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‘Apologise or resign’, antisemitism group chair tells communal leader after video row

Mr Falter, the CAA chairman, hit out at Mr Johnson again after the JLC insisted it stood by its criticism of the survey despite the decision to take down the video.

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The chairman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism has called on the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council to “apologise or resign” after posting what he described as an “ill-advised attack” on his organisation.

Simon Johnson had used his weekly video blog to openly criticised a survey of British Jews carried out on behalf of the CAA – but the clip was taken down on Monday after complaints from Gideon Falter.

But on Wednesday, Mr Falter, the CAA chairman, hit out at Mr Johnson again after the JLC insisted it stood by its criticism of the survey despite the decision to take down the video.

In a statement to the JC, Mr Falter said: “We did all that we could to resolve the matter diplomatically and they deleted the video, which had backfired badly, on Monday.

“It was agreed that neither side would comment further, but now they say that they stand by the video they deleted.

“Our polling was conducted partly by YouGov and partly by us using a methodology modelled on the National Jewish Community Survey.

“Rather than attempting to understand the fears of the Jewish community, the JLC's idea of leadership was to berate the significant minority of British Jews who are so concerned about antisemitism as to reconsider their future here.

“Additionally, they attacked CAA's unpaid volunteers, claiming that we are out to scare people so that we can get ourselves on television.

“The community's revulsion was evident in the barrage of negative comments that followed on social media.

“Simon Johnson, who made the video, should apologise or resign. At the moment, only antisemites on social media welcome his stance."

The JLC declined to respond to Mr Falter’s statement.

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