1351 - 25th Jan 2024

Pa F peree ro W f t ee he k l Yey ar

Twilight zone Terror group Jonathan Glazer’s landmark Holocaust film of our time

Five-star review, p32-33

GP banned

Hizb ut-Tahrir doc struck off Page 11

PROUD VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY 25 January 2024 • 15 Shvat 5784 • Issue No.1351 •

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Wear yours with pride We’re giving away 500 ‘Bring them home’ dog tags to Jewish News readers. Page 3

Shoah educators braced for ‘agonising ’ weekend Schools and offices scale back this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations over Gaza conflict

Memorial candles form a Star of David at York Minster

Holocaust educators have given warning that this weekend’s Holocaust Memorial Day will be “the most agonising since it was instituted”, writes Sarah Miller.

The Anne Frank Trust UK, an outreach charity, has confirmed that, with the Israel-Hamas war continuing in Gaza, three schools have suspended programmes aimed at empowering

nine-to-15-year-olds to challenge all forms of prejudice through the study of the diary of Anne Frank.

Some workplaces have scaled back activities around Holocaust Memorial Day, which will be marked on Saturday, because of fears of inflaming tensions among employees, Jewish News has learned.

The revelations come in the

run-up to Holocaust Memorial Day, on 27 January, which commemorates the murder of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis, as well as victims of more recent genocides, in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Tim Roberston, chief executive of the Anne Frank Trust UK, told Jewish News that “tensions” had meant the temporary withdrawal

of three institutions from their outreach programme.

He said: “Since 7 October we have worked in more than 180 schools in England and Scotland, reaching over 17,000 young people – and these numbers are up on this period last year.

“Three schools have postponed our Continued on page 6

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Jewish News 25 January 2024

ISRAEL AT WAR

24 soldiers fall on Israel’s darkest day of the conflict Twenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed in central Gaza on Monday – the highest number of deaths in one day since the army launched its ground invasion of the Hamas-run enclave, writes Jotam Confino in Israel.

The soldiers were on a mission to dismantle Hamas in an area some 600 meters from the border to create a buffer zone that would allow Israelis to return to their homes near the Gaza border.

A preliminary investigation by the IDF said the incident occurred in a combat zone when a terrorist cell surprised the forces with RPG rocket fire. “The first rocket hit one of the buildings in which the explosives were deployed. The hit apparently led to an explosion that caused the collapse of the building and of the adjacent building. Most of the soldiers were killed as a result of the explosion and the collapse of the buildings,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday night.

“Another rocket hit a tank, which was positioned as part of the defensive force in the area, and a commander and soldier who were in the tank’s turret before they managed to fire at the terrorists,” he added.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said the IDF has launched an investigation into “the disaster. We must draw the necessary lessons and do everything to preserve the lives of our warriors.” President Isaac Herzog issued a statement saying: “An unbearably difficult morning, in which more and more names of the best of our sons are added to the gravestones of heroes, in a war that has no justice.”

While the nation mourned the loss of 24 soldiers in one day, IDF managed to encircle Hamas’ stronghold Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The battle against terrorists in Khan Younis consist of both aerial fire and combat troops. The soldiers managed to destroy a tunnel network spanning a kilometre and a half as well as a rocket production facility, according to the IDF. “We eliminated over 100 terrorists in western Khan Younis in the last day. We continue to fight throughout the Gaza Strip, in the north, center, and the south. We are deepening our achievements and are continuing to operate around the clock to create conditions

Sixteen of the fallen: Top Row (from L-R): Cpt. (res.) Ariel Mordechay Wollfstal, 28; Master Sgt. (res.) Elkana Vizel, 35; Cpt. (res.) Nir Binyamin, 29; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Mark Kononovich, 35; Sgt. First Class (res.) Sagi Idan, 24; Sgt. First Class (res.) Israel Socol, 24: Middle Row (from L-R): Sgt. First Class (res.) Hadar Kapeluk, 23; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Matan Lazar, 32; Sgt. First Class (res.) Elkana Yehuda Sfez, 25; Sgt. First Class (res.)

Ahmad Abu Latif, 26: Bottom Row (from L-R): Sgt. First Class (res.) Cedrick Garin, 23; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Sergey Gontmaher, 37; Sgt. Maj. (res.)

Rafael Elias Mosheyoff, 33; Sgt. First Class (res.) Nicholas Berger, 22; Master Sgt. (res.) Yoav Levi, 29; Sgt. First Class (res.) Yuval Lopez, 27

for the return of the hostages,” Hagari said.

Meanwhile, Hamas said the death toll is now more than 25,000 without specifying how many civilians are included in the number.

Israel says it has killed 10,000 terrorists.

US President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy Brett McGurk arrived in Egypt this week to engage in renewed Qatari-led hostage negations between Israel and Hamas after weeks of breakdown in talks. “We are engaged in serious discussions on both sides, we have presented ideas to both sides, we are getting

a constant stream of replies from both sides, and that in its own right as a cause for optimism,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said.

According to Axios, Israel has proposed a two-month ceasefire with Hamas in return for the freeing of all hostages in phases. Israel would also agree to release Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal.

This proposal, however, was rejected outright by Hamas, according to Associated Press which cited an Egyptian official.

Hamas has repeatedly insisted that the hostages will only be freed once the IDF leaves Gaza entirely and allows the terrorgroup to continue running Gaza.

But Israel pushed back against this idea, with the government saying: “There will be no ceasefire that leaves the hostages in Gaza and Hamas in power.” Another proposal that would see Hamas exiling six of its most senior leaders from Gaza, including Yahya Sinwar, was reportedly also rejected by the terror group, according to Reuters.

HOSTAGE FAMILIES PROTEST INSIDE KNESSET Israeli families of hostages in Gaza protested both inside and outside Knesset on Monday, demanding an immediate deal to release their loved ones.

“Throw these extremists out so we can get our hostages back” yelled one relative of a hostage as he and a few others interrupted a meeting in the Finance Committee.

Other family members hurled criticism at the government for allowing humanitarian aid and fuel in to Gaza while hostages are starving. “Is it reasonable that 260 trucks of flour are entering Gaza now and my brother is eating nothing?” asked a woman whose brother is held captive in Gaza.

The families said that the hostages lives are in danger, both due to the harsh conditions they are kept in and because they risk getting killed by either terrorists or failed rescue attempts by Israeli soldiers.

Knesset ushers eventually removed some families from the committee hearing as they marched in. Outside Knesset, dozens of protesters blocked a road early in the morning, demanding fresh elections.

Several of the protesters were forcibly removed by police, including a man whose brother was killed by Hamas on October 7.

Protests against the government’s failure to free the remaining 136 hostages have grown in recent weeks, with mass rallies at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv each Saturday.

Others have set up camps outside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence, refusing to leave until the hostages are brought back.

Netanyahu met with representatives of the hostages’ families and told them that “contrary to what is being said – there is no genuine proposal by Hamas, this is not true. I will say this as clearly as I can because there are so many incorrect items that are certainly causing you pain. On the other hand, there is our initiative, which I will not detail.”

Hostages have complained for months about being kept in the dark by the government, while traveling to Europe and the US to put pressure on other governments.

Families halt a Knesset meeting to make their feelings known

25 January 2024 Jewish News

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ISRAEL AT WAR

Those unable to condemn Hamas terror ‘lack morality or decency’ Rishi Sunak has warned that any person or organisation that “cannot unequivocally condemn the evil Hamas did” on 7 October has “no conscience, no morality, no decency and deserves no respect”, writes Lee Harpin.

In a speech delivered to the Conservative Friends of Israel’s annual business lunch on Monday, Sunak said: “I also reject any attempt to draw an equivalence between Israel’s actions and those of the terrorists who videotape their appalling crimes, who rape and murder with gratuitous zealotry.”

At the event in a central London hotel, he told the 700-strong audience: “That is why this government has condemned the completely unjustified case that South Africa’s has brought to the International Court of Justice. ” Sunak said the response by some pro-Palestine activists to the Hamas massacre had provided a “painful reminder” of how “anti-Zionism all too often morphs into antisemitism”.

He added: “Since 7 October, we have seen something else that echoes further afield; an appalling rise in antisemitism, a painful reminder – if one were needed – that antiZionism all too often morphs into antisemitism.It is sadly the case that when Israel responds to terrorism to some people it automatically becomes the aggressor. Those people who rip down posters of hostages reveal themselves to have no humanity.”

Rishi Sunak speaks at the Conservative Friends of Israel lunch on Monday

He continued: “Those who chant “from the river to the sea” are either useful idiots who do not understand what they are saying…or, worse, people who wish to wipe the Jewish state from the map. We will have zero tolerance for those who promote or glorify terrorism or peddle antisemitism on our streets.”

In front of guests, including Home Secretary James Cleverly, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud

Barak, along with the families of hostages still kidnapped in Gaza, Sunak warned of the danger posed by Iran to world peace and stability.

“We know Hamas are just part of a broader group of malign actors who seek to destabilise the Middle East; Iran is at the heart of this nexus.

“We know it supplies weapons and support to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

In recent days, we have seen Iran expand its programme of destabilisation. It has attacked

two of its neighbours. A country that attacks its neighbours is a country that should never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.”

He added: “7 October was not just an attack on Israel but an attack on the very idea of Israel.

It was an assault on the idea that there should be a homeland in which Jews are safe.”

But Sunak backed efforts for “an immediate pause, leading to a sustainable ceasefire” to the conflict in Gaza. “We need more humanitarian aid going in and more crossings open to avert an even worse catastrophe,” he said. “We need to begin planning for life after,” adding there “will be no meaningful peace with Hamas – with its genocidal intent – in charge of Gaza”.

The Prime Minister said this was why “our conditions for a sustainable ceasefire, alongside the release of the hostages, is that Hamas cannot remain in charge of Gaza”.

Lord Pickles also told the CFI event he was advised by Holocaust survivors and experts there was “one good reason” parallels should not be drawn between the Shoah and Hamas’ terror attack – the existence of the Jewish state.

The UK special envoy for post-Holocaust issues and CFI’s parliamentary chair said: “Because this time the Jews have an air force, an army and a navy and this time they will come to their own justice and ensure, within the confines of international justice, that they will defend their rights to exist.”

Claim your FREE ‘Bring them home’ tag Jewish News is proud to offer readers the chance to show their solidarity with the women, men, children and babies still being held captive in Gaza and their families with a complimentary ‘Bring Them Home’ dog tags.

We have 500 tags to give away to readers sent over from Israel by its creator. The first 500 people to cut out the token on this page and present it at Cohens Jewellers in north London can pick one up, joining Elon Musk, Jerry Seinfeld, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Israeli model Bar Refaeli and the Pope, who are among those seen wearing them.

Tamir Raicher designed the military tags shortly after war broke out as a way for people to express both a collective commitment to, and solidarity with, the kidnapped and their families and call for their return. All proceeds from their sales go to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

The metal symbol of solidarity has since spread across the world, inscribed with the words: “Our heart is captive in Gaza” in Ivrit on the top half, and “Bring Them Home Now” underneath.

Raicher said: “Reaching an

This newspaper is giving away 500 tags to Jewish News readers

uncontainable 100 days, our people; babies, children, women, men and elderly, are held hostage in Hamas tunnels – it feels especially poignant to team up with Jewish News for a special shipment of the solidarity tags to the UK. “We see the UK Jewish community as an inseparable part of our efforts to bring them all back home, now! Moreover, each one of you, the Jewish News reader, wearing one of the tags is an ambassador of commitment, resilience and faith.

“I personally packaged the tags

for this special shipment realising the current reality in Israel reflects in the UK as well, making us all a part of a global home front.

Wear the tags as if one of your own loved ones was held in Gaza and become a part of the huge family we are to all our hostages.”

Raicher came up with the dog tag project while running a ‘Search and Rescue Operation Room’ during the first week of the war. “‘Our heart is captive in Gaza’ was the thought of how to sum up in only a few worlds the heart-

break that our nation is experiencing,” he said.

“I wondered how I could express in a few words (to fit a tag), the whole range of abductees: toddlers, babies and children, women and men, young and grandparents and, of course, soldiers.. What they all have in common is that until the abductees all return home – the heart of their loved ones who were left behind – the heart of the families and the relatives remains captive in Gaza – theirs and ours as a country.”

Raicher has manufactured 800,000 of the tags – around 800 are currently on display as part of a powerful exhibition at Ben Gurion airport.

Robert Cohen, of Cohens Jewellers, who will be distributing the

tags for this newspaper, said: “We feel very proud to be able to support and promote this Jewish News initiative that will enable people to show their solidarity with Israel and the missing hostages and their families during these difficult times.

“Since the war started, people have wanted to find a way to show they are proud to be Jewish and feel connected to Israel – we have seen it with the increasing sales of Magen Davids and chais. The dog tags are a special way for people to do this and we imagine they will be snapped up pretty quickly. We look forward to helping distribute them and spread their hope.”

• Cohens Jewellers is situated at 16 Temple Fortune Parade, London, NW11 0QS

Jewish News 'BRING THEM HOME' dog tag The first 500 Jewish News readers who present this token at D&M Cohen Jewellers (16 Temple Fortune Parade, London NW11 0QS) will be gifted a complimentary 'BRING THEM HOME' dog tag. If you wish to support the 'BRING THEM HOME' campaign, you have the option to make a discretionary donation upon receiving your tag

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Jewish News 25 January 2024

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If understanding is impossible, knowing is imperative,

because what happened could happen again.

- Primo Levi -

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Any group that tolerates antisemitism or any hate

forfeits all moral credibility - Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks -

"

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I didn't dream that I would ever witness another

pogrom of hundreds of Jews being butchered.

- Manfred Goldberg BEM -

THE UNTHINKABLE HAS HAPPENED AGAIN 36 HOURS

www.charityextra.com/yvuk

25 January 2024 Jewish News

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HMD reception / Hostage relatives / Netanyahu policy / News

Cameron: ‘After 7/10 we must renew our vow – never again’ David Cameron used his speech at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Holocaust Memorial Day reception to draw a direct comparison between the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and the actions of Hamas in Israel on 7 October, writes Lee Harpin.

Recalling moments in his life that he will “never forget”, the foreign secretary and former prime minister referred to a visit to the Auschwitz death camp nine years ago, where he was struck by the “mechanics of death” and the scale of murder”.

He then told the packed hall at the Foreign Office in Westminster that he had recently visited Kibbutz Be’eri in the south of Israel, “not far from Gaza”, following the Hamas attacks.

“You could see the bullet holes in the wall, the blood on the floor, the cupboards where children hid and were pulled out and murdered in front of their parents,” said Cameron.

He was wearing a dog tag necklace as he spoke on Tuesday, a symbol of solidarity with those still taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Noting the continued plight of

the hostages still held captive by the terror group in Gaza, with relatives present in the room as he spoke, and the surge in antisemitism after 7 October, Cameron said: “Clearer than ever before, we stand with the Jewish people, we stand with the state of Israel, and we stand with their right to defend themselves as they go about this terrible war dealing with the legacy of 7 October. ” Later in his speech, he stressed: “After the horrors of 7 October, we must renew our vow – never again.

That is our solemn duty – today, tomorrow and always.”

Referencing the precarious situation across the globe he added: “Diplomacy is a profession dedicated to building bridges. Strengthening alliances. Promoting peace and freedom. But as we are invited to reflect today – freedom is as fragile as it is precious.”

Holocaust survivor Eve Kugler, whose family was torn apart by the events of Kristallnacht, when she was aged seven, also met with the foreign secretary at the event, put on in coordination with the Embassy of Israel.

HOSTAGE RELATIVES MEET MPS IN LONDON

Relatives of some of those still held hostage in Gaza warned British politicians this week that “Europe is next” in the war against terrorism — a point made forcefully and which Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary David Cameron said they “understood”.

Ziv Abud, whose boyfriend Eliya Cohen was abducted from the Nova music festival, Eli Albag, whose 18-year-old daughter Liri is one of the youngest hostages, and Liran Berman, whose identical twin brothers Ziv and Gali were taken from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, were in London for the first of a round of talks with political leaders in Europe, and Washington DC. Each has a harrowing story about their kidnapped loved ones – and part of their mission is to highlight the role played by Qatar in backing Hamas.

The families believe that Qatar could “snap its fingers” and the hostages would be released immediately. Berman described Qatar’s investment in the UK as “blood money” being used “to whitewash their image”.

All the relatives had made clear to Sunak and Cameron that the key to releasing the hostages was Qatar and its continued financial support for Hamas, together with the fact that Hamas leaders were living in Qatar.

Berman said their focus was entirely on Qatar — “we don’t bother with the Red Cross any more, they are a waste of time. We have better cab drivers in Israel than the Red Cross.”

The prime minister and foreign secretary had told the relatives that they were due to have talks in Cairo and Doha and that they would highlight the issue.

Kugler also addressed the reception, attended by communal leaders and politicians from all parties. Also giving speeches were Lord Pickles, the UK’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, and the ambassador of Israel to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely.

In her speech, Hotovely said the Holocaust remains the “greatest stain” on humanity.

But she added: “This vow [of ‘never again’] feels hollow after the 7 October. Hamas brutally murdered over 1,200 innocent people.”

She said the terror group’s barbarity was driven by the same hatred of the Jewish people that fuelled Nazi Germany in the Holocaust, and said both “antisemitism and antiZionism” needed to be tackled.

In his speech Lord Pickles stressed the danger of growing “denialism” of the evidence of Hamas atrocities. He contrasted this trend with similar denialism of Nazi horrors and of other genocides and pledged to work to counter the issue.

He also referenced the weekly proPalestinian marches, adding that they showed “useful idiots were prepared

David Cameron speaks at the Holocaust Memorial Day reception

to march with out and out racists”.

Cantor David Rome and pianist Leo Nicholson provided musical accompaniment during the ceremony, and Cantor Jonny Turgel recited El Malei Rachamim, the Holocaust memorial prayer.Kellie Edwards, a Holocaust Educational Trust young ambassador, also addressed the audience.

The Foreign Office facilitates a

number of activities to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and will join a number of government buildings and national landmarks in lighting up on 27 January.

The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 is the ‘ragility of freedom’, aimed at highlighting how history has taught us that freedoms can easily become restricted and should not be taken for granted.

‘Right now someone’s UK DISAPPOINTED being raped in a cave’ BY BIBI’S POLICY Israeli women still held hostage in Gaza are being raped by terrorists, a former hostage told lawmakers in a Knesset hearing on Tuesday.

Aviva Siegel, who was abducted from Kfar Azza with her husband Keith on 7 October, was among the 110 hostages released from Gaza in November during the first ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“The terrorists bring inappropriate clothes for the girls, the clothes of dolls,” Siegel said. “They turned the girls into their dolls, that they can do whatever they want with. And it’s unbelievable that they’re still there.”

Siegel also said that the male hostages in Gaza “go through these things too. They can’t get pregnant, but they also go through it.

And something must change now.

I would like to go back to captivity

to protect the girls there, like I did when I was there. I felt like they were my daughters.

“We’ll soon reach four months [since they were kidnapped]. We were there for 51 days and there wasn’t a minute that we didn’t experience abuse – and they are still there,” she added.

Criticising responses, Siegel said: “My heart is there [in Gaza] and it’s exploding. I can’t understand how the world is silent.”

Shir, Siegel’s daughter, also spoke at the hearing, raging against lawmakers who did not attend.

“Where is the cabinet, that they may hear these stories? Where are the decision makers? Where are they to listen, to shed a tear – what are they busy with?” she said.

“We no longer have the option of sitting here and continuing to talk politely. At this very moment, there is somebody sitting in a cave being raped… Enough talking, if it was your daughters, your young sons … How much is it possible to suffer?” Shir said.

Systemic rape by Hamas on 7 October has been widely reported: witnesses have told their stories and first responders have testified to evidence of sexual Aviva Siegel and her daughter Shir assaults on men and women.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state is “disappointing”, No 10 has said.

The UK has vowed to continue with its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East for “as long as it takes” in the face of Israel’s premier saying he would “not compromise” on Tel Aviv control over Palestinian territories.

The restating of the foreign policy position came as Rishi Sunak had a meeting in London with relatives of Israeli hostages.

Right-wing PM Netanyahu doubled down on his rejection of Palestinian sovereignty as part of any post-war plan, saying his country needs security control over the Palestinian territories when the Israel-Hamas conflict ends.

He wrote on X (Twitter), late on Saturday: “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state.”

The remarks, rebuked by UK defence secretary Grant Shapps and senior Labour Party figures, deepened a public rift with the United States, which has argued a two-state solution is essential for long-term stability.

Sunak’s official spokesman told reporters on Monday: “It is disappointing to hear this from the Israeli prime minister. The UK’s position remains that a two-state solution with a viable and sovereign Palestinian state living alongside a safe and secure Israel is the best route to lasting peace.

“Clearly there will be a long road to recovery and lasting security in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. But we will continue our long-term support for a two-state solution for as long as it takes.”

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Jewish News 25 January 2024

News / Memorial events / Genocide claim / MP’s jibe

HMD events cut back because of Israel’s conflict with Hamas Continued from page 1 programmes because of local tensions, but overall, we’ve been heartened at how committed schools remain to engaging with our work.”

Robertson added that the three schools are “of different types and in different parts of the country” and that the Trust “can see no pattern” in the postponements. It is working with the schools to get their programme “re-booked as soon as possible”.

The move comes as Jewish leaders and Holocaust advocates say this year’s HMD – the theme of which is “fragility of freedom” – will feel different because of the community being “caught in the crossfire of opinion” over the IsraelHamas war and rising antisemitism in Britain.

Speaking this week, Rabbi Jonathan Romain told the PA news agency: “Jews feel very conflicted at the moment, because we’ve got this really strange situation where we think of Jews at Holocaust Memorial Day in the Second World War as victims, whereas now there are parts of British society which see Jewish Israelis as perpetrators of violence and so we feel a little bit caught in the crossfire of opinion.”

He added that this year will be “probably the most agonising Holocaust Memorial Day since it was instituted.”.

Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said there was an anticipation this year’s commemoration would be “challenging” amid observations of “fracturing communities”.

Marks-Woldman told Jewish News: “We’ve seen the most shocking increase in antisemitism. We’ve seen huge rises in anti-Muslim hatred and we have seen people exploiting these divisions. As a result, communities in the UK are

Author Sir Michael Morpurgo with Anne Frank Trust UK ambassadors and, right, survivor Eve Kugler meets families of Israeli hostages in ­Westminster. Main photograph: Michelle Rosenberg

fracturing, so it’s a really difficult time for a lot of them.” She was unequivocal, however, that the current conflict should not hamper observations of HMD this year.

“Holocaust Memorial Day has always been about, should always be about, will always be about commemorating the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators,” Marks-Woldman said. “That needs to be remembered last year, this year and every year.

“HMD also marks the non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and very specific genocides that took place afterwards in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Holocaust Memo-

rial Day is not contingent on anything. The Holocaust needs to be remembered in and of itself, but also for the lessons that it gives us today showing where prejudice can lead when it’s normalised and encouraged. Those points are relevant for everybody.”

She added that some Shoah survivors, with whom HMDT engages, were “finding it very hard to see what’s happening around us now in Britain”. Marks-Woldman added: “In their final years they are living in a world with increasing antisemitism, increasing so swiftly and so starkly. It’s very painful for them to see.”

Her sentiment that HMD should be com-

memorated as robustly this year as previously echoes that of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said such events were “vital” in confronting antisemitism.

At the Holocaust Memorial Day service in City Hall on Monday, Khan said: “The Holocaust is one of the most harrowing events in history and it’s vital that we continue to hold events like this to ensure we never forget those who were killed and never forget where prejudice, racism and hatred can lead if allowed to fester unchecked and unchallenged. This now feels more important than ever .”

• Laura Marks and Karen Pollock, p30

CHIEF RABBI: GENOCIDE SUNAK HITS BACK OVER CLAIM IS DISINGENUOUS ‘BLOOD ON HANDS’ JIBE Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has said the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions against Hamas in Gaza is an “increasingly frequent, disingenuous misappropriation of the term”.

Rabbi Mirvis wrote that the use of the term was a “moral inversion, which undermines the memory of the worst crimes in human history” and was designed to “tear open the still gaping wound of the Holocaust”.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mirvis, who was born and educated in South Africa, argued that Israel was not intent on “the purposeful annihilation of a people as an objective in and of itself”, but was risking its soldiers in ground operations and securing humanitarian corridors.

He added: “It should be obvious that if Israel’s objectives were genocidal, it could have used its military strength to level Gaza in a matter of days.”

Before commemorations of Holocaust Memorial Day next Saturday, the chief rabbi said the use of “genocide” to describe Israel’s action was an affront to victims and the survivors of genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur and the Holocaust.

Warning: Chief Rabbi Mirvis

“It is a term deployed not only to eradicate any notion that Israel has a responsibility to protect its citizens, but also to tear open the still gaping wound of the Holocaust, knowing that it will inflict more pain than any other accusation,” wrote Mirvis. “It is a moral inversion, which undermines the memory of the worst crimes in human history.”

A Labour MP has been branded a “complete disgrace” after suggesting Rishi Sunak has “the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands” over his response to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, writes Lee Harpin.

Tahir Ali, the MP for Birmingham, Hall Green, rose in the Commons during yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions and claimed in relation to the “genocide” claim against Israel in the International Court of Justice that “the scale of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza have been revealed to the world thanks to South Africa’s case”.

Ali who has previously falsely accused Israel of bombing a hospital in Gaza, failed to issue any condemnation of Hamas, but also backed calls for “an ending of UK’s arms trade with Israel”.

His remarks were seized on by Sunak, who was cheered by his backbenchers as he said: “That’s the face of the changed Labour Party.”

Sunak had come under pressure minutes earlier as Keir Starmer goaded him, saying: “The difference is I’ve changed my party – he is bullied by his.” Labour sources confirmed to Jewish News that the party’s whips were considering whether to take action against the Ali. Other MPs told Jewish News they were “livid” with Ali’s “blood on his hands” jibe.

Outburst: Labour’s Tahir Ali

One said: “So many politicians have received death threats, both to themselves and to their families, over a war taken place in the Middle East that they have now actual power to stop.”

The Commons claim “ only serves to inflame the situation more”, the MP said.

Another Labour source said: “The people with blood on their hands are the brutal rapist terrorists of Hamas.”

Last October Ali joined with other hardleft MPs, including Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn, in accusing Israel of being responsible for the bombing of a hospital in Gaza City. It later emerged the incident was the result of a missile misfired by a Palestinian terror group.

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25 January 2024 Jewish News

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Jewish News 25 January 2024

News / Holocaust Memorial Day

Speaker: ‘We must always call out hate’ The Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle has led a special candlelighting ceremony in Parliament to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, writes Lee Harpin.

MPs and staff gathered on Tuesday to hear moving testimonies from genocide survivors, who reflected on this year’s theme of the ‘fragility of freedom’.

The MPs Margaret Hodge and Andrew Percy both read out poems, while Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Trust, read a Statement of Commitment which expressed “solidarity with people today who face prejudice.

“There is nothing more powerful than hearing directly from those who survived these terrible atrocities,” Hoyle told those in attendance, as ahead of the reading of harrowing accounts of genocide.

“It is why I wanted to instigate the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony. Genocide does not always start big; it is a steady process. It begins with discrimination, racism, religious persecution and of course, hatred.”

Hoyle said “we must call out hatred wherever it exists and promote peace wherever

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle leads this week’s HMD event in parliament

we can. ” He said organisations like the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust are “so important in raising awareness and understanding.”

Holocaust survivor Peter Lantos was among those to share his story at the event, inside Portcullis House. “As a child of five, I was prisoner 8,431 in Bergen-Belsen,” he

recalled. “I was deported there from a small town in Hungary during 1944. My father died of starvation; my mother and I survived.”

Sophie Musabe also spoke about her experience of surviving the Rwandan genocide, adding that Holocaust Memorial Day is a “powerful reminder” of past injustices, and an impetus for “growth and change”.

SURVIVOR’S ANGER OVER COMPARISON Holocaust survivor Eve Kugler has spoken of her anger at hearing comparisons made between the German Nazis and Israel in the Jewish state’s long-running conflict with the Palestinians, writes Lee Harpin.

Speaking to Jewish News ahead of testimony at the Foreign Office Holocaust Eve Kugler Memorial Day reception in Westminster, the 92-year-old said: “To have Israelis and the Jewish people put in line with the Nazis – it makes me very angry.”

Kugler, who was born in 1931 in the German city of Halle, gave a vivid and moving account at Tuesday’s event, at which David Cameron spoke, of the impact of the Nazi’s rise to power, including the frightening events of the Kristallnacht, her father’s detention in the Buchenwald camp, and further turbulent times in France, until she, and one of her sister’s Ruth escaped to America.

Kulger was insistent that the conduct of Hamas, who she said were “indoctrinated”, could be compared to the way Hitler “indoctrinated the German people.” She added: “In that sense, it’s on a smaller scale, but it’s happening again. The Holocaust was all over Europe, north Africa, the Middle East. Whereas at the moment, we hope it doesn’t spread. But Jewish people have been attacked for thousands of years.”

Kulger’s family were reunited in New York in 1946 and she worked as a journalist before moving to London in 1990.

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25 January 2024 Jewish News

9

Mia inquest / Israelis attacked / News

CRIME’ INVESTIGATION ‘Boys made fun of JFS ‘HATE AFTER ISRAELIS ASSAULTED girl ahead of her death’ Schoolboys allegedly used a group chat to make fun of a 14-year-old fellow pupil who is believed to have killed herself, an inquest has heard.

Mia Janin, a Year 10 pupil at JFS in Kenton, north-west London, was found dead at her family home in Harrow on 12 March 2021.

Her father, Mariano Janin, has said he believes she was cyber-bullied by other pupils at JFS. Statements given by Mia’s friends to the Metropolitan Police after her death were read out to the inquest at Barnet Coroner’s Court on Tuesday.

In the statements, her friends said Mia was bullied by other JFS pupils and that their friendship group was nicknamed the “suicide squad” in the months leading up to her death.

They said one of Mia’s TikTok videos was shared to a Snapchat group chat run by male pupils at JFS, where they made fun of her. One child said the boys used the group chat to share nude photos of girls.

The child added: “They took screenshots of girls’ faces on social media and made fun of them. They shared a video of Mia’s TikTok and

Mia Janin took her own life in 2021

made fun of her.” They said the boys also Photoshopped girls’ faces on to the bodies of pornography performers. “They used girls’ faces on porn stars’ bodies to upset us.”

The child said they had a conversation with Mia the day before she died and Mia had asked: “If you died, would people care about you the next day?” “We laughed it off, that was all she said,” the child said.

Another child said the TikTok had been posted by Mia the night before

she returned to school after the end of Covid restrictions.

The inquest heard police believe the video was posted on 10 March as she returned to school the following day. The child said Mia had received lots of negative comments on it from other JFS pupils. “Mia said she was fine, but I don’t think she was fine.”

Janin told the inquest that Mia asked, after coming home on 11 March, if she could move school.

The inquest heard that his wife Marisa, who has since died, told Mia she could be homeschooled for the rest of the school year, and that they would look into moving her to a new school after. Mia then went to bed.

Hours later, she was dead.

Area coroner Tony Murphy said there was no evidence that any images or videos involving Mia had been shared in the group chat except for the TikTok. The inquest heard that Rabbi Cohen, former deputy headteacher at JFS, told the boys to close down the group after Mia’s death. The school says it had not been aware of the group chat’s existence before Mia’s death.

The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into an “antisemitic hate crime” after three Israelis were physically assaulted in London’s Leicester Square by up to 20 men who overheard them speaking Hebrew, writes Lee Harpin.

The three, including one woman, were confronted in the early hours of Sunday by the large group, who allegedly noticed one of the males wearing a kippah.

The Israelis later said they were punched in the head and neck by the gang, who chanted “free Palestine” before they carried out the assault at about 1.30am on Sunday.

The female victim, who gave her name as Tehilla, told the Daily Telegraph the group were speaking Hebrew when men confronted them asking: ‘Are you Jewish?’

The 28-year-old told the newspaper: “I said, ‘Yes, I’m Jewish,’ and they started chanting ‘free Palestine’ and f*** Jews, all this swearing at us.

“So we tried not to get into trouble, to walk away, but they started following us and it started with like two or three guys and all of a sudden they called all their friends and 15 to 20 guys started attacking us physically.”

Photographs posted on social

Incident was in Leicester Square

media showed a male victim with a visible bruise on the side of his head.

Tehilla was shown with a wound to her knee.

Detective Supt Lucy O’Connor said: “We are investigating this incident as an antisemitic hate crime.

“I know how upsetting such inexcusable violence is for anyone who was injured or who witnessed the incident, and also for the wider community. I share their concerns.

“Officers arrived at the scene some 28 minutes after they were called. Of course, I wish we could have come to their aid sooner.

“The police investigation will now focus on speaking with the woman and any other victims or witnesses, as well as following up all lines of enquiry including analysis of CCTV. I urge any witnesses to get in touch.”

10 Jewish News 25 January 2024

www.jewishnews.co.uk

www.jewishnews.co.uk

25 January 2024 Jewish News

11

ISRAEL AT WAR

MAY BE GP head of banned terror SCHOOL FORCED TO SHUT group suspended by NHS The Harrow GP who heads the UK branch of newly-banned Islamist terror group Hizb ut-Tahrir has been suspended by NHS England, Jewish News revealed this week, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

Dr Wahid Shaida, who also uses the name Abdul Wahid, was GB chair of the group, which the government officially outlawed earlier this month.

Putting an order before parliament which made joining the organisation illegal in the UK under terror laws, home secretary James Cleverly called Hizb utTahrir “antisemitic” and warned it “promotes and encourages terrorism”.

The group’s UK branch was banned on 19 January. Its website has been taken down. All that remains is a statement issued later saying “a legal challenge is proceeding”.

Following the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the group organised rallies on the streets of London alongside pro-Palestine marches. A Hizb ut-Tahrir member could be seen shouting “Jihad” in a video from an October march, but the Met Police said no offences were identified.

An NHS London spokesperson confirmed: “We take any issues relating to

Terror group leader Dr Wahid Shaida

professional conduct seriously and have procedures in place to make sure that individuals are fit to work in the NHS. We can confirm that Dr Wahid Shaida has been suspended from the NHS primary care performers list.”

In December, Shaida, who teaches trainee GPs, described Hamas as a ‘resistance’ group and on Piers Morgan’s Talk TV show called the 7 October terror attacks “a very welcome punch on the nose” .

As reported by Jewish News, the General Medical Council (GMC) was urged

to suspend Shaida following widespread concerns over his links to Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has also been banned in many Arab nations, as well as in Germany and China.

In statement, the GMC said: “We are only able to confirm the publicly available information about individual doctors as it appears on the medical register. Dr Shaida is registered with a licence to practise.

It should be noted that local restrictions may be in place from an employer.”

A local doctor speaking to Jewish News on condition of anonymity said: “It’s vital NHS England and the General Medical Council investigate their management of the case of this doctor, who while working as an NHS GP for decades has also for the last 10 years been openly leading a recently-proscribed terror group, already been banned in other countries “Despite grave safeguarding concerns raised regarding the wellbeing and safety of staff, patients and the public, and notwithstanding the statutory Prevent Duty to combat terrorism in healthcare, he remains a fully registered GMC doctor.

“Wahid Shaida’s suspension by the NHS should have been effected when he first began to lead a terror organisation.”

H A M P S T E A D

An East London primary school may be forced to close because of security risks after it banned political symbols, including Palestinian flags.

Barclay Primary in Leyton told parents it may have to resort to online learning because of escalating threats including arson over Christmas against the school and its staff.

The Lion Academy Trust, which runs the school, has written to parents warning staff had received a “serious” written threat, which was referred to the police, and has since received more threats including “an anonymous caller making a series of racial slurs” and “a further threat to commit criminal damage (arson) against the school and to individual staff ”.

The school said if the safety of children or staff cannot be assured, it may close “with limited notice” and revert to online learning “for as long as necessary”.

The letter, published on the school’s website, said Bar-

clay had secured extra private on-site security, as well as an increased presence by local Met Police officers.

Barclay closed early in December due to “escalating threats against staff ” in a row over a pupil who refused to remove a Palestinian badge.

The boy, whose mother is from Gaza, had been off school for weeks, resulting in protesters turning up at the school gates calling for him to be allowed back to school.

The demonstration attracted about 150 people chanting slogans relating to the boy in question and about Israel’s war in Gaza.

Palestinian flags were also attached to lamp posts along the road.

In a statement posted on the Barclay Primary School website on 19 January, the Lion Academy Trust said it was working with relevant agencies “to navigate a route back to business as usual whereby our pupils, families and staff are all able to focus on teaching and learning.”

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News / Holocaust memorial / Tube demo / Met shamed

Memorial Bill tactics ‘like Post Office saga’ A series of witnesses including the MP for Westminster, Nickie Aiken, have given evidence to the Holocaust Memorial Bill select committee about why they think the legislation should be rejected or amended, writes Beatrice Sayers.

The bill, which was introduced to the Commons in February 2023 and passed its second reading in June, would repeal a law preventing the building of a national memorial and learning centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Palace of Westminster. The 1900 statute requires the gardens to be kept for public use.

One witness, historian and former House of Commons clerk Dorian Gerhold, compared the government’s attempt to push through the bill to the scandal of the Post Office’s Horizon software. “Anyone who makes an unwise initial decision has two options,” he said. “They can follow the Post Office Horizon strategy of doubling down and ploughing on regardless of legal problems or costs or whatever, or they can reconsider the decision and make a better one.”

SELECT

The government had earlier put forward its view to the committee with Christopher Katkowski KC for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities saying the planning inspector had found the location in the gardens was “absolutely spot on” and the proposals fulfilled the recommendations of the Holocaust Memorial Commission. The inspector had also found the design to be “of exceptional quality and assurance”. The Board of Deputies expressed its support for the Memorial Bill.

The objectors last week made clear their support for a memorial but aired concerns about its location, size, design, timescale and the security risks it would bring.

Sir Peter Bottomley reminded the committee the Holocaust Memorial Foundation and government had originally said in 2015-16 the majority of funding should be spent on education and that the project should be finished within two years.

Eight years later, “not a penny” had been spent on education and the current £138.8m programme for a combined

memorial and learning centre meant the project was unlikely to be finished before the last Holocaust survivor has died.

“The cost is really in that box – the large shoebox underneath the memorial,” Sir Peter said, in a reference to the learning centre.

Suggesting an alternative path for a standalone memorial , he added: “Bluntly, if you are just going to have the memorial, you would not have this one, you would not put it on top of a box, and you would not start saying you want it open before the last Holocaust survivor has died.”  Voice of the Jewish News, p24

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Tube driver says sorry for ‘free Palestine’ chanting A Tube driver who chanted ‘free Palestine’ over his train’s tannoy has issued an apology as Transport for London revealed he has faced disciplinary action.

TfL said the driver, who has returned to work, had written to faith groups to apologise for the announcements and “for the impact they had on some customers travelling on the train and in the wider community”.

TfL had been investigating the incident, which took place in October on a packed Central Line train. Passengers could be heard singing along to the chants. It is thought that many of them were travelling to a pro-Palestinian rally.

Passengers singing along with the offensive chant on the Tube

Last week, a TfL spokesperson said: “We can confirm that, following a thorough internal investigation in accordance with our

agreed formal processes, disciplinary action has been taken with regard to the driver who made announcements on the Central line on 21 October last year.

“The driver has also written to faith groups that we have been engaging with since October to apologise for the announcements and for the impact they had on some customers travelling on the train and in the wider community.

“It is critically important to everyone at TfL that our network feels, and is, a safe and welcoming place for all Londoners, and we will do all we can to continue to ensure that.”

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MET FACES DEMO CRITICISM The Met Police has been accused by a Conservative former minister of acting as the public relations arm of proPalestine protests. Andrew Percy said the police should focus on what they should be doing, “which is protecting people in this country”.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat said the Met was “absolutely aware” of radicalisation at protests.

Percy said in the Commons: “Doubtless the majority of people who attend protests are peaceful, but it is that behaviour that is making Jewish people in this country ... frightened of wherever these protests take place.

“The continued targeting of Jews in this country is deeply, deeply disturbing, welcome though (the proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir) is, it’s not going to prevent that from continuing, we need tougher action.

“It has seemed on occasions as if the Metropolitan Police have been the PR arm of some of these protests.”

A pro-Palestine protest in London

Percy also said he had been receiving antisemitic comments on social media after he accused some members of giving a “free pass” to terrorists.

The Brigg and Goole MP said: “Because of a smear somebody posted online about my comments, I have received the most appalling antisemitic communications, which have included phrases describing hostages as ‘them Zionist rat hostages’.

“Somebody messaged me to say ‘nobody cares about the Jews’... and I should be flogged.”

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13

Manchester rally / Comment / News

Record Manchester crowd protests More than 6,500 Manchester Jews and their allies came together to protest the steep rise of anti-Jewish hate since the terror attacks on Israel – creating the largest gathering in the community’s history.

The March Against Antisemitism was called by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester after more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the UK since 7 October.

Sunday’s event followed an historic march against Jew-hate in London in November in what became the largest such event since the Battle of Cable Street.

In Manchester, security minister Tom Tugendhat said: “Over the past few months we’ve seen an unacceptable increase in antise-

mitic hatred and abuse. This government has zero-tolerance for antisemitism. We are working with the police to ensure that hate crime and the glorification of terror is met with the full force of the law.”

Shadow international development secretary Lisa Nandy added: “The Jewish community has been targeted by an appalling surge in hate crime. I have heard about Jewish people being targeted going about their daily business, in workplaces and educational settings.

This is completely unacceptable and we must stand together to condemn all forms of hate crime.”

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said: “Today’s march sent the strongest possible message that unity and understanding are our

Some of the 6,500 Jews and supporters at the event on Sunday

strongest allies against prejudice.

Greater Manchester has a proud tradition of communities who

are united by respect and shared values. Today, we saw people of all backgrounds come together to

affirm their commitment to facing down antisemitism.”

Government independent adviser on countering antisemitism Lord Mann compered the event, with other addresses from the Board of Deputies’ Marie van der Zyl, local MP Nicola Richards and Holocaust survivor Ike Alterman.

JRC chair and Jewish Leadership Council trustee Mark Adlestone said he was proud at the community coming together “to state loud and clear that we will not be intimidated by those who wish to do us harm”.

Her added: “We have lived in our wonderful city for generations and will continue to be proud British Jews who proactively contribute to our society.”

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THE TERROR OF NO LONGER FEELING SAFE

BY GEMMA FRENCHMAN

MANAGING DIRECTOR, PREVENTICUM UK

More than 100 days have passed since 7 October, an horrific day etched in my memory forever, when the world witnessed, thanks to Hamas’ GoPro filming of its barbaric attacks, a modern pogrom, killing more Jews on any one day since the Holocaust.

Even some 2,000 miles from the scene, I and my peers feel terror. In London, we are frightened and shocked. The safe world in which we believe does not seem so safe for us now. We are unable to focus on anything but the 1,200 victims, the hostages and the fallen IDF soldiers, our brothers and sisters. That’s how we Jews are brought up; one people, one family.

Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisa-

tion, has publicised its goal; to destroy Israel and exterminate all Jews. That means me, my husband, parents, children, my sister and her family. If you aren’t Jewish, please try to understand how it feels to know people want to kill you; a desperate feeling, how my greatgrandparents felt in 1930s Hungary.

My great-grandfather was murdered in Bergen-Belsen. My great-grandmother was hidden in a Budapest convent by heroic nuns to save her from the same fate. What would they think if they knew their family was threatened by the same vitriolic beliefs 80 years later?

The high-profile individuals and organisations who have spoken against Israel have greenlighted swathes of people to express antisemitic and anti-Zionist feelings. Jews have seen a 1,500 percent increase in antisemitic acts in the UK since 7 October; university campuses are rife with antisemitic protests, including students chanting ‘death to the Jews’.

In Tower Hamlets, east London, hordes of schoolchildren were taken out of school,

supposedly to march in solidarity with Palestinian children, but they chanted ‘Israel is a terror state’ and held placards of anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric as they went.

I have always been proud of my Judaism and to be British. I adore London. Now, I feel nervous. Wearing my Magen David necklace suddenly feels dangerous. Taking our children to central London, even my daily commute, seem dangerous, with large crowds protesting in every mainline London train station.

Many of the protesters do not understand what happened on 7 October or what Hamas stands for. This lack of understanding, knowledge and empathy, coupled with the feeling of being threatened, is a grave concern. I worry about raising my children in this environment of hatred, ignorance, racism and antisemitism.

The TikTok generation listens as millions of voices chant venomous, antisemitic words on our screens. The war is a media war; fake news dominates the headlines. It’s uncomfortable.

Traditional and social media platforms,

more powerful in 2023 than in 1933, offer biased reporting. The BBC, having supported all the pro-Palestinian marches, banned its staff from attending the one march against antisemitism and the police have a pusillanimous approach when faced with undeniably antisemitic acts. This leaves us vulnerable, with diluted confidence in a safe future in the UK. Hamas has declared publicly it will continue to carry out monstrous attacks to fulfil its objective. If we don’t curb this antisemitism, 7 October will happen again and again and again, possibly in Britain next time.

Antisemitism has existed for thousands of years. It is always bubbling away, a light sleeper, with its bandwagon parked in the lay-by, the key in the ignition and the getaway driver strapped in, ready to collect the masses.

My fellow British Jews and I need to know that we have a safe home here and that future generations of children will never need to fear another 7 October massacre nor antisemitism on our streets.

14 Jewish News 25 January 2024

www.jewishnews.co.uk

ISRAEL AT WAR

‘I had to ignore my fears and go to Israel – it was surreal’

The country felt very different from my last visit just days before 7/10 – the embrace of ‘Bring them home’ was profound, writes Lianne Kolirin There was a point every day towards the end of last year when I found myself on El Al’s website, my mouse hovering over various dates.

This went on for weeks as I ummed and ahhed about whether or not to travel to Israel.

My first excuse was cost. Since the horrific events of 7 October and the subsequent war, El Al has been the only carrier from Britain. Fares were at least double what I’d have expected months earlier.

I’d tweak the dates in search of the best deal, click through to payment… then doubts crept in. Two of my boys had mock exams, my eldest would be back from university – it wouldn’t be fair. Then there was work; and constant updates on my phone about sirens, missiles, casualties, did nothing to reassure me.

“Just book it,” said my husband.

I shared my concerns about prices, our boys, my work and he brushed them all aside.

Finally, I had to admit the truth.

Blindfolded teddy bears in Hostage Square, Tel Aviv, and (inset) images “I’m scared.” of Israelis abducted into Gaza greet travellers arriving at Ben Gurion He understood, of course, but his angst simmered on. But everything the shelter? What happens during position was clear.

“Your family live through it changed onboard. In every other a siren?”

My uncle smiled kindly, pointing seat on the flight was someone every day.”

I was born in Tel Aviv to an making the same journey, without at the alcove I’d only ever known as Israeli father and British mother having to justify themselves. The their storage overflow.

“But it won’t happen,” said my applause on touchdown was and although I’ve spent more poignant than aunt. “It’s too late. most of my life in London, “Hamas tends to fire at cerever. Thank you, we my dual nationsaid in one, silent, tain times,” they said confidently, ality is a huge part adding that it had been generally unified voice. of who I am.

Stepping into quiet beside a surprise blast eveWe married the terminal ryone mistook for fireworks on New in Israel, celat Ben Gurion Year’s Eve. ebrated our The night passed quietly, seemfelt so strange sons’ barmitzfor me, having ingly without incident. vahs there Later that morning they drove only recently and laid my left, following me to spend a night with their father to rest a brief visit, daughter. She was home alone with in the hills on 4 October. three children under five – the overlooking Posters of youngest barely a month old. Her Jerusalem.

“You need the hostages husband was drafted as a reserve on kidnapped just 7 October. to come,” a close Somehow he made it home for three days after I friend had said. returned home lined the birth but, three days later, he They were both the long walk to was dispatched to Gaza. right. So, ignoring His wife struggles with the endbaggage reclaim. the butterflies, I Lianne with the latest Here, no one was less demands of a newborn and two clicked to confirm. member of the family heartlessly ripping preschoolers, while living in fear of The angst cona late night knock at the door. tinued in the days before takeoff. them down. This was just the start.

I’d spent weeks wanting to The roads to my aunt and uncle’s I plutzed about not being able to get travel insurance until someone home in Rishon LeZion were plas- hug her and the rest of my family. introduced me to an Israeli agency. tered with posters and flags. Once at Another cousin’s husband has been I had no specific plan beyond the home they’ve lived in for more drafted, leaving her alone with two turning up at people’s houses, so my than 20 years, I had to ask: “Where’s tiny kids and a full-time job. A third

cousin spends every day worrying about his 19-year-old daughter, stationed at an Israel Defence Forces base on the edge of Gaza.

My family were not directly affected by Hamas’ deadly ambush, but they – like all Israelis – feel the ripple effects daily.

I can’t change that, but what I can do is to hold the baby, read a story or take them for coffee.

It was a week of intense emotional conversations at every turn, with everyone from friends and relatives to professional contacts and perfect strangers.

Four days in, I was exhausted and so booked a bargain Tel Aviv hotel room where I had previously stayed in happier times.

Now, however, I was among the few actually paying to stay there.

The rooms around mine were occupied by internally displaced people, many trailed by fed-up children and bewildered dogs.

I must have looked equally lost wandering around this twilight zone of a city. Things felt normal, but they were not.

People still frequent cafes, eating, drinking, smoking – this is Tel Aviv after all – but eavesdrop on any conversation and you hear variations on a theme. Life here is tough.

Every shop, restaurant, railway station and building site is adorned with posters, prayers and hastily scrawled messages of hope, anger, despair. In London we have our distractions, but in Israel there’s no escape from reality.

On Saturday night, I joined the weekly demonstration to “bring them home” at Hostage Square.

I have attended similar events in London, but this was the mother ship, where nothing else existed beyond the collective embrace of solidarity with the victims’ broken families.

Afterwards, I had a uniquely surreal Tel Aviv experience, as I clung to the back of one of my cousins while zipping along on a rented scooter. My eyes were mostly closed, but it was impossible to look away from Dizengoff Square blanketed with pictures and candles, while blindfolded bloody teddy bears sat strapped to nearby benches.

In some ways the week felt normal, but with an unsettling dreamy quality. The sun still shone, the waves still breathed in and out and I still shared hummus with loved ones.

But nothing felt quite right – from the walls scrawled with graffiti to the destination signs on buses declaring. “Together we will win”.

I was still fearful – and the rockets I saw flying south of Tel Aviv on my last night did nothing to change that. But I knew I was right to visit.

Back home, I told my husband that he should go and see things with his own eyes.

My trip was not about right or wrong, winners or losers or political stances. It was simply a show of heartfelt solidarity.

I just felt that I needed to go in person, if only to say: I feel it, I share it, I’m right here.

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Produced in partnership with UK Government

25 January 2024 Jewish News

15

Don’t ignore symptoms that don’t feel normal for you - it’s vital to get them checked to rule out cancer

B

reathlessness, lumps, a cough; if you have a lingering illness or a symptom you can’t get rid of, contact your GP practice.

It might be nothing, and it could put your mind at rest.

Some cancer symptoms are easier to spot than others, so if there’s anything bothering you, it’s better to get it checked out sooner rather than later. Early diagnosis is key; if it’s nothing to worry about, your GP can reassure you, but if it could be some-thing more serious, they can refer you for further tests. Finding cancer and getting treatment early could save your life.

Contact your GP practice if something doesn’t feel right, or you experience any of the following symptoms: breathlessness; frequent infections; unexplained night sweats; unexpected or unexplained bruising or bleeding; unexplained weight loss; or blood in your poo.

Or, if you experience the following for three weeks or more: tummy trouble such as discomfort or diarrhoea; unexplained pain or discomfort; feeling tired and unwell but not sure why; heartburn or indigestion; unusual, pale or

The signs and symptoms: what to look out for

By contacting your GP practice if something in your body doesn’t feel right or when you experience any of the below symptoms, you can help to rule cancer out, or catch it in it's early stages: Breathlessness Frequent infections Unexplained night sweats Unexpected or unexplained bruising or bleeding Blood in your pee An unexplained lump Blood in your poo, which may look red or black Unexplained weight loss

greasy poo; or a cough.

Other potential symptoms include-blood in your pee - even just once, or an unexplained lump. NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer, Professor Peter Johnson, said:

“Cancer symptoms can come in different shapes and sizes and some can be less obvious than others, so it’s important to know what is normal for you and take notice of any changes.

“We know that many people don’t want to bother anyone with their health concerns – particularly if they are unsure about them – but we would always prefer you to contact your GP practice so that you can be checked.

“If something in your body doesn’t feel right, it’s vitally important to come forward.

Diagnosing cancer earlier saves lives, so we would prefer to see you sooner when cancer can be treated more easily and successfully.

“Blood cancers altogether make up the fifth most common type, with over 41,000 diagnosed every year in the UK. The symptoms can seem quite general - such as breathlessness, night sweats or feeling very tired for no obvious reason – but if something isn’t right, please contact your GP practice.

“It might be nothing serious, but it could save your life.”

Visit nhs.uk/cancersymptoms for more details.

“

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17

Holocaust survivors / IRGC ban / Board elections / News

‘Half of survivors’ in Israel A new survey by the New York-based Claims Conference presents an unprecedented updated picture of Holocaust survivors worldwide, writes Jenni Frazer.

On the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, the in-depth study identifies survivors now living in more than 90 countries — but the overall total is currently estimated at 245,000 people, more women than men, and an age range of between 77 and 100.

The world’s oldest living Holocaust survivor is believed to be Polish-born Rose Girone, 112.

In a global ‘heat-map’, the Claims Conference has identified where survivors are living, based on two factors — payments that they receive from Germany via the Claims Conference, and services provided through social welfare agencies. In some countries there are only a handful or even just one survivor.

Almost half of all Jewish survivors of the Nazi Holocaust (49 percent) live today in Israel; 18 percent live in north America and 18 percent live in western Europe. An estimated 1,200 survivors are living in Britain today, says the Claims Conference.

The organisation is aware that there are myths about survivor numbers. In America, for example, rumour said that there were more than 40,000 survivors just in New York State: in fact, the figures show that though 40 percent of all American survivors live in New York, and that the total number of survivors in the whole of north America is put at 44,200.

The new figures show that there are Claims Conference payments made to people who might not have been thought to qualify — “Jewish individuals who were persecuted in North Africa, that is, in Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia”. And, fascinatingly, the survey also includes those “who were in utero, recognising Jews who were foetuses during the Nazi persecution of their mother and who were

born up to nine months after liberation or the flight of their mother”.

At the request of Jewish News, the Claims Conference broke down the British figures in more depth. Most UK-based survivors were born in western Europe – 62 percent – with 28 percent coming from eastern Europe, just 3.6 percent from the Former Soviet Union and an even tinier 2.7 percent from North Africa.

British survivors comprise 66 percent female and 34 percent male, and the ages range from those aged 77-80 — 4.6 percent — to 2.7 percent aged 100 years old and more.

Gideon Taylor, the Irish-born president of the Claims Conference, said: “The data we have amassed not only tells us how many and where survivors are, it clearly indicates that most survivors are at a period of life where their need for care and services is growing. Now is the time to double down on our attention on this waning population. Now is when they need us the most.”

Greg Schneider, executive vice-president of the Claims Conference, added: “It is also important to look past the numbers to see the individuals they represent. These are Jews who were born into a world that wanted to see them murdered. They were forced to rebuild an entire life out of the ashes of the camps and ghettos that ended their families and communities.”

Reha Bennicasa, daughter of Rose Girone, the oldest living Holocaust survivor in the world, said: “As a survivor and daughter of a survivor, I cannot stress enough how important it is to share our testimonies. Personally, I am pleased that my mother has reached 112 years of age, and to learn that she is the oldest Holocaust survivor.

“My mother and I survived German and then Japanese oppression. Her strength throughout this horror and in all other facets of her life are amazing. She is a wonderful example to me and, hopefully, to the world.”

UJS call to outlaw IRGC THIRD BOARD CANDIDATE The Union of Jewish Students has urged the government to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist group after the BBC revealed that the Charity Commission is investigating antisemitic speeches by Iranian generals to UK students.

The BBC said it verified two videos that include Holocaust denial as well as IRGC members describing an apocalyptic war on Jews.

The videos were recorded between 2020 and 2021 at three events, two of which were livestreamed speeches by “former and active IRGC commanders”.

Another event was in-person at the Kanoon Towhid Islamic centre in west London, where former IRGC leader Qasem Soleimani was

commemorated following the US assassination of him in 2020. BBC said that chants of “death to Israel” were heard at the event.

The events, the BBC said, were promoted

by Islamic Students Associations of Britain (ISA) and its affiliates, “which use the Kanoon Towhid centre as a meeting place. Unlike the UK’s main Muslim student groups, the ISA was founded to promote the philosophy of the leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini.”

Following the BBC exposure, UJS said: “The proscription of the IRGC is now more crucial than ever. We will be seeking urgent security assurances from the government.”

A former vice-president of the Board Gewolb currently chairs the of Deputies has confirmed that she is Board’s outreach education working standing for president of the organigroup and is deputy lieutanant of sation in its upcoming election. It will Greater London, with responsibility be the second run at the top job for Dr for the City of Westminster.

Sheila Gewolb, who first stood against She told Jewish News that whilst it incumbent Marie van der Zyl. would “have been easy to take a back The deputy for Cardiff United seat for the past three years, there Sheila Gewolb Synagogue who has a PhD in commuwas no way I was running away. nications, Gewolb was first elected as a Board Meanwhile, Jewish News understands that vice-president in 2015. After her failed presi- the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) is prodential bid six years ago, she was elected as posing to end the Board’s special status and senior vice-president before standing down in automatic position of a seat on its trustee body 2021 after her maximum two terms in post had when the current president’s term in office been reached. concludes.

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19

Marc Morris / Yemenite gift / News

One of the community’s most familiar faces, who spent decades working as a photographer for Jewish News and many other titles, has died at the age of 57.

Marc Morris, who grew up in Leytonstone and attended Simon Marks Jewish Primary School and JFS, died last week following a period of ill health, leaving behind his wife Nicola and daughter Elisheva.

Marc left school at 16 and trained as an electrical engineer before starting work at De Lane Lee recording studios in Soho.

While there he bought his first camera and found a new creative and artistic outlet.

He became a full-time photographer, combining his love of sport and photography, travelling the world to cover football, athletics and particularly boxing. He was lead photographer for Boxing News and a press photographer for international media outlets.

He also covered numerous international and European Maccabiahs.

In 2021 as the UK emerged from the Covid pandemic, Marc created

a moving series of photographs that followed people returning to synagogues after lockdown.

Wife Nicola told Jewish News: “Marc was always incredibly creative and intelligent. His greatest joy was his bike, his friends and especially watching any type of sport – especially Leyton Orient.

We are distraught at the loss of our husband, daddy and brother.

Marc had a massive heart, and we just can’t imagine our lives without him. We have been blown away by the response from, in

Marc with Nicola and Elisheva

particular, the Jewish footballing community and know how much he was loved and respected by so many people.”

Marc photographed countless matches in the Maccabi GB Southern Football League. A league spokesperson said: “Marc’s work was prominent in our handbooks, social media, match day programmes and promotional literature. We are deeply saddened by his loss.”

Israel’s National Library (NLI) has received an extraordinary gift: the world’s largest collection of Yemenite Jewish manuscripts. The donation comes from the family of Yehuda Levi Nahum, who collected the material, writes Jenni Frazer.

Nahum, known as Yuda, was born in Sana’a, Yemen, in 1915. He emigrated to Israel aged 14 and settled eventually in Tel Aviv, where he made a living as a butcher.

The rest of his time was spent amassing Yemenite manuscripts and fragments, a collection begun by manuscripts sent to him from Yemen by his parents, after he had expressed interest in learning about his heritage. Over six decades, from the early 1940s until his death in 1998, Nahum collected hundreds of complete works and thousands of fragments, some ancient and some modern.

After his parents arrived in Israel in 1949, he continued to collect manuscripts by visiting Yemenite Jews in the ma’abarot (immigrant and refugee absorption camps), and then the towns where they eventually settled.

The collection was kept at Nahum’s home in Holon, where scholars and Israeli presidents, such as Zalman Shazar and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, would

Photo by Ardon Bar-Hama

Tributes to much-loved MANUSCRIPTS GIFTED TO ISRAELI LIBRARY communal photographer

Manuscript in Judeo-Arabic from Yemen, 17th century

come to view it. Assisted by Prof Yosef Tobi of Haifa University and others, during his lifetime Nahum published some of the documents in several books which changed scholarly perceptions of Yemenite Jewry.

In addition to its size, the collection includes outstanding items such as Judeo-Yemenite copies of works

by Maimonides (the Rambam), and Rabbi Yihya Saleh (the Maharitz), well as antique ketubot (marriage certificates), with more discoveries expected as it is explored.

The timing of the presentation of the collection by the Nahum family was chosen as the Hebrew date Shevat 9 (18 January). That is the anniversary of the death of the great 17th century Yemenite poet and rabbi, Shalom Shabazi.

20 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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Special Report

The far-right’s exploitation of antisemitism

Nationalist movements aligning themselves with the Jewish community threaten our welfare and our values, says Adam Schwarz On 26 November 2023, tens of thousands assembled in London to march against the recent surge in antisemitism that has accompanied the Israel-Gaza war.

The march attracted a diverse coalition of attendees from different backgrounds, faiths and ages, who expressed solidarity with the UK Jewish community.

Briefly in attendance was Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, otherwise known as Tommy Robinson, one of the UK’s most prominent far-right English nationalists, who was arrested by police and charged with failing to comply with a section 35 direction excluding a person from an area.

Robinson’s arrest was precipitated by the explicit rejection of his attendance by organisers Campaign Against Antisemitism, who declared that Robinson and his “far-right thugs” were not welcome. It took place a day after a few hundred farright ‘activists’ clashed with police at the Cenotaph as they spuriously claimed to “defend” it from proPalestinian demonstrators.

While Robinson’s attempt to participate ultimately failed, the incident briefly brought the phenomenon of far-right claims of support for Jews to national attention. As I personally discovered after I hailed Robinson’s extraction from the event via X (formerly Twitter), far-right expressions of support for Jews thinly conceal calculated attempts to capitalise on communal tensions to advance extremist agendas.

Upon my rejection of Robinson, the far-right hand of ‘friendship’ to Jews instantaneously reverted to explicit antisemitism from some far-right associated accounts that replied. One account called me a “Kapo”, a reference to concentration camp prisoners assigned by the Nazis to conduct or supervise work, while another posted a cartoon of a Jewish caricature controlling the media. Other accounts questioned, based on my rejection of them, whether I was actually Jewish.

These responses venting the same prejudice that Robinson claims to oppose demonstrates the incoherence and divisions across

far-right groups and individuals over their attitude towards Jews. They also represent the inevitable tensions from attempting to reconcile an ideology with instinctive and long-established antisemitism with the rapprochement towards Jews advocated by some.

“A lot of British people will not help” Jews if we “turn on” Robinson, said one account among many that indicated their support was dependent upon Jewish endorsement of their backing. These responses mirrored the language of a toxic relationship, where the abuser’s support is conditional, and met with aggression when questioned and orchestrated through claims of dependency.

Yet, it was Islamophobic replies that were most revealing of the ideology, strategy and ultimate purpose of far-right exploitation of antisemitism. One account responded: “If anyone should be ‘Islamophobic’ it’s the Jewish population”. Another claimed: “Once the Muslims become the majority in the UK, the Jews will be the first to suffer.”

Freedom Party’s Geert Wilders

Far-right groups and individuals have “reframed Jewish people as a victim of an allegedly invading Muslim force”, says Hannah Rose, analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and PhD candidate, in her 2021 report The New Philosemitism: Exploring a Changing Relationship Between Jews and the Far-Right. They present all Muslims as subscribers of a “monolithic violent jihadist movement”. This enables the far‑right to “advance an Islamophobic agenda while presenting itself as supporting victims of racism”, the report notes.

This reframing has occurred amid a “broader [far-right] shift from ethnic to cultural nationalism, where the nation and its citizens are defined primarily in terms of a shared culture and history”.

This shift legitimises the role of Judaism in western society under “Judeo‑Christian culture” while relegating Islam by construing it as a threat.

The far-right’s rationale for this altered attitude towards Jews is further guided and reinforced by its polarised view of Israel, Zionism and the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the report explains. This has been most vividly demonstrated in recent years by the brandishing of Israeli flags at English nationalist rallies.

“By redefining Zionism as an inherently anti‑Muslim ideology, which sees a Europeanised idealisation of Israel defend itself from its Muslim neighbours, the European radical right has been able to claim support for Zionism and Israel”, Rose notes. As Robinson himself claimed in 2015: “If Israel falls, we all fall in this battle for freedom, liberty and democracy.”

Rose told Jewish News how this perspective of events in the Middle East had been cultivated by the far-left and far-right “building off each other’s views”, where discourse is dominated by hyper-polarised narratives. This explains any increase in such far-right activities since 7 October, which Rose added had “reshaped the landscape from extremist movements”.

While it is important not to overstate the significance of trollish social media narratives, Rose warns of the accessibility of digital content, noting that “the online and the offline are increasingly difficult to separate”. She added that an increasing emphasis upon grassroots far-right activism means that it is “important to look at not just which groups and parties are popular, but which far-right narratives are popular and how they made their way into the mainstream”.

The 7 October attacks have served as a catalyst across Europe for the deployment of these narra-

Tommy Robinson was arrested at the UK March Against Antisemitism

tives by far-right and authoritarian populist political parties and figures.

The Alternative for Germany party – which has itself been embroiled in antisemitism scandals – has warned of “imported antisemitism” from Muslim immigrants. In Paris, a week before the London march, Marine Le Pen – who has long railed against Muslim migration – joined a protest against antisemitism that attracted 100,000 attendees. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned at an EU summit to discuss the Gaza war that there is a “very clear link between terrorist acts and migration”. Geert Wilders has even partly attributed his Party for Freedom topping the polls in last November’s Dutch elections to sentiments from the 7 October attacks.

While some political parties have capitalised on these narratives, Dave Rich, head of policy for the Community Security Trust, told Jewish News that the farright were not seeking to hijack Jewish organisations to project their agendas. “I don’t think there is much evidence of the far-right actually trying (much less succeeding) to infiltrate existing activities in the Jewish community to oppose antisemitism,” he said.

Where the far-right have attempted to embed themselves with Jewish activism on antisemitism, they have been consistently rebuffed by officials. “The far-right

often attempts to capitalise on tensions between minorities as an opportunity to spew their own bigoted hatred” and would “never be allies of the Jewish community”, a spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism told Jewish News.

It’s evident that far-right movements competing for state power are not dependent on Jewish organisational platforms to exploit antisemitism. Other smaller groups and individuals feel emboldened to capitalise on the issue without Jewish approval. This presents reputational risks for Jewish-led mainstream opposition to antisemitism, with the potential for loss of control over messaging.

Yet, it is the far-right’s overall ideological mission that ultimately compromises long-term Jewish welfare. Despite accepting Jews into their vision of society, the far-right’s selective tolerance that arbitrarily legitimises the presence of some minorities at the expense of excluding others will inevitably erode the societal conditions that have fostered the long-term welfare of Jews.

As British Jews approach International Holocaust Memorial Day feeling besieged, isolated and vulnerable, we are reminded that defining parameters for discourse on antisemitism is not just a right but an obligation.

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25 January 2024 Jewish News

21

22 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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23

Cultured meat / Apprentice contestant / News

Israel approves ‘lab’ meat

by Candice Krieger candice@jewishnews.co.uk

Israel will soon become the first country where you can eat lab-grown beef after Aleph Farms received regulatory approval in the form of a “no questions” letter from the country’s Ministry of Health for the sale of its product.

The Rehovot based company Aleph Farms announced this week that it been given the the green light, which will pave the way for marketing its cultivated beef in Israel. It is estimated that the company’s first ‘petit’ steak, will reach restaurants later this year, and then for food service and retail.

Aleph, which counts Leonardo DiCaprio among its investors, is believed to be the first company to receive this kind of approval.

The cellular agriculture company’s products are made from starter cells that come from a fertilised egg, sourced from a premium Black Angus cow named Lucy. From a onetime collection of Lucy’s fertilised egg, Aleph Farms can grow thousands of tons of cultivated meat without engineering or immortalising cells, avoiding harming the animal and acting as part of an inclusive solution for sustainable and secure food systems.

While the news is a milestone, Aleph cofounder and CEO Didier Toubia said it would not be right to celebrate given the current geopolitical situation in the region.

Announcing the news on LinkedIn, he said the “milestone isn’t solely a triumph for a just and inclusive transition in animal agriculture; it also stands as a tribute to humanity’s

Aleph Farms co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia

resilience and our collective pursuit of a brighter tomorrow.

“Join us to uncelebrate this huge achievement of our team to make the world a better place. As we begin to see the impact of this approval, our thoughts extend to those grappling with hardship and turmoil in our region.

Some people on our team and their family members are directly involved, including by risking their lives fighting for freedom and democracy.

“Therefore, it wouldn’t be appropriate to celebrate. The time is not right. When everyone is back home safe, we’ll give a toast to the women and men working hard every day to deliver #NoMatterWhat. In the meantime, we uncelebrate and give credit to the visionary team members, partners, investors, and supporters who embarked on our journey to make the world a better place. We’ve been able to deliver this milestone for cellular agriculture – designing and making cultivated beef steaks from cow cells – because we’ve been able to count on you.”

Toubia paid tribute to those who had

APPRENTICE CANDIDATE REPEATS HIS VILE SLURS Asif took part in specialised A contestant on the new training to understand why his season of The Apprentice, posts may cause offence. We who issued an apology via the are committed to providing BBC for posting anti-Jewish an inclusive environment on slurs on social media before and off screen.” Despite this, appearing on the show, this Munaf took to social media on week doubled down on his Monday to relaunch his tirade offensive remarks, writes against the ‘Zionist lobby” and Michelle Rosenberg. post messages of support for Dr Asif Munaf, a medical Wahid Shaida, the UK head doctor who offers a “bespoke of newly outlawed Islamist vitamin and supplement Dr Asif Munaf group Hizb ut-Tahrir. range” on his website, said Munaf is set to appear in the 18th series of sorry for “any offence caused” after claiming “the Zionist PR machine is slimy” and refer- The Apprentice, which airs from 1 February.

Candidates compete in a series of tasks to win encing “the Zionist antichrist”.

He also posted the question: “Have you financial support for their own business idea ever met even a semi-average looking Zionist? from Jewish entrepreneur Sir Alan Sugar.

A statement from Munaf provided by the Aren’t they all odiously ogre-like?” and made press team behind the TV series said: “I apolodisparaging comments about Hindus.

A spokesperson for The Apprentice said: gise for any offence caused by my online con“After filming had taken place, we were made tent/social media. It was not my intention aware of concerns over social media posts that to offend anyone and I am, of course, open to Asif had made after he had left the process. all views. The beliefs I hold and have shared As soon as we were alerted, we took imme- are based on the values that I was brought up diate action and spoke to Asif in detail on this. with.”

submitted an application to the Food helped during the review process Standards Agency to launch Aleph and added the company “remains cuts in the UK. steadfast in diversifying sustainHadar Huberman, clean able sources of animal proteins growth lead at the UK Israel Tech and fats as part of efforts to forHub team at the British Embassy, tify global food systems. At this told Jewish News: “The British juncture, we acknowledge that Hadar Huberman Embassy in Israel had identified the our strides in cellular agriculture opportunity between the countries are only in their infancy. We believe on Novel Food regulation and adoption. The that cultivated beef, as an application of cellular agriculture, is key for longer-term scale- UK regulator, the Food Standards Agency, has been going through massive rethinking up and acceptance.”

Ziva Hamama, food risk management and reshaping processes in recent years, to department director at the Health Ministry, explore new paths of novel food regulations, said: “This regulatory milestone, the first of in order to keep Great Britain ahead of the its kind worldwide, reflects a comprehensive curve in the matter.

“In June 2023, we hosted a senior delassessment of crucial factors, from toxicology and allergens to nutritional composition, egation from the FSA, led by Prof Robin May, microbiological safety, and chemical safety chief scientific adviser, to Israel. The delegates met with Dr Ziva Hamama from the throughout the entire production process.”

Cultivated meat, grown from animal cells Israeli Ministry of Health, who shared about in a lab, has been gathering interest and pop- her methodology in working with foodtech ularity globally as a way to sidestep the envi- startups. Around the time of the visit, Aleph ronmental impact of the meat industry and Farms had applied to the FSA for approval, in order to enter the UK market, as it marks it as address concerns over animal welfare.

Last year, Aleph Farms received a kosher a global early adopter for novel foods.

“We hope the milestone set by the Israeli nod from The Chief Rabbi of Israel, David Baruch Lau, who deemed its cultivated thin- regulator will open new doors for novel food cut beef steak kosher, a decision that opens trade between the two countries, increasing the door for a full kosher certificate ahead economic growth and partnership opportuniof its market launch. The company has also ties for the years to come.”

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24 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO. VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

1351

Shabbat comes in Friday night 4.24pm

Shabbat goes out Saturday night 5.31pm

Sedra: Beshalach

Revisionism harms victims Rachel Grunwald, self-styled “cultural leader”, writes that “our ability to hold and champion difference and disagreement is our most valuable quality”, coyly omitting as long as it’s her way, as when Na’amod, the “progressive” group, sought out the secret venue of a UK Lawyers for Israel meeting hosting an Israeli speaker not to their liking.

Instead of taking part in reasoned argument inside, they stood outside for two hours with loudspeakers to drown out the meeting, and then bellowed “shame on you” at close range as participants left.

There are many such instances of their

bullying stunts, based on their ignorance of international law, and malevolence towards the idea of Israel as a Jewish state.

Writing that the people who feel “the grief and pain of the past 75 years will cling to it unless the story changes beyond recognition”, she is advocating historical revisionism in favour of those intent on destroying us. The Nakba is the ‘catastrophe’ our enemies describe as their failure to do just that, a stated aim that is ongoing today.

Ms Grunwald’s motivation isn’t a desire to foster cohesion and love but rather a cynical exercise in throwing victims of terrorism under the bus.

James R Windsor, Ilford

OPINION WAS JUST DRIVEL SUPPORT FOR BOARD ROLE This is the first time I have read an article in Jewish News that is utter drivel. Rachel Grunwald, a “cultural leader” writing about “A valuable conceptual space…” This type of nonsensical, post-modern claptrap is brilliantly sent up

by Howard Jacobson in The Finkler Question. She has the audacity to call for “diversity of opinion” when the left smashes all debate and relies on repeated slogans and downright lies. Recently, three Jewish students who tried to take part in an anti-Israel debate at the university of Cardiff were shouted down with chants of “f*** off out of my face”.

The leftists then tried to attack them and they had to be escorted out for their safety. Please, no more of Ms Grunwald and her nonsense; she can add to the chorus of left-wing rubbish in the Guardian and stay out of Jewish News.

Gary S Soska, Crouch Hill

SHAME ON LINEKER Shame on Gary Lineker for associating himself with the outrageous and provocative request for Israel to be banned from international football. He has not only crossed the line of decency but it is tantamount to defending the barbaric atrocities carried out by Hamas on 7 October, which, among his many pronouncements, he has yet to condemn.

Stephen Vishnick, Tel Aviv

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Charity number

This Saturday, 27 January, Holocaust Memorial Day, marks 10 years exactly since David Cameron, then prime minister, made a speech at Downing Street to launch the Holocaust Commission. He announced that the commission would have the “sacred and vital task” of ensuring Britain has a permanent, fitting memorial to the Holocaust and educational resources for future generations, telling the room of 50 survivors: “We will not let you down.”

This newspaper has been a strong supporter of the project, as have the UK’s main communal institutions, including the Board of Deputies, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the Holocaust Educational Trust. The aim of erecting a memorial within the lifetime of the last survivors is noble and just.

Ten years on, however, the project is still on the drawing board. Furthermore, it is being challenged in a series of hearings in the House of Commons.

This week and last, MPs on the Holocaust Memorial Bill select committee heard evidence from architects, a terrorism expert and from members of the group Save Victoria Tower Gardens: the public park next to the Palace of Westminster is the proposed site for a memorial and learning centre.

Those connected with the gardens’ Buxton Memorial Fountain, dedicated to the parliamentarians and others who fought to abolish slavery, have expressed concern about the size and location of the plans for a Holocaust memorial so close by.

Yesterday, adding to their evidence, was that of four survivors, the eldest of them 98-year-old Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a former inmate of Auschwitz, who travelled to the Commons to make their objections heard.

This newspaper believes that a fitting national memorial to the Holocaust is indeed a sacred and vital task. It also believes that it would be a mistake to build a memorial that is resented by its neighbours, and by survivors themselves.

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I’m writing to support the candidacy of Philip Rosenberg as the next president of the Board of Deputies.

Although I am no longer a member of the Board, I have served in the past and thus became aware of Philip and his remarkable contribution to its work.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Philip would be an excellent president. He combines that experience of the Board with a knowledge of how the political system works.

I was so impressed with his courageous stand against antisemitism in the Labour Party and, although we do not always agree on political issues, I believe him to be ideally qualified for a generational change during these challenging times for our community, particularly the students and young people who are at the forefront of the battle.

David Sumberg Former MP for Bury South

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Opinion

What’s the future for UK Muslim-Jewish relations?

FIYAZ MUGHAL

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, FAITH MATTERS & TELL MAMA

T

he first I came to know about the events of 7 October was when I got a text from a friend saying that Hamas had entered Israel in the hundreds. I was half-asleep when I read the text and thought he was either joking or that he had delved into a conspiracy website overnight, or was just playing a prank on me. How I wish this was the case.

The reality was truly dreadful, a sort of realisation of Dante’s various stages of hell, but I am also mindful of the anti-Muslim nature of Dante’s work in this manner.

Over the past 13 weeks, so many people have despaired at the level of violence. The brutal murders of people going about their lives in southern Israel, the attacks on the kibbutzim communities, the horrendous gender-based attacks on Israeli women that have led to serious traumas and the national acute existential threat trauma that was felt after 7 October;

this national trauma was based on Israel and its citizens feeling vulnerable and unable to stop attacks by Hamas, the Islamist group that has been in control of Gaza for more than a decade.

I have felt the deep lows of despair, a pain I can only describe as spiritual distress and a knowledge that, since 7 October, relations between British Muslim and Jewish communities have been thoroughly reset. This reset is nothing near what it was before, even though it was not particularly great after the earthquakes of previous Israel and Gaza conflicts.

The reset has meant deep distrust has set in, which is based on why neither community has openly condemned the actions of Hamas and acknowledgement of the pain of many Israelis, or the brutal and substantive killing of more than 10,000 Palestinian children by the Israeli government – let alone their mothers.

While some may not like the choice of the term ‘brutal’, the fact is that Israel’s campaign in Gaza has flattened it and the brutality of the killing has been shocking. Also shocking has been the brutality and blood-thirstiness of Hamas in their invasion of Israel. These facts cannot be hidden or disputed. Both

Hamas and the Israeli government’s actions have been brutal and inhumane.

While I believe Israel had every right to militarily respond to the invasion by Hamas, world opinion would have been carried along with it through a targeted, focused and measured campaign. I would even go so far as to say the government of Israel should have employed its targeted assassination campaign against Hamas’ leaders, as it has done previously. Yet it chose to bulldoze Gaza – literally – and, in doing so, it has lost much of that initial support.

Indeed, Islamist extremists have used the pain of Gaza to further draw people to their ideology.

I have found myself reflecting on the horrendous pictures and stories of those kidnapped Israelis who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who can forget images of the young women handcuffed, blood covering their jogging bottoms, looking traumatised, dishevelled and with their eyes dilated by the adrenaline surge comings from fear of a brutal death.

My sense of despair, like that of many of you reading this, has turned to anger, and then back to despair. Twelve weeks of flitting between these polarised emotions, seeing pictures of the

kidnapped Israelis, the bodies of dead Israelis and young Palestinian children, some of whom were carried in plastic bags by their parents, has emotionally drained me. I cried with rage over the lack of control I felt when I saw pictures of brothers and sisters laid out on the floor of a Palestinian hospital with their clothing burnt to a crisp. They did not even have the dignity of a clean floor for their final moments.

I simply do not know what the future will hold for British Muslim and Jewish relations.

There will be much mistrust and a desire not to talk about the conflict when in each other’s company. But by pushing these issues under the carpet only extremists gain. They continue to have purpose and clarity in capturing souls that they can use for conflict.

If there is to be any healing, we need years of talking and the development of an environment where we can be honest and not fear being treated like outcasts if we raise difficult things.

We also need to create the safe spaces to listen to each other, however hard that may be.

However, I fear that in today’s weaponised social media world, honesty can be turned into ‘attack points’. Let us hope I am wrong.

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Opinion

Israelis are in mourning but they will dance again CHRISTIAN WAKEFORD MP

VICE-CHAIR, LABOUR FRIENDS OF ISRAEL

L

ast year I visited Israel with a group of Labour parliamentary colleagues. Towards the end of our trip we travelled to the south of the country, having a relaxed lunch with residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza. It was impossible not to be aware of the security threat: we were briefed on the terror tunnels Hamas had attempted to dig close to the border and talked to the kibbutzniks about the ever-present danger of rocket attacks.

Nonetheless, it was also impossible to imagine the terrible fate that would befall the kibbutz in the early hours of 7 October; the devastating aftermath of which I saw for myself last week on a LFI solidarity delegation.

It’s easy to mistake Kfar Aza’s burned-out streets and homes raised to the ground for a war zone. However, this wasn’t the scene of a battle, but of a well-planned and ruthlessly-executed

massacre. Surprised as they slept, the residents had no chance to defend themselves.

The Hamas terrorists – who had been training for months – knew their target well: first, they murdered the local mayor before swiftly racing to the storehouse that housed the residents’ defensive weapons.

They had also honed fiendishly sickening tactics. Young parents were butchered, but their newly-born babies left alive so their cries might draw in soldiers and rescuers who were then themselves murdered. Miraculously, the babies survived; tragically, they are orphans.

We entered a house that was strafed with grenades, its walls pockmarked by shrapnel shells. The only remains of the young couple who lived here were found on the sofa, which have now been taken away and buried.

Other border communities suffered similar brutality. So, too, did the young people who had gathered to party at the Nova music festival.

In Tel Aviv, I visited an exhibition telling the story of the festival and the appalling events that unfolded there. The contrast between the joyous ethos that underpinned the festival and the barbarity inflicted on the

young party-goers is near-unbearable. The exhibition contains burned-out cars, portable toilets riddled with bullet holes and notes left in memory of murdered friends. Our guide, a survivor who had helped to organise the festival, told us she lost so many friends in those few bloody hours she had to choose which of their funerals to attend.

Like many of the kibbutzim, the festival was the scene of Hamas’ campaign of mass rape, torture and murder of women. We spoke with experts on sexual violence who are horrified, not only by the evidence that has been gathered but by the silence with which it has been met outside of Israel.

We met with some of the families of the more than 100 hostages Hamas are still holding.

British-Israeli Ayelet Svatitzky told us how she called her 79-year-old mother, Channah Peri, to warn her terrorists had infiltrated Kibbutz Nirim. As they spoke, Ayelet heard men speaking English with Arabic accents burst into the room. She called her brother, Nadav Popplewell, who also lived at the kibbutz.

Hamas seized both Channah and Nadav .

While Channah was released in Novem-

ber’s humanitarian pause, Nadav, who is also a British citizen, is still in Gaza. Ayelet’s eldest brother, Roi, was shot and killed behind his home at the kibbutz. She says that, still consumed by fear and worry about Nadav, the family hasn’t yet been able to properly mourn the loss of Roi. Israel’s enemies will continue to attempt to deny, justify or minimise the events of 7 October – or distract from them by confecting false charges of genocide and resurrecting ancient blood libels against the Jewish people.

We will not allow these lies and slurs to erase the reality of the terrible trauma which Israelis suffered. Nor will we allow a simple truth to be obscured: that Israel is right to destroy Hamas’ political and military power and prevent those who are ideologically driven to murder Jews from having the capacity to do so again.

But amid the harrowing accounts and scenes from last week, I also witnessed something remarkable: hope for the future. At the Nova exhibition, we repeatedly saw the message: “We will dance again.”

A reminder of the resilience of the Israeli people. I have no doubt they will.

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Opinion

What luck – the UK has so many Israel experts ANDREW FREEDMAN

CORPORATE AND FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER

I

n the run-up to Britain’s referendum on membership of the European Union, Michael Gove, then lord chancellor, declared that “this country has had enough of experts”.

To say experts have made a comeback would be an understatement. Today, we live in a country – and indeed a world – of them, whether an epidemiologist (Covid), constitutional scholar (prorogation of parliament – remember that?) or specialist in international humanitarian law (Israel).

Forgetting social media and its Wild West of an editorial code, media outlets and their guests whatever their background or pedigree tend to be a jurisprudential scholar, war studies professor or a moral philosopher.

What luck for Israel. Day after day,

journalists and pundits bandy about weighty terms to add heft to their argument: Israel is exhorted to abide by international law. Sometimes “humanitarian” is thrown in for good measure.

People who do not hold Israeli citizenship, pay no taxes to the state and have never have set foot on the travelator at Ben Gurion are asked to opine on issues pertinent to a sovereign state. These are issues on which citizens who pay taxes and send their children to the army do have an informed right to express their opinion.

A member of parliament said recently in a tone similar to a headmaster berating a wayward pupil that Israel has been given too much leeway in its military activity and it must abide by international humanitarian law to which it is a signatory. I’m sure this person’s expertise in asymmetric military warfare comes in handy with local surgeries in the constituency.

His words epitomised how the world appears to treat Israel: like the wayward

❝

IF NO ONE PURPORTS TO BE AN EXPERT ON HOSTAGES THEN THE CAPTIVES BECOME AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

pupil. Everyone knows what’s best – if only the pupil would listen to the teacher.

The number of innocent Gazans who have died continues to vary depending upon the level of outrage of the speaker.

But of course, casualties do happen in war.

And each one is a tragedy. Isn’t the saddest logical conclusion of any warfare that innocents will die? War is not a hermeneutically sealed experiment.

Idealised conditions belong to the textbook and the training ground. That is the sad but inevitable result of the attacks by

Hamas’ on 7 October. What sovereign state could not respond militarily? What sovereign state could not continue to fulfil its sacred obligation to bring its citizens home from captivity?

The most recent iteration of experts are those who opine on the Genocide Convention. While some blithely accuse Israel of genocide, there are those who try to demonstrate some sort of fairness by paying lip service to Israel’s plight.

These are the ones who talk about the “clearly awful”, “shocking”, “deplorable” actions by Hamas.

But what they tend to forget about while ostensibly defending Israel is the hostages held in Gaza. Remember them? We do.

All 236 or so of them.

And if nobody purports to be an expert on the captivity of innocent men, women and children by terrorists, then the hostages become an inconvenient truth, collectively bearing living testimony to the horrors Hamas has wrought.

And who wants to hear about that?

A Lineker-free weekend – it should be permanent CHARLOTTE HENRY MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY JOURNALIST

G

ary Lineker did not present Match of the Day last weekend.

The presenter was on a conveniently timed supposedly preplanned break and former Lioness Alex Scott stepped in.

Such moves are apparently planned weeks in advance, and it is certainly true that BBC’s iPlayer names Scott as the presenter, although, in theory it could have updated this at any time. A preview in Radio Times also named Scott as the stand in, although Lineker was listed on the TV schedule it provides.

Either way, Lineker is scheduled to return as usual this weekend, when the Premier League once again has a full slate of matches after its (sort of ) winter break. That is also reflected in TV guides.

This is a risible decision given the former England star retweeted (then deleted) a call from a BDS campaign group that Israel be banned from international football competi-

tion until its war with Hamas has ended.

The BBC decided that sharing this online does not constitute a breach of its updated social media guidelines and will allow Lineker to return to our screens as if nothing has happened.

These guidelines, lest we forget, were updated in September largely for Lineker and as a result of the issues he caused by sharing his political opinions online. Reports elsewhere suggest other BBC colleagues are rather fed up with his digital antics.

Laughably, Lineker apparently thought his latest online outburst was about football and not political. I cannot quite fathom how he thought something originally posted by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott wasn’t political, but anyway.

Ultimately, this decision is not going to VAR and it seems he will face no obvious sanction. Instead, Lineker had a quiet weekend off and then will be slipping seamlessly back into his exceptionally highly-paid presenter’s chair.

The BBC policy, however, seems to suggest a different outcome could have been reached. It states: “Everyone who works

for the BBC should ensure their activity on social media platforms does not compromise the perception of or undermine the impartiality and reputation of the BBC, nor their own professional impartiality or reputation and/or otherwise undermine trust in the BBC.” It continues by explaining that “those presenting flagship programmes on the BBC carry a particular responsibility to help to balance commitments to both freedom of expression and impartiality, because of their profile on the BBC”.

The rules make clear both that this extends to personal and professional use of social media and that Match of the Day is one of those flagship programmes. It calls for adherence to the rules while a season of a flagship programme is running, as MOTD currently is. Retweeting a post by a BDS group is very far from impartial.

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The guidance does state that presenters such as Lineker “are free to express opinions about the issues that matter to you. This includes issues that may be the subject of public and political debate.” The idea here was that Chris Packham, for instance, could continue to raise environmental issues. Yet Carol Vorderman was let go from her BBC Wales presenting role as she refused to stop sharing political opinions.

Furthermore, if Lineker was so confident he hadn’t contravened the guidance why did he undo the retweet? There can be no doubt his behaviour threatened perceptions of BBC impartiality during a fraught time in the Middle East and for Jews in the UK. The BBC may have got lucky in getting Gary Lineker out of the firing line last weekend, but it has been cowardly in not showing him a red card once and for all.

THERE’S NO DOUBT HIS BEHAVIOUR THREATENS PERCEPTIONS OF BBC IMPARTIALITY

30 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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Opinion

We can draw strength from our ambassadors KAREN POLLOCK

CHIEF EXECUTIVE, HOLOCAUST EDUCATIONAL TRUST

R

abbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said: “To us, recollection is a holy act; we sanctify the present by remembering the past. To us Jews, the essence of faith is memory. To believe is to remember.”

Living in Frankfurt, Heschel had gained both his semicha and a doctorate when he was arrested by the Nazis and deported to Poland, the country of his birth. Only six weeks before the outbreak of the war, he fled Poland and found his way to America. Unfortunately, his mother and three sisters remained in Poland and were murdered by the Nazis.

Heschel built a life for himself in America and became a leading light for his adopted country. He was described by Martin Luther King Jr as "a truly great prophet” and was a participant in the marches for civil rights.

Heschel was right about many things: the need to stand up and speak out, the

equality of humankind, and what remembrance means to the Jewish people. It’s something I’m struck by this Holocaust Memorial Day as genocidal antisemitism again blights the world.

In the just over 100 days since the 7 October attacks by Hamas, despite being surrounded by community I have, like many of us, often felt alone. The friends who didn’t reach out, the acquaintances known for decades sharing misinformed posts on social media, the people who should know better but display sympathy for only one side of the story. And while there were many who did make contact and express solidarity, it is in the Holocaust Educational Trust young ambassadors that I draw huge strength.

Young people, who have chosen to spend their time learning the history of the past, sharing the testimonies of survivors, sanctifying the present, as Heschel suggests.

At our reception in parliament last week, one young ambassador, Meg, shared how the Trust has inspired her to become a teacher.

She will take what she has heard from survivors and seen at the remains of the killing

❝

THE DANGERS OF ANTISEMITISM WILL BE FOREVER CALLED OUT, DESPITE THE BILE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

machine of Auschwitz-Birkenau and share it all with future generations, who won’t be able to hear the first-hand testimony of survivors.

She was joined at that event by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, multiple members of the Cabinet, including secretary ofsState Michael Gove and the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. Celebrities, parliamentarians, HET ambassadors with HET supporters packed the room. They all listened to Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg BEM share his harrowing testimony and will long heed his warning about online hate.

And, on one of the busiest days in parlia-

ment, the Speaker even took time to meet the survivors who feature in the exhibition he sponsored in parliament, curated by HET. It is all this that gives strength and hope.

As do the tens of thousands of young people who this week heard from survivor Hedi Argent MBE in conversation with Natasha Kaplinsky OBE, as they were streamed into classrooms the length and breadth of the country.

This week, survivors in their eighties and nineties spoke to schools, FTSE companies and communities. They gave interviews, determined to share their testimonies wherever possible.

This is why Heschel was right. The essence of the Jewish community is memory. We’ve taken tens of thousands of young people on that journey of memory with the HETs governmentfunded Lessons from Auschwitz project. They, like our community, are committed to memory.

That’s why I know that the memory of the Holocaust is in good hands, and the dangers of antisemitism will be forever called out, despite the bile on social media or on our streets today.

Because together, we remember. And we heed the warnings from the past.

Our freedom comes at the price of vigilance LAURA MARKS CHAIR, HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY TRUST

E

‘

verything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way’ wrote Viktor Frankl.

His words hold a powerful truth: even in extreme adversity, we retain the ability to choose how we respond. This is especially poignant in the context of Frankl's own experiences: the Austrian-born Holocaust survivor was incarcerated for three years in four concentration camps, including Auschwitz.

He experienced firsthand the depths of human suffering inflicted by Nazi cruelty. He saw possessions stolen, freedoms obliterated, and human dignity trampled upon.

Yet, amidst the darkness, he also observed acts of extraordinary resilience: prisoners sharing their meagre rations, offering words of comfort to each other, choosing hope over despair, and dignity over humiliation.

His statement is informed by this experience and reflects an awareness of human

capacity for both cruelty and resilience.

The ability to find meaning and purpose amid unimaginable suffering was crucial for Frankl's own survival and would become a central plank of his approach to life after the Holocaust. By asserting that even the most oppressive circumstances cannot take away our inner freedom, he offers hope to those enduring persecution, such as the Uyghur Muslims facing persecution in China and the victims of the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

But I also see his words as a challenge to those of us who live with relative freedom.

They implore us to consider our own responsibility in standing up for freedom.

We can choose to speak out and take a stand against injustice or to look the other way. History reminds us that remaining silent in the face of oppression can embolden the oppressors; the suffering of millions under the Nazis is a stark reminder of this. In a world often focused on individual pursuits, indifference is the easy option, especially when the pain of others feels far removed.

However, true freedom necessitates actively opposing injustice wherever it may arise.

Our theme for this Holocaust Memorial Day – The Fragility of Freedom – compels us to recognise that freedom is a delicate

gift that demands constant vigilance. The dismantling of personal freedoms is never an overnight event, but a calculated process.

The Nazis were deliberate in their use of propaganda to manipulate public opinion, fan the flames of hatred, and scapegoat specific groups. The Jews bore the brunt of this malicious campaign, their persecution rooted in centuries of antisemitism.

In Rwanda, Hutu nationalist radio stations flooded the airwaves with hateful rhetoric, calling Tutsis ‘cockroaches’ and ‘snakes’, chipping away at their human dignity and paving the way for mass murder in 1994.

Millions of people around the world today are fighting for their freedoms. Whether it is freedom of speech, movement, religion, or association, these liberties are the bedrock of a just and successful society.

Each generation bears the responsibility of upholding the values of freedom and handing them to the next. That is why we must reflect on the lessons of the past and defend our freedoms at every opportunity.

Standing up for freedom demands more than mere remembrance. It requires active engagement, a refusal to be bystanders in the face of injustice. It means speaking out against discrimination, challenging

prejudice wherever it rears its ugly head, and defending the rights of all, regardless of who they are. Standing up for freedom means defending human dignity.

The ongoing violence taking place in Israel and Palestine is appalling and the loss of civilian life is heart-breaking.

The impact is being felt here with incidents of both antisemitism and Islamophobia at an all-time high. Extremists have seized on the conflict, blaming and committing hate crimes against these two faith communities right here in the UK. Now, more than ever, is a critically important time to strengthen our resolve to stand up for the freedom of each other, not just our own.

As co-founder of Nisa-Nashim (‘women’ in both Arabic and Hebrew), a Jewish Muslim women’s network, we build relationships between communities and stand together against hatred.

I believe passionately in the freedom to live a Jewish, Muslim or any other life free from prejudice or harm.

Well aware that no individual can change things alone, I know it requires all of us to stand up for freedom for all people everywhere. Freedom is not a free lunch. It comes at a price, and that price is eternal vigilance.

25 January 2024 Jewish News

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31

Community / Scene & Be Seen MENTAL 1MUSICAL HEALTH SHABBAT

Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue kicked off Jami’s annual Mental Health Shabbat with the launch of a Shirah sheBaLev ‘Song of the Heart’ service, followed by a chavurah style ‘bring and share’ dinner. This service was led by members of the community and included a focus on the synagogue’s ‘Let’s Talk’ mental health initiative, which was introduced in February 2020.

And be seen!

IN ISRAEL 2CRISIS CONCERT BY THE SEA

The latest news, pictures and social events from across the community

On Sunday 7 January, Bournemouth Community Hebrew Congregation welcomed 200 guests to a fundraising concert, with performances by Rabbi Lionel Rosenfeld, Chazan Jonny Turgel and Stephen Levy, Conductor-Laureate of the Shabbaton Choir. The event raised more than £10,000, which is to be split between Metiv – Peace of Mind – the Israel Psychotrauma Centre and UJIA for the victims of terrorism.

Email us at community@jewishnews.co.uk

OF APPROVAL 3CHORUS IN WOODFORD Woodford Forest synagogue was delighted to host Chazan Jonny Turgel for a Shabbat service. Nearly one hundred people enjoyed the evening of music, as Jonny sang alongside the shul’s Rabbi Wollenberg playing on piano. A recent addition to Friday night services is to host a guest speaker followed by a whisky kiddish. The previous week, the shul was joined by Arieh Miller, chief executive, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS).

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13 AT SUPPER 4LUCKY QUIZ IN HAMPSTEAD

Hampstead Synagogue held a hugely successful supper quiz, raising £1,600 through a raffle for the MyIsrael charity. More than 140 tickets were sold for the event and 13 teams completed to win. The team named Lucky 13 was eventually crowned 2024 champions. Monies raised will support animal therapy sessions and materials for art therapy sessions.

Mazal tov to all!

5

FAITH GROUPS LEAD SILENT PEACE WALK

Faith groups came together in a silent contemplative Peace Walk in London on Sunday 21 January. With more than 30 ongoing conflicts around the world, the vigil was aimed at transcending religious and cultural boundaries. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and many others joined the walk from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square and back. Without flags, placards, slogans or chants, the 1,000 diverse participants, including children and young people, carried hand-made white flowers as a symbol of peace.

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32 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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Inside A look

Voice of Golda, p34 Sedra, p37 Leap Of Faith, p38

ZONED OUT

O

Jonathan Glazer

ur house has subsidence.

It’s bang, bang, BANG from dawn ‘til dusk as the builders fix wonky floors, leaky pipes and cracked walls. Working from home, I’ve nailed the knack of tuning out the din to the point where, writing this, I’m more attuned to the dull tap-tap-tap on my keyboard than deafening drill-clank-thud all around.

Our capacity to consciously ignore what’s under our nose if it offends our eyes and ears – if it lies outside our zone of interest – is pushed beyond breaking point in Jonathan Glazer’s unflinching new film.

Childhood sweethearts Rudolph (played

by Christian Friedel) and Hedwig Höss (Sandra Hüller) and their five carefree children live “the life we’ve always wanted”, waited on hand and foot in a palatial home with a manicured garden, replete with a greenhouse and swimming pool. Theirs is truly a life of domestic bliss.

There’s just one hitch: location, location, location. The Hösses live next door to hell. On the other side of the barbed-wired garden wall lies Auschwitz, where Rudolph commutes to work each morning as its remorselessly efficient commandant.

One side is fragrant with lilacs and resonates with the children’s laughter, the other reeks of burning flesh and echoes with the cacophony of gunfire and screams.

The physical distance between the two is a mere metre, yet Olympian feats of mental acrobatics expands the psychological distance to infinity.

Lightly based on Martin Amis’ mesmerising 2014 novel of the same name, The Zone of Interest is a spine-chilling psychoanalysis of a doting father who tenderly tucks his children into bed and warmly bids them farewell each morning, before clocking in for another shift as overseer of Auschwitz.

“When I first visited Auschwitz, I was

Our capacity to ignore what’s under our nose if it offends our eyes and ears ­– if it lies outside our zone of interest – is tested beyond breaking point in Jonathan Glazer’s unflinching new film about the commandant of Auschwitz, writes Richard Ferrer struck by the proximity of the Höss house,” British director Jonathan Glazer, who has been nominated for the best director Oscar for the film, told an audience at a preview screening for the Weiner Holocaust Library last week. “I saw the wall from the garden and camp sides. The prisoners would have heard the Hoss children enjoying summer days splashing around in the pool on the other side of the wall. The wall crystallised for me how we should tell this story.”

The film opens with an oppressive two-minute black screen, accompanied by ghostly choral music – a technique reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s transition

from colour to black and white at the start of Schindler’s List that drags the audience kicking and screaming into the director’s dystopia. The soundtrack is slowly punctuated by the gentle chirping of birds before the blackness relents to reveal a tranquil riverside scene – the Höss family basking in the summer sun.

“Nettles! Be careful,” Hedwig caringly cautions her children, as they make their way back home. Heaven forbid one might suffer a nasty rash. The matriarch who takes great pride in her nickname “The Queen of Auschwitz” is a devoted mother.

Hedwig’s mother comes to stay, sharing

her concern for the well-being of a fellow passenger she saw faint on the train. Later, Hedwig advises her to wrap up warmly to endure the harsh winter in Oswiecim.

Rudolf takes one of his sons for a horse ride as the distant cries of prisoners echo in the background. The curious child turns to his father and asks, “Did you hear that…?

It’s a grey heron.” The Hösses, like their neighbours, live in captivity, prisoners of their own delusion.

The children excitedly wave their father off on his short commute to work (“Byebye, daddy!”), leaving Hedwig to tend to her beloved garden. She proudly shows her

Next door to hell: The manicured garden and swimming pool, with Auschwitz on the other side of the barbed-wired wall

25 January 2024 Jewish News

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33

LIFE mother the rosemary, beetroot, fennel and sunflowers blossoming in all corners, nourished by human ash. Her mother nods approvingly at her daughter’s tranquil oasis, then glances at the wall and wonders aloud: ‘Maybe Esther Silberman is over there. The one I used to clean for.”

At night, smoke billowing from the crematorium chimneys casts a haunting orange glow through the children’s bedroom windows, shrouding the house in demonic ambience. “The horror is the house,” says Glazer. “Fascism starts in the family. It’s not even that they are disassociated from the atrocities. It just feels so normal to them.”

When Rudolph tells his Hedwig he’s been promoted and they must return to Germany, she’s inconsolable. “We are living beyond our dreams!” she protests.

“They’ll have to drag me out of here!”

In the film’s most poignant sequence, notable for a glimpse of human kindness, Glazer uses a thermal imaging camera to show a Polish girl out on her bike at night, hiding apples in piles of dirt for the prisoners to find the next morning.

The scene was inspired by a meeting Glazer had with the heroine it portrays.

“There were plenty of times I told my wife I just couldn’t go on with this film any longer. There was just too much darkness to deal with,” he recalls.

“Then I met this woman. She’s now 90 but was 14 at the time, living near the camp. She spent her nights riding to the

slave labour sites just outside the camp’s perimeter where the prisoners worked to leave them apples. She became very important to me and the film. She’s there to remind the audience that, despite everything, there is a little light.”

Remarkably, this is a Holocaust film without the Holocaust. We don’t witness the persecution, ghettos, gas chambers or, indeed, a single Jew. The horrors beyond the garden wall are expressed only through sound. Howling; screaming; barking.

Gunfire; officers’ orders; the roar of the crematoria. Piercing, curdling noises so vivid, so intense, they sound visible.

“It didn’t feel right to re-enact the atrocities,” says Glazer. “The archive footage, after all, is seared into our minds. I couldn’t see a way of making this film conventionally, using modern cinema in all its glory. That would have glamorised and empowered the subjects on the screen. I wanted the audience to see them for who they were, not get wrapped up in the screen psychology of an actor pretending to be a character.

I needed to believe in who they were.

That felt important.

“I didn’t want to present them as cinematic monsters and villains, because then we wouldn’t see ourselves in them.”There is no story arc for these people. There’s no salvation, no redemption. We simply see them for who they are.”

• The Zone of Interest is in cinemas nationwide from 2 February

Rudolph Hoess, played by Christian Friedel. Inset: The real Hoess, who was executed in 1947

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JN LIFE

The Voice of GOLDA A Ukrainian singer who fled to Israel and now lives in London takes to the stage next week.

She tells Louisa Walters her story

T

etyana Amirova always dreamed of having a Jewish name and asked a rabbi in Kyiv to change it to Golda when she was 22. Her Israeli passport bears both names.

Golda was born in Odesa 30 years ago to an Ashkenazi mother and a Mountain Jew father. She says Odesa is a city “with an incomparable charm” but two months after war broke out in Ukraine she made aliyah with her grandmother, her aunt, her uncle and her cousin, leaving her parents and her brother behind.

“It’s incredibly hard to leave a place where you were happy,” she says. “The doors of our home were never closed. Guests could come at any time of the day or night, so my grandmother was always busy in the kitchen, mostly preparing Jewish dishes: stuffed fish, latkes, and broth with matzo balls... My entire childhood unfolded in that kitchen.”

But Golda’s childhood wasn’t all about food. “My musical abilities manifested early on. I first performed on stage when I was three but in my family, no one had ever pursued music professionally; only my father played the guitar occasionally. At the age of five, I was enrolled in the Stolyarsky music school. My father wasn’t fond of the idea of me becoming a singer, so I studied piano. However, I always sang when I got the chance, at school concerts, holidays, and other events.”

She graduated from music school with honours and entered the music academy in Kiev.

Fast forward to 2019 and Golda appeared on Holos Krainy, the Ukrainian version of The Voice.

“I submitted an application to the competition twice, but sadly I wasn’t accepted. On my third

Golda (aka) Tetyana Amirova: ­‘I r­ emain a singer. I believe in the power of art’

attempt, I chose to sing a Jewish song, Bei Mir Bist Du Shein - my grandmother’s favourite tune.

Singing in Yiddish, the language of my ancestors, filled me with inspiration. That song turned out to be lucky for me and became my hallmark. I will always remember the support I received from Jewish viewers of the show.”

She reached the final and then launched her solo career. Suddenly life was a merry-go-round of rehearsals, concerts, tours, recording tracks and shooting music videos.

A few months after living in Israel she decided to shake things up and spend some time in London.

“My older brother studied in London, and when I first visited him, I instantly and earnestly fell in love with the city. Before the war, I never planned to move anywhere, but now I am very glad to be right here. London has a special aura,

Quickfire round Favourite meal?

Chicken broth, chicken with mashed potatoes and Israeli salad with tahini.

Favourite TV show? The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Favourite Jewish festival?

Yom Kippur (I always feel liberated and purified after the fast).

Favourite restaurants in London?

Mazal (kosher) Camden Town for the best Israeli shawarma.

Favourite season?

Summer in Tel Aviv.

If you could perform with anyone, who would it be?

Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Marina Maximilian, Omer Adam.

and it is also one of the in a solo concert at the Clapham “In Ukraine I worked to popularise centres of the world’s Grand, performing jazz interpretaJewish musical culture and aimed musical culture. This city tions of key Jewish songs such as to introduce it to as many people as supports and inspires me.”

Shema Israel, Am Yisrael Chai and possible. I consistently felt support Golda lives in St John’s Hatikva. and approval from both Jewish Wood and is part of the She has done a concert tour and Ukrainian audiences. I could Ukrainian refugee commu- in America with a programme have never anticipated encounnity in London. She has featuring Jewish jazz, and has also tering such a terrible resurgence also forged close ties with performed in Canada, Italy, France, of antisemitism in the world since Chabad. and Switzerland and Israel. “Israel October 7.

Her days begin with is my second home, so when I sing The terrorist attacks occurred a glass of water, meditathere, it doesn’t feel like a tour to during rehearsals for GOLDA. tion and checking on her me. In Ukraine I had the privilege “Suddenly, our performance took family. “Each on new significance. It became not morning, I write only about Ukraine but also about down my dreams in Israel. In the second act, there’s a journal as if they a song in which a girl mourns her have already come beloved who perished in the war. I true. I do vocal sing it in two languages – Ukrainian warm-ups and I aim and Hebrew.” to practice yoga daily, The girl with the Jewish name though it doesn’t has not forgotten her roots. always happen. Then GOLDA Live is at Clapham Grand starts the active 31 January 2024. Jewish News Golda sings in English, Ukrainian and Hebrew part of my workday readers can get 30 percent discount - calls, meetings, negotiations, of singing for President of Israel on tickets using code jewishnews30 rehearsals, and English, Hebrew, Isaac Herzog during his state visit Visit: claphamgrand.com and dance classes.” in 2021.”

GOLDA: A Musical Story of Love, Loss Last November Golda brought Golda has always proudly and Resilience will be at the Theatre her very special mix of jazz, soul, proclaimed her Jewish identity.

Royal Haymarket in March: trh.co.uk pop and Jewish cantillation to a sell-out show at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill. “In any country and under any circumstances, I remain a singer. I believe in the power of art. It can convey suffering better than words and has the ability to heal and empower.

“Producer Alexandrina Markvo, who stages large projects in London with stars like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Osipova, has assembled a remarkable international team. Together, we conceived the musical GOLDA: A Musical Story of Love, Loss and Resilience, which tells partly my story and partly the story of all the people whose lives were shattered by war. Some people in the audience cried because they saw a reflection of their own experiences on stage.”

Next week Golda is appearing Golda says she receives lots of support from Jewish audience members

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We get one life… and it is precious

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JN LIFE

Mark Silver makes a special connection while staying at two hotels in St Lucia

T

he next time you disembark from a cruise ship in sunny St Lucia and head for the Duty Free you are in for a surprise. With no synagogue on the island and only about 100 Jews spread around the place, you would not be expecting a greeting from the local rabbi.

But Rabbi Avraham Super is there by the shops to welcome cruise ship passengers as he promotes the faith. His enthusiasm is as bright as the sunshine and he is St Lucia’s first and only rabbi.

He told me all about his work and his goals when we met up. I felt exhausted by how much he is trying to achieve – luckily I could return to my sun lounger afterwards! Although we have cruised into St Lucia a few times, on this occasion my partner, Ilisa, and I were booked into two hotels and we met Rabbi Super early into our stay. He is a man who lives up to his name.

In just a few years he has got the small Jewish community together and ensured that kosher food is available on the island. He is on hand for a Shabbat service, and has big projects in mind, including building a shul, a Jewish visitor centre, a library and a deli. The Australian-born rabbi is a father of three. He and his wife moved to this eastern Caribbean gem from Miami a little over five years ago to open a

Chabad House and he is available for weddings, barmitzvahs and even barbecues – yes, he hosts one every Monday.

But his number one aim is to build that syna-

Mark with Rabbi Super after laying tefillin

gogue and, despite the massive challenge, he remains optimistic. ‘’God has no limits. What’s a million dollars to God?’’ he says.

Calabash Cove is a five-star hotel in the northern part of the island and about a 90-minute drive from the airport. We entered a charming open-air lobby, just in front of the restaurant, where the views of the Caribbean Sea quickly make the long day of travel a distant memory.

A huge whirlpool bathtub took centre stage

The five-star Calabash Cove, in the northern part of St Lucia, is 90 minutes from the airport

in an open-plan bedroom, with impressive dark Caribbean wooden furniture. We spent many hours on the balcony relaxing and looking out to sea and the surrounding lush gardens and tropical flowers. Every morning we enjoyed breakfast there, including signature coconut pancakes with homemade jam.

To our right was an infinity pool, a swimup bar and comfortable cabanas while just to our left was the beach. All beaches in St Lucia are public but this felt very private. It is small and cosy with an enchanting cove setting.

With only 26 rooms at this adults-only resort, things never felt busy and we were treated like part of a family.

The only ‘disturbance’ was staff setting up the attractive pier area for a beach wedding.

Ilisa gave me a nudge during the ceremony and I thought it was time to get down on one knee.

But she was just after another cocktail!

The chef at this property really knows his stuff – we particularly enjoyed the local mahi-mahi fish – and his presentation is as pretty as the place itself. The rum cheesecake to follow soon became a favourite and, should you feel any guilt, there is a fitness centre.

Happily, oops, I mean unfortunately, I forgot to pack the right footwear.

Just 20 minutes away from Calabash is the chocolate-making Howelton Estate, which dates back to 1896 and is named after its thenowner who was the local dentist, Dr Howelton, who was known as ‘the butcher’! There is plenty more on the estate, including the chance to buy unique handbags and jewellery from a local artist, clothes, and arts and crafts.

After six nights at Calabash Cove, we headed in a southerly direction to the boutique Stonefield Villa Resort. This former cocoa plantation sits in the shadow of Petit Piton which, together with Gros Piton is a Unesco World Heritage Site. You would be hard pushed to find a more spectacular setting anywhere on the planet. The Pitons are mountains formed from volcanic activity. We

Just swim up: a junior suite at Calabash Cove

were offered the chance to climb Gros Piton... oh dear, that footwear problem again.

We were extremely content for three days in our French-colonial-style villas, where the patio area contained a hammock, a seating area and a generous private pool. The lush surroundings here are divine and I kept looking up to my left and staring at Petit Piton. A short uphill walk to the restaurant proved exhausting, such was our relaxed state (and extra few pounds). Just like at Calabash Cove, the food is delicious and the staff are wonderful... ‘’another Piton beer, Sir?’’ We enjoyed probably our best-ever massages at the hotel’s spa. I found my other half giving me the elbow near the end: she was waking me up, it turned out, having had enough of my snoring.

Stonefield is adults-only, has 17 villas (one is for families) and, surprisingly, a four-star rating. I would give it seven!

Our other excursion was nearby and is a must-see. Soufriere’s unique drive-in volcano puts you in the heart of a crater before walking ‘next door’ for a mud bath, which is both relaxing and excellent for the body. Close by are the dazzling Sapphire Falls, and en route to them you experience nature at its best.

Before I left that memorable meeting with Rabbi Super he had helped me lay tefillin and explained about the connection this gives you to our Creator. God willing, it won’t be long before I am back in magical St Lucia.  For more information on Saint Lucia visit stlucia.org. British Airways has direct return flights from £523pp: ba.com. calabashcove.com stonefieldresort.com

25 January 2024 Jewish News

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Orthodox Judaism

MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA In our thought-provoking series, rabbis and educators relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today

BY RABBI BENJY MORGAN CEO, JEWISH LEARNING EXCHANGE

Secret of Jewish immortality This week’s Torah portion, Beshalach, recounts the epic journey of the Jews as they undergo the Exodus from Egypt.

Miraculously they cross the split Red Sea to attain freedom on the other side. Centuries earlier, God had promised Abraham that his descendants would endure enslavement in a foreign land but that they would eventually emerge victorious.

What endowed the Jews with the determination and resilience to endure such persecution? As Mark Twain once pondered: “All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”

Another promise made to Abraham by God was that the Jews would be as numerous as

the stars in the sky, impossible to count. Why did God choose the stars in the sky among countless other things to symbolise the Jewish people? Perhaps it’s because of how stars shine. They not only radiate light in the darkness but they continue to do so long after their own light has dimmed – spanning many light years.

Since 7 October, the Jewish world has faced a darkness unparalleled in my generation. Yet, paradoxically, we have witnessed unity and togetherness. A nation that was once divided is now shining against the backdrop of darkness.

Where do we find the strength? How do we persevere?

During a recent visit to Kibbutz Be’eri with the Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE) trustees, surrounded by dread and darkness, we discovered the answer.

On that mission, we encountered heroes who, against all odds, protected their fami-

JLE chief executive Rabbi Benji Morgan and trustees on a solidarity mission to Israel

lies, sacrificing greatly to save as many lives as possible. Kayam, a wounded soldier whose family had been attacked on 7 October last year, fearlessly entered battle. Despite his injuries, he shared stories of reliance, courage and hope.

Throughout history, various civilisations – Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians, crusaders and more – attempted to destroy the Jews.

However, the promise of the Jews exiting Egypt endures, shining even brighter against the backdrop of darkness, much like the stars.

We hold a promise that in every generation, despite attempts to annihilate us, Hashem saves us. The secret of our immortality may remain elusive, but examining our community’s resilience through the ages might offer some insight.

An incredible career opportunity for a

Rabbi or Rabbinic Couple Competitive salary including a family house

Borehamwood & Elstree Synagogue (BES) is looking to recruit an outstanding candidate for a senior-level Rabbi or Rabbinic Couple position leading BES@Yavneh.

We are seeking a dynamic, charismatic and inspirational Rabbi or Rabbinic Couple with a passion to lead, grow and develop BES@Yavneh whilst supporting communal life across the whole BES community.

Applicants will be caring, innovative and hard-working with a love of community. They will immerse themselves in the heart of the community and engage all members with warmth, compassion and enthusiasm and cater to their pastoral, spiritual and educational needs.

BES is a unique community operating across two sites, BES@Croxdale and BES@Yavneh. This unrivalled position offers the right candidate autonomy over BES@Yavneh whilst enjoying the rich benefits of being part of the leadership and Rabbinic team across the wider BES community of 4,000 members.

Emeritus Rabbi A Plancey MBE Senior Rabbi A & Rebbetzin E Chapper Community Rabbi Y Finn www.borehamwoodshul.org

Over the past three years, BES has undertaken the ground breaking Reimagining Shul project leading to its current vision of shul community built around relational Judaism, small groups and meaningful connections. We are looking for candidates who are inspired by this and want to build on this vision with us.

This exceptional role offers huge opportunity to grow BES@Yavneh as part of BES and to make a lasting contribution to a community which embraces new ideas.

For an informal confidential conversation about the position please contact Josh Moont at chair@borehamwoodshul.org

Closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday, 18 February 2024.

To view the job description and apply for this position, please visit www.theus.org.uk/jobs

The United Synagogue is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and an enhanced DBS will be required.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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38 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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Progressive Judaism

LEAP OF FAITH

A stimulating series where progressive rabbis consider how to navigate Judaism in the face of 21st-century issues

BY RABBI REBECCA BIRK

FINCHLEY PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE

The young ones “And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.”

The Torah tells us that Sarah, our matriarch, was 127 when she died. Rashi, the best of the Torah commentators, who was an esteemed rabbi and a vintner well into his own old age, insists that all Sarah’s years were equally good. Her age only enriched her experiences.

Sarah, we are told, negotiated a lot of new adventures in her advanced years. She moved home with Abraham and encour-

aged others to draw close to God. As the Torah explains, she took to Canaan “the souls they made in Haran” – indeed she gave her name to all future proselytes. Those who choose Judaism take the name ben/ bat Avraham v’Sarah.

She even had a baby at the age of 90. Sarah was so surprised that she called him Yitzchak, and laughed to discover such a late gift.

Sarah, more than anyone else in our Torah, manifested the impressive ability to live well as she grew older. She would have been in good company today.

Joan Collins has released a new memoir, Behind The Shoulder Pads – Tales I Tell My Friends, and embarked on a world tour at the age of 90 looking as if her energy has not diminished one iota.

Barbra Streisand has released her long-awaited book, My Name is Barbra, harking back to those

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first albums. She looks back on her extraordinary life with the strong message that she is still in the thick of it even in her eighties.

I love these role models for living well with longevity. At Finchley Progressive Synagogue, we recently opened a new group, Living with Aging, to share experiences with fellow travellers.

We live in new times and the wisdom of our elders shines brightly. The changes of this past millennium are huge and yet I see countless people in their eighties and older managing and negotiating technology with grace and capacity.

Yehuda ben Teima got a lot right as recorded in 200CE in the Mishnah: “At 60, seniority; at 70, fullness of years; at 80, spiritual strength… and onwards.”

I was fortunate to have a grandmother who lived until her 97th year and my 52nd. Not a day of my

At 90, the Biblical Sarah gave birth; Joan Collins went on a world tour

life passed without appreciating what she brought to us, and that appreciation only increased with her years on earth She, with her sharp mind and quick laugh, growing ever more

elegant as she aged, rivalled Sarah in the graciousness of her advancing years.

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so. Examples of this may be that they have declared a health issue you weren’t aware of, or they are homosexual, or perhaps they have DOHR LTD expressed a belief you disagree with. All of these are protected characteristics and even Dear Donna without two years of service, if someone feels Can I fire a new employee without waiting they are being let go for a reason which is for the end of their probation period? protected, they can bring a claim against you Hannah and the award is uncapped.

If they are not performing, you need to Hi Hannah make every reasonable effort to ensure they When hiring someone it is really important have been made aware of the issue and have that you give them a contract of employment had sufficient training before letting them go. on or before their first day. This must specify If they are not a good fit, be objective and the length and terms of their probation period. open in your conversation. It may be about The probation period provides you both time keeping, attendance or some other with the opportunity to ensure fit with the role cultural issue. Ensure you fully understand and with the business. what is causing the poor fit and that there is no While you may be safe to let someone go underlying protected characteristic. during their probation period, you need to Follow your processes and ensure you ensure you are not breaking the law in doing comply with the law.

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JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION Dear Sue My daughter has just had her first baby – my first grandchild – Sienna. The hospital have told her she’s deaf. There is no deafness in our family, so I really find it difficult to believe. My daughter is refusing to talk about it all. What can I do?

Michelle

Dear Michelle Firstly, mazeltov - and to baby Sienna, a big warm welcome to the world!

This is a joyful and also very difficult emotional time for all of your family.

There is lots of help here for you. Joanna, our Family Services Worker has a deaf son herself, so she understands exactly how your daughter is feeling right now. She has years of experience and a wealth of knowledge.

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about everything from possible medical interventions, such as cochlear implants, to the most suitable nurseries, to schooling … and, later, university!

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Every family who makes this call says it’s such a relief to be able to talk to someone who understands, who has been in the same situation, and who can introduce them to our most incredible network of other Jewish families who have received the same ‘bolt out of the blue’ news, and have felt similarly shocked.

DR BEN LEVY GOAL ATTAINMENT SPECIALIST

MAKE IT HAPPEN Dear Ben I want to change my career path, but I have no idea what direction to take.

Can you help with this?

Gideon Dear Gideon Yes, that’s my job! Let’s take you through a structured exercise to offer you more clarity and help you work out what you really want from a new career.

First, dream big: in an ideal world, what job would you choose? There are NO limits – but it’s something you’d want to do every day.

Now have a think: what is it about this job that means so much to you? Go beyond the ‘fun stuff ’ and the superficial. What does doing this job give you, deep down?

How does it make you feel?

Competent? Fulfilled? Like you are making a difference in the world? Write these core feelings down.

Next, consider other careers that will give you those same feelings deep inside. Take your time over this. As ideas spring to mind, ask yourself ‘Do I have the skills to do a job in that profession (or could I learn them)?’ and ‘Would I enjoy

the day-to-day work?’ You will start to find you are narrowing the list of potential careers.

You are doing so by navigating from your heart, from what matters to you most.

That’s the most surefire way of focusing you, keeping you energised and making sure that – whichever career you end up choosing – you know you will arrive where you are meant to be.

Six months ago I changed my career path. I decided I wanted to use my knowledge and skills to have powerful conversations that change people’s lives for the better.

Why? So I could feel competent and respected.

And I hope this ‘conversation’ changes your life for the better too, Gideon.

40 Jewish News 25 January 2024

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Ask our experts / Professional advice from our panel

Our Experts Do you have a question for a member of our team? Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk

PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

TREVOR GEE Qualifications: • Managing director, consultant specialists in affordable family health insurance • Advising on maximising cover, lower premiums, pre-existing conditions • Excellent knowledge of health insurers, cover levels and hospital lists • LLB solicitors finals • Member of Chartered Insurance Institute

JACOB BERNSTEIN Qualifications: • A member of the APCC, specialising in financial services compliance for: • Mortgage, protection and general insurance intermediaries; • Lenders, credit brokers, debt counsellors and debt managers; • Alternative Investment Fund managers; • E-Money, payment services, PISP, AISP and grant-making charities.

PATIENT HEALTH 020 3146 3444/5/6 www.patienthealth.co.uk trevor.gee@patienthealth.co.uk

RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD 020 7781 8019 www.richdale.co.uk jacob@richdale.co.uk

ISRAEL PROPERTY & MORTGAGE BROKER

HUMAN RESOURCES / EMPLOYMENT LAW

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DONNA OBSTFELD Qualifications: • FCIPD Chartered HR Professional • 25 years in HR and business management.

• Mediator, business coach, trainer, author and speaker • Supporting businesses and charities with the hiring, managing, inspiring and firing of their staff

ILAN RUBINSTEIN Qualifications: • UK born, licenced Israel estate agent in Israel since 2001 • Ilan assists in buying, financing & re-sale of new & existing property in Israel.

• Helps level the playing field opposite vendors, developers & even the bank • Attentive to your needs, saving you time, hassle & money

JOE OZER Qualifications: • Executive director for the United Kingdom at DCI (Intl) Ltd • Worked in finance for more than 20 years • Specialists in distribution and promotion of Israel Bonds

DOHR LTD 020 8088 8958 www.dohr.co.uk donna@dohr.co.uk

I.L.A.N. ESTATES & INVESTMENTS “Bringing Jews Home” UK: 0203-807-0878 ISRAEL: +972-504-910-604 www.ilanrealestate.com nadlan@hotmail.com

DEVELOPMENT COMPANY FOR ISRAEL 020 3936 2712 www.israelbondsintl.com joe.ozer@israelbondsintl.com

JEWELLER

ACCOUNTANT

GOAL ATTAINMENT SPECIALIST

ADAM SHELLEY Qualifications: • FCCA chartered certified accountant • Accounting, taxation and business advisory services • Entrepreneurial business specialist including start-up businesses • Specialises in charities; personal tax returns • Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation Volunteer of the Year JVN award

JONATHAN WILLIAMS Qualifications: • Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s • Expert in the manufacture and supply of diamond jewellery, wedding rings and general jewellery • Specialist in supply of diamonds to the public at trade prices

DR BEN LEVY Qualifications: • Doctor of psychology with 15 years’ experience in education and corporate sectors • Uses robust, evidence-based methods to help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be • Works with clients individually to maximise success

SOBELL RHODES LLP 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk a.shelley@sobellrhodes.co.uk

JEWELLERY CAVE LTD 020 8446 8538 www.jewellerycave.co.uk jonathan@jewellerycave.co.uk

MAKE IT HAPPEN 07779 619 597 www.makeit-happen.co.uk ben@makeit-happen.co.uk

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

LISA WIMBORNE Qualifications: Able to draw on the charity’s 50 years of experience in enabling people with physical disabilities or impaired vision to live independently, including: • The provision of specialist accommodation with 24/7 on-site support • Knowledge of the innovations that empower people and the benefits available • Understanding of the impact of a disability diagnosis

CAROLYN ADDLEMAN Qualifications: Lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration. Last 14 years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company In close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

SUE CIPIN OBE Qualifications: • 24 years+ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

• Understanding of the impact of deafness on people, including children, at all stages • Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus • Technology room with expert advice on and facilities to try out the latest equipment.

• Hearing aid advice, support and maintenance

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611 www.jbd.org Lisa@jbd.org

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 020 8732 6101 www.kkl.org.uk enquiries@kkl.org.uk

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 www.jdeaf.org.uk mail@jdeaf.org.uk

CAREER ADVISER

• • •

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

LESLEY TRENNER Qualifications: • Provides free professional one-to-one advice at Resource to help unemployed into work • Offers mock interviews and workshops to maximise job prospects • Expert in corporate management holding director level marketing, commercial and general management roles

STEPHEN MORRIS Qualifications: • Managing director of Stephen Morris Shipping Ltd • 45 years’ experience in shipping household and personal effects • Chosen mover for four royal families and three UK prime ministers • Offering proven quality specialist advice for moving anyone across the world or round the corner

LOUISE LEACH Qualifications: • Professional choreographer qualified in dance, drama and Zumba (ZIN, ISTD & LAMDA), gaining an honours degree at Birmingham University • Former contestant on ITV’s Popstars, reaching bootcamp with Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Kym Marsh • Set up Dancing with Louise 19 years ago

RESOURCE 020 8346 4000 www.resource-centre.org office@resource-centre.org

STEPHEN MORRIS SHIPPING LTD 020 8832 2222 www.shipsms.co.uk stephen@shipsms.co.uk

DANCING WITH LOUISE 075 0621 7833 www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk Info@dancingwithlouise.com

25 January 2024 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

REBUILDING THE LIVES OF CHILDREN IN NEED

Jewish Child’s Day is committed to rebuilding the lives of children affected by the 7th October atrocities.

The children of Israel are facing one of the most challenging and traumatic times. It is imperative that we are there for them now. We continue to receive emergency requests every day.

Our ability to respond depends on your generosity!

Please donate at jcd.uk.com/donate today or scan the QR code

1st Floor, Elscot House, Arcadia Avenue, Finchley N3 2JU | 020 8446 8804 | info@jcd.uk.com | JCD.UK.COM Registered Charity No. 1195764

41

42 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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Business Services Directory ANTIQUES

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Top prices paid Antique – Reproduction – Retro Furniture (any condition)

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Dave & Eve House Clearance Friendly Family Company established for 30 years

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WANTED Furs, Jewellery, Old Costume Jewellery, Watches, Silver, Designer Bags, anything vintage.

We clear houses, flats, sheds, garages etc.

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Rubbish cleared as part of a full clearance.

We have a waste licence.

We buy items including furniture bric a brac.

ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN

For a free quote please phone Dave on 07913405315 any time.

£24 A WEEK

CHARITY & WELFARE

ARE YOU BEREAVED? Confidential Bereavement Counselling for adults and children individually.

Support Groups available. We offer in person, online and telephone counselling.

Contact Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence.

0208 951 3881 enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk

COMPUTER

WESTLON HOUSING ASSOCIATION Sheltered Accommodation We have an open waiting list in our friendly and comfortable warden assisted sheltered housing schemes in Ealing, East Finchley and Hendon. We provide 24-hour warden support, seven days a week; a residents’ lounge and kitchen, laundry, a sunny patio and garden.

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Are you happy paying big household bills?

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offers help with:Find out how

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CVs and personal statements call Jeff on 07958 959 822 • interviews and assessment days • coping with stress and workload LEGACY- LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR MEMORYLegacy Classified advert v1.qxp_Legacy 16/06/2021 Page 1 • promotion and new10:57 opportunities Gary Green ad 84 x 40mm JM Group v2.indd 1 18/03/2019 12:50:51 ©•

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Email Sales today at sales@jewishnews.co.uk

LAW MENTOR Former “Magic Circle” solicitor offers help with: • • • •

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Leave the legacy of independence to people like Joel.

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ADVERTISE IN THE UK’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER FOR LESS THAN £24 A WEEK

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For further details and application forms, please contact Westlon Housing Association on 020 8201 8484 or email: johnsilverman@btconnect.com

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25 January 2024 Jewish News

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43

Fun, games and prizes

JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD WORD THE CROSSWORD 4

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44 Jewish News 25 January 2024

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Rising costs?

Let’s sit down.

The UK’s largest branch network is here to help.

Source data for number of UK banking brand branches provided by CACI Ltd, correct as at 1 October 2023. Excludes the Post Office®. For more information, search nationwide.co.uk/ways-to-bank/branch-banking. Nationwide Building Society. Head Office: Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN38 1NW.