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Hatikvah Message of hope from British hostage’s mum

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

Relentless drizzle falling from a slate sky. Fitting conditions for a memorial rally to mark Israel’s darkest day as it mirrored the falling tears of the crowd. Among the 20,000 gathered in London’s Hyde Park there was no attempt to stifle a sob or an anguished mutter. Emotions were meant to be raw as they were there to mourn for the victims of the Hamas terrorist atrocities of 7 October.

Sunday was the eve, the erev of the first anniversary of the nightmare that

haunts every Jew. A big screen reinforced that horror by showing images on a loop of the 1,200 who were murdered. It ran for one hour without repetition. The faces of men, women and children, so many smiling at a moment in time when life was good. And then life was over.

Those who attended the vigil, organised by the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, UJIA, 7/10 Human Chain and the Hostages Families Forum, knew it would be tough but were unprepared

Continued on page 22

More than 20,000 people gathered in Hyde Park on Sunday to mark a year since the Hamas attacks. Below: Mandy Damari, mum of 28-year-old Emily

King’s tribute to Lily Ebert, p10

Marking a year of sorrrow

The mother of the only British hostage still in Hamas captivity has appealed to MPs to do more to help to free her daughter as a 20,000-strong crowd packed into Hyde Park to honour the victims of 7/10 and call for the return of all the hostages, writes Justin Cohen.

At the gathering, one of the largest by British Jews since the attacks, Mandy Damari, mother of 28-year-old Emily, made her first public address, days after she and other families met Keir Starmer at Downing Street.

Organised by the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, UJIA, 7/10 Human Chain and the Hostages Families Forum, the crowd erupted in applause for Barak Deri, one of the first reservists to arrive at Kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October, and for Ada Sagi, who was released in November, who lit a memorial candle.

Damari told the gathering that there had been too little public acknowledgment of the fact there was still a British hostage in Gaza. Recalling how freed hostages had spoken of her courage and ability to “hold everyone together” even after being shot in the hand while being snatched by Hamas, she said: “Now all that love is locked away.

“My beautiful, funny and brave daughter who I love to the moon and back. I need to hug her again. Everyone could and should be doing more. I and everyone has failed her

and the only way to make us feel whole again is to get Emily and all 101 hostages back to their families.

“How is it that she is still imprisoned after one year? Why isn’t the whole world, especially Britain, fighting every moment to secure her release? She is one of their own. I plead with those in power here to use every ounce of influence they have to advocate for the release of the hostages.”

While every day is a “living hell” not knowing what Emily is going through, she said: “I still hold on to hope like Emily always told me to do. I hope that the world will stand up for hope and justice.”

As Israeli flags mingled with Iranian, Ukrainian and British ones in the crowd, images were shown on giant screens of every one of the 1,200 victims, many of them of beaming young party-goers who had gone to dance at the Nova festival and never returned. It took an hour to display every face, almost the length of the vigil, which was hosted by Tracey-Ann Oberman.

There was huge applause as Deri came on to the stage in crutches.

“In the kibbutz I saw death. Civilians lying dead in the streets,” he said. “During an intensive firefight we killed many terrorists but I also lost friends, some in my arms. It pushed me into war – a just war. We searched for the hostages in Gaza but often we returned only with bodies.”

Even after seeing what he did, he was later part of a failed mission to rescue hostages, during which he was gravely injured. He came to London to share his story even as his hospital treatment continues in Israel.

The crowd was silent as Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis recited Kaddish. He told the vigil that “we weep” for the innocent civilian victims in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon, while placing the blame at the door of Hamas and Hezbollah, which had “sunk to such depths of depravity in placing people in such danger”.

He added: “It’s so important we continue to provide our unequivocal support for the state of Israel. We have hope because Israel is strong. We are not in the 1920s or 1930s. Israel will forever be a safe haven for Jews.”

The leaders of Reform and Liberal Judaism, Rabbis Josh Levy and Charley Baginsky, recited a prayer for the hostages. The latter said: “Every day since 7 October we have held taken the hostages in our hearts,

acknowledging the words of Steve Brisley [brother-in-law of hostage Eli Sharabi]: ‘We are them and they are us.’ This constant challenge to remember that each of their lives are not just words but each was a world. It has become a sacred task for all of us.”

Speakers frequently turned to how the pain of what those in Israel were experiencing was compounded by the silence of those they had considered friends and colleagues as antisemitism reached record highs over the past year. “That hurt,” said Oberman. However, she also stressed that the horrors had caused the community to

unite as rarely before, and offered special thanks to the allies gathered in the park.

The rise in Jew hate began on the day of the attacks, long before the start of Israel’s ground operation in Gaza, said Phil Rosenberg , president of the Board of Deputies, adding: “They didn’t hate us because they thought Israel was strong. They hated us because they thought Israel was weak. The attack was like the attack on the Manchester arena. Terror is terror.”

He suggested that the difference between those filled with hate and us is that “we pray for peace. A peace where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and

ARREST OVER HOVE ATTACK ISRAEL BANS HEAD OF UN UK TO HOLD UNRWA TALKS KHAN’S CASH AGAINST HATE

Sussex Police have arrested a man in connection with a video shared across social media which appears to show a man damaging a Jewish memorial in Hove on the eve of 7 October.

The footage depicts the man tearing down a number of items including tributes, teddy bears and flowers. He is then confronted by another man, who moves him away from the memorial.

Sussex Police previously said: “We are aware of a video circulating online of a man damaging a Jewish memorial in Hove and are treating it as a hate crime.”

Israel has banned UN secretary-general António Guterres from entering the country and called him “a stain on the history” of the organisation. Foreign minister Israel Katz said: “Today, I have declared UN secretary-general António Guterres persona non grata in Israel and banned him from entering the country.

“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil.” He said Guterres had “yet to denounce the massacre and sexual atrocities committed by Hamas murderers on 7 October, nor has he led any efforts to declare them a terrorist organisation”.

The UK will hold urgent talks with UNRWA after reports surfaced that a Hamas commander, killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, had been employed as a teacher by the agency.

The Foreign Office told Jewish News: “We are raising this case urgently. UNRWA must meet the highest standards of neutrality as laid out in Catherine Colonna’s report, including staff vetting.”

Hamas last week confirmed that Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, a top Hamas commander in Lebanon who was killed alongside his wife, son and daughter, was a “successful teacher and excellent [school] principal”.

Sadiq Khan has announced new funding for grassroots groups to challenge anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hatred. The move comes amid fears of potential “reprisal” attacks in Britain triggered by the conflict in Middle East.

The Mayor of London confirmed on Tuesday that as part of a £15m investment to tackle hate and extremism an extra £875,000 would be given to 20 groups including The Anne Frank Trust UK, Maccabi GB and Solutions Not Sides. Khan’s response came after figures by the Community Security Trust and the Met confirmed anti-Jewish hate had rocketed following the aftermath of 7 October.

Standing together: more than 20,000 people packed into Hyde Park on Sunday to honour the victims

Freed hostage Ada Sagi with her son Noam

sorrrow and strength ...AS ISRAELIS MARK 6.29AM

security.” He led the crowd in repeated chants of “Bring them Home” and “Am Yisrael Chai”. Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely pledged that Israel would do everything to return the hostages.

Keith Black, chair of the JLC, said the community had been “overwhelmed with grief” at the horrors Israel has endured. But in a passionate address, he insisted: “The battle you are fighting is not for the Israel or the Jewish people. It is at its core a battle against a malignant ideology that seeks to bring down western civilisation.

“You are fighting for a set of ideals that are the foundations of the west.” It was a fact, he said, that was often lost on so-called liberals who had become illiberal, “lost in pious self righteousness”.

While those in the diaspora also faced “the fight of our lives”, he expressed confidence that Britain would continue to be a welcoming home to its Jewish population long into the future.

A minute’s silence was held before historian Sir Simon Schama recited a series of poems, including one about Israel-Diaspora relations by Yehuda Amichai. “Sometimes the enormity of what our dear Jews have been through is just too much for speeches,” he said.

Event lead Michal Noe hailed the strength of the youth connection to Israel in an impromptu address, while her co-chair Henry Grunwald led the lighting of 23 candles – each representing a community or organisation attacked on 7 October. Ada Sagi, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and held hostage for 55 days, was overcome with emotion as she and her London-based son Noam came on to the stage to light the final candle. Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich also lit a candle.

Wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the word ‘Zionist’, UJIA chair Zvi Noe said the large turnout was a “microcosm” of the way the community had responded to the attacks.

“When we were asked to stand up and be counted we did not cower – we raised our voices and we raised our support. We’ve attended countless demos and we’ve raised millions for those in need. We’re helping to rebuild the communities of the south.”

The event concluded with youngsters Zev Hamburger and Danielle Blumin Kogan reading letters from Israelis supported by UK philanthropy and by the singing of the British and Israeli anthems, led by Amber Kirschenbaum.

Israelis attended ceremonies and memorials across the country to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas massacre.

At 6.29am, the moment terrorists launched the 7 October attacks, families and friends of those gunned down at the Nova music festival gathered for an event on Monday, attended also by President Isaac Herzog.

At one stage the pounding techno beats of the track last heard at the festival before the terrorists struck was played at the gathering, at which family members hugged and broke down as they recalled the nightmare of the past 12 months.

“When we are here, we are near our loved ones. This is the time they danced and fled,” said Sigal Bar-On, whose niece, Yuval, 25, and her fiancé Moshe Shuva, 34, were due to marry in December 2023. Minutes after the ceremony began, the Israeli army said at least four projectiles were fired from Gaza. The IDF said it had “struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip”.

After the ceremony at the Nova festival site, many families and other attendees stayed to inspect the memorial, which included photographs of the 364 revellers who were murdered by Hamas there, or taken captive.

In Jerusalem, families of hostages still held in Gaza gathered near Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence. They stood during a two-minute siren, usually sounded on Holocaust Remembrance and Memorial Day.

“We are here to remind [the hostages] that we haven’t forgotten them,” said Shiri Albag, whose daughter Liri is a captive. Her message to Netanyahu: “We won’t let you rest until all of them are back, every last one of them,” she told the crowd.

At least 20 family members of hostages still held in Gaza were present during the early-morning gathering. Albag, whose daughter is one of five soldiers taken hostage from the Nahal Oz base, told those at the ceremony: “You’re our hope in these hard days.”

We all share families’ grief, says Starmer

Keir Starmer has called for unity in Britain as he urged the nation to “unequivocally stand with the Jewish community” on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks.

The prime minister said the atroicity was “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust”, as he reflected on the deaths of more 1,200 people who were murdered by Hamas, including the young people massacred at the Nova music festival, raped and brutally tortured in the aftermath.

He said the “collective grief has not diminished” in the year since the attacks.

Starmer added: “Over a thousand people were brutally murdered. Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas. Jewish people

murdered whilst protecting their families, young people massacred at a music festival, people abducted from their homes.

“Agonising reports of rape, torture and brutality beyond comprehension which continued to emerge days and weeks later.

“As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.

“A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.”

While Starmer stood firm in his commitment to help “bring the hostages home”, the prime minister also

said that “we must not look the other way as civilians bear the ongoing dire consequences of this conflict in the Middle East”.

He continued: “We will not falter in our pursuit of peace and on this day of pain and sorrow, we honour those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement: “The Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October was an appalling act of terrorism and my thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected.

“Today, we remember the victims whose lives were cruelly stolen and

forever changed – the young partygoers who were murdered in their homes and the children of the kibbutzim who must have felt unimaginable fear in their final moments. We also show solidarity for the hostages who’ve endured so much and who must be released and reunited with their families immediately and without pre-conditions.”

The mayor added: “I know, like me, Jewish and Muslim Londoners –and Londoners of every religion and of no organised faith – have been left distressed and utterly heartbroken by the cycle of terror, bloodshed and suffering that has engulfed the region.

“Many of us have seen images, or read news reports, of the horrors on 7 October and in Palestine that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”

victims of 7/10 and call for the remaining captives be brought home

Families and others at the site of the Nova music festival

Memorial service at the site of the Nova festival attack

Police hunt for Hezbollah supporters exposed by JN STARMER

Seventeen people were arrested on Saturday at the latest pro-Palestine demo in London, with police confirming they are seeking to identify two women exposed by Jewish News for openly supporting proscribed terror group Hezbollah, writes Lee Harpin.

Police confirmed two people, including a protester wearing a parachute, were arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation. Eight arrests were made on suspicion of public order offences, with four of them allegedly racially aggravated.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper responded to a Jewish News report revealing open support for Hezbollah at Saturday’s demo organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign by posting on X: “Hezbollah is a proscribed terrorist organisation. Promoting it in Britain is a criminal offence.

“Extremism has no place on Britain’s streets. The police have our support in pursuing those breaking the law today.”

Jewish News revealed two female attendees held aloft hand-made proHezbollah banners close to Russell Square tube station on Saturday. One read “Hezbollah are NOT terrorists” –

even though the Lebanese Shia Islamist group, which has repeatedly launched barrages of missiles into Israel, has been proscribed as a terror organisation in this country since 2019.

Another banner praised the group’s late secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in an airstrike in Beirut last month. It declared: “Nasrallah is NOT a terrorist!”

When Jewish News confronted the females with the banners to ask why they supported for terror organisation,

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terrorist organisation, adding: ”Israel is the terrorist.”

When faced with the charge Hezbollah and Hamas were responsible for the murder of innocent people, she replied: “You kill innocent people.”

The Met said officers were continuing attempts to identify the two women.

REFUSES TOTAL ARMS BAN

Keir Starmer this week emphatically ruled out implementing a total ban on arms sales to Israel, insisting this would be the “wrong position” and “never” one he would support, writes Lee Harpin.

He was responding to calls for a total ban from independent MPs Richard Burgon and Zarah Sultana, who both lost the Labour whip in July for backing an SNP motion on welfare policy.

Sultana, MP for Coventry South, used a debate on the 7 October Hamas attack to accuse Israel of a “genocidal assault” in Gaza, “violence” in the West Bank and an “invasion” of Lebanon.

She asked if Starmer would “do what is morally and legally right and end the government’s complicity in war crimes by banning all arms sales to Israel, including F35 fighter jets, not just 30 licences – yes or no?”

Starmer replied: “No. But it is a really serious point. Banning all sales would mean none for defensive purposes. None for defensive purposes on the

anniversary of 7 October and days after a huge attack by Iran into Israel would be a wrong position for this government and I will not take it.”

Leeds East MP Burgon then asked “to get Israeli leaders to back a ceasefire, don’t we need to see tougher action –including an end to all arms sales, as recent international court rulings demand?”

Starmer replied: “I don’t agree with a complete ban on arms sales. That would include a ban on arms being used for defensive purposes.

“Looking at the attack only a few days ago by Iran, I think the House will understand my position on this and the position of many across the House.”

Phillipson to act over uni anti-Jewish hate

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has confirmed she will “refocus” the body in charge of regulating UK higher education after she became “deeply troubled” by alarming evidence of the rise in antisemitism at universities, writes Lee Harpin.

Addressing students at a Jewish school in Barnet ahead of a moving assembly in which pupils spoke and sung about the impact of the 7 October attack, Phillipson said the Office for Students “must ensure universities are honouring their responsibilities and acting when that isn’t the case”.

She added: “I’ve been deeply troubled by the rising levels of antisemitism we’ve seen, especially following the terror attack, and that includes on university campuses.

“Universities have a responsibility to act and to make sure that they’re proving a safe environment for all of our students.”

“I find the rise in antisemitic abuse on our campuses both abhorrent and alarming. It is completely unacceptable for Jewish students to feel they cannot fully participate in university life out of fear for their safety. All students, regardless of race or religion, should be free to focus on their studies.”

Phillipson also held a meeting with pupils where she listened to questions around the benefits of faith schools, and some of students admitting they received “Zionist” taunts.

She revealed the Department of Education had launched a new online initiative, Educate Against Hate, in cooperation with the Community Security Trust and the Tell Mamma organisations, offering teachers advice on

managing difficult classroom discussions in the aftermath of 7 October.

Phillipson also explained how she intended to boost attempts to counter misuse of Nazi imagery and slurs online by some in relation to Israel and the war in Gaza.

She said her decision to halt the previous government’s Higher Education Free Speak Act was taken over fears Jewish students already under pressure could face a rise in “hate speech” and “Holocaust denial”.

“That’s the last thing as a government we want to see,” she added. “It’s crucial that what is taught within our schools provides younng people with that armoury against what they see online. Both in terms of having the critical thinking skills to challenge what’s in front of them, and it’s why the prime minister announced that ahead of the conclusion of the curriculum assessment review we will make sure that Holocaust education is part of the national curriculum.”

a woman replied: “All Shia around the world are Hezbollah.” She also denied Hezbollah is a

Phillipson speaking at the Barnet school

Starmer in the Commons

Inflammatory placards at the demo, the women being sought by police, and other protesters in disguise

‘Battered’ Hezbollah calls for truce without Gaza ceasefire

The Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah is no longer demanding a truce in Gaza as a condition for reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, writes Lee Harpin.

Deputy leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech that the group supports the efforts of Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a ceasefire with Israel.

“We support the political efforts led by Berri under the banner of achieving a ceasefire,” he said. “Once the ceasefire is firmly established and diplomacy can reach it, all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively.”

Hezollah previously said it was fighting to support both Hamas and the Palestinian people in their war with Israel and would not stop without a ceasefire in Gaza.

A US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said the comments show that the terror group is on the back foot and “getting battered”.

Miller added: “For a year, you had

the world calling for this ceasefire, you had Hezbollah refusing to agree to one, and now that Hezbollah is on the back foot and is getting battered, suddenly they’ve changed their tune and want a ceasefire.”

A senior Israeli official was quoted by the Israeli news daily The Times of Israel as saying: “We are currently in a position of power, a ceasefire will be on our terms, including a [Hezbollah] withdrawal beyond the Litani [River] and the dismantling of

all military Hezbollah sites in areas near the border,” a senior Israeli official was quoted as saying by the Israeli news daily.”

In Israel, five people were wounded yesterday by shrapnel as a result of rocket impacts in the Haifa area .

Magen David Adom service said it took a 16-year-old boy in moderate condition, and four others in their fifties and sixties in light condition, to Rambam Hospital after they were hit by shrapnel.

In addition, a 36-year-old cyclist was lightly hurt in a crash with a car as sirens sounded in the area. He is also being taken to Rambam Hospital, MDA says.

Some 40 rockets were launched at the area, according to the IDF.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has called Israel a “Zionist terrorist organisation” over its attacks on Iranian proxy terror groups and repeated his criticism of Western powers, namely the United States, over the support given to Israel.

Speaking to lawmakers from

his ruling AK Party in parliament, Erdoğan also said the Iranian missile attack on Israel last week and

Israel’s anticipated response has heightened the risk of a regional conflict.

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Smoke from Israeli airstrikes this week in Khiam, Lebanon

Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem

Stolpersteine Shoah memorials stolen

Holocaust memorial stones in the German town of Zeitz were dug up and stolen on the anniversary of 7 October. The 10 Stolpersteine, or ‘stumbling stones’, were laid in memory of Shoah victims from the town, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

The commemorative brass plaques, the size of a cobblestone, are part of a project launched by artist German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992.

Placed in front of the last residences of Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis, the plaques are inscribed with the names of victims and what is known of their fates. They can be found across Europe.

In Zeitz, they were installed at the last known addresses of Siegfried Fürst, Bertha Mendelsohn née Bachmann, Emma Esther Mendelsohn née Bachmann, Siegfried Mendelsohn, Dr. Gustav Flörsheim, Hilda Flörsheim née Hamburger, Ingeborg Flörsheim, Auguste Lewy née Hesse, Hermann Blumenthal and Lydia Blumenthal née Weissmann.

On Monday, residents of Zeitz noticed that unidentified perpetrators had, probably overnight on 6 October, removed all 10 Stolpersteine in their town.

In an official police complaint, Mayor Kathrin Weber said: “We as the city of Zeitz, the entire city council, the board and the group leaders of the city council and I personally condemn this incomprehensible and unforgivable act. Given the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and the fact that memorial sites commemorating the victims of National Socialism were desecrated, this cannot simply be dis-

missed as theft.”

Karen Pollock, chief executive, the Holocaust Educational Trust, told Jewish News: “Across Europe, there are ‘stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ placed on the streets outside homes of Jewish individuals who lived there before they were tragically murdered by the Nazis. They are memorials.

“The theft of the stolpersteine in Zeitz is not simply a petty crime but a deliberate attempt to intimidate Jewish communities, desecrate the memory of those murdered in the Holocaust and whip up anti-Jewish hatred today.”

• Nova escape mural defaced, page 18

PROJECT TO TWIN MPS WITH GAZA HOSTAGES

A project backed by the foreign secretary is aimed at twinning parliamentarians with hostages in Gaza.

Nivi Feldman, who devised the scheme, said: “We will send details of the hostage’s story, a poster of them, arrange a Zoom conversation with family members” — so the politicians become familiar with ‘their’ hostage, and by highlighting their case, help put pressure on the government to push for their release.”

Inviting people to take part in the project, the UK Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said: “This campaign is not about politics; it is a humanitarian plea.

“We’re calling on MPs to adopt one of these hostages, helping to raise awareness of their plight and to ensure they are not forgotten. MPs can provide a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves.”

Visit: forms.gle/e2zPoZvtbxcEQ6Nk7

JEWISH MUSEUM CALLS FOR 7/10 REFLECTIONS

Jewish Museum London is inviting the public to share collectible items, images, memorabilia, responses or written and recorded thoughts that reflect the impact the events on and following 7 October 2023.

The museum welcomes both physical items and digital material, which can include images, placards, audio and film, amongst other objects.

A year on from 7 October, the museum is documenting that day, together with the impact it has had on British people over the past year and how the wider community have

been impacted and subsequently responded to this moment in history.

Sally Angel, CEO of Jewish Museum London, says: “Jewish Museum London is working closely with communities, organisations, and individuals across the UK to document how the events of October 7th, and its aftermath, are impacting Britain and British Jews.

“We want  to provide a lasting record of people’s experiences in 2024 for future generations.”

More information can be found at: jewishmuseum.org.uk.

The scene after last weekend’s theft; and the ‘stumbling stones’ in their place

BBC coverage ‘fuelled hate’

An inquiry has been demanded in Westminster into the BBC’s coverage of the Middle East conflict, amid claims it was biased and had fuelled “more slaughter and hatred”, writes Sarah Miller.

The call was made in the House of Lords by crossbencher Baroness Deech after the first anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

The BBC has said that it rejects any suggestion that its “reporting does not convey the true nature of the situation in the Middle East” and that it is dedicated to providing impartial reporting.

The cross-border massacre in Israel, in which hundreds were taken hostage by Hamas militants, unleashed the devastating war in Gaza and has led to an outbreak of hostilities in the wider region.

It has also triggered large-scale protests in the UK, fanning community tensions.

Incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia have spiked, according to organisations monitoring such reports.

Responding to a statement on the anniversary of the Hamas attack and continuing crisis in the Middle East, Baroness Deech, a former BBC governor and a patron of UK Lawyers for Israel, said the hatred seen following 7 October

“has to some extent been fed by the BBC”.

She said: “There have recently been two independent reports, one of which I co-signed, which pointed out in great detail mistakes and bias on the part of the BBC.

“There have been the most appalling statements on the BBC Arabic World Service by people who hate Israel.

“Does the minister agree that it

is time for an inquiry into the BBC’s coverage? For example, Jeremy Bowen casually reported that Israel had bombed a hospital.

“This soon turned out to be untrue, but that statement, which he never went back on, gave rise to more slaughter and hatred. It is time for an inquiry into the BBC’s impartiality on this issue.”

The BBC has pointed out that the report referred to by Baroness

Deech, relating to the explosion at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City on 17 October, was by its correspondent Jon Donnison, not Bowen.

After a review of the coverage at the time, BBC News posted a statement on its corrections and clarifications page saying Donnison was “wrong to speculate” on the causes of the blast and apologised.

Relying to Baroness Deech at Westminster, Lords leader Bar-

oness Smith of Basildon said: “She will understand that I am not going to accede to her request for an inquiry, but I think that all news outlets have a duty and responsibility to the truth.

“One thing I have found difficult in the coverage of this conflict is its focus on the destruction and hurt that have happened.

“I would like to see some balance around the political efforts to reach a solution as well. That would help people to understand what the conflict is about.

“I think that many people watching the TV news are obviously horrified, upset and distraught by what they see, but there is no great understanding of the background to it and why things are happening.

“All news outlets have a duty and a responsibility to ensure that their reporting is accurate.”

A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC holds itself to high standards of impartial reporting and rejects any suggestion that our reporting does not convey the true nature of the situation in the Middle East, and its past, present and potential impact on people in the region.

“This conflict is a challenging and polarising story to cover, and we are dedicated to providing impartial reporting for audiences in the UK and across the world.”

COUNCILLOR: US ECONOMY ‘RULED BY JEWS’

A Dublin city councillor has apologised for claiming that “the entire US economy is ruled by the Jews, by Israel”, writes Adam Decker.

Punam Rane made the statement during a discussion on Israel and the West Bank.

In response to the backlash, Rane retracted her comments in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying: “I completely withdraw my comments made at last night’s city council meeting in relation to a motion on the Occupied

Territories Bill. It was wrong, and I fully apologise for it.”

In her attempts to clarify, Rane later stated that she did not mean to refer to a specific community but instead suggested that the United Staes economy was influenced by Israelis, adding that the US is financially dependent and unable to take a firm stance on the matter.

During the meeting, Rane had spoken about the shift in global power dynamics, referring to the US as the

sole superpower following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

She then stated that the US could not take a strong stance on Palestine because of what she described as Jewish or Israeli control over the American economy.

Her comments were challenged by fellow councillor Conor Reddy, from People Before Profit.

Reddy urged her to clarify her remarks, emphasising that “identifying one religious group over another

is inflammatory” and that the US’s policies towards Israel are driven by politicians in Washington, not by any one religious or ethnic group. Rane faces disciplinary action from her party, Fine Gael, which referred the matter to the party’s disciplinary procedures.

The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland said: “Comments like this have led to Ireland being labelled as the most antisemitic country in Europe.”

Dublin’s Punam Rane makes her remark this week

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The BBC incorrectly reported that Israel had bombed a hospital, a claim that ‘gave rise to more hatred’

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Your generosity will enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people to thrive throughout life’s journey. This Rosh Hashanah, please help the people we support to find their own way.

Please donate at kisharonlangdon.org.uk/rh-donation, call 020 3209 1187 or scan this QR code

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King Charles and PM lead warm tributes to Lily Ebert

King Charles and the prime minister have led tributes to Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert, who died at her home in London yesterday, surrounded by her family. She was 100, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

On 9 July 1944, Lily was 20 when she and her family arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her mother, younger sister and brother were murdered in the gas chambers.

Over the years, Lily’s story has touched hundreds of millions worldwide. With her great-grandson Dov Forman, she co-authored her memoir, Lily’s Promise

King Charles said: “It was with the greatest sadness that I heard the news of Lily Ebert’s death. As a survivor of the unmentionable horrors of the Holocaust, I am so proud that she later found a home in Britain where she continued to tell the world of the horrendous atrocities she had witnessed, as a permanent reminder for our generation – and, indeed, for future generations – of the depths of depravity and evil to which humankind can fall, when reason, compassion and truth are abandoned. Alongside other Holocaust survivors she became an integral part of the fabric of our nation; her extraordinary resilience and courage an example to us all, which will never be forgotten.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “On behalf of the whole country, I want to send my deepest condolences on the passing of the extraordinary Lily Ebert. Lily represented everything that was best about humanity. I think of her message of tolerance and hope; her courage to share her story and relive the horrors of her experience so that we might learn; her creativity and

restless determination to be heard, which even led to her becoming a global star on TikTok. She was without doubt, one of this country’s greatest centenarians.”

Michael Newman, chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees, told Jewish News: “We are deeply saddened to hear about Lily’s passing. She was a trailblazing advocate for Holocaust education – her special connection with her great-grandson Dov helped to bridge the generation gap and reach millions

of people through social media. As we approach the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz this Holocaust Memorial Day – Lily’s zest for life will burn brightly in our thoughts.”

Lily is survived by a daughter and son, 10 grandchildren, 38 greatgrandchildren and one great-greatgrandson. Her husband and eldest daughter pre-deceased her.

gap and reach millions

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, told Jewish News: “Lily was the epitome of strength and determination. She lived to be 100 years old – she was invincible and we thought she would live forever.

epitome of strength and determithought she would live forever. grandmother,

Celebrating one million social media followers with great-grandson Dov. Later (bottom left) they doubled that number

great grandmother, her large against the Nazis. She will be remembered for her incredible

A proud mother, grandmother, great grandmother and greatgreat grandmother, her large loving family was her revenge against the Nazis. She will be remembered for her incredible story, her unparalleled tenacity and her zest for life.

Auschwitz-Birkenau. On arrival she separated from

Berta and her younger brother,

to the gas chambers. Lily and her sisters Renee and Piri were

“She was deported from her home in Bonyhad in Hungary to Auschwitz-Birkenau. On arrival she was separated from her mother Nina, her younger sister, Berta and her younger brother, Bela. All were immediately sent to the gas chambers. Lily and her sisters Renee and Piri were selected for work.

“Lily came to the UK, raised

a family and lived life to the full. She spoke tirelessly about her experiences, always determined to make sure the world would ever forget. She spoke in schools and colleges across the country, she was revered by politicians and world leaders, respected by prime ministers and members of the Royal Family –her portrait was commissioned by His Majesty the King. With her great grandson Dov Forman she co-wrote her story in Lily’s Promise, which has been translated into dozens of languages and read across the world.

“With Dov she created a TikTok account with two million followers –she educated the world. She belongs

in the list of Jewish heroines alongside the likes of Rachel, Miriam and Esther. ” The funeral began at Lily’s home in north-west London yesterday afternoon. She is to be buried in Israel.

Lily Ebert in conversation with King Charles at an exhibition in 2022 entitled Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust

Lily at Windsor with her MBE

Candle-lit vigil held in Herts

by Michelle Rosenberg michelle@jewishnews.co.uk

More than 500 members of the Elstree and Borehamwood community have gathered for a moving candle-lit hostage vigil and havdallah.

The event, in Borehamwood Shopping Park, expressed support for Israel following the latest Iranian attack and anniversary of 7 October.

Local MP Sir Oliver Dowden, who attended the vigil, said: “Let us never forget the 1,200 people murdered in the horrific attack, including one from our own constituency (Jake Marlowe), and 101 people being cruelly being held hostage.”

He added: “Their captors call themselves Hamas, we should always call them exactly what they are: terrorists. For the hostages and their families these have been long dark days and it is our duty, together, as friends of Israel, as supporters of freedom, to sustain the flame of hope, keeping those hostages names and stories, pressing constantly for their swift release and praying for their safe return.”

The evening was marked by a ser-

vice led by Rabbi Yaakov Finn and attendees lit 101 candles, each representing a hostage still held captive by Hamas. This was followed by huge images of hostages being projected onto the shopping park walls in a harrowing reminder of the babies, women, men, elderly and Holo-

caust survivors kidnapped on Black Shabbat.

Lara Lipsey, co-founder of the Borehamwood hostage vigils, said: “For almost a year, we have gathered as a community, come rain or shine, to call for the release of the innocent hostages held in captivity in Gaza.

War still rages in Ukraine.

It’s been two years of hurt and pain, two years of damage and devastation, two years of fear and uncertainty. Parents and children are traumatised. The suffering of war never seems to end. But you can help them today. This Pesach, will

“They are separated from their families, su ering in dark tunnels, deprived of the basic human rights we all take for granted – fresh air, food and dignity.

“As we enter a new Jewish year, a time of renewal and hope, our deepest wish is that our brothers and sisters in Israel will soon be reunited with their loved ones and be able to experience these simple, yet precious, freedoms once again.”

The vigil concluded with prayers for peace and communal singing of both the Israeli and British national anthems.

... as students plant trees at care home

Jewish students also came together this week to commemorate 7 October.

On Monday, the Union of Jewish Students planted 18 trees at Jewish Care’s Sandringham residential home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, to launch a national memorial garden for the 1,200 victims of the date that Israelis call Black Shabbat.

Eighteen is the numerical value of the Hebrew word Chai, which means life, symbolic in the hopes that the newly planted trees will live and grow for those who no longer can.

In her speech opening the garden, UJS president Sami Berko said: “Today, we gather in solemn remembrance as we commemorate a year since the tragic events of 7 October.

“This day has forever changed lives and families, and it is with heavy hearts that we honour the 1,200 souls lost, each one a cherished individual with dreams, aspirations, and loved ones left behind.

“We rea rm our com-

mitment to life, growth, and hope by planting these trees, even amidst sorrow.”

On Monday evening, UJS supported thousands of Jewish students nationwide in hosting a simultaneous tekes , or memorial ceremony, on campuses including Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh, Belfast, Bristol, Cambridge and London.

The tekes contained a number of prayers, readings, and stories of victims.

A minute’s silence was

held by the Jewish societies at 7:10pm.

Jewish school students also held their own ceremonies through UJS’ schools programme, with hundreds joining from across London and Manchester.

The memorial booklet produced for the tekes ceremony can be found at bit.ly/4eBSaXB. For Jewish students struggling, a UJS welfare hotline, launched on 8 October last year, remains open 24/7 on 020 7424 3281.

Borehamwood Shopping Park. Pictures: @amandarosephoto

UJS sabbatical officers Alice Abrahams and Samantha Cass plant a tree alongside Linoy Barokas, UJS shlicha

Enjoy

JOIN ‘VANESSA FELTZ’

Wednesday

October,

Deported Brit’s aliyah application thwarted

A British Jew has arrived back in London from Israel and is trying to make sense of his deportation after he applied to make aliyah, writes Jenni Frazer.

Leo Franks, who was born in London and lived for a time in Israel with his family, is 25 and a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.

A frequent traveller to Israel, he arrived in the country in April this year, moved in with his Israeli girlfriend and began the process of application to become an Israeli citizen.

But, according to an interview he gave to the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA), his application was stymied

because, he believes, he was being punished for his left-wing activism.

Franks told JTA: “The story here is that the courts have given the Ministry of Interior free rein to make decisions about who can be a Jew in Israel on the basis of his politics.”

He said his case had been abruptly closed by the Interior Ministry. His lawyer, Ira Rozina, told JTA: “Was the ministry targeting him because he is some kind of activist? I can’t say.

“It’s clear the police want these activists to leave the country, and that was the end result of the ministry’s actions.

“This is a person with a right to make aliyah,” she said. “To prevent

someone from exercising that basic right should require a very significant justification.”

Franks says he is not affiliated with any particular activist group, but he did join an anti-settlement action in the West Bank, giving rise to outrage on the right wing of the governing coalition.

Israeli media has reported that the government has increased its efforts to stamp down out West Bank protests in recent months.

During another protest, Franks was briefly arrested and his passport confiscated by police.

It is understood though his passport was returned to him — after he

went to court on the matter — his arrest was reported to the immigration authorities, giving rise to his belief his political activism led to his deportation.

Franks is now back in London,

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and says his troubles have affected his relationship with his long-term Israeli girlfriend. He has been advised to make any renewed aliyah application from the UK, though it is unclear if he will take that option.

Keir Starmer is expected to confirm the appointment of a trade envoy for Israel – with independent peer Lord Austin among those considered for the role.

Westminster sources confirmed the PM is keen to make the Israel-related appointment and his government was keen for collaboration over trade and investment following a meeting with President Isaac Herzog in July.

Trade envoys are appointed by governments where substantial trade and investment opportunities have been identified.

It is understood that Starmer has yet to appoint his trade envoys, with all previous roles ending with the general election in July.

Lord Austin was first appointed trade envoy to Israel back in 2019 in a role handed to him by former PM Theresa May, after he quit Labour that year citing the “culture of extremism, antisemitism and intolerance”.

Austin has been far less critical of the party under Starmer’s leadership, and still has friends within it. He is well-regarded for

his extensive contacts in Israel.

While other names are likely to be submitted to the PM for the trade envoy role, Austin is believed to have supporters at a senior level.

Free trade negotiations between Israel and the UK began in July 2022 and talks have continued throughout Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

A fifth round of talks took place in April this year, and in July, Britain’s new Labour government confirmed its plans to resume the talks.

A government spokesperson said its decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel was “separate to our commitment to deliver our trade negotiations” The UK continues to view Israel as an important ally and the bond between Britain and Israel continues to be of vital importance. Boosting growth and jobs is at the heart of our mission and that’s why we’re building on the £6.1billion of trade and 38,000 British jobs that the UK-Israel relationship already provides.”

Three generations of the same family raised more than £6,000 for World Jewish Relief (WJR) by taking part in the annual London to Brighton bike ride.

Jack Swindon, 30, his uncle Leonard Rau, 54, and his grandfather Anthony Rau, 87, all cycled the 55 miles between the two cities.

The family picked WJR as their chosen charity because there is a connection with the refugee children of the Second World War, the “kinder”, many of whom were rescued by the predecessor to WJR, the Central British Fund (CBF).

Jack explained: “My other grandfather came to Britain on the Kindertransport. About five years ago, my grandfather Anthony (who is British-

born) and my uncle Leonard took part in a charity bike ride from Berlin to London for the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the Kindertransport”. That event took two weeks, but the family were bitten by the cycling bug. Anthony Rau haș now set up a club called Cyclostyle at his synagogue which will tour areas of Jewish London – on bikes.

Leo Franks has spoken out about his enforced departure from Israel

The WJR team at Brighton

Report: British Jews are ‘rattled’

British Jews are “rattled, anxious and uncomfortable” a year after 7 October, according to a new landmark report from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), writes Jenni Frazer.

The report, by JPR executive director Dr Jonathan Boyd, finds the attacks on Israel had “a significant impact on British Jews’ political views of Israel, their sense of security in the UK and their attachments to Israel and the local Jewish community”.

The report, A year after October 7: How British Jews feel about Israel, security and Jewish life, is based on responses from 4,500 adult British Jews to the JPR Jewish Current Affairs Survey in July, the largest survey of British Jews since 7 October.

The report explores how the original Hamas attacks and subsequent war have affected British Jews’ view of

Israel politically, how the public reaction to the conflict has affected Jews’ sense of security and trust in critical organisations in the UK, and how the conflict has impacted the Jewish lives of British Jews – their connections to Israel and the Jewish community.

Among key findings, just 54 percent of Jews in the UK agree a twostate solution is the only way Israel will achieve peace with its neighbours, compared to 77 percent in 2010. And only about one in four (26 per cent) think most Palestinians want peace with Israel, compared to nearly half (47 per cent) in 2010.

Nearly four in five British Jews say they often feel they are being held responsible by non-Jews for the actions of Israel’s government, with 43 percent “strongly agreeing’” with this statement; and nearly three in

four respondents say they feel less safe as a Jewish person living in the UK, while almost two in three adult British Jews said they feel less confident displaying their Jewishness.

Nearly half of British Jews (46 percent) say antisemitism is “a very big problem” in the UK, compared to 28 percent in 2018 and 11 percent in 2012.

In total, 83 percent of British Jews

define antisemitism as a problem in Britain, the highest proportion found since records began more.

Those who describe themselves as Zionist – and, conversely, as antiZionist – are each slightly on the increase in both categories. About two in three British Jews identify as Zionist, up slightly compared to before 7 October. Ten percent identify as anti-Zionist, also up slightly.

But crucially, levels of anxiety among British Jews are higher than they were before 7 October and are notably higher than they are among the general population of Britain.

The report’s findings form the basis for the new series of the JPR/JW3 Jews Do Count podcast on the JPR website and major platforms. Episode two features an interview with Jewish News editor, Richard Ferrer.

Rosh Hashanah most widely observed festival

A new report from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) shows that Rosh Hashanah has overtaken Pesach as the most widely observed Jewish festival, with its combination of home and synagogue rituals. It is described as “a great coming together at both the communal and familial levels”.

The report, written by the JPR’s Dr David Graham and based on responses made in 2022, shows almost three-quarters (74 percent) of Jews in Britain will light candles at home and eat apples and honey to celebrate the new year.

Interestingly, larger families are more likely to eat apples and honey than smaller families or singles.

JPR found 15 percent of Jews participate in synagogue services only on the High Holy Days, with a further 18 percent doing so on these

days and/or on some other festivals.

The survey also found 57 percent of Jews attended at least one in-person synagogue service during Rosh Hashanah 2022.

While Covid-19 restrictions had

been fully lifted by the time Rosh Hashanah was celebrated in September 2022, there were still vestiges of concern from some community members, and online services and events were being held, espe-

cially by non-Orthodox Jewish communities.

These online services have become more established since, so the data may not be typical given the figures were gathered at a time when the repercussions of the pandemic were still quite significant.

Unsurprisingly, the more strongly religious and more Orthodox Jews are, the more likely they are to have attended an in-person synagogue service rather than observing Rosh Hashanah rituals at home, although most did both.

JPR also asked respondents whether they usually fasted on Yom Kippur, and just over half (56 per cent) said that they did so every year.

On the other hand, almost one in five (18 percent) respondents said they “never” fasted, and a further 13

percent said they did not fast “due to health reasons”

JPR executive director Dr Jonathan Boyd said: “Previously, our data have shown that Pesach was the most popular Jewish festival, but in our most recent research, it seems that Rosh Hashanah may have overtaken it – at least in 2022.

“This may have been a postpandemic factor – after the challenging years of 2020 and 2021, it is likely that more people than usual came together in some way on Rosh Hashanah 2022 – but either way, it demonstrates the ongoing resonance of the High Holy Days period for British Jews today.

“And coming together this year probably matters even more than usual – after the intense challenges of the past 12 months, many of us need community more than ever.”

Rosh Hashanah: ‘A great coming together’ at all levels

‘Gaza’ painted on a sign outside the Wiener Holocaust Library

News / Young leaders / Jami befrienders / Parashah curriculum

Sennitt leaders graduate PARASHAH

Ninety students from nine schools graduated from a leadership programme launched in honour of Alan Senitt, the former UJS president murdered in Washington in 2006, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

Pupils from JFS, Nower Hill (Pinner), Immanuel College (Bushey), Guru Nanak Sikh Academy (Hayes), Copthall (Mill Hill), Yavneh, JCoSS, Watford Boys Grammar and King Solomon High School (Ilford) completed interfaith leadership training as part of The Alan Senitt Upstanders Leadership Programme.

The initiative is facilitated by Maccabi GB’s projects Stand Up! Education Against Discrimination and Streetwise on behalf of the Alan Sennit Memorial Trust. It is aimed at breaking down barriers and gives opportunities for youngsters to learn

not only about themselves and their skills, but about each other, their communities, cultures and religions.

Over six months, participants took part in seminars and received training on leadership, team-building, volunteering, event management, and training on topics such as antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate, discrimination against LGBT+ and disability, and racism in sport and online.

The graduation ceremony at the o ces of Maccabi GB was opened by Jon Mason, Senitt’s high school teacher, who has led the programme at Nower Hill for 17 years.

Projects presented by the graduating schools included those supporting homeless people, anti-discrimination initiatives for Asian and South Asian Communities, a scheme sharing the experiences of the elderly

by building bridges between generations and projects on body dysmorphia and empowering women.

Nathan Servi, Maccabi GB chief operating o cer, said: “The graduating students have learnt what it means to be a true upstanding leader; it is about self-awareness, communication, listening, decision making,

influencing and empowering others, and it is, above all about leading by example.”

The team will expand the programme next year, bringing in 110 students from 11 schools. To learn more or to book free workshops, please visitstandupeducation.org or email info@standupeducation.org

Jami brings in befrienders

A charity that provides mental health support to young people and adults is introducing 12 volunteer community befrienders at its social enterprise Head Room Café in Golders Green. Jami, part of Jewish Care, has

“How could the result of the US elections a ect the Jewish community?”

Thursday 31st October

Join us for the next instalment of our Westminster Synagogue Symposium Series, where we invite speakers from both within and outside our community to explore a variety of topics.

Professor Michael Cox — Moderator

Professor of International Relations at LSE; founding director of LSE IDEAS; author of influential works on post-Cold War politics and international affairs.

Professor Larry Kramer — Panellist

President and Vice Chancellor of LSE; 15th Dean of Stanford Law School; former President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and a member of the American Philosophical Society.

Thursday 31st October

7:00pm Discussion

7:45pm Refreshments

8:15pm Q&As

launched the latest initiative to coincide with World Mental Health Day on Thursday 10 October.

Head Room will o er the service on site from 10am to 4pm and provide free hot drinks to the first 100 customers

Westminster Synagogue Symposium

Diana Shaw Clark — Panellist

Founding Member of J Street, WLS Drop In Centre, and Our Open Kitchen; Lead Fundraiser abroad for Obama who appointed her to Council of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.

Jonathan Paris — Panellist

National security and political analyst; lecturer on the Middle East, US politics, world geopolitics and long-term Global Trends; frequent commentator on Sky News, BBC and Al Arabiya.

Tickets £15 non-members, £10 WS members

Book westminstersynagogue.org

Questions events@westminstersynagogue.org

to mark the day. Moving forward, the befrienders will be available from 2-4pm Monday to Thursday, as well as 10am-noon from Wednesday to Friday, to anyone in the community wanting to have a one-to-one chat with someone.

AT PAJES GETS BOOST

The Partnership of Jewish Schools (PaJeS) has relaunched its Parashah curriculum, Torah Wellbeing & Me, with a training session for educators.

The revamped curriculum o ers a framework to integrate Torah study with wellbeing education, providing teachers with a valuable tool to instil positive values and life skills in primary students.

Primary Jewish studies advisers Esther Colman and Lizzie Caplan led the sessions that introduced the curriculum, explored teaching resources, and guided participants through planning lessons using the new framework.

The weekly Parshiot are designed to encourage meaningful classroom discussions, linking Jewish education to the wellbeing and everyday lives of students. Participants also had the opportunity to reflect and collaborate with peers on how to apply the curriculum in their teaching environments.

A participant said that the session “opened another way of thinking about Parashah and how to teach it in a di erent way”, while another added that it was “good to see amazing sta behind the curriculum”.

Hasmonean Primary School

Hasmonean Primary School

Calling all Prospective Nursery & Reception families

Calling all Prospective Nursery & Reception families

Tuesday 24th September

Tuesday 24th September

Wednesday 30th October, Thursday 14th November

Wednesday 30th October, Thursday 14th November

we will be holding open mornings at 10am

we will be holding open mornings at 10am

You will have personal tours of our wonderful school, get to meet our Head Teacher and see the school in action. Some spaces are available across the school.

You will have personal tours of our wonderful school, get to meet our Head Teacher and see the school in action. Some spaces are available across the school.

To attend, please email admin@hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk or phone the Office on 020 82027704

To attend, please email admin@hasmonean-pri.barnet.sch.uk or phone the Office on 020 82027704

Some of the 90 students who took part in the six-month programme

Befriender Caryn Cobersy with Head Room regular Peter Gottlieb

Jewish population rising

There are 15.8 million Jews in the world, according to data published by the Jewish Agency for Israel, an increase of about 100,000 compared to 15.7 million last year, writes Michelle Rosenberg.

The figures, based on demographic research by Prof Sergio Della Pergola from the Hebrew University, represent an overall increase of just over six percent.

Some 7.3 million Jews live in Israel, compared to 7.2 million at the beginning of 2023, while 8.5 million Jews live outside Israel, including 6.3 million in the United States and 2.2 million in other countries.

Major Gen Doron Almog,

chairman of the Jewish Agency, said: “The existential relationship between the Jewish communities around the world and the State of Israel has strengthened in the past year. We are witnessing unprecedented support that provides us the strength and hope to carry on.

“The difficult war that was

imposed on us, alongside the struggle of Jews around the world against rising antisemitism, emphasises the shared destiny and the mission of The Jewish Agency — to be a living bridge between global Jewry and the State of Israel, to be the home for all Jews from around the world — from all denominations and sectors.”

The Jewish population estimates for Russia and Ukraine were adjusted for the significant immigration that followed the war there.

The data in the study refers to people who identify as Jews and/ or sons and daughters of at least

one Jewish parent, and who are not members of another religion. The core Jewish population by country, in countries with a total of at least 10,000 Jews, as of January 2024 is as follows: France 438,500; Canada 400,000; Great Britain 313,000; Argentina 170,000; Germany 125,000; Russia 123,000; Australia 117,000; Brazil 90,300; South Africa 49,500; Hungary 45,000; Mexico 41,000; Holland 35,000; Ukraine 32,000; Belgium 29,000; Italy 26,800; Switzerland 20,500; Uruguay 16,100; Chile 15,500; Turkey 15,000; Sweden 14,900; Spain 13,000; Austria 10,300 and Panama 10,000.

‘Escape’ mural defaced

This

Palombo

TIMES SQUARE SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR JEWS

Hundreds gathered in New York’s Times Square this week to commemorate 7 October. The event, one of many memorials occurring across the city, was organised by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and his World Values Network.

As rally-goers filed through security on 7th Avenue, Rabbi Boteach proclaimed that Times Square was

no longer Hamas or Hezbollah territory.

Israeli flags could be seen waving as Sam Sinatra sang The Star-Spangled Banner and the Hatikvah. Rabbi Boteach led a kiddush and profusely thanked local police for their assistance.

There had been widespread protests across the city throughout

the day, notably at Columbia University, Madison Square Park and Union Square.

Last month, a plan to attack New York’s Jews on 6 October was foiled by US and Canadian authorities.

The tone of Monday’s event was intended to display pluralistic support for both Israel and for the American Jewish community,

and most of the speakers were not Jewish.

Former head of the NAACP Dr Ben Chavis, said: “Blacks and Jews in America have always worked together. Blacks and Jews have always marched together. Blacks and Jews have always struggled together.

“Blacks and Jews have always worked for freedom together.

Blacks and Jews have always fought for equality together.”

Danyal Khan, deputy director of the Muslim American Leadership Alliance, stated that “to the Jewish people, your allies and friends, to people with empathy, October 7 never stopped”. He then led the assembled crowd in a chant of“bring them home”.

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mural in Milan of Nova survivor Vlada Patapov’s desperate run on 7 October 2023 under Hamas gunfire has been defaced. Vandals scraped off the head and legs in the painting by Italian artist aleXsandro

MARCHING STANDINGTALL

SUNDAY 17TH NOVEMBER | PARADE BEGINS 2PM | THE CENOTAPH, LONDON SW1

REGISTER NOW AND SAVE THE DATE TO JOIN AJEX AT THE CENOTAPH AS WE REMEMBER.

In the wake of the October 7th anniversary, we reflect on the ongoing fight against antisemitism. Together, we will honour the thousands of Jewish servicemen and women who fought for our freedom, ensuring their legacy continues to inspire us today.

United as British Jews in pride and purpose, we march not only to Remember, but to actively stand against hatred and discrimination. Veterans, individuals, families and community groups of all ages are welcome to stand tall with us in solidarity. Together, we honour the past and pledge to shape a future free from antisemitism.

If you are a Parade regular or newcomer, be sure to register to participate. To secure your spot to march book your ticket by Friday 8th November at www.ajex.org.uk

To support the Parade as a spectator from the East Whitehall Pavement no booking required. Please allow enough time to arrive at the event as there will be a high level of security provided by CST and the Police.

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Residents at Birchgrove have access to exclusive on-site amenities such as a restaurant, licensed bar, club room, wellness suite, landscaped gardens, and communal terrace. Regular events and activities also contribute to the friendly community lifestyle – from hobby groups to shared activities with like-minded people. And for added peace of mind, there is a concierge and 24-hour staff presence.

Underlying Birchgrove’s business model is the belief that the current housing options for people over 65 exclude a large section of those who don’t want to manage another house purchase; therefore, renting in retirement is the missing piece in the housing puzzle. The appeal may not be immediately obvious to those accustomed to home ownership, but for a variety of people and reasons, it can uplift your whole quality of life and be liberating.

Another reason rental is popular with older adults is many have already built their wealth. They see a lot of money going into the maintenance and repair of their family home and think that money could be put to a better purpose. Perhaps into retirement funds that benefit the family or use it to enjoy a better quality of life. So, whilst some argue that paying rent is throwing money down the drain, the truth is this more applies when you are building your wealth. Late renters have a different perspective; they are working out the best way to disperse their accumulated funds and planning and preparing how best to enjoy their future years.

If you would like to find out more about living at a Birchgrove retirement community, contact the team. They will happily discuss the options and answer your questions.

Birchgrove is rapidly growing its portfolio of high-quality retirement communities. There are communities in various locations in London, Kent, and Surrey.

Editorial comment and letters to the editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

One day, one year

Continued from page 1

for just how hard it would be to see released hostage Ada Sagi weeping as she clung to her son, Noam, while lighting a memorial candle. The crowd cheered for her as they did for Barak Deri, one of the first soldiers to arrive at Kibbutz Be’eri which deprived him of the chance to rescue his brother at the Nova Festival. His near-fatal injuries were later sustained in a failed hostage rescue mission.

There were tender prayers as befitting a vigil, but also stirring and fervent speeches. Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies, compared the attack on Nova with the 7/7 attack in London and the Manchester arena bombing. “Terror is terror, and we must confront it together” was his yell. The crowd yelled back in support.

There was more powerful rhetoric from Keith Black, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, who told the crowd: “The battle you are fighting is not for Israel or the Jewish people. It is at its core a battle against a malignant ideology that seeks to bring down western civilisation.” Israel is, he added, “fighting for a set of ideals that are the foundations of the west”.

That George Galloway later angrily reposted Black’s speech on X is proof of his accuracy regarding the “pious self-righteous” who have been gaslighting Israel.

And it was on 7 October that the 28-year-old British citizen Emily Damari was taken hostage by Hamas, who are still holding her in Gaza. A brutal fact dropped like a stone when Emily’s mother, Mandy Damari, addressed the crowd to plead for her daughter to be released. To plead for her life.

Mandy Damari has seen what has happened to other hostages and knows time is of the essence. Privately, one year on from the day that will haunt the rest of our lives, she must wonder whether there is any time left for her “beautiful, funny and brave daughter”.

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What a sorry mess at the BBC

John Ware is bang on the money (Jewish News, 2 October) when he calls for a rethink of the policy against the BBC’s editorial use of the word “terrorist”, in light of the recent Nova documentary broadcast.

Of course, the media uproar was somewhat exaggerated in suggesting the film’s director was told the BBC wouldn’t allow the word “terrorist” at all. In the English subtitles, the word “terrorist” appears when said by the victims, as the BBC specifically allows the use of that word with attribution. But the BBC’s objection still sticks in one’s craw when watching this film because, as Ware explains, an otherwise legitimate editorial policy is being so inconsistently enforced.

As well as the many good examples he cites, the policy appears even more garbled when one discovers that the BBC actually allows the

objective use of “terror attack” or “act of terror”. In one example, just nine days after 7 October, the killing of two football fans by a gunman in Brussels was described objectively by the BBC’s headline as a “terror attack”, and placed right next to a headline about the “Hamas attack” which saw two British sisters remain unaccounted for.

The optics become worse when, despite the objections with the Nova film, the BBC objectively labels its subject matter a “terror attack” in its iPlayer blurb for the previous evening’s Newsnight – in which two Nova survivors from the film are interviewed. All of that effort the BBC presumably went through with the Nova film’s producer, only to be contradicted by colleagues elsewhere in its output. What a sorry mess.

Naji Tilley, Hendon

ISRAEL MUST CHANGE COURSE

As Progressive Jews, we want Israel to survive and prosper long-term – and we want justice and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. To help all that to happen, our Jewish communities and community organisations and denominations here in the UK cannot continue turning a blind eye to what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere.

The conduct of Netanyahu, his government and the Israeli army can only generate more hatred, more suffering, more terror, more instability and more injustice for both peoples.

We therefore implore our communal leaders,

across the UK Jewish denominational spectrum, to speak out against what is happening and to encourage the UK government to do whatever it can to persuade the Israeli government to change course – for justice’s sake, for Israel’s sake, for the hostages’ sake and for the Palestinians’ sake. Some people maintain that it is not the diaspora’s job to try to influence the Israeli government. But we would say that, as Jews, it is our right and duty to speak out on what the Jewish state says and does, ostensibly in the name of the Jewish people. David Keys, on behalf of Progressive Jews for Justice in Israel/Palestine

NAHAMU’S TRUE ROLE AJEX REMEMBRANCE

Ann Cohen (12 September), makes the blanket assertion that “the evidence shows that those being brought up in the Charedi educational system enjoy a far better quality of life than any other population on Earth”.

I’m aware that Eve Sack of Nahamu supports many people burdened by the education they received in Charedi schools because they feel it has limited their life choices. I challenge Ms Cohen’s claim that “Nahamu’s sole existence is to cause trouble for those not conducting their lives the way Eve Sacks thinks they should” when its aim is to improve educational standards to facilitate entry into careers for all members of the Jewish community.

Avital Mendelsohn, By email

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Unlike other Jewish media, we do not charge for content. That won’t change. Because we are charity-owned and free, we rely on advertising to cover our costs. This vital lifeline, which has dropped in recent years, has fallen further due to coronavirus.

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AJEX will be at the Royal British Legion 96th Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey this November to lay 225 Magen David markers for the thousands of Jewish men and women who gave their lives for our future. For details, contact head office@ajex.org.uk with names of those to be remembered.

To secure a place at the AJEX Remembrance Parade & Ceremony on 17 November at the Cenotaph, please book by Friday 8 November at www.ajex.org.uk.

Brian Bloom AJEX Vice President, By email

Yom Kippur + Shabbat comes in Friday night 6.02pm Yom Kippur + Shabbat goes out

How 7 October changed my opinions as a Gazan

AHMED FOUAD ALKHATIB

RESIDENT SENIOR FELLOW AT THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL

In the painful year since the 7 October massacre in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds taken hostage, I have made more connections with Israelis and Jews as a Palestinian from Gaza than I have in the entirety of my life. I’m no stranger to dialogue groups between Palestinians and Israelis/Jews in the diaspora outside the Holy Land. After all, my first time meeting Israelis who were not at a military checkpoint or a border crossing was in California, soon after I left Gaza as a teenage exchange student in 2005. In fact, I had grown tired of dialogue groups because I was truly interested in building upon the conversations and engaging in direct action.

The Israel and Palestine discourse has devolved so much that I yearn for the days of simple dialogue. Both the pro-Palestine and the pro-Israel communities are in complete, ideological and philosophical opposition to each other. Neither wants to acknowledge the legitimate grievances or humanity of the other.

I grew up in the Gaza Strip and experienced firsthand the various elements of the Israel and Palestine conflict, especially during the Second Intifada. I saw Hamas’s gradual rise to political power and prominence in the Gaza Strip and realised the horrors that awaited my people at the hands of this fraudulent, suicidal, terrorist organisation that hijacked the Palestinian narrative. I came to the United States one month before the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the coastal enclave, a time of immense uncertainty and hope.

The Gaza Strip is unlike the West Bank in a variety of ways, culturally and politically. Gaza has generally been much more isolated, and it is a lot more di cult to leave, enter, or visit. This made me of interest to many in the Jewish and Israeli communities who were genuinely interested in understanding Gaza through a Palestinian who was from there with family still on the ground. My entire immediate and extended family remained in Gaza even as I was unable to return once I finished my year of high school cultural exchange in the United States. I applied for political asylum, for which my interview was on the very day that Hamas violently and fully took over the Gaza Strip on June 14, 2007. Throughout my time in the United States, my family, friends, and community experienced the horrors of life under Hamas’s incompetent and nefarious rule, which entailed periodic wars with Israel and a choking blockade that, at times, made life truly miserable.

They also experienced the consequences of a nefarious strategy by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in which Hamas’s rule was allowed to grow and fester in an e ort to keep the Palestinians politically divided and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In 2015, I launched an organisation to advocate for an internationally run, Israeli-approved

airfield in the Gaza Strip. While working on this e ort, I connected with a broad spectrum of Israelis and diaspora Jews who were vital partners in making critical introductions to help build a proposal and socialise the concept. That experience was invaluable in helping connect with people with whom I may not have fully agreed but nevertheless shared common ground in wanting to see Gaza developed, stabilized, opened up to the rest of the world, and provided with alternatives to isolation and war.

I wrote for Israeli and Jewish media outlets and held numerous meetings and gatherings that were condemned by some in the “pro-Palestine” community as a form of “normalisation” with Zionists and mainstream Jewish audiences.

This experience reinforced for me the need to connect with new Jewish audiences who were not just anti-Zionists or on the far left. I was stunned that basic communication was vilified simply because of who I was talking with. All of these di erent threads came together after the horrendous attack of 7 October and the ensuing war on Gaza that has destroyed both of my childhood homes and killed over 31 of my immediate and extended family members.

I was regularly faced with the choice of preaching to the choir and avoiding talking with those with whom I disagreed, or taking a leap of faith and actually building new bridges and alliances in pursuit of the slightest of common ground across our di erences. The tragic death of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, including family members, tested my ability to stay true to this principle and has required a daily commitment to this ethos.

That I have emerged as one of the most consistent anti-Hamas voices within the Palestinian community has created immense interest in what I have to say from many in the Jewish and Israeli communities. The problem, however, is that at my core, I am extremely pro-Palestine and deeply committed to advocating for Palestinians’ right to freedom, independence, and sovereignty. When I criticise the Israeli government’s actions and those of Netanyahu and the far-right ministers that have exacerbated settlements in the West Bank and the military occupation, the same allies and friends who were willing to engage in dialogue often turn against me and quickly dismiss all the common ground that I thought we had previously established.

Some act as though any criticism of Israel is perfectly o -limits and that Israel is somehow a perfect entity that can do no wrong.

This very quickly makes me think that many of these allies may not be as authentic as I had hoped they would be. Worse, it makes me feel as though I am merely being tokenised as a Palestinian who is against Hamas and that some of my “convenient” views are of interest while the rest are immediately shut down. This dynamic is precisely why so many Palestinians, especially in the English-speaking diaspora, do not speak out against Hamas and Palestinian internal problems and mistakes because they don’t want their words to be tokenised by the Jewish community for a very narrow end and goal.

I am pleading with my Jewish and Israeli friends and allies who are interested in engaging

Palestinians to please be cognisant of this. The goal should not be to agree 100% of the time; instead, it is to create a space where healthy, respectful, sincere, and detailed exchanges can take place unhindered.

Most importantly, getting more Palestinians to speak out requires Jewish allies to be sensitive and aware of their actions and how they are not inadvertently or carelessly pushing away potential Palestinian friends who could be vital partners in forging a di erent path forward based on empathy and mutual recognition.

I implore the Jewish community to grow more comfortable in hearing Palestinian critiques around Israeli policies regarding the military occupation of the West Bank, settlements, policies around Gaza, and the conduct of the war, dehumanisation, and abuse that Palestinians have endured for generations. Of course, there have been numerous mistakes committed by the Palestinian national project and Palestinian leadership. There have also been horrendous terror acts and crimes committed against Israelis by Palestinians, and many within Palestinian society want to stand against these persistent failures.

Yet it is incumbent upon my Jewish brothers and sisters to be part of the empowerment of moderate Palestinian voices who are there and ready to be part of a better future but need some nurturing and support. This will require agreeing to disagree and not having to say something every time you hear an opinion with which you disagree.

A better future awaits all of us if we will it and work towards it. Dialogue and conversations must always be a two-way street, even when they are uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Citizens walk through the ruins of Gaza

Axis of resistance versus a light unto the nations

JOHN WARE

JOURNALIST & DOCUMENTARY MAKER

Last week listeners to the BBC Today programme heard a Tehran based academic, Professor Mohammad Marandi, say that the current Israel regime “believes they are a chosen people. They have exceptional rights, and therefore they have exceptional rights to the whole region. It’s not just Palestine today. It goes beyond the borders of Palestine.”

His interviewer Mishal Husain was criticised for not challenging him. It would be nice to think her lapse was because the statement was so freighted with prejudice, biblical exegesis and humbug that, unusually for her, she was lost for words.

So let me make a stab at it.

It’s true that Bibi Netanyahu’s cabinet includes extremists who see Jews like them as God’s chosen in the supremacist sense.

But Professor Mirandi ventured into malicious territory, and he knew it.

He knew that antisemites habitually corrupt the meaning of “chosenness” in Judaism as being about racial and spiritual superiority, whereas in essence it’s about God holding the Israelites to a high standard so that, as the Prophet Isiah put it, they can serve as a “light unto the nations until the end of the earth.”

Or, to put it at its simplest, God instructed the ancestors of Jews to be “mensches” by helping to make the world a better place.

In my experience, most Jews would rather Isiah had never uttered that noble aspiration. To quote Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, “I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?”

Professor Mirandi is also guilty of the most blatant humbug. I’ll reveal why in a moment.

But first to the questions and the endless, anguished moral vicissitudes of this conflict that have, like so many others, preoccupied me in the search for answers.

So on this, the anniversary of the 7 October – as both Israel and Iran nudge the Middle East towards the brink of all-out war – I’d like to share my thoughts. This is not easy stu .

Why has Iran, a majority Shi’ite Muslim country, forged an alliance with Hamas whose members are their religious rivals and who belong to the Sunni sect of Islam?

On its face, there’s no logical reason why Iran should have been Hamas’s paymaster for three decades. Israel, of course, does not occupy any Iranian territory since their borders are 1,200 miles apart. Furthermore, Iran has shown little commitment to improving the lives of ordinary Palestinians.

If Iran’s grateful Palestinian supporters doubt this, they should ask themselves why so little of the $4bn Iran is reported to have given Hamas over the last three decades has been for humanitarian aid.

The lion’s share of funding has gone on

Hamas’s war machine, transforming it from a rag-tag bunch of suicide bombers into a fighting force almost half the size of the British army.

As the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said in 2021: “Our complete gratitude is extended to the Islamic Republic of Iran. They have provided us with money, weapons and expertise. They have supported us in everything.”

Nor are Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Hamas natural bedfellows. Far from it.

Shi’ite and Sunni Islam have been intermittently at each other’s throats since the Prophet Mohamed’s death in AD 632.

A fundamental doctrinal chasm has existed between these rival sects these past 1,400 years.

Shi’ite Iran believes its leaders are the direct descendants of the Prophet. In 2010 the current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei even issued a fatwah demanding that people obey him as the Prophet’s earthly “deputy.”

In March 2019, the head of Iran’s Broadcasting Authority Abdolali Ali-Asgari made clear today’s Shi’ite dominated Iran believes its natural and destined place is leader of the Islamic world, even though 90% of the planet’s 2bn Muslims belong to Shi’ism’s rival sect, Sunni Islam. Iranians, not Jews, were in fact God’s chosen people, he said - chosen to “shoulder the heavy burden of truth and progress in the world” after the Jews “pursued worldly ornaments and behaved unjustly....... they declined and have become wandering [Jews]. However, they have kept the world’s financial power in their hands, of course.”

In other words, the regime that actually sees itself as religiously, culturally and racially superior to every other branch of Islam – and every other faith – is the one Professor Marandi supports in Tehran. And that, of course, is echoed by Iran’s proxy Hizbollah whose machine gun adorned flag carries the inscription ‘Party of God’.

Sunni Muslims more modestly believe religious authority comes from the Quran and the Prophet’s traditions.

At heart, what Iran’s unholy alliance with Sunni Hamas is really all about is part and

parcel of its e orts to convince the rest of the Muslim world of the legitimacy to its supremacist claim. What better way of doing this than by actively helping to liberate Islam’s third holiest site, the Al Aqsa Mosque, while the rest of the Sunni Arab world stands by and does next to nothing?

“We place all our capabilities at your disposal in the battle for the defence of Jerusalem,” Iran’s most powerful military commander Major General Qassem Soleiman told Sinwar in 2017.

In truth, the Palestinians have become pawns in Iran’s overarching strategy– not just in its quest for the approbation of the entire Islamic world, but also its wider goal of increasing Islam’s influence on the world.

What it is not is what your average London based fanboy of the Hamas-Hizbollah “resistance” would say it’s about, just “doing something to stop (Israel’s) genocidal regime”.

So is Iran’s alliance with Hamas the latest chapter in the clash of civilisation? It certainly feels like it.

Without Iran as Hamas’s paymasters, Hamas could never have carried out 7 October. This has precipitated today’s looming regional conflagration in which the West will have to choose just how far its support for Israel extends.

Until the Islamic revolution in 1979, Tehran had enjoyed civil relations with Jerusalem with three El-Al flights a week between the countries. But since then, Iran has seen the West, Jews, Westernised Muslims and Iranians as seeking to prevent it from fulfilling its divine mission of spreading Islam to the world.

In the Khomeinist narrative Zionism, especially, had always been part of the Western o ensive, convinced that Israel was created to divide and subjugate Muslims. “From its inception, the Islamic movement has been a icted by the Jews for it was they who first established anti-Islamic propaganda”, wrote Ayatollah Khomeini in 1970.

The visceral antisemitism that’s now

endemic to Iran came with the Ayatollah on his flight home to Tehran from exile in Paris on 1 February 1979.

Yet even the deeply antisemitic Khomeini has been no match for his successor as current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. A study by the Tony Blair Institute in 2019 showed that whilst hostility towards Israel’s existence appeared in only 40% of Khomeini’s speeches, it was present in 90% of Khamenei’s speeches (and 100% in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s).

In Khamenei’s fevered brain, ISIS was created to divert criticism of Zionism (a smear that also attracted some notable UK based anti-Zionists) and the Saudi royal family are the descendants of Jews. According to Professor Meir Litvak who specialises in the study of modern Shi’ism and Iran at Tel Aviv’s Department of Middle Eastern and African History, this paranoia has its roots in a belief that Jews created Wahhabism in order to destroy Islam from within, and that Israel was created by the West in order to fragment the Muslim world and pave the way for the domination of Islam. Indeed, the Iranians believe Sunni Islam is “the Islam of the primitive Bedouins” explains the Farsi-speaking Professor Litvak. When I was last in Tel Aviv, he showed me a large collection of Iranian published Wahhabiscaricatured to look like Jews associated with the full gamut of antisemitic tropes: evil eyes, snakes, blood libel, etc. “When you want to slander someone in Iran, you invent Jewish origins”, explains Litvak. “In Iran, Jews are a metaphor for evil.”

In January 2022, referring to 7th century battles fought between Muslims and Jews, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ commander of the Navy, General Alireza Tangsiri told Iranian TV: “Are the Saud clan really Muslims? They are the same Jews who were in Arabia back then.”

What about the UK? How strong is the Iranian regime’s influence here?

Following the protests in Iran against the regime that began in September 2022, the IRCG violently oppressed not only its own citizens in Iran but attempted to do the same to Iranian dissidents in the UK (some of whom joined thousands of Jews in Hyde Park yesterday waving Israeli flags and placards with the faces of hostages still held by Hamas.)

The regime publicly called for the capture or killing of dissidents trying to hold it to account for its widespread human rights abuses which, as the then UK security minister Tom Tugendhat revealed included “very real and specific threats towards UK-based journalists... and their families” working for the prominent Persian language news channel, Iran International. So severe were these threats that the station relocated to the US.

What about the regime’s presence here?

Britain also has its share of Khomeinist apologists here, notably the Islamic Centre of England in London’s Maida Vale. The ICE and its director, Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Mousavi, are the o cial religious representative of Iran’s

Assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh meets Iran’s Ali Khamenei in Tehran in 2012

Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the UK. The ICE is distinct from the Iranian Embassy in London, which is the official diplomatic representation of the Government of Iran.

The ICE trustees allowed a candlelit vigil to be held at its premises eulogising the aforementioned IRCG Quds force commander Major General Soleimani following his assassination by a US drone in 2020 . The Pentagon said Soleimani as “actively developing plans to attack US diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”

Then there’s Massoud Shadjareh, the 72-year-old chair of the London based Islamic Human Rights Commission, (IHRC Ltd) established in 1997 which says it is “an independent campaign, research and advocacy NGO that struggles for justice for all peoples regardless of their racial, confessional or political background promotes human rights and equality.”

Shadjareh is reported at the ICE vigil for General Soleiman to have said, “We aspire to be like him.” He also co-authored a paper in 2008 in which he wrote: “We are all Hizbollah” and described Ayatollah Khomeini as “a torch of light for the whole of mankind”.

A request from the Jewish Chronicle to respond to these allegations was met with a torrent of florid and intemperate language: “half-truths and innuendos... your journalism is a facade ... you have previously distorted facts .... whitewashing Israel’s crimes... you reflexively malign... client journalism... you...work relentlessly to vilify... no doubt what you intend (to) create fear in the Muslim community... We will not be cowed into silence... we will be publishing this reply in full for the sake of transparency and honesty.” And yet nowhere did Shadjareh respond directly to the specific allegations.

The IHRC is one of the organisers of the Al Quds march in London- an event which for years became a hate fest against Jews as marchers brandished scores of Hizbollah flags chanting “Khaybar, khaybar, ya Yahud, Jaish Mohamed Sa’ Y’ud” (Watch out Jews, the army of Mohamed is returning). The flags were banned in 2019 after the government designated Hizbollah’s political wing a terrorist organisation.

When it comes to the question of human rights, the name – the Islamic Human Rights Commission – is something of an oxymoron since its focus on human rights abuses is on countries other than Iran which has one of the world’s worst human rights records. Among the multitude of abuses most recently listed by the US State Department are the following:

• 798 executions in 2023, up 37 percent from 2022

• Enforced mandatory dress code

• 22,000 detained in connection with the 2022-23 civil protests

• Arbitrary or unlawful killings by the government and its agents

• Enforced disappearance

• Torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government or on behalf of its agents

• Intensified restrictions on religious freedom, particularly against members of the Baha’i community

• Harsh and life-threatening prison conditions

• Absence of judicial independence

• Unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers

• Arrest and prosecution of journalists

• Restrictions on internet freedom

• Restrictions on the right to leave the country

• Restrictions of religious freedom

• Inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections

Shadjareh has made it clear he has no time

for what he calls the Western “formulation of human rights theory”. The concept, he argues, is “politically motivated” - its genesis having been ”led by advocates with narrow political agendas of their own.“ Which particular advocate does Shadjareh have in mind?

A “leading Zionist”, of course, the late professor Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. Lauterpacht’s offence was giving “precedence” to the human rights of “the individual” when Lauterpacht proposed an International Bill of Rights of Man in 1945 and which Shadjareh blames for culminating in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN three years later. Thereafter Lauterpacht became one of the leading international jurists of the 20th century.

Shadjareh, by contrast, says the West has the concept of human rights back to front. He emphasises that in Islam the rights of the individual “belong first to Allah, then the community and then the individual. Compare this with the western conception of human rights in which the individual is given precedence, and thus has the absolute right to be as permissive as he wants, without society having any collective right to be moral”.

He appears to want our social order to be subject to “divinely granted rights”, for it is these rights “revealed for human beings” that the IHRC says it champions, rather than the man-made variety of laws that pertain here and all over the West. He is also reported to have denied that human rights abuses take place in Iran. Is that I wonder because the IHRC doesn’t consider the long list of abuses published by the US State Department to qualify as abuse given that they are a function of Iran’s divinely ordained Sharia legal system?

Like the Ayatollah Khomeini’s arrival in Paris from Tehran in 1979, Shadjareh brought more than just his belongings when he arrived in London.

What happened to Iran the last time it fought a war?

It was with Iran’s neighbour Iraq from 1980-88 after the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussain invaded in the wake of the Islamic revolution in an attempt to re-assert control over the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which Iraq had ceded to Iran in 1975. Both sides claimed victory but, in truth, it was a stalemate at a cost of half a million lives, soldiers, civilians – and child soldiers.

Here’s a New York Times dispatch about the front line of the Iran-Iraq war in February 1984 on Iran’s routine use of children as suicide bombers: “Their ticket to paradise is the bloodred headband and the small metal key that they wear into battle. ‘Sar Allah,’ (‘Warriors of God’) The headbands and the keys are worn by young boys, aged 12 to 17, who are recruited by local clergy or simply rounded up in the villages of Iran, given an intensive indoctrination in the Shi’ite tradition of martyrdom, and then sent weaponless into battle against Iraqi armour. Across the back of their khaki-coloured shirts is stencilled the slogan: ‘I have the special permission of the Imam to enter heaven.’”

So, on past performance, we can see why the looming war between Israel and Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” feels civilisational, a Western facing country again confronting a Jihadist culture whose history is antithetical to everything Western people value in the 21st century - principally life itself.

And yet the Iran-Hamas-Hizbollah-Houthis axis, mistaken for ‘resistance’ to colonial oppression (rather than being seen as itself a colonial enterprise), garners increasing support among many in the West who consider themselves human rights supporters. Others, who other-

wise condemned 7 October, have concluded that the scale of deaths, mainly from Israeli air strikes, (reportedly 42,000 in Gaza, of which some18,000 Israel claims are members of Hamas) has simply put Israel beyond the pale. There is therefore a live question, the answer to which no longer seems cast iron certain: if this conflict develops into a iddle east conflagration, will the West actually commit to Israel, in what way, and to what extent?

The Sunday Times asked ‘Who do you want to win?’ last weekend. Why the answer is not as obvious as it might seem Brooding over the spectre of a full-scale war between Israel and the “axis of resistance”, columnist Matthew Syed posed this question: Who do you want to win?

Let me anticipate the response from certain readers: Israel doesn’t deserve to win, I hear them say. How could you possibly want Israel to win given the tens of thousands of uninvolved Palestinian and Lebanese civilians Israel’s jets have killed, to say nothing of the hardship and deprivation of so many more who’ve been displaced, many of them having lost homes?

For the uninvolved, there are no words. This war – like all wars – has been unbearable. And for those watching the intimate horror of its consequences daily out of Gaza, and now Lebanon where everyone is a cameraman with their phones, it is entirely understandable to respond to the clips of lifeless children exhumed from bombed rubble by believing that the perpetrators must be evil. But why is it that blame is assigned without qualification to Israel, and not to Hamas, who have run their own brutal theocracy in Gaza for almost two decades, and who began this particular holy war by initiating a massacre on Israeli soil on 7 October 2023?

The fact is that all wars are hideous because war means fighting and fighting means killing. It’s also true that all the killings of this war are not an answer to Syed’s question: which side do you support?

Surely Israel’s sustained bombing of Gaza and Lebanon will only generate more hatred amongst Palestinians and the Lebanese and therefore more ‘resistance’?

It probably will, except there’s not much room left for more hatred than already exists. Polling shows that overall support from Palestinians for the 7 October Hamas attack remains high –around 66 percent.

What about the way Israelis now view the Palestinians? We don’t hear much sympathy for their death and destruction of their homes which has been many times worse than was inflicted on Israelis on 7 October? There is some truth in this and here’s why: the sadism and exhilaration with which Hamas

carried out killings of soldiers and civilians on 7 October, was also perpetrated by ordinary Palestinians who flooded through the border fence after Hamas and took part in the abuse and murders, and thereafter hid, abused, and killed Israeli hostages in Gaza. This has dulled Israeli empathy. Similarly, there was no great empathy by the British public for German civilians immediately in 1945.

What about the inevitable political solution? All wars have to end with diplomacy. True – on all counts, although it’s worth reminding that both the Palestinian leaders Presidents Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas rejected two states, the former in 2000 at Camp David, and the latter in 2008.

Continuing with the status quo will lead to more bloodshed and oppression of Palestinians (although a fair bit of that comes from their own Palestinian Authority, but is rarely reported here). The status quo will also worsen and the pariah status for Israel, and encourage more antisemitism, and more pogroms.

However, recent polling shows there’s currently no appetite for a two-state solution among ordinary Palestinians and there arguably never really was. Most say they still support armed struggle as have their leaders since the 1920s. Which Palestinian leader ever supported a two-state solution? Not even Arafat, who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Peace together with Yitzhak Rabin, following the Oslo Accords, but then reverted to funding suicide bombings. Netanyahu has also set his face against a Palestinian state, and nor is there at the moment majority support for one on the Israeli side although it’s generally believed that – unlike Netanyahu – a majority would support two states provided they were persuaded that the PLO in Ramallah had genuinely reconciled itself to co-existing with a Jewish state.

So, what is the answer to that question: Who do you want to win?

Hamas’s 7 October attack and Israel’s response have provoked the most profound moral angst and confusion amongst so many. No conflict in my lifetime has been anything like so divisive, as this phase of the Israel-Palestine conflict. A toxic polarity has infected not just the public realm but our homes, amongst friends, family and colleagues at work. Which returns us to Syed’s question: Who do you want to win?

The people of Israel and the rest of the West – with, yes, many iniquities, injustices and sometimes double standards?

Or Iran, its Ayatollahs, Hamas, Hizbollah and the Houtis, proud members of what they call the ‘Axis of Resistance’? The answer, surely, depends on who you consider more likely to become the permanent enemy of civilisation. The Jewish country, that is a speck on the map and aims to remain Jewish despite being surrounded by 22 Arab countries and 57 Muslim countries worldwide?

Or the Iranian axis, which openly aims to foster Islamist Sharia law worldwide? To put it another way: which side shines the brighter, more positive light for the world’s future? The values that have flowed from the Prophet Isaiah’s invocation to the Israelites to act in a way that is a “light unto the nations”?

Or the values we are told have informed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s “torch of light for the whole of mankind”?

Last Friday before the entire world, Ruhollah Khomeini’s heir Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blessed Hamas’s 7 October progrom as not only “correct” but also “rational and legal”. Mankind has surely got its answer.

Site of explosion that killed Hassan Nasrallah

An alarming lurch into swivel-eyed extremism

ALEX BRUMMER

CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL

One of the great benefits of Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system has been the failure of the far right to gain traction in the Commons. Even Nigel Farage’s Reform struggles in spite of receiving as many votes as the LibDems with 72 seats. This is in contrast to the gains of the far right on the continent, with Austria the latest country to tilt towards neo-fascist parties.

Westminster has a di erent tendency. The year of acute trauma for Israel since the brutality and atrocities of 7 October and the multiple assaults on being Jewish in this country have shifted our tolerant politics frighteningly. Corbyn may have been expelled from Starmer’s Labour but the anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian ideas he propagates have ever more resonance among MPs of the left. Anyone tuned into a recent BBC4 Today show on Rosh Hashanah will have been greeted by the shrill, ill-informed, rantings

of Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South, currently suspended from Labour for voting against the two-child benefit cap.

Sultana was wheeled out to comment on Israel’s Lebanon o ensive because the producers were looking for a voice that departed from the government’s belated support for the operation. There was absolutely no chance of her questioner getting any sensible answers as she launched into a rasping assault on Israel.

“Diplomacy has failed to end Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza that has killed over 41,000 Palestinians”, she opined. The accusation of Israel’s genocidal behaviour was her answer to each question, several times talking over the interviewer who eventually cut her o in midstream. It was a sickening exposure to how civilised political disputation has been displaced by swivel-eyed extremism.

Sultana is not alone. In Leicester, Shockat Adam overturned the 22,000 majority of Labour heavyweight Jonathan Ashworth in what has been a certain red seat. Instead of addressing the problems of the East Midlands, he launched into a narrative of support for

people 2,000 miles away. “This is for the people of Gaza,” he declared holding a Palestinian ke yeh (probably made in China).

Labour may have stormed into government but up and down the country the party was pummelled in neighbourhoods where up to one-fifth of the population is Muslim. The hate marches, so e ciently organised by the wellfunded Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, are public manifestation of an alarming political earthquake which has appropriated the legal concept of genocide – created by Jews in the aftermath of the Shoah – and applied it to Israel in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.

What has happened in Coventry and Leicester also took place in Birmingham Perry Bar; in Dewsbury and Batley and in Blackburn. All seats saw established Labour MPs dislodged by independents.

In Ilford North, the now health secretary Wes Streeting came within 528 votes of defeat by a Gaza-supporting candidate. Another new minister, Jess Phillips, who rebelled against Starmer’s public support for Israel, won by 693 votes despite embracing the Palestinian cause.

As a consequence of this electoral outcome

and the election of four Green MPs, equally disdainful of what is perceived as Israel’s war, there is now a significant anti-Zionist group in Parliament for the first time.

They are in e ect the equivalent of the ‘Squad’ headed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the US Congress who have rallied anti-Zionist feeling across the US and whose pro-Palestinian sentiments could make a real di erence in the close, upcoming presidential election – it is not just the fear of pre-election oil price rises that have driven Joe Biden’s public timidity but a need to calm Arab-Americans in battleground states.

British-Jewish supporters of Israel rightly find a hostile broadcast media and a narrative, which so quickly turned the pogrom of 7 October on its head, to be deeply disturbing. What should be of equal worry is an embedded grouping of anti-Zionists – spouting historical and legal nonsense – embedded in the mother of parliaments. They have succeeded where the far right always has failed. A wound has been opened in UK elected politics which makes ant-Zionism, bleeding into antisemitism, mainstream. That truly is alarming.

Our destiny as Jews is no longer in others’ hands

JEREMY HAVARDI JOURNALIST AND HISTORIAN

Ayear ago this week, Israelis were due to celebrate Simchat Torah, a joyous occasion marked by dancing and festivities. Instead, they woke to a nightmare that has never ended. Black Shabbat was the worst disaster in Israel’s history, a day that will truly live in infamy. It was a 9/11 moment for a nation that had long su ered under the trauma of terror and, as President Herzog said, the earth is still shaking from this catastrophe.

One of the Hebrew words for catastrophe is Shoah and, in some ways, the events of 7/10 felt like a Holocaust in our lifetime. The terrorists who hunted down the innocent, burned families in their homes, mutilated the bodies of women and machine-gunned young adults in a forest were animated by a sadistic bloodlust reminiscent of the Nazis. They were guided by a dystopian ideology of hatred and destructiveness that would have made Hitler smile with joy.

Compounding the grief and anxiety of Jewish communities has been the exploding menace of antisemitic hate on our streets, in

schools and on online communities. AntiIsrael marches have become a ubiquitous feature of weekend life, with incessant calls for violent jihad, intifada and the destruction of the Jewish state. Around the world, Jews have been assaulted, synagogues have been daubed with swastikas, students have been abused and online spaces have become intolerable sewers of prejudice.

It must never be forgotten that this cacophony of hatred started on 7 October, before Israel had barely responded to the attacks. The last year has truly been a seismic moment in the life of modern Jewry, one that has heightened Jewish unity while reminding us about our enemies.

But there is a crucial di erence between the Nazi horrors of the past and the atrocities of Black Shabbat. Today, the destiny of the Jewish nation is no longer in the hands of others. Israel has fulfilled Ben Gurion’s

promise to ‘sti en the backbone of the Jewish people’ by taking the fight to its genocidal enemies with iron resolution and strength of purpose.

The IDF has killed a reported 17,00018,000 Hamas terrorists, reducing most of the group’s organised battalions as well as its weapons supplies and infrastructure.

It has destroyed a sizeable number of Hamas tunnels, taken control of the Philadelphi corridor, the main means by which Hamas was kept supplied with weapons via Egypt, created a half-mile bu er zone around Gaza to further deter attacks and carved out a strategic road east to west across Gaza.

These are highly significant achievements, though more remains to be done if Hamas is to be defeated. To the north, Israel has pulverised the leadership of Hezbollah, killing its most senior figures, and sent a clear warning to Iran that it will not tolerate

AS A NATION, ISRAELIS HAVE RALLIED

its regime’s support for terror any longer. A year on from the disaster of Black Shabbat, the IDF has performed heroics in two theatres of war while Israeli intelligence has enjoyed formidable successes after the epic failure of 7/10.

Not every Israeli operation has gone to plan and there are important questions about postwar planning and ‘the day after’ strategy. But as a nation, Israelis have rallied to their country’s defence with incredible reserves of courage and resilience, all the while facing the usual mountain of opprobrium and irrationality from their enemies.

If Israel is allowed to continue, it will render Hamas incapable of launching another attack on its citizens for many years to come and restore calm to the northern border, all the while weakening the leaders of Iran. One must hope that it will also reunite the hostages in Gaza with their wider Israeli family.

Today, Western nations face the same choice that confronted them on 7 October. Do they side with a fellow western democracy forced to confront genocidal jihadists on its borders or continue appeasing Iran and its expanding web of regional terror? Between the two, there can be little compromise.

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Join JNF UK to raise vital FUNDS for NOVA FESTIVAL SURVIVORS in LONDON and TEL AVIV connected via LIVE STREAM

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Sunday 20 October 5.30pm – 7.30pm

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Daniel, our Neve Hadassah Youth Village graduate, was severely injured in Gaza.

After 5 months in hospital, with Neve Hadassah staff by his side, the first place Daniel went to visit was his home at the Youth Village, where he had lived before joining the IDF’s Kfir Infantry Brigade.

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1

JEWISH CARE TAKES A LEAP

Jewish Care activities co-ordinator Leila skydived from more than 13,000ft to raise funds for the Otto Schiff specialist dementia care home and Rela Goldhill care home for people living with physical disabilities. Leila, who is aiming to raise at least £3,000, said: “I was a little bit scared before I jumped but then I started enjoying the view and it was amazing!” To donate, go to bit.ly/3UXNFOq

2 NETBALL FOR ISRAEL

Supporter Daisy Gershon organised her second charity netball tournament in support of Myisrael, raising more than £3,500. Boys, girls, men and women of every age –and every height – took part. Funds raised will support a Myisrael project which is aimed at empowering at-risk youth by providing access to sports programmes that can transform their futures.

3 WIMBLEDON ANNIVERSARY

Dame Maureen Lipman, journalist Mark Urban, Progressive Judaism Rabbi Josh Levy and a packed room of supporters helped to launch the Diamond celebrations for Wimbledon Reform shul. Rabbi Josh’s co-lead, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, and Emeritus Rabbi Tony Hammond made the toasts to King Charles III and the president and State of Israel. A live charity auction raised funds for both the synagogue and local charity the Grace Dear Trust.

4 AWARDS FOR VOLUNTEERS

Jewish Care presented 23 inspirational volunteers with awards at a special presentation ceremony. The Betty and Aubrey Lynes Volunteer Awards were given by the charity’s chairman, Marcus Sperber, and the evening was compered by scriptwriter Ivor Baddiel at the Wohl Synagogue at Jewish Care’s Betty and Asher Loftus Centre in Friern Barnet.

5JLE LAUNCHES NEW TERM

Golders Green’s Jewish Learning Exchange welcomed 400 young professionals for a Kabbalat Shabbat service, cocktail reception and dinner for 250 people. The evening marked the launch of a brand-new year of events and educational programming for the JLE, which has seen a surge of interest from young Jews in London since 7 October. The Mentorship Programme has accepted 100 new applicants and the Wednesday night YP programme now has a CPD-accredited Mental Health Awareness course. There is also a 25-week Ulpan course and a series of Wednesday night lectures on Jewish resilience.

6GIFT REMEMBERS 7 OCTOBER

Some 450 volunteers helped social action charity GIFT pack and distribute more than 1,000 sweet packages, each one dedicated to the memory of those murdered on 7 October. The initiative, Spread Some Sweetness for Simchat Torah, ensured that the day of remembrance also becomes one of action and compassion. GIFT’s founding director, Michelle Barnett, said: “A year on from one of the worst days in Jewish history since the Holocaust, our community has been inspired to give endlessly to others. We have rallied around each other, supporting Israel and those in need, turning grief into a force for good.”

A er announcing the arrival of Nobody Wants This in Life magazine, Brigit Grant gets your take on the series

“

Have you watched it yet?” barked my friend Samantha, clearly enthused.

“You know, the one about the rabbi.” Samantha was referring to the Netflix series NobodyWantsThis, a misnomer because in fact everybody wants this. The series has become the TV equivalent of warm chollah and the community is bingeing on this tale about a handsome rabbi dating a non-Jew. Yes. Erin Foster’s 10-part series is about Rabbi Noah Rokolov falling head over tallit for podcaster Joanne, a natural blonde agnostic “who doesn’t have a Jewish bone in her body”.

Whether the hair stings more than the absence of a shared faith is hard to say, but you can bet alarm bells and not wedding bells are ringing at the United Synagogue. Not that we do simcha bells or sign the cross by a bimah, but Joanne (Kristen Bell) only learns this when Rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) tells her sweetly: “That’s not us.”

The series, however, definitely is ‘us’ and predominantly for the fairer sex who have been sharing impassioned thoughts about this controversial coupling on social media since the series launched. Fortunate enough to see NWT before it screened in the shtetl, I knew it would be a hit because we are so, so, so deprived of joyful Jewish small screen content that even a dramedy about ‘dating out’ is hopeful when the humour and heart are tailored for us.

And the series’ creator Erin Foster is on top of the subject because she was ‘Joanne’ when she met her now-husband Simon Tikhman. Erin, daughter of five-times-married music producer David Foster, converted to Judaism for Simon and after a di cult parental life was keen to embrace his “Russian, Jewish culture that’s a thick community of family-oriented people.

Like Joanne in Nobody Wants This, Erin also hosts a podcast, The World’s First Podcast, with her sister, Sara Foster, and she has talked about marrying in. “Simon came from a much more traditional place. I came from a more unconventional place. When we got together we were like, ‘How’s this gonna work?’”

Well it has worked and the couple had their first child, a daughter, Noa Mimi, on 17 May and then in September Erin announced on Insta: “Introducing you to my second baby! I’m a mother of two now…” But this wasn’t another home birth.

Nobody Wants This was born on 26 September on Netflix.

Jackie Tohn’s parents Al and Bella also announced her arrival on Instagram… in the series, when she landed the leading role of Esther, who is married to Rabbi Noah’s brother Sasha (Timothy Simons).

Jackie describes Esther as “mouthy, opinionated and Jewish – so kind of like me”, which makes her tremendously good company.

“Very early on in our relationship, I realised this disconnect in my upbringing, because he was like, ‘Erin, the number one rule in life is you always honour your parents.’”

“And I was like, ‘Honour your parents?!’ I had to completely rebel to survive.”

I’m sure if she lived in London we’d be besties but that honour goes to LA-based Kristen Bell who is also an executive producer of the series and knew Jackie was good to go as Esther.

“Esther is the sort of woman a Jewish man marries so he’ll never have to make another decision in his life,” quips Jackie who played Melanie “Melrose” Rosen, the sexy female wrestler in

Inside A look

Going, going... buying and selling at auction

the Netflix hit Glow. Esther couldn’t be more di erent from Melrose or more upset about her rabbi brother-in-law going rogue. “Not only because he’s the vibe of the temple and loved by the community, but for selfish reasons as she and her husband Sasha did everything with Noah and Rebecca” (his Jewish ex-girlfriend).

If you’ve been watching NWT, you will appreciate how hard the situation is for Esther, who happens to be besties with Rebecca. Yes, poor Rebecca, who had been dreaming of her chuppah moment for so long that she hijacked Noah’s proposal and will forever have PTSD at the sound of breaking glass. The sound of a pinging phone interrupted my chat with Jackie.

“I’ll turn it o ,” said Jackie. “Who is it?” I asked cheekily. Jackie laughed. “It’s a WhatsApp message from the cast. We’ve got a group.”

“Called?” More laughter.

“They’ll go crazy. It’s called ‘Shiksas & sheigetzers. Tim (Sasha) does all this stu on photoshop and he created an image with the first kiss (spoiler) and drops it into threads. At the start of filming, he was also saying ‘Shabbat shalom’ to everyone. So I had to tell him, ‘Dude, it doesn’t mean what’s up? It’s only for Fridays.’”

If you have yet to watch Nobody Wants This, the cast’s WhatsApp group is a warning to those who struggle with disparaging Yiddish terms as there is a lot of ‘shiksa’ in the show. “I was the shiksa,” admits a journalist pal who initially reluctant to watch NWT can’t stop. “It was a long time ago, but I remember going to his house and the look on the faces of his family definitely said: ‘Who is she’? Please don’t tell me what happens!’”

I didn’t tell her and I steered away from spoilers throughout my early access, but that hasn’t stopped other people oversharing now or criticising the use of stereotypes who

are recognisable to me, but only because they exist. A particularly lovely Bohemian Jewish friend was not only aghast at what she sees as cliché Jewish gals, but at the serving of fruit with bagels and lox for breakfast. “But it’s LA Jewish,” I advised, but she wasn’t convinced.

As a charity volunteer she has seen so many women giving their time and money to Israel since 7 October that truisms irk, while I believe the series is a welcome antidote to a tough year and an even tougher week.

A smile ahead of Yom Kippur and what will be the darkest of Yizkor services for Israelis and those who feel their pain is what we all need.

“I think it’s also weirdly relatable,” said Jackie, who like us wants a second series. I avoided asking her what she thought might happen next, but confessed I wanted other things for Rabbi Noah and so did my friend Samantha who told me she had once reacted as Mrs Rokolov (Tovah Feldshuh) does when she is introduced to Joanne.

“You are not having my son is what I was thinking, but unlike her I didn’t say it out loud,” said a sheepish Samantha. “Is that terrible?”

“Interesting,” said Jackie, who doesn’t know Samantha.“ I think people are going to have all sorts of reactions.”

And they have as my sister texted ‘Love, love NWT’ with a heart emoji and my cousin watched all 10 episodes in one night and was late for work. Should the next season bring wedding bells to the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles (NWT location) we will have other things to discuss, but in the meantime do revisit the shul scene as seated beside Mrs Rokolov is none other than Erin Foster’s mother-in-law, Marina Tikhman. “She agreed to be an extra,” said Erin. “She’s nothing like the character.” So much for stereotypes.

on my second baby! I’m a mother of

landed the leading role of Esther, who is married

“mouthy, opinionated and

Rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and Joanne (Kristen Bell)

Esther (Jackie Tohn) and Mrs Rokolov (Tovah Feldshuh)

Erin Foster and husband Simon

Sinai Jewish Primary School

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Open EveningWednesday 12th November @ 7.30pm

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Wrap around care 7.50am – 5.30pm

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Leket Israel – the National Food Bank, has been rescuing excess fresh, nutritious food for over 20 years. Each day, it collects surplus fruit, vegetables, and cooked meals from farmers, hotels, corporate cafeterias, and IDF bases, distributing them through nonprofits to feed Israelis in need.

With a 22% increase in demand since the war and a decrease in surplus food available, Leket is purchasing food to redistribute to high-risk populations. Leket’s focus is on intensifying food rescue efforts and supporting Israeli farmers in maintaining operations and recovery. In 2024 so far:

Bulgari. A sapphire, citrine, diamond and chalcedony necklace

Price Realised: £52,240*

Fine Art, Antiques and Collectables including jewellery, silver, clocks, watches, porcelain, glass, coins, medals, militaria, stamps, furniture, lighting, carpets, mirrors, alcohol, toys, diecast & model railways.

Entries accepted by appointment at your home or at our valuation days

Free valuations for auction from individual items to a full household

Probate and Insurance valuations undertaken at competitive rates

Visit our website for future auction dates and valuation days.

Website: www.busheyauctions.com

Email: enquiries@busheyauctions.com

Tel: 020 8386 2552 Mobile: 07504 201202 INVITING CONSIGNMENTS

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‘WALKING COUPLE III’ BY LYNN CHADWICK

Making a bid for it

They may be best known for antiques but auctions have moved into the 21st century with online sales and WhatsApp messages. Louisa Walters looks beyond the hammer

I’ve dabbled in a bit of bidding on eBay and am no stranger to making o ers on pre-loved designer handbags on Facebook. Which is likely what prompted the social media algorithms to thrust into my feed a Chanel credit card holder that was being sold on an online auction.

“While some auction houses still o er in-person experiences, technology has largely taken over, allowing clients to bid from the comfort of their homes,” says Perry Field, of Simply Sold in St John’s Wood. “The process has become highly e cient, with many clients reaching out via email or WhatsApp, sending photographs of items they hope to sell quickly.”

Perry tells me that the continued rise in value of high-end clothing and accessories brands such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci means that they are performing very well at auction. I had never bought anything at auction before but I found it surprisingly easy to lob in a bid. I was notified a couple of times that my bid had been exceeded so I increased it and was delighted to learn a couple of days later that I had ‘won’ the item.

During the pandemic all auctions were forced online and digital platforms continue to play a crucial role. Many buyers prefer this option, especially those who are used to bidding for things online and also those who prefer the anonymity. The convenience and accessibility of online auctions have broadened the buyer base, attracting international investors and those who may not have traditionally participated in physical auctions – such as me.

Simply Sold does exactly what it says on the tin because it really is a simple way of selling things. “Our aim is to help clients sell their valued and treasured items, ensuring they receive the best possible prices,” says Perry. “Acting as brokers, we find the best places and methods to sell, through auction houses, high-end dealers, collectors and private clients. A commission-based model means that the more you get for your items the more we earn, motivating us to deliver top-tier results.”

Simply Sold works across the UK and in parts of Europe, o ering not only a selling service but also complete property clearances in preparation for sale or refurbishment.

“Upcoming specialist sales in design, fine interiors, Asian art, high-end art and more are expected to attract savvy buyers searching for exclusive gifts ahead of the festive season,” says Perry. “These auctions, mostly held online, cater to those looking to secure unique presents at prices often better than retail.”

This year has also seen record prices for Simply Sold, particularly for modern British and European art. Notable sales include a John Piper painting, which sold for £19,000, compared with an £6,000-£8,000 estimate, and a Philip de László painting, which recently sold for £13,000 (estimate: £7,000-£10,000).

If you’ve got any unwanted jewellery or silver items lying around, take note because the value of gold and silver has soared: gold nearly doubling and silver hitting a 20-year high.

Perry says they typically avoid selling these items at auction because of the added premiums and instead sell them directly to the trade, ensuring clients receive the best return.

“Many of our customers have seen how well their classic porcelain or no-longer-worn gold watches and jewellery can sell at auction,” says Linda Kluk at Bushey Auctions.

“Some are downsizing, others are revamping their style and some are simply freeing up some space or realising some cash. We specialise in antiques, fine art and collectables, including family treasures such as jewellery, silver, clocks, watches, coins, medals, stamps, porcelain, glass, period furniture, toys and the list goes on.”

From single items to a full house clearance the service starts with an appraisal by a team of valuers who can research and value anything that comes their way. They also o er written valuations for insurance or probate.

Valuation days are held at the showroom where vendors can bring items along to be valued and entered into auction, or they can come to you at home, which is very useful when doing a house clearance as they can help you determine what is suitable for auction, what should go to a charity shop and what should just be thrown out.

At Bushey there is the option to bid online.

“Our online auctions are very well attended by a range of buyers and as the auction is happening live online on two web portals we attract bidders locally, nationally and internationally,” says Linda.

Auction items go on view at the showroom for a week and bidders who are not local or are overseas can request condition reports by email. Kiddush cups, candlesticks and Jewish paintings regularly come up for sale at Bushey Auctions and recently a painting of a Jewish wedding scene that was indistinctly signed, which was estimated at £40-£60, reached a hammer price of £4,500 to an American buyer.

Residential auction sales represent about 1.4 per cent of home purchases each year in the UK, o ering buyers and sellers a fast and transparent transaction process, and commercial buildings, development land, and more niche

assets such as agricultural land and ground rents are also available at auction.

More and more sellers, particularly those seeking a quick sale or those who have inherited properties, have turned to auctions, favouring speed and transparency while still ensuring the best price.

At Clive Emson, land and property auctioneering service with o ces in Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the west country, last month’s auction was notable for its diverse range of land and property, with 180 lots o ered across the south coast. Among them was a freehold building of six flats in Gravesend, guided at £725,000-£750,000, which sold for £1,009,000.

There was also a rare opportunity to acquire a former salmon smoking distribution and retail business comprising approximately 10,000 sq ft of commercial buildings on a large site with an adjoining paddock. Interest in lots that did not sell on the day was also high, with over 16 selling post-auction.

This ruby and diamond ring sold for £20,000 (estimate £18-£22,000)

This painting of a Jewish wedding scene sold for £4,500 (estimate £40-£60)

This Louis XV signed cabinet sold for £24,000 (estimate £8,000-£12,000)

This Flora Danica dinner service by Royal Copenhagen, the most expensive dinner service it ever made, sold for £55,000 (estimate £20,000-£30,000)

This John Piper painting sold for £19,000 (estimate £6,000-£8,000) This Chanel credit card holder fetched £250

WE BUY ANTIQUES

We purchase a wide range of Antiques, including Furniture through the ages, from Georgian, Regency and Victorian, to the more rare 20th century modern pieces. We also specialise in diamond jewellery, gold, silver, and paintings of any period, with an emphasis primarily on quality.

If you would like advice or to sell direct, do get in touch. Selling direct eliminates the high commissions involved with auction houses. In fact, we encourage sellers to obtain an auction estimate before contacting us, to be certain of receiving the best possible price.

Payment is immediate, by cash or Bank Transfer and we collect free of charge. We are here to help.

Please call Sue for a free valuation on: Freephone 0800 840 2035. Mob: 07956 268 290. email: antiquesbuyers8@gmail.com. Visit our website for more details: www.antiquesbuyers.co.uk

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MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA

In our thought-provoking series, rabbis, rebbetzins and educators relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today

BY RABBI ALEX CHAPPER BOREHAMWOOD & ELSTREE SYNAGOGUE

A little change can make all the difference

A few years ago Kraft Foods, which makes Shreddies, went to an advertising agency with a unique request: it wanted to reintroduce the brand as a leader, without having any news about the product to work with, keeping in mind that research showed that Shreddies’ customers liked the cereal just the way it was.

So, what did the advertisers do?

They rotated the square-shaped Shreddie by 45 degrees, turning it into two adjacent triangles rather than one square, and called the new

product Diamond Shreddies. Reallife market research videos show people finding the triangular shape to be “better”, “crunchier” and “more flavourful”.

The campaign won the Canadian Marketing Association’s 2008 best of the best award, and two gold medals. More importantly, the square-turned-triangle Diamond Shreddies campaign generated tremendous value for Kraft Foods in the form of an immediate 18 percent increase in baseline sales within the first month alone, and for months thereafter.

By turning a square into a triangle, advertisers reintroduced a 67-year-old brand in a first-class fashion and established sustainable profits for Kraft Foods.

While this true story may sound

SOUTH HAMPSTEAD UNITED SYNAGOGUE

RABBINIC COUPLE

implausible, it just shows us how a small change can have a significant result.

This idea is the essence of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Experienced correctly and to its fullest, it is divinely imbued with the ability to inspire us to seek forgiveness for our past mistakes and resolve to be better versions of ourselves in the coming year.

However, this uniquely spiritual opportunity can also leave us with feelings of disappointment and anticlimax as we encounter a sense of déjà vu, whereas previously we had holy and pure intentions to change and to grow, and we had great expectations of ourselves, but they came to nothing as we could not sustain our

lofty resolutions beyond the first challenge or temptation. How do we avoid this common and demoralising pitfall?

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, founder of the Musar movement of ethical development in orthodox Judaism,

WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUNG FAMILIES, YOUNG PROFESSIONALS & YOUTH

taught that “the greatest sound in the cosmos is that of someone changing themselves and growing from it”. But he would also caution against being overambitious because that sets us up to fail. Instead, he counsels us to be realistic and to employ an incremental approach to change. We should not attempt a volte face, or a 180-degree turn, but maybe something more achievable like 45 degrees, which, after all, worked successfully for Shreddies.

Making major changes in our lives is possible, but the best advice is to take it slowly, one step at a time, because no one can go from zero to hero overnight. As the Gemara teaches: “If you grab too much, you will end up with nothing at all!”

On Yom Kippur, rather than aiming too high and repeatedly missing, we should take mindful, deliberate steps that can be easily integrated into our life, and then, with God’s help, we will see sustainable results that will taste sweeter than any breakfast cereal.

South Hampstead United Synagogue is a large and dynamic community with approximately 1,700 adult members of all ages and across the religious spectrum.

As our Rabbinic Couple, you will work closely with the Senior Rabbinic Couple, our professional team and lay leaders, to deliver inspirational leadership to the younger cohorts of our community. We are seeking enthusiastic and vibrant candidates who can demonstrate strong leadership skills and who will be excited by the role. You will focus predominantly on increasing engagement with, and developing stronger provision for, our younger families, young professionals as well as overseeing youth and children’s programming thereby enhancing their Jewish journey within the community. The roles will encompass communal activities, pastoral duties, and lifecycle events.

We are looking for outstanding applicants to fill these new roles. This is a superb career development opportunity for an up-andcoming Rabbinic couple to work with the growing number of young people and families in our community.

The successful candidates will be expected to have relevant experience and enthusiasm to take on a significant communal position, building on the strong foundations we already have.

As our Rabbinic couple, you will be integral to helping us map out the future path of our community.

For more information and to apply please scan the QR code or visit: www.theus.org.uk/jobs

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: THURSDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2024

The United Synagogue is committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Successful applicants will be required to provide a self-disclosure once shortlisted and subject to an enhanced DBS check within the recruitment process. 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.

A 45° rotation was transformational

Progressive Judaism

LEAP OF FAITH

BY RABBI DANNY RICH SENIOR RABBI OF SOUTHGATE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE

How we should ‘do’ Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur, in common with all Jewish festivals, has its customs, rites and rituals, which are designed to assist us in marking the moment and recalling its themes.

The most well-known custom of Yom Kippur is its fast, a form of self-denial which arises from the Book of Leviticus’ requirement ‘to a ict one’s soul’. The purpose of the fast is to make the distinction between our physical needs and the possibility of concentrating on the spiritual demands of Yom Kippur, which are more likely to be found by a marathon in the synagogue than in the kitchen!

The level and depth of concentration may enable us to find the courage to reflect upon ourselves in depth and with genuine honesty, acknowledging both our virtues and our vices and thereby undergo the experience of teshuvah: return and change.

The hugeness of what Yom Kippur demands of us means that we may be tempted to flee, as did the prophet Jonah, whose book we read on Yom Kippur afternoon. The core message of Jonah is that, however much we may have failed in the past year, God – and each one of us – has the capacity to forgive, to make progress, even not to repeat some of the past but only if we face up to who we are, rather than run away.

The act of a whole day in synagogue with the possibility of a realistic self-appraisal can enable the process of teshuvah, whereby we acknowledge our gifts and achievements but commit ourselves to using them to right our wrongs, to take up missed opportunities, to behold meaning in the chaos of our internal fallibilities.

A stimulating series where our progressive rabbis consider how Biblical figures might act when faced with 21st-century issues

Although Yom Kippur is an intensely personal day, Judaism recognises our role within the local Jewish community, the Jewish people, our neighbourhood and indeed the world at large. Public and collective

confession – recalled in the ancient custom of the High Priest reciting confessional prayers for himself, his family and the Jewish people with its scapegoat – remind us that each one of us is responsible for the faults we tolerate in ourselves and in the wider ambit.

Tzedakah, the giving of time and resources

to others, is part of daily Jewish life but it is specially commended on Jewish festivals.

However di cult we might find Yom Kippur, there are those for whom spiritual life and indeed physical existence is an everyday struggle. Tzedakah, particularly at Yom Kippur, represents a ‘virtuous circle’ whereby not only have we done the just deed, but its recipients are enabled to fulfil their potential.

However you decide to spend Yom Kippur – for me it is a whole day of shul, fasting, hearing the Book of Jonah and tzedakah – may this hope be fulfilled in the year 5785, reflected in the words of Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan (1881-1983), the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism: “Enable us, O God, to behold meaning in the chaos of life about us and purpose in the chaos of life within us. Deliver us from the sense of futility in our strivings… May we behold things in their proper proportions and see life in its fullness and its holiness.”

Director

Full time, salary £35-£40,000 depending on qualifications and experience.

We are looking to appoint a highly motivated individual with an excellent understanding and experience of the issues affecting Jewish people in Scotland

You will be a dynamic leader with a proven track record of effective communication skills and project management, able to demonstrate personal drive and motivation. You will demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with a small staff team, trustees, and council members as well as external stakeholders, to lead the organisation and help manage the amalgamation with Glasgow Jewish Representative Council into a single body, representing, connecting and supporting Jewish people in Scotland.

The office is located in Giffnock, Glasgow and you will be expected to travel widely throughout Scotland. There will be some scope to work from home, by agreement.

For further details contact Nicola Livingston; chair@scojec.org or Ephraim Borowski; ephraim@scojec.org

Yom Kippur combines the personal and the public

Ask our

Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry. This week: The right time to sell gold, new oversight rules for financial representatives and how to manage business cashflow

JONATHAN WILLIAMS

JEWELLER JEWELLERY CAVE LTD

Dear Jonathan

I see your prices every week in Jewish News. I cannot believe the price at the moment. Is now a good time to sell? As I have many krugerrands and sovereigns plus some 18 carat gold bracelets that I bought with my late wife in Italy in the 1960s. I still actually have my wife’s 5ct round diamond ring which I would like to get a price on too. Can you help? Kind regards David

Dear David

Yes, gold has never been higher than it is at the moment. What goes up must come down,

JACOB BERNSTEIN

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD

Dear Jacob

I want to start out as an appointed representative for mortgage and insurance broking, but a colleague said the FCA is far stricter than it used to be on how principal firms oversee representatives. How will this affect me? Adam

Dear Adam

The FCA’s research revealed that appointed representatives (ARs) are the source of between 50 and 400 percent more complaints and supervisory cases than directly authorised firms, leading it to commit to tightening oversight of the AR regime.

The FCA is now focused on collecting additional information on ARs than previously and strengthening the responsibilities of principal firms.

The FCA is requiring principal firms to comply with the new rules outlined below (among others), some of which will influence the oversight of, and information sharing between, the AR and principal:

• The AR appointment must now be notified to the FCA at least 30 calendar days before

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donations and legacies.

Please show you care by making a donation. Visit jdeaf.org.uk or call 020 8446 0502. Thank you.

so now is a fantastic time to sell. The price of gold now is almost triple to a few years ago when it went down to £700 per ounce. And now it is trading at over £2,000 per ounce So if you would like to come in, I can tell you what everything is worth on today’s prices. Regarding diamonds, the prices have actually dropped, roughly by 20 to 30 percent due to the popularity of lab-created diamonds. But I’m sure a nice 5ct diamond will still be worth a good price. When would you like to come in to our Hendon Lane showroom?

it takes e ect, and the application process is more intensive.

• ARs will be subject to enhanced oversight by their principal firm, so should expect the imposition of various systems, controls and resources for detailed and e ective oversight.

• ARs’ activities and business will be regularly reviewed including fitness of senior management, the ARs’ financial position, any changes to the size or volume of your business or structure, and the adequacy of the principal’s controls and resources to e ectively oversee the AR.

• ARs must provide complaints and revenue information and confirm their details are correct as part of an annual attestation submitted by the principal firm.

ADAM SHELLEY ACCOUNTANT

SOBELL RHODES LLP

Dear Adam

I have recently set up a new business and need some support in managing cashflow effectively. Can you provide any guidance?

Sarah

Dear Sarah

Managing cashflow e ectively is critical for the survival and growth of your business. It’s about planning, monitoring and controlling the money coming

in and going out of your business, which ensures you have enough cash to cover expenses and avoid insolvency. Given the nature of the economy and evolving business practices, staying updated with the latest tools and strategies is vital.

The first step is to understand how cashflow works in your business. This involves knowing when and how your income and expenses occur.

Create a cashflow forecast that includes all expected inflows (from sales, accounts receivable and so on) and outflows (such as operating expenses, inventory purchases and any loan payments). This forecast should be updated regularly to reflect actual figures and revised projections.

eNABLeD

Accelerating the inflow of cash is crucial. You can do this by invoicing promptly, o ering payment incentives, implementing payment terms and streamlining processes.

Maintaining a cash reserve is a strategic financial safety net for your business, designed to shield against unforeseen cashflow dips.

Assessing your current financial status can give you a plan aimed at improving your cashflow including reducing unnecessary expenses. Additionally, insights can be provided into tax e ciencies to ensure you’re not overpaying, thereby improving your overall financial situation and enabling more informed decision-making for sustained growth and to benefit personally.

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the legacy of independence to people like Hayley.

PLeAse rememBer us iN your wiLL.

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

PATIENT HEALTH

020 3146 3444/5/6

www.patienthealth.co.uk trevor.gee@patienthealth.co.uk

HUMAN RESOURCES / EMPLOYMENT LAW

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

DOHR LTD

020 8088 8958

www.dohr.co.uk

donna@dohr.co.uk

ACCOUNTANT

ADAM SHELLEY

Qualifications:

• FCCA chartered certified accountant

• Accounting, taxation and business advisory services

• Entrepreneurial business specialist including start-up businesses

• Specialises in social media influencers and sport sector including tax planning and financial management

• Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation Volunteer of the Year JVN award

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

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

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611

www.jbd.org

Lisa@jbd.org

Experts

ISRAEL PROPERTY & MORTGAGE BROKER

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

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

JEWELLER

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

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

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

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

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

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

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

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

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

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.

RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD 020 7781 8019

www.richdale.co.uk jacob@richdale.co.uk

GOAL ATTAINMENT SPECIALIST

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

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

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

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YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING

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