Task force action
The statement by the J7 Global Task Force’s (Heads of biggest diaspora Jewish communities convene in the UK to fight antisemitism,JC October 15) could have been scripted for The Vicar of Dibley. Faced with the worst surge in antisemitism in living memory, it has expressed “serious concern” and resolved to “host a future meeting.” Jewish communities across the world will sleep soundly knowing the minutes are in hand.
Concern is not a policy, access is not influence and meetings are not protection. What is needed is action, and there is no shortage of it on offer.
Last month in Brussels the Conference of European Rabbis published A Call to End the Violent Hatred, a manifesto I am proud to have written. Its seven measures are practical, not aspirational: certify religious leaders; block extremist funding; strengthen oversight of religious institutions; appoint safeguarding officers; defend the digital space; impose zero tolerance of hate on Europe’s streets; and create a register of responsible religious institutions.
The European Commission has welcomed it, and the CER is now pressing for its adoption in capitals across Europe.
With the prime minister so keen to draw closer to Europe, the J7 has a ready-made agenda for that future meeting. It could adopt the manifesto and urge the UK government to implement it. That would be worth meeting for.
Shimon Cohen
London N2
Labour and the Greens
Pleas for Labour to establish a cordon sanitaire against the Greens are unlikely to receive a meaningful response, given that both parties have undergone a virtually identical “re-education”, based on revisionist history steeped in falsehoods and distortions.
It isn’t just Ed Miliband who displays a penchant for “stories” and fictions propagated by Palestinians and agenda-driven historians; a sizeable chunk of the British establishment (and populace) are similarly inclined. How else can one explain the absence of outrage on its part and a warm embrace of ambassador Husam Zomlot, who voices the preposterous but widely-held Muslim claims of the “Bible being a Jewish fabrication of a Palestinian book” and the land of Israel as the homeland of a newly emerged “nation of Palestine”?
Britain has become afflicted with a contagion of lies that act simultaneously as a tool to assuage its guilt over Mandatory non-compliance with international community’s charge to facilitate Jewish immigration to a virtually empty and freed-from-colonisation ancestral home, and the countless deaths that resulted from its despicable treatment of Holocaust victims and refugees – and as a fortification for similarly impaired nations, which have long stopped acting with integrity where Israel is concerned.
We are appealing to them for understanding and pleading for action instead of exposing their perfidy, lulling ourselves with symptomatic treatments instead of highlighting the deep-seated malaise.
Eda Spinka
London NW4
Has the pool of editorial contributors shrunk so much that the JC resorts to turning to the leader of the right-wing Reform Party for an op-ed purportedly calling on Labour to distance themselves from the Green Party? The timing of the column came in a week that Andy Burnham had pledged never to form an alliance with the Greens: and Kemi Badenoch correctly drew a line distancing herself from the hateful language of Reform. The only purpose of his op-ed was to ostensibly provide him an opportunity to distance himself from the BNP as far-right racism within the Reform Party was exposed in the mainstream media .
Jonathan Black
London N2
Rooney tunes
I shall not be disappointed to see the withdrawal of author Sally Rooney’s books from the bookshelves due to her support for Palestine Action. She has waited a year before announcing this news openly and I fear it is a publicity stunt by her and her publishers.
All is not lost on the Rooneys as namesake Wayne has shown that he is proud of his Jewish heritage. He has twice visited Auschwitz.
Can I suggest that Sally visits Auschwitz and also delves into Ireland’s neutral and murky Jew-hating past before getting on the Irish bandwagon of hate towards Israel.
Llewellyn Gaba
Cardiff
Shul and football
I have some more positive news about the United Synagogue to report.
On Sunday evening, an event involving Central, New West End and Western Marble Arch synagogues was held at Central Synagogue on the subject of football and antisemitism.
The packed hall listened to some illuminating addresses on the latest developments in this area including the impact of October 7 and the anti-Israel environment and there was an active and spirited engagement with an energised and lively audience. The clear consensus was that more needed to be done by the Jewish community leadership to combat antisemitism and anti-Israel activity from wherever it comes.
This was an excellent example of cross-community co-operation acknowledged by each of the shuls and their respective rabbis, all of whom were in attendance.This working together could and should act as a useful precedent and blueprint for future events, not only in Central London where there is a strong will to co-operate. The event last Sunday was certainly a positive one and augurs well for the future.
Jonathan Metliss
London W1
Jonathan Metliss’ letter about worshippers leaving shul early to get to football brought back a memory from the 1950s.
At the New Synagogue Stamford Hill of blessed memory, where I was a boy soprano, the star tenor would leave promptly on Shabbat.
He went home to lunch with his elderly poorly sighted mother, then went back to shul for the Talmud shiur…or so he told her.
His actual venue was White Hart Lane. I believe there was a game of football on. His mother never found out.
Barry Hyman
Bushey Heath
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