Posts by Marcus Dysch

Dame Gail Ronson to head charity for the blind

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:43:43 +0100

Dame Gail Ronson has been appointed president of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

She takes over at the eye health and sight loss charity from the Duke of Westminster.

Dame Gail, a leading charity fundraiser and campaigner, said the appointment was a “huge honour” and a “substantial responsibility”.

“For over 30 years I have been involved in charitable activities in the social welfare sector and I have been a supporter of RNIB for over a decade,” she said.

“My grandmother had a vision loss because of macular degeneration and I know only too well how invaluable it is to be able to access the right advice and support.

“I have visited some of RNIB's amazing centres and seen the life-changing work they do.”

An investiture ceremony will be held in October to mark Dame Gail’s elevation to the role.

Chelsea welcomes Hapoel to European football event

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:37:43 +0100

Israeli football club Hapoel Tel Aviv have joined European champions Chelsea and other leading clubs at a London seminar to discuss how sport can help young people.

The three-day conference began on Tuesday with representatives of Europe's biggest clubs, including Manchester United, Everton, and Feyenoord.

The seminar was aimed at encouraging clubs to share their ideas on promoting fair play, tackling racism and providing equal opportunities. Participants discussed how football and other sports could help young people from impoverished backgrounds.

Four members of Hapoel's education and social action unit - Mifalot - took part. The scheme was set up in 1997 for Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian children to teach them about integration.

Meir Orenstein, Mifalot's director-general, said: "We are honoured to be recognised by the Premier League, the British Council and the European Union as one of the world leaders in the field of community outreach.

"After extensive work in over a dozen countries we are branded as a bank of know-how in this field, and we are happy to share that with colleagues from different European clubs."

Camden slaps ban on Islamist group

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:29:49 +0100

A group which promotes extreme Islamist organisations has been banned from using a taxpayer-funded neighbourhood centre.

The Ministry of Dawah has held lectures at the Camden Council-backed venue in north London for more than two years. Its glorification of Osama bin Laden, and extreme Islamist clerics such as Anwar al-Awlaki, was revealed in the JC last week.

The King’s Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association (KCBNA) runs the Kings Cross Neighbourhood Centre. Camden Council is its biggest funder, having given the association thousands of pounds in the past two years.

An event planned for last Sunday night did not go ahead and Dawah supporters were told not to travel to the centre as there were “venue booking issues”. The group had said events would be “cancelled until further notice”.

But Nasim Ali, KCBNA executive director, confirmed that he had suspended the group’s bookings following last week’s revelations.

Council leader Sarah Haywood had told the KCBNA to take responsibility for the Ministry of Dawah’s conduct after being informed that the group’s actions might be breaching the government’s Prevent counter-extremism guidelines.

Last year’s Prevent review included clear directives to local authorities, stating that “propagandists for terrorism and for ideologies taken up by terrorists should not be permitted to make use of publicly owned venues” and that authorities “must be ready to take appropriate action”.

Camden’s Prevent co-ordinator had been made aware of concerns about the Ministry of Dawah earlier this month but the council failed to make clear what direct action it was subsequently taking.

Mr Ali said: “Camden Council raised concerns about the group. We do not want to support any organisations whose activities are a concern to Camden Council or may be detrimental to the work we are trying to do.

“We work with all sections of the community and over the past 32 years have helped to unite this diverse community and provide services to support that ethos. We work with people from all different faiths, ethnicity, culture, sexuality and backgrounds.”

PCC backs Guardian over Jerusalem

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:12:39 +0100

The Press Complaints Commission has backed the Guardian after the newspaper refused to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

A picture of passengers on the city’s light railway observing a minute’s silence during the country’s Holocaust Memorial Day appeared in the Guardian’s centre pages, and on its website, last month.

The caption alongside the picture initially referred to the city as Israel’s capital, prompting a later “correction”.

The paper noted that the caption “wrongly referred to the city as the Israeli capital. The Guardian style guide states: ‘Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel; Tel Aviv is’”.

Media-monitoring group HonestReporting complained to the PCC, claiming that the Guardian had breached the regulatory body’s clause on accuracy.

The PCC rejected the claim. In its ruling it briefly outlined the UK Foreign Office’s guidance on the issue, which recognises that Israel “maintains that Jerusalem is its capital city, a claim not recognised by the UK and the international community”, but stops short of designating Tel Aviv as the capital.

But the PCC went on to conclude: “The Commission was of the view that the newspaper was entitled to refer to Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel. There was no breach of the code in this instance.”

HonestReporting said the ruling was “astonishing and outrageous”.

A spokesman for the organisation said: “Aside from a sovereign state’s right to determine its own capital, international convention maintains that a capital city is usually where a state’s central political institutions reside.

“We believe that this flawed ruling has the potential to further delegitimise Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s capital, giving the British media carte blanche to follow the Guardian’s lead.”

Joe Hyams, HonestReporting chief executive, added: “This ruling is an absolute outrage. The PCC’s role is to maintain standards of media accuracy, not to make political and politicised rulings.

“What mandate does the PCC have in deciding that the location of foreign embassies determines a host nation’s capital status?”

Amir Ofek, press attaché at the Israeli embassy in London, said: “Jerusalem was the capital of ancient Israel long before London was the capital of England. It remains the capital of Israel today, and the home of Israel’s legislature, government and Supreme Court.

“This is something that the PCC has failed to understand.

“For the Guardian to reject Israel’s determination of its own capital flies in the face of history.

“For it to go further and insist that Israel’s capital is Tel Aviv is presumptuous and unfounded.”

Campus notebook: Chaplains tackle exam stress

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:08:52 +0100

● University Jewish Chaplaincy is working hard to ensure students’ exams do not clash with Yomtov and Shabbat.

Chaplains have liaised with university examination offices to provide dates and times in order to maintain the integrity of exams.

Some Jewish students will be “quarantined” at chaplains’ homes over Shavuot and Shabbat to avoid meeting course colleagues who have already sat their exams.

Fruit, cakes and chocolate will also be dispensed as the rabbis and their families tour university libraries offering sustenance, advice and friendly faces.

Manchester chaplain Mati Kos and his wife Vanessa have converted the Fallowfield Jewish Student Centre into a revision space, offering breakfast, lunch and refreshments between 9am and midnight.

London chaplain Rabbi Gavin Broder and projects officer Georgina Bye met senior Anglican chaplain Reverend Stephen Williams to discuss how chaplains on campuses across London can assist Jewish students.

● A group of French Jewish students from Paris’s top engineering schools spent Shabbat in Oxford.

Hosted by Chabad on Campus, the 30 French engineers met British counterparts and discussed differences between university life in the two countries.

Bernard Yossef Paperon, Professor of Jewish studies at Sorbonne University, spoke about psychoanalysis, Kabbalah and French philosophy.

Students took part in a walking tour of medieval Jewish Oxford and made a sightseeing trip to central London before returning to France.

Rabbi Eli Brackman, director of Oxford University Chabad Society, said: “Hosting French Jewish students in Oxford was a great display of Jewish unity and an enriching experience.”

● The Jewish Agency’s team of student workers toured campuses promoting Israel.

It hosted a barbecue at Birmingham University, attracting more than 90 students, and an Israel-themed, Friday-night dinner at Manchester University, where 150 people tucked into dishes while listening to Israel’s senior Muslim diplomat, Ismail Khaldi, who discussed his life story and equal opportunities in Israel.

The agency has also hosted dinner events in Leeds and Nottingham.

● Bristol JSoc members volunteered to work in shifts on a student union stall to collect food for a shelter in the city. JSoc president Natasha Isaac said: “We collected various tinned soup, meat, beans and fruit as well as tea, coffee and hot chocolate and also washing-up liquid and toilet- and kitchen-roll.”

The goods were passed to the Julian Trust, which also cleans clothes for those staying at the shelter, aiding the homeless and those who sleep rough.

The JSoc team also helped deliver the goods to the shelter in their own cars, making a number of return trips to ensure the items arrived promptly.

● The University of Exeter’s Jewish chaplains took part in a multi-faith blessing at the campus’s new Forum building.

Chaplains Robin Kanarek and Tony Reese sang part of the morning service, followed by the priestly blessing and the blowing of the shofar.

The building will be used to conduct services for Jewish students every Friday afternoon during term time.

● Students from Bnei Akiva’s Hachshara gap-year programme spent a week in Poland and the Czech Republic visiting synagogues as well as concentration camps.

The places visited included Auschwitz, Krakow, Lodz, Prague and Terezin.

Spot the Israeli flags at the Champions League final? This lot did...

Marcus Dysch — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:26:33 +0100

During Saturday night’s Champions League final some of you will, I expect, have noticed two Israeli flags displayed in the stands.

I spotted them in the first half – hanging at pitch level just near the halfway line – and then thought little more about it. Every now and again when they flashed across the screen they caught my eye, but they were really rather secondary to the remarkable match unfolding before my eyes.

But while I and more than 10 million other Brits were watching Chelsea win London’s first ever European Cup, others were busy enquiring as to why the flags were there.

The logical explanation was that a couple of fans (I think they were in among the Bayern fans rather than at the Chelsea end, although they could of course have been neutrals) were Israeli and had taken their flags along just as fans from other countries, not least England and Germany, had done.

But for the hate-ridden antisemites out there this was an opportunity not to be missed.

At the time I saw only one tweet about the flags – a reference from a moron in Preston of all places about the “Dirty Israel Flag!” he could see. I should have known it was only the tip of the iceberg.

Since Saturday I have seen blogs collating dozens and dozens of tweets going far further. Across the globe, supposed football fans were busying themselves with the foulest, most abusive posts they could dream up.

I’m not going to link directly to the offenders, but I’ll include their Twitter handles. Should you want to report them to Twitter, or even (for those tweeting in Britain) the police, then that is of course up to you.

At the lower end of the scale there was, from Sweden, the fairly basic:

@amenayounes: those israeli flags are effing disturbing

And from London:

@official_habib: kk those Israeli flags are starting to get annoying PUT THEM AWAY AND LET ME ENJOY THE MATCH no Zionism in football

“Official Habib” could of course have turned the TV off, but that didn’t seem to occur to him.

For others, such frustrations were insufficient to display their disgust at seeing a sovereign nation’s flag randomly displayed at a football match.

@ZSTehami: Israeli flags at the final. No. Just no. It's the equivalent of waving a piece of used toilet tissue with a ketchup stain on it.

“one boy vs zionism” tweeted to all six of his followers:

@1boyvsZionism: watching the #ChampionsLeague final today I wanted to puke everytime the camera panned across and those scumbags waved the israeli flags

In Sheffield, the connection between the final taking place in Germany and “the Jews” quickly came to the fore:

@ToastAndBanana: Hardly surprising there's Israeli flags either. The Jews blackmail Germany cos of what they did and will do it for ages.

There are plenty more I could reproduce, but I’m sure you get the hang of it.

Even for those not moved to go as far as Holocaust revisionism and outright antisemitism, the curiosity was too much to bear.

@dadmob: Can somebody explain the Israeli flags in the crowd at the Champions League Final?

@McCarthyMor: What's with the Israeli flags on the half way line? Strange.

@MabzE7: Why are there people waving Israeli flags?

Others questioned whether the fans had been despatched by Israel on a PR mission, or whether they were there simply to mock the Germans, or even whether they had mistaken the game for this weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Sports fans are no strangers to comedy, singalongs and, dare I say it, banter. Terraces around the world are littered with examples of cheeky good humour. But what we see here is something else.

The range of tweets may have opened with moronic and amusing, but moved on to dangerous, incendiary, and through to plainly racist.

The current trend for Twitter to act as an accelerant, stirring up hatred of all degrees, is a serious worry. Since I wrote in the JC in January about the dangers of the social networking site, there have been a number of serious cases of hatred, threats and offence, with a student jailed for his racist tweet about footballer Fabrice Muamba, and another internet “troll” awaiting sentence for threatening MP Louise Mensch’s children.

Let us be clear – the people who posted messages about the flags are not interested in discussion or debate, they are not interested in politics or arguments over the future of settlements or claims of apartheid. They are driven by hate. Plain and simple.

They see a flag at a football match and immediately their minds turn to “evil Jews” and their desire to rid the world of them.

The majority of these people each have only a handful of followers, thankfully. They are tweeting to their friends, but in a place where they intend, ultimately, for the world to see. Alone they pose no danger. They are what was once the green-ink brigade. Deluded and desperate.

But on Saturday night there were dozens of them spreading their poison. If they picked a quieter time on Twitter – not during a major football match being watched by hundreds of millions of people – and added a hashtag, then what? How long before we see #deathtoIsrael as a top trending topic? Will Twitter finally act when #killthejews spreads across Britain?

We are on a dangerous, slippery slope. The high-profile convictions I mentioned earlier may act as a sufficient warning to many people, but what about those so ridden with hatred that all rational thought escapes them?

I fear one day soon we may just find out.

‘Brainwashed’ councillor is former Nazi

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:48:08 +0100

A former neo-Nazi who once daubed buildings with swastikas has been elected as a local councillor.

Margaret Burke won a seat on Milton Keynes Council earlier this month after demonstrating her remorse to local Labour Party officials and describing her earlier activities as those of a “brainwashed idiot”.

During the 1980s, Mrs Burke ran a pro-Hitler organisation with her husband. She wore Nazi-style uniforms and organised racist leafleting.

After the couple divorced, Mrs Burke joined the Animal Liberation Front and was jailed for vandalising a butcher’s shop.

She told the Milton Keynes Citizen that she regretted her actions and had dedicated herself to working for the community to make amends.

Milton Keynes Labour leader Kevin Wilson said the candidate selection panel had been aware of Mrs Burke’s past and had “questioned her at length”.

He said her post-Nazi behaviour had been “exemplary” and it would have been “wholly wrong to deny her the possibility of being a candidate”.

But her selection was criticised by the town’s first black councillor, Danny Waite, who said he could not bring himself to vote for Mrs Waite after being racially abused by her 30 years ago.

Community Security Trust communications director Mark Gardner said Mrs Burke’s racist group had been “a somewhat infamous bunch of ‘Hollywood Nazis’, who took perverse pleasure in pretending to be Nazis. She seems determined to make up for her past and that is to be welcomed”.

Israel activists tackle Co-op boycott

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:18:31 +0100

Grass-roots supporters of Israel have pledged to wage a “long campaign” in an effort to overturn the Co-operative supermarket’s refusal to stock produce from West Bank settlements.

Activists said the Co-op had been “shocked” by the reaction from the Jewish community after Britain’s fifth biggest food retailer extended its boycott last month. Supporters expressed their opposition to the policy at the company’s regional meetings last weekend, calling it “discriminatory”.

Anti-Israel motions were due to be put forward in four regions but were withdrawn as they had been proposed before the company adopted its policy. No voting was held on the boycott.

Luke Akehurst of advocacy group, We Believe in Israel, said: “We were contacted by Co-op members anxious to speak out. It is the first step of a campaign to restore fairness to its policy on Israel.”

Steven Jaffe, who co-ordinates grass-roots support for Israel on behalf of the Board of Deputies, said: “There is no doubt the amount of opposition has taken the Co-op by surprise.”

Plymouth shul celebrates 250 years of British history

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:17:04 +0100

The hidden area between a municipal car park and two alleyways off a bustling Plymouth street may seem a peculiar location for the oldest functioning Ashkenazi synagogue in the English-speaking world.

Indeed, many British Jews do not know of the existence of the magnificent, ornate, Grade II listed Plymouth Synagogue that is currently celebrating its 250th anniversary.

There is little that this historic shul - so important in the history of Anglo-Jewry - has not witnessed and overcome.

It was one of the few buildings in the city to escape damage during heavy Nazi bombing, and has undergone barely any alterations for almost 150 years.

Its special anniversary celebrations on Sunday marked the community's biggest day for a quarter of a century - since the service to mark the 225th year.

Almost all the community members had been assigned special jobs. Among those welcoming visitors from across the country were an "entrance overseer" and an "official escort".

As the congregants excitedly filled the wooden pews and awaited the arrival of Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, many were looking to the community's future rather than concerning themselves too greatly with the building's past.

The community now has fewer than 100 members but still holds services at the shul every Shabbat. Its trustees are keen to promote the city as a potential "staycation" destination for Jews.

For regular shul-goer David Rappaport, Sunday was a unique day. Watching dignitaries including Board of Deputies president Vivian Wineman and United Synagogue president Stephen Pack filed into the building, he said: "Oh my word, we're mixing with the bigwigs today. I can't believe how many people are here. I try to come every Friday night. It's very difficult and we don't always get a minyan. It's very sad.

"I'm extremely proud to see it full today. It's like having the family come to visit. We feel very isolated down here, but aren't Jews isolated everywhere?"

Mr Rappaport regularly undertakes the hour-long bus journey to Plymouth from his home in Tavistock to take part in services. He moved to Devon from Essex following the death of his wife two years ago and says becoming part of the community has been a "return to my roots. I wish we could always get a minyan but we make the best of it. We want to come here and we want to show we are still committed to our religion."

The moving anniversary service opened with Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks heading a procession of community leaders carrying Sifrei Torah around the decorative wooden bimah, still adorned by its 1762 brass candlesticks.

Elkan Levy, a regular visiting minister to Plymouth, led the davening, with the Chief Rabbi reciting the shul's unique prayer for the Royal Family before giving his sermon in front of the Baroque ark - the only surviving one of its type in the country.

Lord Sacks described the building as "an architectural gem" and urged British Jews to visit. It was "deeply moving" that the anniversary should coincide with the Queen's diamond jubilee.

He added: "A synagogue does not have to be vast, nor a congregation huge, to be a true home to God. It only has to be a place where people open their hearts to God and to one another."

Shul trustee Adam Jacobson commented: "If only a fraction of the funding that goes into communities in London came out across the country it would be enormously beneficial."

Facebook pledge to tackle cyber-bullying

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:14:54 +0100

Facebook and Google have agreed to form a group to tackle online bullying and hate attacks.

The companies pledged to be more open about how they combat cyber-bullying and online offences, and will work with members of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism’s task force on internet hate.

They will form a new working group with internet industry experts to develop better reporting systems aimed at stopping people spreading hatred on the web.

John Mann MP, ICCA chair, said: “This is a significant breakthrough with implications beyond the internet industry. It will make it more straightforward to challenge others in civil society, such as the sports world, employers and political parties.”

Christopher Wolf, co-chair of the internet hate task force, called the move “an incredible opportunity to have the industry’s leaders coming together with non-governmental organisations, academics and other interested parties to develop a collaborative approach to internet hate”.

Amnesty boss attacked over Israel claims

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:08:10 +0100

An Amnesty International director’s claim that she had not received complaints about the charity’s work with Israelis and Palestinians has been disputed by the Zionist Federation.

During an interview with the JC last month, Kate Allen denied that Amnesty displayed bias in its work in the Middle East. She said she had not received any letters of complaint or concern from the Jewish community or supporters of Israel.

ZF executive director Alan Aziz said he had read Ms Allen’s comments “with dismay” as his organisation is still waiting for a response to a letter it sent her in January.

Mr Aziz wrote to Ms Allen this week requesting a meeting to discuss “other concerns that we have with Amnesty’s position towards Israel”.

Ms Allen had defended Amnesty’s work, saying she was “very proud”, amid widespread criticism from groups supporting Israel. She denied that the charity’s reports on the region had been “one-sided” and said critics had taken complaints too far.

In the interview, she said: “I’ve had no representations from the community. Nobody has written to me. Let’s be clear, I haven’t had a letter.

“Where there have been complaints about events, I know they have been looked into and people have been responded to. I’ve not had representations from the community about bias in our work.”

In his letter to Ms Allen this week, Mr Aziz wrote: “We are still awaiting a response from you to our chairman’s letter of January 12 on the matter of Ben White having his book launch hosted by Amnesty.

“You claimed to have no knowledge of the event and that Amnesty regularly lets out the building. Yet this event was advertised quite strongly on your own website.”

An Amnesty spokesman said there were “limits” to how many letters Ms Allen could deal with personally, and said the charity would now review how it deals with correspondence.

He added: “Our senior representatives are always willing to meet organisations to discuss these matters face to face whenever we can, and we are currently in the process of replying to a number of correspondents about this.”

Camden Council giving al-Qaeda group freedom to preach

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:51:03 +0100

A leading local authority has refused to sever its links to a group which promotes the ideology of Osama bin Laden at a taxpayer-funded centre and encourages young Muslims to prepare for jihad.

Camden Council has repeatedly rejected the opportunity to take action over the Ministry of Dawah, which holds weekly lectures glorifying the al-Qaeda leader and extreme Islamist clerics such as Anwar al-Awlaki.

The Dawah group has been holding events at the Kings Cross Neighbourhood Centre in north London for more than two years.

The council has been asked to investigate the meetings and warned that in refusing to make a decision on the group's future it may be breaching the government’s Prevent counter-extremism guidelines.

Last year’s Prevent review included clear directives to local authorities, stating that “propagandists for terrorism and for ideologies taken up by terrorists should not be permitted to make use of publicly-owned venues” and that authorities “must be ready to take appropriate action”.

The Ministry of Dawah’s promotion of extreme Islamist organisations such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, and support for bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders on social networks and at the Kings Cross meetings, is in direct violation of those guidelines.

Events held by the group at the venue have included a “Maidens of Paradise” discussion about women, and “Deeds after Death” in which participants were told: “Did you know you can still get rewards even after your soul has departed from your body?”

A “Free Palestine” discussion asked participants to consider how “the Zionist Israeli state [is] using illegal weaponry such as white phosphorous to kill and murder innocent human beings including children”.

At another lecture the speaker tells the audience: “You are in a battle of ideas, a battle for hearts and minds, and it’s a battle that’s clearly about the West versus Islam.

“Your goal is to kick start [a] revival. It is to make sure that every single Muslim is talking about how we need to unite, how we will seek our progress with Islam alone. You know what to do, you know the work that is yours. You must publicly call for this.

“Realise my brothers you are part of this battle for hearts and minds and the battle will come to your door and you have to make a decision on what you are going to do.”

One lecturer claimed Israeli snipers were used to kill Palestinian children in Gaza and talked about his hope that Muslims would be able to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque with “no Israel, no occupation at all”.

“We should have the courage to say it here among Muslims. At work with non-Muslim colleagues and friends it is hard to say because they think ‘what are you going to do, wipe all these people out?’. No, we are going to return justice for the Palestinians. That is the aim,” he tells the young audience.

There is a further discussion on how Israel will be “wiped off the earth” by Allah.

The Ministry of Dawah claims to provide “activities and Islamic circles for youth, dealing with our issues, on the level, in a way we can understand. We hope to engage, entertain and excite”.

The centre is run by the King’s Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association (KCBNA), whose chief executive, Nasim Ali, was also the leader of the council until earlier this year. The council was the KCBNA’s biggest funder in 2010 and 2011.

Hasan Afzal, director of the anti-extremism group Stand for Peace, contacted the council earlier this month to warn that the Ministry of Dawah was using the centre to “whitewash the terrorist convictions of a number of Islamists”.

New council leader Sarah Haywood said in a statement this week that the KCBNA must take responsibility for the matter.

She said the council was aware of the concerns about the Ministry of Dawah and had encouraged KCBNA to “consider and review” its hosting of the organisation.

“Ultimately this is a decision for the KCBNA. We trust that they will make an informed decision,” said Cllr Haywood.

The council said it "always" followed the government's counter-extremism guidelines.

Mr Ali said he had been informed about the concerns last week and that the centre was now taking the issue “very seriously”.

“I have asked the council to give us the evidence. The Ministry of Dawah is an occasional hirer [of the room] and they did not tell the centre what they were going to be speaking about,” he said.

“Our trustees are looking into it to see if there is enough evidence to stop them hiring the centre. We hope the police will look into whether they might be promoting extremism.”

Mr Ali said that when he informed the Ministry of Dawah about the trustees’ investigation, the group had been “quite aggravated that these allegations have been made and said there was no evidence to back it up”.

He admitted that he was not aware how long the group had been using the centre, and said he had never attended any of the lectures.

Mr Afzal said: “It’s extraordinary that a council which witnessed terrorism in July 2005 has been so slow and unnecessarily politically correct to the extent that it is ignoring government guidelines which are there to protect Muslims and non-Muslims from non-violent extremism.

“If Camden Council is not doing its job then it is in violation of its duty of care to its residents.”

IOC: No silence for Munich at London Games

Marcus Dysch — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:45:00 +0100

The International Olympic Committee has confirmed it will not hold a minute’s silence at this summer’s games to mark the 40th anniversary of the terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics.

Israel’s deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon had written to the IOC last month supporting the widows of two of the victims after they called for a specific memorial during the London Olympics.

They had been backed by thousands of supporters around the world who signed petitions appealing for the IOC to mark the anniversary of the attack in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered.

But IOC president Jacques Rogge said a minute’s silence would not be held. He will attend a special memorial service at London’s Guildhall and said IOC officials would attend commemorative events organised by Israel.

In his reply to the Israeli request Mr Rogge wrote: “The IOC has officially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions. Within the Olympic family, the memory of the victims of the terrible massacre in Munich in 1972 will never fade away.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the decision was a “shame” and added: “Perhaps the IOC thinks anything to do with Israel is controversial. It is not a display of great courage and integrity."

The Israeli National Olympic Committee will hold its own ceremony during the London games.

Hitler's hub became my happy new home

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:12:24 +0100

Leaving the UK for my year abroad in Germany, I knew relatively little about the area where I would be living. I soon learned that Bayreuth, a traditional Bavarian town, was once the home of composer Richard Wagner, the second home of Hitler, and, to my surprise, the site of possibly the oldest synagogue in Germany.

Since I arrived here, I have been touched by the warmth of Bayreuth's Jewish community.

The current shul dates back to 1715, when it was originally built as a theatre for the Markgraf Georg Wilhelm. In 1759, 10 Jewish families re-settled in Bayreuth - with just enough men for a minyan.

The gallery and structure of the then vacant theatre's main room suited a synagogue perfectly: the upper circle served as a majestic ladies' gallery and only went around the north, west and south walls, so that the eastern wall was already free to house the Ark facing towards Jerusalem.

All that was needed was to change the iconography and the décor in order to make it suitable for prayer.

Hitler's love affair with Wagner's music led Bayreuth to become a symbolic hub of the Third Reich. On Kristallnacht Jewish stores and homes were looted. The synagogue was vandalised, but it was not set alight due to fears that a fire might spread to the revered Margravial opera house next door.

Today's community of 500 is a lively and active one. When I first set foot in the shul in October I was greeted by all the familiar Friday night tunes and a rather cosy Shabbat dinner in the succah.

This communal dinner takes place every week. For many congregants from the former Soviet Union, this community is their family. Being far from home, I've certainly felt that way too - and have gained a few babushkas along the way. There's even a small circle of Jewish students at the Universität Bayreuth, where I study.

It takes commitment to keep the community going. There's no permanent rabbi, and so sometimes a rabbi from Vienna - a whole day's drive away - or a couple of yeshivah students from Frankfurt will travel to join the service.

Without a kosher butcher in Bayreuth, meat is delivered in huge communal orders from Vienna and frozen for months at a time.

German language classes are organised to aid integration, and excursions to sites with Jewish heritage take place throughout the year.

During renovation work in 2009, sacred texts and religious items dating back to the 18th century were found hidden within wooden beams in the shul's attic. Felix Gothart, the head of the community, wants to share this discovery and has ambitious plans for the future. Construction of a mikveh has started and will be followed by a refurbishment of the shul and the development of a Jewish museum.

Bayreuth offers beautiful surroundings and a university with an excellent reputation, along with a strong and supportive community steeped in history and full of life.

Janine, 21, studies law with German at Birmingham University. She is from Bushey, Hertfordshire

Call to boycott the boycotters

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:37:58 +0100

Supporters of Israel are being encouraged to boycott Co-operative supermarkets in response to the collective's refusal to stock produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The Co-op is the fifth biggest food retailer in the country. It extended its policy to bar engagement with any Israeli suppliers known to work with the settlements last month.

Israel advocacy group Stand With Us launched a "Don't Co-operate with Co-op" campaign this week, sending supporters a form which can be filled in and handed to staff in local stores or sent by email to Co-op regional board members.

The form promoting the counter-boycott states: "I do not co-operate with Co-op's discriminatory anti-Israel boycotts."

Stand With Us said it would work to overturn the "misguided" policy.

"British consumers must not be used as pawns in a political game which benefits extremist groups," the organisation said.

Supported by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Co-op members will vote on anti-Israel motions at regional meetings this weekend.

The British Israel Coalition Public Affairs Committee encouraged its activists to "vote with their feet" by buying Israeli goods from other shops, but stopped short of advocating a full boycott of the Co-op.

Jerusalem Quartet players disrupted in Brighton

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:37:57 +0100

Anti-Israel activists disrupted a performance this week by the Jerusalem Quartet at England's largest arts festival.

The Israeli classical ensemble was playing at the Brighton Festival on Tuesday evening when the protest took place.

Eight demonstrators from the Brighton and Hove Palestine Solidarity Campaign shouted "Israel is guilty of war crimes against the Palestinians" and chanted "Free Palestine". They were thrown out by security guards.

Before the performance Festival director Andrew Comben had made an announcement warning the audience of the likelihood of disruption, following an earlier protest outside the Brighton Dome venue.

The Quartet was performing Schumann's Piano Quintet, alongside Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov, when the protest took place.

The musicians played on through the disruption and were given a standing ovation. The Quartet later tweeted: "Repeated disturbances in our concert in Brighton. Pity these misguided souls don't do something that might actually make a difference."

In a statement the musicians said: "The Jerusalem Quartet comprises four Israeli citizens, with no direct connection with, or patronage by, the government of Israel.

"We no more represent the government of our home country than the audiences for whom we perform, or indeed protesters, represent the government of their country.

"We encourage honest and respectful discussion concerning any topic at appropriate times and places. We do not believe the concert hall represents an appropriate forum for such discussion.

"We are musicians. We wish for our audiences of all persuasions, nationalities, and ethnicities to enjoy our music."

The protesters said they had acted on behalf of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

"These musicians are cultural ambassadors for an apartheid state and as such should not be performing at the Brighton Festival," they said in a statement. "The festival guest director's mission statement affirms that the role of the festival is to 'remind us of the positive changes we can all make to improve our world for future generations'. Using music to whitewash the apartheid state of Israel should have no place here."

But concert-goer Ian Thompson wrote on the festival's website: "I was so ashamed and angered by the interruptions to the programme. Nevertheless, hair-on-end moments were delivered throughout a very affecting concert by five virtuosi. Wonderful music from a world-class group."

UK performances by the Quartet have repeatedly been disrupted, including at Wigmore Hall in April 2010 and in Edinburgh in 2008.

Gravedigger sacked after 'showing porn' in morgue

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:37:56 +0100

A gravedigger has been sacked after he is alleged to have shown pornographic material to a female undertaker while collecting a body for burial.

The Jewish man, who worked at the United Synagogue's Bushey Cemetery, is believed to have shown the porn to the woman at a mortuary in London.

The obscene material is thought to have been stored on the gravedigger's mobile phone. It is not known whether it was a film clip or a photograph.

It is understood that the man, who has not been named, is appealing against his dismissal.

United Synagogue officials were said to be furious when they heard about the incident, which is thought to have taken place in recent weeks.

A US spokesman could neither confirm nor deny the sacking.

He said: "The United Synagogue is legally required to maintain strict confidentiality in respect of specific employment matters and so we are not able to comment on particular cases.

"We can, of course, confirm that we expect the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct from all our employees, and have robust policies in place deal with any issues that arise."

Irish minister livid as band cancels Israel

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:37:56 +0100

Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter has accused anti-Israel activists of waging a "cyber-bullying" campaign to force an Irish folk group to cancel its performances in Israel.

Mr Shatter attacked the actions of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Group after it encouraged supporters to target the website of folk group Dervish over its planned concerts. The musicians subsequently cancelled their tour.

The Israeli embassy in Dublin said the actions against Dervish had been "a campaign of cultural terror".

Dervish – who came last representing Ireland in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest – had planned to play in Israel in June following an invitation from Israeli organisers with whom the group had previously worked.

The band said that when the concerts were first arranged "we were unaware there was a cultural boycott in place. We now feel that we do not wish to break this boycott.

"Our decision to withdraw from the concerts reflects our wish to neither endorse nor criticise anyone's political views in this situation."

Lead singer Cathy Jordan said the group had been unprepared for the "extent of the venom directed at us" and the "avalanche of negativity" which followed its announcement of the concerts.

Mr Shatter said: "The IPSG action in directing its members to 'target' the website of Dervish in order to intimidate the group into cancelling their planned concerts in Israel is nothing other than cyber-bullying.

"It is a great pity that the bullying tactics of the IPSG worked. If the IPSG were in any way interested in promoting peace and reconciliation in a troubled part of the world, they would recognise the value of cultural and artistic exchanges."

He said it was "extraordinary" that the IPSG campaign "occurred at a time when thousands have lost their lives in Syria… IPSG has remained silent about crimes against humanity being committed there".

Mr Shatter also claimed papers recovered from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan had suggested Ireland was a "promising ground" for the al-Qaeda leader's followers to find support.

Israeli Ambassador to Ireland Boaz Modai said the campaign against Dervish was a "great pity.

"This boycott seeks not only to hurt Israeli artists but also Irish artists, who are being restricted access to a significant cultural market, by being subjected to a vicious campaign of cultural terrorism. This is a particular shame as culture is supposed to unite people.

"In spite of this propaganda warfare campaign, we will keep on listening to, engaging with, and loving Irish music and culture."

Donnachie loses appeal as Scots judge rules no injustice at trial

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:57:44 +0100

A former St Andrews University undergraduate has failed in an attempt to overturn his conviction for racially abusing a Jewish student.

Paul Donnachie attacked Chanan Reitblat last March at a university hall of residence, desecrated an Israeli flag and called the Lithuanian-born supporter of Israel a "terrorist".

Donnachie, of Blackpool, was sentenced to 150 hours of community service last September after being convicted of the attack but appealed on the grounds that he believed the trial had not been conducted properly.

During the incident, Donnachie told Mr Reitblat: "Israel is a terrorist state, the flag is a terrorist symbol, and you are a terrorist. Israel has no history here." He then put his hands down his trousers before wiping them on the Israeli flag.

At his trial, Donnachie, now 21, argued that his attack was not antisemitic, but motivated by his political beliefs.

His appeal, heard at Edinburgh's High Court of Criminal Appeal last month, had centred on his legal team's intention during the first trial to call three witnesses - two members of Scottish Jews for a Just Peace, and one from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign - to give evidence about the political situation in Israel in Donnachie's defence.

The sheriff who conducted the original trial, Charles Macnair QC, had ruled that the proposed evidence of the witnesses was "irrelevant". Donnachie's lawyer, John Scott QC, argued that the trial had therefore not been conducted properly.

But in his judgment on Tuesday, Lord Mackay agreed with Mr Macnair that the evidence would have been irrelevant and that the sheriff had been right to "publicly acknowledge that the issue would have no bearing on his decision".

Dismissing the appeal, Lord Mackay concluded: "There was therefore no substantive miscarriage of justice, nor was there an appearance of injustice."

Expelled from St Andrews after his conviction, Donnachie is now studying at another university.

Scottish University Jewish Chaplaincy chair Nicola Livingston said: "We welcome the court's decision to uphold the rights of Jewish students to express their identity without harassment, intimidation or racist attack.."

Before the appeal, Donnachie, who was heavily backed by the SPSC, collected support from pro-boycott Israelis who claimed he had been "persecuted due to his support of the Palestinian cause".

He has spent time in Israel and the Palestinian Territories since his conviction and said he had found himself "observing a dichotomy of oppressor versus oppressed, in which case I will always find myself on the side of the latter, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity".

Mr Reitblat said: "I welcome the judgment which affirms my right to identify with Israel as part of my Jewish identity. This landmark decision sends a clear message to those who question that right in such a criminal way. "

He said that the £300 compensation that Donnachie was ordered to pay will now be donated - in the name of the SPSC - to victims of terror attacks in Israel, the Yoni Jesner Foundation, and the JNF.

Co-op bans settlement produce in Israel boycott

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:57:41 +0100

One of Britain's largest supermarket chains is to boycott all companies which source produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The Co-operative movement, which has refused to stock products from the settlements since 2009, this week took the decision to extend its policy and will now bar engagement with any Israeli suppliers known to work with the settlements.

But the JC can reveal that at least two of the four companies with which the Co-op is now refusing to do business - Arava Export Growers and Mehadrin - had no contracts to sell produce to the UK group before the boycott.

Mehadrin's Rami Hesel said: "We were not dealing with the Co-op, even before the boycott. We had no business with them and didn't sell them anything. For us it is irrelevant.

"We have many Arab workers with us in the fields and packing houses. There are families who have been with us for many years. Any attempt to harm us harms the Palestinians, too."

Malou Even, Arava's vice-president for global sales, said the company was unlikely to be affected by the Co-op decision.

The four named companies - including Agrexco and Adafresh - largely work as collectives, exporting Israeli fruit, vegetables and herbs around the world.

It is thought Co-op managers made the move as a compromise and in an attempt to diffuse proposals for a full boycott of all Israeli products, due to be voted on by Co-op members at regional meetings on May 12 and 13 and backed by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Motions are still expected to be put forward at four of those meetings.

The Co-op, the fifth biggest food retailer in the country, is thought to be the first major supermarket group in Europe to implement such a boycott.

Jewish community leaders held discussions with Co-op bosses before this week's announcement and encouraged grass-roots supporters of Israel to contact their regional representatives to campaign against the move.

The Fair Play Campaign Group works to combat boycotts. A spokesman said: "This extension is significantly less than the full boycott of Israel sought by the PSC. But the Co-op has not fully understood the Jewish community's serious concerns with an ever-increasing slippery-slope boycott policy."

A Co-op spokeswoman said the extension of the policy would "cover engagement with any produce suppliers known to be sourcing from the Israeli settlements, where there is broad international consensus that the settlements are illegal.

"However, the group will continue to trade with Israeli suppliers that do not source from the settlements, and currently has supply agreements with some 20 Israeli businesses, a number of which may benefit from a transfer of trade.

"The group will also continue to actively work to increase trade links with Palestinian businesses in the occupied territories."

Hilary Smith, co-ordinator of the Boycott Israel Network and a leading anti-Israel activist, called the Co-op decision "historic" and urged other retailers to take similar action against Israel.