The JC Letters Page, 1st March 2019

At the time, South Tottenham ward comprised a very diverse population with a relatively small number of Orthodox Jews compared to now, and were Tom Bower to have researched the history of the area at the time he would have known that there was a significant right-wing threat from the National Independence Party (an offshoot of the National Front) which gained a seat on Haringey Council at my expense in 1974.

It is a shame that Bower didn’t seek my corroboration of events before rushing to print. But then again that might not have suited his narrative!

Aaron Weichselbaum 
Member of Haringey Council 1973 – 1980; Councillor, 1973, 1978-1980; Alderman, 1974 - 1978.
London NW11

I’m not sure that your closing statement on the front page (JC, February 22), that people remaining in the Labour Party “…themselves become more complicit in its antisemitism” is fair or helpful. 

The loathsome stupidity of the party under its hapless leader makes it toxic as far as Jews voting for it is concerned, but let us not denigrate friends who cannot [yet] make the decision to jump ship. Jewish MPs remain — as I write: Margaret Hodge, Louise Ellman, Ruth Smeeth. 
No less important are the non-Jews who have fought our corner. Stella Creasy and Jess Phillips come to mind, and indeed deputy leader Tom Watson. 

Giving up a lifetime commitment and possibly ending one’s career is not easy. We should not rush to bite the few hands that feed us.

 
Barry Hyman
Bushey Heath

Tom Watson as well as other members of the Labour front bench have promised time and again to eradicate “root and branch” antisemitism from their party.  

I am afraid they are in denial because they are not recognising that, to make good this promise, they would have to eliminate Jeremy Corbyn. 
In France, President Macron quite recently made the point that it is almost impossible to separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism. Corbyn’s I-am-opposed-to-those-Jews-in-the-state-of Israel-but-I-am-not-antisemitic view is simply the 2019 version of the old “some of my best friends are Jews” mantra.

Labour supporters must accept that, while Corbyn et al are in charge, the Labour party is, and will remain, an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, antisemitic party. Sadly, as a Zionist socialist, this leaves me disenfranchised.

  
David Lee
Kingston upon Thames 

It demands great courage to take a stand against the current, shameful attitudes and behaviour within Labour and we all owe a debt of gratitude to people of principle, such as Luciana Berger, Louise Ellman and others, who are prepared to place their heads above the parapet in order to fight for the freedoms and values the vast majority of us hold dear yet, so often, take for granted.

Racism, in all its guises, is a cancer that eats away at the fabric of civilised society. Those who are working hard to eradicate it, whatever their politics, deserve our fullest support.

The one thing we should all fear is complacency.

Alderman Eddie Clein, President 
Michelle Hayward, Chairman
Howard Winik, Paul Levinson, Max Marcus, Howard Simon
Merseyside Jewish Representative Council.

There they are, falling over themselves to be first to donate to the new political, not-quite-a party The Independent Group. Can we not learn a lesson? It is bad enough that Corbyn’s more visible inadequacies have given way to ongoing antisemitism protests. While we must always be grateful to non-Jews taking up our cause, it would be sad if history (and the left) blame the Jews for his demise, to say nothing of giving encouragement to those who will rally to support him for the very reason of that prejudice.    

So, donors, what about the donkey sanctuary, or dogs home? And there are still a few Jewish charities left.

Barrington Black
London NW3

Despite our horrific problems with the Labour Party, a newly published survey of social attitudes shows that, in general, Britain is still one of the least racist countries in Europe; that, contrary to the lies told by some Remainers, Brexit has not made Britons more racist or xenophobic and that Germany, France, Italy and Portugal all have much higher levels of racism than Britain does. 

That’s why the decent-minded majority of the British public find Jeremy Corbyn, his knuckle-dragging neo-Nazi supporters and their naked antisemitic racism so unappealing.

Hence the recent Yougov poll giving the Conservatives a 12 point lead.

Steven R. Harvey
Cheshire 

Charedi women’s distress

As someone who lived in the Stamford Hill community up to my late 30s, I can’t stress enough how spot on your article (We’re silently screaming, JC February 22) is. 

It’s easy for outsiders to see the Charedi “perfect family all dressed alike smiling” as they stroll together on a Shabbat afternoon. It’s easy for the women to act happy, to pretend to people that things are okay because, in reality, who wants others to know the difficulties you’re in?

I found myself nodding and silently wiping my tears away as I read this. This is all true. Every single word of it. Don’t believe the people who tell you that the women there are all happy and wouldn’t wish for another life. 

Of course there are many who are. But, sadly, I know too many who are miserable, and suffering in silence. 

I personally get contacted on an almost daily basis by women who feel trapped and desperate but feel there’s no way out. They admit they never wanted to have the number of children they do but had no choice. 

Many wanted careers but that was never an option. They are being controlled by the men in charge, be it their husbands or the rabbis. 
Please stop portraying the community with rose-tinted spectacles. Speak to the real women. The ones who live this life. And get the truth. 

Esther Davis
London NW4

Kiddush clubs

I think Bernard Silver (Letters February 22) is being rather generous to kiddush club members.

I remember that, many years ago, there were letters in the JC about these so-called clubs. They were not the type of members described by Mr Silver but rather people who were elitist and thought they were exclusive members of these so-called clubs. I don’t think that the good people Mr Silver refers to would actually walk out of shul in the middle of a service as a group, which would be disrespectful to the person reading the Haftarah, or any other part of the service.

Harold Stone 
Edgware

Illiberal Jew

I could not believe that you printed the article by Professor Shani Tzoref (JC,February 22) especially as she admits to being a trouble-maker. Is she a fee-paying member of the synagogue whose rules she wants to flout? And if she is so concerned about halachah, wears a Shabbat key belt and walks to synagogue, why is she going to a Liberal synagogue? I think this woman has a gender problem that is causing her a lot of stress. 

Conrad Sandler
London NW3