: "We see a growing misguided influence of post-Zionism on our youth which is detrimental to their understanding of Israel."

Martin Harris, chairman of Leeds UJIA, worried that Mr Davis was "tarring UJIA with these views which should not have been expressed in public".

He added: "I don't believe he has the right to criticise the Netanyahu government and it could not have come at a worse time, with the delicate nature of the peace talks."

Myer Green, co-founder of Scottish Friends of Israel, said that although some of Israel's policies had "sorely taxed" its supporters, he was "taken aback" that Mr Davis "should legitimise the language and perception of Israel's enemies by suggesting that Israel's might be heading along the path to apartheid".

Hilton Lorie, the president of Leeds Jewish Representative Council, dismissing the JLC as "a self-appointed body that does not represent anybody", observed that wisdom lay in knowing "when to keep shtum".

Taking a more measured line, Joshua Rowe, president of Manchester UJIA, said: "It is perfectly legitimate for him to express his views, but what it tells me is that Israel and the Israel's supporting communities are not getting the message across."

But praise for the UJIA leader came from former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who saluted "his very brave and impressive comments" in a Twitter post.

Hannah Weisfeld - the leader of efforts to set up a doveish Israel campaign group in the UK inspired by America's J Street - welcomed the "opportunity" for open discussion.

In an even-handed statement issued on Tuesday, the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, said that there was "much to be gained by an honest debate within the Jewish community about its attitudes to Israel, so long as it is made clear throughout that our commitment to the state and its people is unshakeable".

He said that Israelis should have no doubt that they enjoy the "loyal support" of British Jewry but - appearing to differ with Mr Davis - went on: "For it is the people of Israel who suffer the direct consequences of the forces ranged against them and it is their children who are in the front line of its defence."

Lord Sacks's adviser on Israel, Rabbi Barry Marcus, took a sharper line: "I am not saying people can't or shouldn't make comments," he said. "But what Mick has done does not benefit Israel," he said. He said that Israelis had "enough Katyushas to live with without more missiles coming from here".

Grassroots anger was visible when several members of an audience at a JC-sponsored Any Questions evening at a north London synagogue on Monday called on Mr Davis to resign.

But the UJIA head could take heart from Habonim and the Liberal and Reform Zionist youth movements which jointly signed a letter headed "At last the silence is broken". They stood "wholeheartedly in support" and declared: "We should define our Zionism independently of anti-Zionism, not as a response to those who wish to see Israel pushed into the sea."

Ed Miliband is Labour's first Jewish leader

Jennifer Lipman — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 12:33:51 +0100

Ed Miliband has become the first Jewish leader of the Labour party.

The 40-year-old former Energy Secretary, who is MP for Doncaster North, triumphed with just a 1.3 per cent lead over his elder brother David in the fourth round of the vote.

David Miliband had the backing of several Jewish MPs, including Liverpool Riverside’s Louise Ellman and Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton.

However the former director of the Labour Friends of Israel and newly elected Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger, put Ed as he r first preference.

The brothers, who grew up in north London, are the sons of the late Marxist theoretician Ralph Miliband, a Belgian-Jewish refugee from the Nazis, and his Polish-born Jewish wife, Marion Kozak.

Although Labour has never had a Jewish leader before, 19th century Conservative prime minister Benjamin Disraeli was born Jewish.

In 2005 the Conservatives, led by Jewish politician Michael Howard, lost to Labour in the general election.

Meanwhile, the woman hoping to become London’s first Jewish mayoral candidate had less success. Oona King lost to Ken Livingstone, meaning that the former mayor will once more take on Boris Johnson in May 2012.

Hall of Fame: Harry Mount

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:29:29 +0100

"It is an extraordinary achievement for two brothers to get so far.

"But then, consider their background, and it doesn’t seem so extraordinary. Jewish North Londoners are a quite exceptionally bright and successful bunch.

"The reasons for the success of Jewish North Londoners are clear – close-knit families, parental affection and a reverence for education."

David Miliband: time to focus on peace talks

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:46:21 +0100

The Jewish politician hoping to be the next leader of the Labour party has wished Britain’s Jewish community “a happy, healthy and sweet new year of peace and prosperity.”

David Miliband said Rosh Hashanah was “an opportunity to look forward to the coming year, and also a period of reflection and soul searching.”

The MP and shadow foreign secretary added: "The New Year is a good time for us all to focus on the peace talks in the Middle East.

"There are those who want to knock the talks off course, often violently.

“We must hope that this year, peaceful talks will bring a peaceful settlement.

Mr Miliband, the son of the Jewish Marxist thinker Ralph Miliband, is competing against his younger brother Ed to become leader of the opposition.

The new leader will be chosen during Succot at the party conference.