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Rain? What rain? All smiles as thousands enjoy Jewish Care’s Family Fun Day Page 25
When home becomes hell
One woman’s tragic account of overcoming domestic abuse Page 28
BRITAIN’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER 20 June 2019
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17 Sivan 5779
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Issue No.1111
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@JewishNewsUK
Shocking state of the union Anger of eight former presidents of Cambridge debating society over failure to grill hateful Malaysian PM Eight former Cambridge Union presidents have accused their prestigious alma mater of a “shameful” failure to challenge the antisemitic views of the Malaysian prime minister as he spoke there on Sunday, writes Stephen Oryszczuk. Dr Mahathir Mohamed, 93, was invited to the university’s historic debating society but did not receive the grilling he warranted, said several of the union’s former presidents, writing in Jewish News this week. “It is of deep disappointment to all of us that clearly racist views went unchallenged and some audience members laughed in response to Dr Mohamad’s antisemitic remarks,” they said. “With freedom of speech comes the duty to stand up and call out bigotry. The union must learn from this shameful event.” Jewish student representatives criticised the Union for hosting the Malaysian PM, who made further
Union guest: Mahathir Mohamad
offensive comments about Jews at the event, prompting laughter from the audience. Challenged by the event’s moderator on his past comments about Jews and money, Mahathir said: “I have some Jewish friends, very good friends. They are not like the other Jews. That’s why they are my friends.” The Union of Jewish Students shared a video of the comments, adding: “Freedom of speech is not
a joke when it incites hatred against one people.” Human rights barrister Adam Wagner said the Union “should be ashamed” while David Wolfson QC said he had resigned his life membership in response. This week Cambridge Union said speakers “are challenged and held to account by both our committee and membership for their opinions,” adding that Mahathir’s record was “scrutinised” during his appearance. “Our moderator repeatedly challenged the prime minister on his antisemitic comments, bringing the conversation to the topic continuously,” the Union said. “Pointing to his own AmericanJewish heritage, he exposed the inconsistency in the prime minister’s beliefs by noting that he only blamed Jews for supporting Israel, not Americans. He also scrutinised Continued on page 5
The racist who asked a question about racism
The imam who questioned Tory leadership contenders about Islamophobia on BBC1 this week has been exposed as a virulent anti-Zionist who accused Jews of “hiding behind the Holocaust”. See p4 & p18