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Limit Palestinian diplomatic freedoms if they don't condemn violence, urges Jonathan Arkush
October 18, 2015 12:34
Board of Deputies president Jonathan Arkush has asked the Foreign Secretary to curtail Palestinian diplomatic privileges if they do not condemn violence against Israelis.
Mr Arkush said he had written to Philip Hammond in the wake of a series of attacks in which seven Israelis have been killed.
Speaking at the Board’s monthly meeting, he said he had asked Mr Hammond ”to call on the head of the Palestinian Mission in London and bring home to them the dismay felt by the citizens of the UK at the blatant incitement and racist talk from some in the Palestinian Authority.
"I've asked him to say that if their conduct is not improved some diplomatic steps should be taken such as downgrading their status."
Mr Arkush welcomed the intervention of Conservative Friends of Israel chairman Sir Eric Pickles, who this week accused the Foreign Office of “turning a blind eye” to Palestinian incitement of the attacks.
The former cabinet minister said Palestinian society had been “harmed by a widespread culture of hate” and “glorification of terror and violence against Jews and Israel”.
Mr Arkush pleaded with the British people and media to recognise the realities of the situation in Israel, saying: "The attacks have been shocking to all of us.
"The sight of people, sometimes teenagers, brandishing knives and meat cleavers, hacking at people with blades, should shock everyone just as it shocked this country when Lee Rigby was murdered on the streets of Woolwich.
"That was one attack; there have been 30 in Israel."
Also at the Board meeting, former treasurer Laurence Brass condemned the Board for supporting the Zionist Federation's #IsraeliLivesMatter protest on Tuesday outside the Palestinian Mission, which he called "hare-brained" and "ill-conceived".
He added that the hashtag used to promote the rally was "deeply offensive to those of us than weep at the loss of any life in the region".
Mr Brass said Palestinians were not the only ones to blame for the ongoing violence, criticising Mr Arkush for a "grovelling, sycophantic" speech to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu instead of challenging the leader over Israeli settlements when he visited Britain earlier this year.
The Board president defended the protest and the hashtag, telling deputies: "I hope everyone remembers that all lives matter. I deeply deplore the loss of all lives.
"But we must as a Jewish community look at the context under which these attacks happened."
Mr Arkush reiterated his desire to meet the director-general of the BBC to discuss the corporation’s coverage of the crisis. He also promised to write to Sky News "to convey the feelings of the community to them over their reporting".
Deputies voted overwhelmingly in favour a motion pressing the government to “show compassion” to refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East.
The motion said: "The Board must hold David Cameron to his commitment of accepting 20,000 Syrian refugees to the United Kingdom and press him to ensure safe passage, accelerate entry and support their integration."
