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BRITAIN’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER 5 April 2018

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20 Nissan 5778

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Issue No.1048

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@JewishNewsUK

Iconic images in focus at the Jewish Museum Page 21

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End these plagues • Jewish leaders agree to meet Jeremy

Corbyn to tackle deepening crisis • Anger as he attends Jewdas seder • More Labour candidates suspended • Momentum chief admits there’s ‘unconscious anti-Semitism’ in party

Morris

tum’s founder publicly insisted claims cannot be dismissed as smears and accepted the problem is more widespread, Corbyn decided to break matzah with an iconoclastic Jewish fringe group that also believes there was a hidden political agenda to last week’s gathering in Parliament Square.

Corbyn couldn’t have been unaware of the message this would send at such a hyper-sensitive moment. It certainly wasn’t lost on Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, who can’t be accused of shying away from engaging with all parts of the community. For her, Corbyn’s presence at this seder was a step too far. She walked in – and then walked out.

That’s how toxic his brand has become in large parts of the community. If enough was enough last week, it has now been amplified even more.

But just as Corbyn’s actions have undermined

N’S BIG GES

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13 Nisan 5778

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Issue No.1047

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As British Jew s said ‘Enough is enou gh’ on Labour antiSemitism, we gav e Jeremy Corby n a chance to fina lly repair the dama ge.

But his answers were simply…

Photo by Marc

Last week, following our exclusive interview with Jeremy Corbyn, Jewish News declared the Labour leader’s reassurances on tackling anti-Semitism in his party were simply “Not good enough”.

His failure to condemn the characterisation of some allegations as “smears” compounded worries. His description of the fringe group that staged a counter-demo to the main ‘Enough is enough’ event as “good people” left many fuming. How could he go out of his way to endorse a group that itself had gone out of its way to claim a situation that brought thousands of British Jews on to the streets was exaggerated, driven by a political agenda?

What was Corbyn trying to tell us?

Then, no sooner had Momen-

BRITAI 29 March 2018

E JN USIVEW I CL RV EX TE IN

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

EXCLUSIVE INTE RVIEW, REPORT La st wee & REACTION, PAG k’s JeSw ES 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ish New 24 & 26 s fron8,t10,pa ge

his vow to be a “militant ally” in the ongoing fight against anti-Semitism in the past fortnight – and Labour has fallen short of its zero tolerance rhetoric over the past two years –

Voice of Jewish News continued, p14 • Labour latest, p2, 3, 4, 6, 14 & 20

Reports and reaction, pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 12

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

News / Labour anti-Semitism scandal

WOLFSON ‘FRUSTRATED’ A Jewish member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee has said she is “frustrated” with the pace of action in dealing with allegations of anti-Semitism in the party.

But Rhea Wolfson said she expects the process to speed up with the arrival of new general secretary Jennie Formby, who has been told by party leader Jeremy Corbyn to make the issue her number one priority.

Ex-Commons Speaker Lord Martin called for a special one-day conference of members to address the problem and demonstrate the party’s abhorrence of anti-Semitism.

The former Labour MP told The Guardian: “If you ran a restaurant, and it was dirty and there were cockroaches, you wouldn’t get away with saying: ‘The restaurant down the road is dirty and has cockroaches too.’ You would be expected to sort out the problem.”

CANDIDATE SUSPENSION Labour has suspended and dropped as a candidate a member accused of sharing anti-Semitic material.

It has been confirmed that Sameh Habeeb is being investigated by the party and will no longer be up for election in Northwood on 3 May. Habeeb, the founder and editor of The Palestine Telegraph, was criticised for publishing allegedly antiSemitic conspiracy theories.

According to The Daily

Telegraph, he “hint[ed] at the well-known canard about Jewish or Zionist media control”, when he said in 2010: “I think you have to ask yourself who controls the media.”

A Labour spokesperson said the party “takes all complaints of anti-Semitism seriously, which are fully investigated and appropriate disciplinary action taken in line with our rules and procedures.”

LANSMAN TAPE RELEASED The Jewish head of left-wing grassroots group Momentum has been recorded saying some instances of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party were down to “opportunistic” right-wingers.

Jon Lansman, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s key allies, was recorded addressing the issue at an event at the end of March.

The sound file was published on The Evening Standard website on Tuesday.

In it, he is heard saying that

“there are people on the right who are opportunistically using this to get to the Labour Party”. However, he acknowledged valid charges have to be taken seriously.

Lansman is also heard explaining that many instances of anti-Semitism in Labour are reported to the Compliance Unit by Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, which he describes as “so right-wing it had a public spat with the JLC”.

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Corbyn breaks ‘radical’ anti-Is Jewish communal leaders reacted with disbelief this week after secretlyrecorded footage showed Jeremy Corbyn attending a Passover event with “radical” anti-Israel Jews who think that some of the Labour anti-Semitism crisis is “the work of cynical manipulations”.

The Labour leader was filmed at a seder in his Islington constituency organised by Jewdas, a small group of Israel critics who satirise mainstream Jewish groups such as the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC).

The recordings, published on the Guido Fawkes website, earned prompt criticism from Board president Jonathan Arkush and JLC chair Jonathan Goldstein, whose organisations were reportedly booed at the event.

Both men spoke at a Parliament Square rally against Labour anti-Semitism last Monday.

In a statement on Facebook, Jewdas said they were “unhappy with the pervasive anti-Semitism that still remains on the Left but continue to be very much involved because we are committed to a better world and a better Left, and believe the only way to tackle anti-Semitism is to keep fighting for our rights in the Diaspora”.

Corbyn, whose spokesman earlier said he attended in a “personal capacity”, defended his attendance at “a celebration of Passover, which I celebrate with young Jewish people from my own community and my own constituency”.

He added: “It was very interesting

Jeremy Corbyn with seder guests

talking to a lot of young people about their experiences of modern Britain and I learned a lot. Isn’t that a good thing?”

In a blog post for LabourList, seder participant Charlotte Nichols said: “Jeremy could not have been a more gracious guest… an active participant... leading the prayer for Elijah’s cup, singing along with us as best he could, and even bringing along beetroot from his own allotment for our (vegan) seder plate.”

She added: “The primary grievance in recent years has been that too often we feel like we need to be apologetic for being Jewish in left-wing spaces, and apologetic for being left-wing in Jewish spaces. At last night’s seder, we could unapologetically be both.”

Corbyn ally Jon Lansman, the head of grassroots group Momentum, who is Jewish, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme the Labour leader “had nothing in his official diary, it was his

night off… I don’t think this is as significant as is being made out”. However, he admitted “it’s certainly not helpful for Jeremy or the cause of opposing antiSemitism in the Labour Party”.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC Radio, Arkush said: “What Jeremy Corbyn did was the very thing which we wrote to him about last week”.

He said one of the things he and Goldstein wanted was for Corbyn to “stop giving credence to ultra-fringe groups that say anti-Semitic things, who are far from representative”.

In a later interview with Sky News, Arkush said: “I just heard [Corbyn] describe anti-Semitism as vile and evil… Why then go to a group that is the source of virulent anti-Semitism and has dismissed the current news about anti-Semitism on the left as a rightwing smear?”

He added: “Either Jeremy Corbyn was deliberately provoking the Jewish community or making a catastrophic error of judgment.”

Goldstein said Corbyn “in his first act towards the Jewish community has gone to sit with a group who describe the JLC’s and the Board’s actions as being a cynical ploy”.

He added the Labour leader “instead should have spent his time standing up for those Labour MPs who have been vilified within their own constituencies by members of their party for standing with us at a demonstration last Monday”.

However, on Tuesday, Jewdas tweeted: “Let’s make something clear: we do NOT believe accusations of antisem-

Norwood VP quits SMART DROPPED party after 20 years FROM ELECTIONS The vice-president of Norwood has quit the Labour Party after more than 20 years, saying he can “no longer justify” membership.

Charity chief Ronnie Harris told Jewish News he left the party amid the latest storm over its handling of allegations of anti-Semitism.

Harris, who is a trustee at both the Jewish Museum and Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “I will continue to support certain MPs in their fight to retain their constituencies against the Momentum push and, of course, Labour Friends of Israel, but I can no

longer justify membership of the Labour Party.”

Earlier this week, one of Labour’s major donors, Sir David Garrard, left the party over its failure to deal with “the most blatant acts of antiSemitism”, while Lord Winston said last Friday he feels “deeply ashamed” of the party, accusing Corbyn of having “encouraged anti-Semites and he’s endorsed them”.

Labour peer Lord Levy appeared on Newsnight to criticised Corbyn over his failure to contact him following an anti-Semitic email he had received.

A Labour council candidate accused of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial has been suspended by the party and dropped for the forthcoming election.

It was confirmed Roy Smart had been dropped from running for local office in St James Ward, Tunbridge Wells, in May, after it became apparent he had shared antiSemitic material online.

Articles he shared included a Holocaust denial post in 2015, which lists countries where questioning the Shoah is illegal, before saying “the truth doesn’t need laws

to protect it”. In the text of the article, called ‘Holocaust deprogramming course”, it says “free yourself from a lifetime of Holo-brainwashing about ‘six million’ Jews ‘gassed’ in ‘gas chambers’ disguised as shower rooms”.

The party said Smart would no longer be up for election in St James Ward.

A party spokesperson added: “Labour takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously, which are fully investigated and appropriate disciplinary action taken in line with our rules and procedures.”

www.jewishnews.co.uk

5 April 2018

Jewish News

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Labour anti-Semitism scandal / News

matzah at rael seder

Monday night’s Jewdas seder. Picture courtesy of Guido Fawkes

itism in Labour and the left are nothing more than smears. We have questioned the Jewish establishments [sic] cherry picking of antisemitic incidents to suit their agenda.”

That same day, Corbyn expressed readiness to discuss the specific issues raised by Jewish community leaders in a meeting with the Board of Deputies and JLC. In a letter that could pave the way for the first face-to-face talks for two years between the community and the Opposition leader, Corbyn wrote that he accepted his “responsibility to give a strong and continuing personal lead” in the fight against anti-Semitism in Labour, which had caused “anguish and distress”.

Expressing his belief a meeting would be the start of “a fruitful ongoing exchange on eradicating” hateful discourse in the party, Corbyn said: “It is my belief that such a meeting could easily be held without any preconditions, given we are all on the same side on the essentials of the matter. I place no limitations on the points you would wish to raise and am happy for the agenda to cover the issues you’ve outlined.”

Arkush and Goldstein replied to Corbyn yesterday, saying: “Thank you for your letter and for the commitment you have made to addressing the anguish among many people in the Jewish community over the issue of antiSemitism within the Labour Party.”

Who are Jewdas?

In a member’s own words, Jewdas is “a left-wing group of predominately young Jewish people”. They think “those wishing to demonise Jeremy Corbyn have painted a deeply offensive and misrepresentative picture of [Jewdas] as somehow antithetical to the mainstream Jewish community”.

They say they “are absolutely part of the mainstream community” with many “paying synagogue members and active in communal life… but we recognise the failings of many of our communal institutions and communities”.

Their grievances, against which they use satire, extend to gender and queer identities, Israel and “the extent to which we do or don’t identify with it as part of our Judaism”.

They deny that there is “any one narrative, political or otherwise, within Jewdas” but say it is “a collective space where we can have uncomfortable conversations – what unites us all is the fact that we are Jewish”.

Charlotte Nichols, who was at the now infamous seder, says: “For those in the com-

munity who want to paint Jeremy’s attendance as an act of provocation, rather than an attempt to listen, engage, and share our festival with us, it’s actually just alienating many young Jewish people further and validating Jewdas’ very existence.”

In a typical tweet, Jewdas spokesperson Geoffrey Cohen reacted to Jewish communal leaders’ angst that accusations of anti-Semitism were instead being seen as political smears. Cohen said: “We strictly reserve the word ‘smear’ for describing what we do to cream cheese on our beigels, although we tend to call it schmear.”

In a more serious tweet, Cohen said: “We do not believe accusations of anti-Semitism in Labour and the left are nothing more than smears. We have questioned the Jewish establishment’s cherry-picking of antiSemitic incidents to suit their agenda.”

Elsewhere, the group lambasts “the Bored of Deputies” describing it as “a dangerous fringe group”.

I saw Corbyn at the seder and walked out RABBI LAURA JANNER-KLAUSNER SENIOR RABBI TO REFORM JUDAISM

It was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek, very alternative event with an eclectic, countercultural group. I accepted my relative’s invitation to attend the Jewdas seder because of the Jewish imperative of kiruv.

Kiruv is bringing all Jews, particularly those I don’t agree with, closer to Judaism.

But I didn’t get very far. In the foyer, I was aghast to see the leader of the Opposition, just one week after our major protest against anti-Semitism in his party.

I immediately left, as this now had become part of his agenda.

I believe Jeremy Corbyn was certainly not motivated by kiruv, of engaging with those he doesn’t agree with. Of all the possible Jewish events, he (davka) chose this particular one.

It was a bad call, one that can at best be seen as naïve, at worst, provocative.

However, this is a distraction. Whatever our views about Jewdas, this must not be the story. We must not make Jewish communal infighting – the opposite of ‘kiruv’ – our Pesach story, as this releases the Labour

leader from responsibility.

At Pesach, we throw out our chametz, we put our own houses in order. We must demand this approach from Mr Corbyn – a thorough assessment of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, an admission of what has gone wrong, a serious commitment to engage, especially with those with whom he disagrees.

Now our sederim are finished, we are counting the days to Shavuot with seven weeks of reckoning. The counting of the Omer is a period of mourning, of deep reflection. We need Mr Corbyn to do the same.

Mr Corbyn now needs to reflect and lead.

Leadership means he will take difficult decisions, upsetting people close to him.

Leadership means prioritising tackling hate over political expediency or the comfort of just being with those with whom you agree.

It is time for the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition to finally lead and show he can act responsibly on anti-Semitism.

GeNeRAtIoN to GeNeRAtIoN International Mission to Austria and Israel 2-9 July 2018

ExplorE prewar Austrian Jewish life and visit Mauthausen with Yad Vashem’s Chief Historian ExpErIENCE Shabbat in Jerusalem with Rabbi Israel Meir Lau DISCoVEr Yad Vashem’s innovative programs in Jerusalem and in the IDF’s new Negev base rEJoICE in Israel’s milestone 70th anniversary

For more information: www.yadvashem.org/2018 or contact Sophie Greenfield, YVmission2018@yadvashem.org.il | 020 7317 8022

4

Jewish News 5 April 2018

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News / Israel rethink / Diaspora warning / Cable pledge

Asylum seekers U-turn ‘stains’ our values, warn British Jews UK Jewish groups and senior rabbis this week criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for pulling out of a deal with the United Nations (UN) to save African asylum seekers in Israel from being deported, writes Stephen Oryszczuk.

Civil rights groups such as the New Israel Fund UK (NIF) and the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE), as well as Senior Reform Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner reacted with horror after Netanyahu suspended an agreement reached only hours earlier.

Late last year, Netanyahu said Israel would either imprison or deport tens of thousands of African asylum-seekers, most from Eritrea and Sudan, but last Sunday he said he had reached a compromise solution with the UN. The plan, which he announced to the world’s press, involved Israel granting a five-year permit to roughly half the 32,000 migrants, while Western nations such as Canada, Italy and Germany agreed to rehouse the other half.

But within hours of announcing the deal Netanyahu had backtracked, posting a message on Facebook saying: “I’ve decided to suspend implementation of this accord and to rethink the terms.”

He is believed to have buckled under

Israelis and African asylum seekers demonstrate outside Netanyahu’s office

pressure from right-wing government partners such as the religious-nationalist Jewish Home party, whose leader Naftali Bennett – a minister – said the deal would “turn Israel into a paradise for infiltrators”.

In the UK, Jewish groups reacted to the

Image courtesy of Neale James Photography

THE SCULPTURE GALLERY WOBURN ABBEY

embarrassing U-turn. JCORE director Dr Edie Friedman said: “It is regrettable that the Israeli government has taken this action.

We must not play politics with people’s lives.”

She added: “Israel should be sitting down with others in the international community

to work out fair and sensible refugee policies.

This crisis is as big as ever and it is up to all of us to come up with solutions.”

Likewise Adam Ognall, chief executive of NIF in the UK, said: “Netanyahu’s U-turn on this welcome agreement – which was a ‘win’ for basic dignity for asylum seekers – is a stain on Israel’s values and standing.

“Our job is to support Israeli organisations to make sure the deal holds and ensure just treatment for asylum seekers and residents of south Tel Aviv alike.”

Janner-Klausner said: “I have never experienced such unity across the Jewish community, both in the UK and Israel, as I have over the issue of refugees.”

She added: “We are unified by the call during Passover and before Yom HaShoah, which identifies the need to treat refugees with dignity and respect as a core Jewish value. We must treat them with honour and I call on the Israeli Government to do so.”

In the UK, 65 rabbis have signed an open letter calling on Israel not to deport Africans seeking shelter in Israel, while the Union of Jewish Students joined hundreds of organisations and individuals in speaking out.

Cable won’t prop up Corbyn The Liberal Democrat would never prop up a coalition Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn, the party’s leader adamantly confirmed this week, writes Jack Mendel.

Speaking to Jewish News Vince Cable fired a warning shot to the opposition, claiming prejudice, including anti-Semitism seems to be “pretty severe” in the party, as he assured the community of “personal importance” to good relations.

He said “we’re very clear we would not be going into coalition with Corbyn-led

Labour. Simple answer on Jeremy Corbyn, is no”, should there be another hung parliament at the next election.

The former business secretary said: “I’d like to think that we have” won back trust from the community, after relations became strained over anti-Israel politicians David Ward and baroness Jenny Tonge before 2015. Ward and Tonge are “no longer members of the party.

Action was taken”, he said, adding that their remarks were “unacceptable” and “embarrassed” them.

The Lib Dem leader welcomed “attracting people who are disaffected” by Labour’s anti-Semitism row, saying he knows of “members of the community who used to support Labour who are now supporting us”.

Cable said he’s “concerned about the wider picture of prejudice which seems to be pretty severe in the Labour Party”, adding that “It isn’t just anti-Semitism. They’ve got Islamophobia too.”

He added that the Lib Dems must “give absolutely no currency“ to prejudice.

ISRAEL AN ‘EXCEPTION’ TO YOUNG VALUES

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One of British Jewry’s most senior figures has warned young Jews feel their support for Israel must be “the exception to their values, rather than the embodiment of them”.

Sir Mick Davis (pictured), a former chair of the Jewish Leadership Council who also chaired then Prime Minister David Cameron’s Holocaust Memorial Commission and is now the chief executive of the Conservative Party, made the comments in an opinion piece published on Times of Israel this week.

In it, Davis says young

diaspora Jews “face a twopronged attack on their connection to Israel” – both antiSemitism on the left of British politics and Israeli Government actions.

“They see their pride in

Israel dented by actions taken by the Israeli authorities that undermine their Jewish values,” he wrote.

“Whether through the constant trickle of ugly legislation like last year’s NationState Bill, the racism of Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, a callous approach to African asylum seekers, discrimination against progressive Judaism or ongoing settlement expansion, young diaspora Jews are too often being asked to make their attachment to Israel the exception to their values rather than the embodiment of them.”

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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Golders Green accident/ School suspension / News briefs / News

Crash victim’s ‘concern’ for driver The mother of a man seriously injured after an out-of-control car mounted the pavement in Golders Green has said his “only thought” is for the well-being of the driver.

David Richards, 45, a cashier at Menachems Kosher Butcher and Deli, was on his way to work last Wednesday, amid Passover shoppers, when a silver car ploughed into him at speed, leaving him with significant trauma injuries.

“He went through the car’s window,” said Richards’ boss, Tamir. “He’s got two broken legs and a broken arm, and he needs an operation to take all the glass

out of his face. It’s really bad. It’ll take weeks to recover.”

The car also collided with a rabbi walking in the opposite direction. He was later identified by witnesses as Rabbi Elkouby, 80, who is now believed to need hip surgery.

The mother of Richards, identified as Rachel, had flown out to Israel for Passover only hours before the accident, and was told the news on the phone.

Speaking last Thursday as she prepared to fly back to the UK, she said: “David was very anxious to know that the driver will be OK. Thank God he’s in

The crash scene in Golders Green

hospital and he’s going to be in the operating theatre today. It’s amazing that this was his only thought.”

Both Richards – whose uncle was by his side – and Rabbi Elkouby are understood to be recovering in the same trauma ward at St Mary’s Hospital after the air ambulance, three ambulance crews, an incident response officer and a hazardous area response team were sent to the scene by the London Ambulance Service.

The male driver stopped at the scene and assisted police. He was not arrested.

Officers are now reviewing CCTV footage and the serious collision investigation unit is appealing for anyone with footage to contact them.

SCHOOLBOY FORCE-FED HAM TO JEWISH STUDENT

Clifton College Upper School

A teenage student at a prestigious private school in Bristol was suspended for trying to force-feed a slice of ham pizza to a Jewish student while others watched.

The incident at Clifton College in Bristol occurred in December, but was first reported by local media this week.

The Jewish student, 15,

“suffered psychologically” from the incident, according to the Bristol Post.

He continues to attend the school, as do the other teenagers. The newspaper reported it was a short suspension but did not say how long.

“While the pupil concerned felt this was not an anti-Semitic act, the school considered the incident to be completely unac-

ceptable, falling far short of the high standards we expect from our pupils,” a school spokesman told local media.

He said the school, which was founded in 1862 and owns the Polack Centre, which houses a synagogue, and offers Jewish Studies, Hebrew teaching and bar or batmitzvah preparation, conducted a “thorough investigation” and

that “proportionate and appropriate sanctions were put in place”.

An unnamed member of the Bristol Jewish community told the local newspaper that the incident was “not the first case of anti-Semitism at Clifton College”, adding: “The way in which Clifton College has brushed it under the carpet is much worse.” [JTA]

NEWS IN BRIEF

ISRAELI RABBI COULD FACE HATE CHARGE An Israel Justice Ministry official has told Israeli media that the government is considering pressing for criminal charges against the Sephardi chief rabbi for likening a black child born to white parents to a “monkey” in explaining a point of ritual. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef made the comparison last month during a Saturday evening lecture, when he was speaking of the traditional blessing of the trees that takes place during Nissan. Rabbi Yosef received a rebuke from British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.

SPIELBERG SAYS NO TO SPIELBURGER The film director Steven Spielberg has a beef with a US burger chain.

Carl’s Jr wanted to rename one of its most popular meals the SpielBurger. It tried to deliver samples to Spielberg’s office and even left a note on his car.

Spielberg’s production company released a short video on its Twitter feed in which Spielberg said the burgers are “pretty good”, but the company should “cease and desist” from naming them after him.

Labour, hold Corbyn to account Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour has become a safe haven for racists. He has spent his political career amongst them, ignoring or even defending Holocaust deniers, genocidal antisemitic terrorist groups and a litany of Jew-haters.

Labour must lead by example and show that Jeremy Corbyn is bound by the same rules as Leader as he was as a backbencher, by investigating the disciplinary complaint we have filed against him for bringing the Party into disrepute.

Labour must hold Jeremy Corbyn to account.

On 8th April at 2pm, Jews and non-Jews alike will converge on Labour Head Office from all over Britain to stand up for our Jewish community and drive home to Labour that it must finally deliver on its broken promise: zero tolerance for antisemitism. Join us.

National Demonstration

This Sunday, 8th April, at 2pm Labour Head Office 105 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QT Sign up at antisemitism.uk/demonstration

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

Jewish News meets... Philip Hammond

‘Jewish community should be proud of its social care’ On a visit to Finchley, the chancellor discusses the key role of Jewish charities and the refugee crisis with Michael Newman Philip Hammond has paid tribute to the Jewish community’s social care provision.

Speaking during a visit to Finchley, the chancellor told Jewish News: “You are lucky to have strong charitable and not-for-profit­ organisations that provide long-term care.”

Hammond, who was joined by local MP Mike Freer at the sports and outdoor group Pentland Brands last Thursday, acknowledged that the £2billion allocated to social care in the last budget was just a start and that local authorities now had access to as much as £9.2 billion for this provision.

He welcomed the role of charities and specialist providers to contribute to the Green paper that will be published before the summer recess on the long-term plan for social care. Freer pointed out the additional costs of supporting a diverse community, such as in Barnet, when considering social care funding. “As a constituency MP, one of the things I have to argue is that the cost of kosher meals or of providing women carers to look after women and male carers for

men in Orthodox care facilities is not always factored into the fair funding formula”.

Asked about the anti-Semitism crisis engulfing the opposition, Hammond said Jeremy Corbyn needed to “personally demonstrate that he is not responsible in any way for allowing anti-Semitism to stain the Labour party”.

Hammond added: “Politicians have a duty to lead by example and our national political organisations have to demonstrate that they are free of these kind of completely unacceptable practices and prejudices.

“Unfortunately there is recurring evidence that time and time again the Labour Party is not free of this shocking behaviour. They have to clean their act up.”

The chancellor acknowledged the leading role played by Jews across the economy, as investors, entrepreneurs and, above all, as innovators. “The key to innovation is diversity; getting people from different backgrounds and cultural approaches bouncing off each other,” he said. “As our economy moves forward,

innovation and creativity is a British strength and the Jewish community contributes disproportionately to our business life.”

Hammond also discussed the role for charities and specialist providers to play in guiding the government to advance its social care provision.

Defending the government’s record on the refugee crisis, Hammond noted that Britain was “now seen as an exemplar of good conduct” and that “the UK has been second only to the US in providing financial support”.

He added: “We took a distinctive course, but can be proud of our record; the way we have mobilised throughout this crisis. Our approach is now seen as the way to address the issue for long-term sustainability.”

He also noted that a debt of gratitude should be paid to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, which have taken in huge numbers of refugees. “We are committed to taking in 20,000 Syrian refugees – unlike other European countries, we are deliberately taking the most vulnerable. We don’t want to disperse the Syrian population

Hammond: ‘We must lead by example’

across the world so that there is nobody to rebuild once Assad is removed.”

Hammond added that the Government was doing considerable work in the refugee camps, including overseeing the delivery of “a pattern of education to ensure we don’t have a lost generation”.

From a local perspective, Freer pointed out that there was a national shortage of foster carers. “Barnet has done more than most, but we must have the infrastructure in place to support. It’s about having the foster parents, the support in school places and health services because many of these children will need help for many years.” Both stressed that this has to be “a whole community effort”.

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Special Report / Preserving identity

Esther’s gender-neutral b’nei mitzvah landmark

Finding a format for a non-binary person’s coming-of-age ceremony was a challenge overcome, writes Josefin Dolsten

W

hen Esther Thorpe came out as non-binary one year ago, identifying as neither male nor female, Miriam Taylor Thorpe was worried. Esther’s mother already had a child come out as gay and feared Esther, 14, would have trouble finding a Jewish community that would be accepting and inclusive.

The family were already planning Esther’s batmitzvah; with the new revelation, Miriam wondered how her child could be comfortable with a Jewish ceremony whose very name, barmitzvah for boys and batmitzvah for girls, is gendered. “I was quite concerned because if something is important in your coming of age, it should reflect who you are in a person and not

squeeze you into the traditional two genders that we happen to have just because of history,” says Miriam, who lives with husband Martyn and seven children in the village of Otterburn, Northumberland.

As transgender and gender nonconforming people gain more acceptance, synagogues are having to think about how to welcome those with a diverse set of gender identities. A University of Minnesota study published last year found 2.7 percent of children in the state identify as transgender or gender nonconforming, while Keshet, a Massachusetts-based group promoting LGBTQ equality, says it gets requests regularly on how to make religious ceremonies inclusive.

The Union for Reform Judaism, the congregational arm of the movement in the

Esther Thorpe, left, pictured with student rabbi Gabriel Webber, identifies as non-binary and had a gender-neutral b’nei mitzvah. Picture courtesy of Miriam Taylor Thorpe

United States, has a toolkit for synagogues that includes a section on how to tailor b’nei mitzvah ceremonies to align with the child’s gender identity, said director of programme Rabbi Leora Kaye. “We’re seeing that there are families and there are congregations that are very open to exploring with the kids that are becoming bar and batmitzvah how they want to be identified,” she said.

The Thorpe family worked with the student rabbi of their synagogue, York Liberal Jewish Community, to adapt Esther’s ceremony.

Research before the event by Gabriel Webber, a student at London’s Leo Baeck College, revealed examples of ceremonies for non-binary children in the US but not the UK. “Although this is the first one we’ve had on the radar, it’s going to be far from the last one,” said Webber, who spent a lot of time thinking about how to eschew gendered words in Hebrew during what they came to call Esther’s b’nei mitzvah.

The phrase came from Hebrew plural term b’nei, which could refer to a mixed-gender group of people. Before settling on that, Webber looked for other possibilities.

He found that other non-binary people had used terms such as “banmitzvah” (“ban” is a made-up word that combines the Hebrew words for boy and girl, “ben” and “bat”) and “zeramitzvah” (“zera” means seed or offspring in Hebrew).

“Esther uses ‘they’ pronouns, which is also a plural being used as a singular, so [b’nei] fit, and it wasn’t making up Hebrew, which is probably better than making up Hebrew,” Webber said.

Webber also looked into how to call up Esther

to read from the Torah. Traditionally, readers are called up using their first name in Hebrew followed by “ben” or “bat” (son or daughter) and their parent’s or parents’ names.

It was important because finding the right way to be called up held major significance for Esther, who said: “It felt like a big responsibility for other non-binary kids in the future.”

Esther’s mother said using a Hebrew name that relayed family ties and fitted into the larger Jewish tradition was also important to Esther.

In the end Esther chose Esther m’beit Miriam, meaning “Esther from the house of Miriam”.

In addition to the liturgical changes, Esther of course had to read a Torah portion and write a drash, or sermon.

Since the family live a three-hour drive from York, Esther did the learning via videochat with Webber and one of the congregants, Hava Fleming. Esther successfully led the service in front of some 100 people.

Despite the adaptations, there were still some lingering issues. Though immediate friends and family were respectful of Esther’s gender identity, others gave “bat mitzvah” cards and gifts geared toward girls, Miriam Thorpe said.

“It was quite easy to make the service be reflective of [Esther being] non-binary, once you have a rabbi that’s on board with it and you have a congregation that’s prepared to take that through,” she said, “and as soon as you left the service, you’re back to either a bar mitzvah or a bat mitzvah and there’s nothing in between.”

Still, Esther is happy about how things turned out, saying: “I feel better. I feel part of a community, accepted and acknowledged.”

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

World News / Saudi shift / Egyptian peace / World briefs

‘Israel has right to land’ Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman has said both Israelis and Palestinians “have a right to their own land” in a seemingly dramatic policy shift.

The comments from the Crown Prince, in an interview with The Atlantic, could be seen as a prelude to overturning the Sunni Muslim state’s long-held position of refusing to recognise Israel.

Relations between the countries have thawed in recent years, with low-profile meetings between Israelis and Saudis, spurred by mutual interests and a common enemy, Iran.

But details have largely been absent,

with only hints from well-connected Israeli commentators, who said belowthe-radar co-operation was ongoing.

This week’s comments from the Crown Prince, 32, who effectively rules on behalf of his ailing father, King Salman, are the starkest example of a change of approach. Bin Salman has developed a reputation for a relatively liberal social policy and hawkish foreign policy.

In his interview, he described the Middle East in the context of two warring camps, the first being “the triangle of evil”, incorporating Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadists, the

second being “moderate” states such as Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

“In this triangle, they are trying to promote the idea that our duty as Muslims is to re-establish the caliphate, to re-establish the mindset of the caliphate – that the glory of Islam is in building an empire by force,” he said.

“But God didn’t ask us to do this, and the Prophet Muhammad did not ask us to do this. God only asked us to spread the word.”

Asked about the Jewish people’s right to a nation state, Bin Salman said: “I believe each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and Israelis have the right to have their own land.”

EGYPTIAN ENVOY HAILS PEACE DEAL The Egyptian ambassador has warned of new challenges in his country’s relationship with Israel during a visit to London, writes Alex Davis.

Nasser Kamel expressed delight at “unprecedented security and economic cooperation”, but conceded the peace accord had not seen acceptance within public opinion that Israel is a friend.

“No Egyptians believe war is a pos-

sibility between our countries, but that does not translate into a feeling of being in love,” he explained. “It is peace based on a public perception that the central promise of that peace was to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Nonetheless, the ambassador praised subsequent Egyptian leaders for upholding the promise of peace, which has become “a stable base of Egyptian

security and foreign policy principle.”

He spoke during an event organised by the United Synagogue to commemorate the forthcoming 40th anniversary of peace between Israel and Egypt.

He added: “Remarkably, this peace has withstood many tests, many of which pertain to events in the wider region outside of the control of Egypt and Israel.”

WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF

Your weekly digest of stories from the international press UNITED STATES

Jewish plaintiffs who won the right to sue the Palestine Liberation Organisation for £500 million in 2015 were disappointed after the US Supreme Court backed a decision to overturn it. The lead plaintiff, Mark Sokolow, was injured when he and his family were caught up in a Jerusalem bombing in 2002.

FRANCE

The son of an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who was burned and stabbed in Paris last month received a phone call from Benjamin Netanyahu and a letter from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Mireille Knoll was found dead in her flat on 23 March. Police are treating the attack as anti-Semitic.

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ARGENTINA

River Plate, a popular football club in South America, is hosting an exhibition about football and the Holocaust at its stadium in Buenos Aires. The exhibit includes details of Emerico Hirschl, a Hungarian–Jewish coach who led River Plate to national and international championships in the 1930s.

GERMANY

A Palestinian-born politician and a German Jewish leader are working together to rebuild a Berlin synagogue destroyed by the Nazis during Kristallnacht.

Social Democrat Raed Salah, 40, whose family come from the West Bank, is working with Gideon Joffe to rebuild the Fraenkelufer synagogue in Kreuzberg.

Someone removed a swastika and part of a Nazi inscription, recently found on a church bell in Schweringen, northwest Germany, leaving a note saying it was ‘time for a spring clean’.

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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11

Unique seder / Matzah woes / News

Pupils ‘bring in sunshine’ for special seder at home “He’ll be coming down the mountain by and by. He’ll be holding 10 commandments up on high. And we’ll not be slaves no morr. For we’re gonna have the Torah. Singing Aye Aye Yippee Yippee Aye…” The words may have been new to him, but Moshe Nurtman, 93, was singing them and clapping, too, at a special seder at Clore Manor organised by pupils from Etz Chaim Jewish Primary school, writes Brigit Grant.

Throughout their time at the Mill Hill-based school, the children who are now in Year 6 have regularly visited the Jewish Care home in Hendon and performed for the residents, but this was the first time they had conducted a Passover service – and they were well-prepared.

Dressed in their “smart shul clothes”, the class of 11-year-olds arrived with their headteacher, Yvonne Baron, and Haggadot they had designed themselves, ready to break out the matzah and grape juice.

Pupils from Etz Chaim visit residents at Jewish Care’s Clore Manor care home

“They have brought in the sunshine,” said Moshe, who was born in Poland and brought to England in 1945 as one of “The Boys”, the group of 732 Jewish children who survived the camps.

“I remember the seders I had

with my own family, none of whom survived. They are memories to treasure.”

As seasoned Hebrew readers, the pupils moved swiftly through the service, peppering it with songs sung to popular tunes, but it was the seder

recollections of the residents they most enjoyed.

“It is interesting to hear how they celebrated when they were young,” said Noam Yinhal, after hearing Helen Levine, who grew up in Rangoon, Burma, share her story and kubah, a favourite Sephardi Pesach recipe for rice meatballs.

Philip Sonenfeld, 91, talked about his short seders in the East End, and then Cynthia Elf, 83, recalled her father sitting on a throne of cushions.

“I used to climb up behind him and I remember falling asleep as I was singing Dayenu and my mother carrying me up to bed.”

Baron said: “Watching the children and the residents sing Dayenu with smiles on their faces shows how the chagim bridge the generations,” said Baron.

Pupil Mia Greenfield agreed.

She said: “I like seeing old people because they are sweet, and it feels like I am spending time with my grandparents.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

FRENCH JEWISH STUDENTS’ UNION OFFICE VANDALISED The office of a Jewish student group at a Paris university has been vandalised with anti-Israel and antiSemitic graffiti. The attack on the office of the French Jewish Students Union at the University of Paris took place last Wednesday, hours before around 10,000 people participated in a memorial march in Paris for 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll, who was burned and found dead with 11 stab wounds in what police are calling an anti-Semitic murder.

British Jewish students have offered their support.

CANADA DECREES MAY ‘JEWISH HERITAGE’ The Canadian Parliament has passed legislation making every May Canadian Jewish Heritage Month. The bill unanimously passed the House of Commons last Thursday. It previously had passed the Senate. Two Jewish lawmakers – Michael Levitt in the House of Commons and Linda Frum in the Senate – sponsored the measure. Levitt lauded the multi-partisan support by the Parliament.

APOLOGY FOR ‘CRUMMY’ MATZAH Rakusen’s has issued an apology after customers complained about the quality of its Passover matzah, writes Louisa Walters.

Some consumers noticed the traditional flat, crisp, white and brown Rakusen’s matzah had been replaced by a curved, thin, wholemeal-looking cracker that was brittle to the touch and stale to the taste.

On Tuesday, after the long bank holiday weekend, Rakusen’s staff returned to work to a stream of emails, Facebook posts, private messages and phone calls, while comments were made on a Pesach recipes Facebook group.

A few people did say that theirs were fine, so possibly this was a batch issue.

The company posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying it was ‘shocked and saddened’ to learn about the below-par kosher for Passover matzahs and said it is

undertaking a full investigation to discover what went wrong.

Rakusen’s sales director Sarah Hemingway said: “We cannot understand what has gone wrong. We haven’t done anything different. We have a golden rule: ‘Don’t mess with the matzah’.”

She added: “We are a small company with 35 employees, many of whom have been here for a long time. We have all worked incredibly hard to deliver for Passover. We are not aware of any issues that could have caused these problems.

“We are taking the matter very seriously and are launching a full and detailed investigation. This matter is critical and we are taking it extremely seriously. I hope our customers realise from our statement how much we care.”

BBC reporter’s Hamas query A BBC reporter has been admonished for posting a comment on social media asking: ‘What’s wrong with Hamas?’

Becky Branford was identified as a staff member by BBC Watch after she joined hundreds of others in posting comments after Jewish News published an interview with Jeremy Corbyn last week.

In the post, she wrote: “What’s actually wrong with Hamas? What have they done except resist occupation? Straight question.”

While Branford’s comments have since been removed, BBC Watch administrators said: “The fact that a BBC journalist thinks there is nothing wrong with a terror organisation gives food for thought.”

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

Israel News / Gaza border clashes

Gaza back on a knife-edge pers on Friday, facing the border fence at a distance of 150 to 200 metres. Suddenly, he stands up, limps a few metres, collapses and is carried away by a young man who shouts “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is Great.”

Adli Abu Taha, who filmed the scene on his mobile phone, told the Associated Press that Abu Shanab had thrown stones close to the fence before joining the group for Friday prayers. The incident took place east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and medics said Abu Shanab was shot in the leg.

In another video, which spread on social media, a young man is seen being fatally shot from behind while running away from the border area carrying a tyre.

The Israeli military accused Hamas on Sunday of releasing videos that were incomplete, edited or “completely fabricated”, but did not elaborate.

It added that said troops followed strict rules of engagement and that protesters were putting themselves in “harm’s way” by operating in a dangerous area.

Israeli military officials have said troops would not allow protesters to cross or damage the border fence, and protesters would not be allowed to get within 100 metres of the fence.

The officials did not say how troops would respond if “red lines” were crossed.

An Associated Press reporter saw two

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young men getting shot in the legs on Saturday, in incidents about 15 minutes apart, as they stepped away from a group of dozens of people standing about 200 metres from the border and walked closer to the fence.

In Friday’s protests, thousands gathered near the border in several locations. Smaller groups moved closer to the fence, throwing stones or burning tyres.

The military said that in one incident two armed men opened fire near the fence.

Rights groups said it is unlawful to use lethal force when Palestinian protesters do not pose an imminent threat to the lives of Israeli soldiers.

“An army can use reasonable force to defend a border,” said Omar Shakir, of the international group Human Rights Watch.

“This was an incident where soldiers were firing from behind Omar Shakir the fence, separated by buffer zones and other objects, firing on individuals well behind the fence, in some cases retreating, not moving forward, or advancing without posing imminent threat.”

Israel’s defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has rejected international

calls for an investigation. The death toll for Friday’s clashes rose after a 29-year-old died on Monday of his injuries. The terrorist group Islamic Jihad said the man had been a member.

The Israeli military has said 10 of the Palestinians killed on Friday were members of Hamas and other terrorist groups, but did not say if any were armed except for the two who had opened fire near the fence.

Amos Gilad, a retired senior defence official, on Monday accused Hamas of cynically exploiting civilians, alleging that the group “wants headlines through blood”.

“The big achievement of last Friday is that [the marchers] didn’t cross the border,” he told Israel TV’s Channel 10.

“Israel cannot allow violent Palestinians who are being sent by an organisation whose aim is to destroy the state [of Israel] to enter Israeli territory,” he said.

The idea for the mass marches was first floated several months ago by a Gaza social media activist, and was later adopted by Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since a violent takeover of the territory in 2007.

In response to Hamas rule, Israel and Egypt enforced a crippling blockade of Gaza’s borders. Israel and Hamas fought three crossborder wars.

Protests are set to continue until 15 May,

PIGS CAN’T FLY, BUT THEY MIGHT SOON BE KOSHER, SAYS RABBI An Orthodox rabbi says meat from a genetically cloned pig would be kosher for consumption by Jews, including when eaten with dairy.

Rabbi Yuval Cherlow said such meat is not subject to rules that apply to regular meat.

Cherlow, of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organisation in Israel, appears to be talking about meat that is grown in a laboratory from the cells of a pig rather than meat from a live animal whose genetic material comes from a cell from which the pig was cloned. But the article does not quote him as making the distinction.

In an interview at a Bar-Ilan University symposium, Science and halacha, featuring a talk by Cherlow, he advocated rabbinic approval of cloned meat “so that people would not starve, to prevent pollution, and to avoid the suffering of animals”.

When the “cell of a pig is used and its genetic material is utilised in the production

CROWDS BLESSED AT KOTEL Tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims, including US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, made their way to the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday for the twice-annual mass blessing ceremony.

Treif; but maybe not if pig was a clone of food, the cell loses its original identity and therefore cannot be defined as forbidden,” Cherlow said. “It wouldn’t even be meat, so you can consume it with dairy.”

About consumption of cloned meat, Cherlow added: “Without prophesising, clearly there will be a major disagreement.”

Photo by Sergey Orlov/TASS

The Palestinian death toll in the mass protests on the Gaza border rose to 18 this week, as Israel rejected allegations of unlawful use of lethal force against demonstrators.

More than 750 Palestinians were wounded

by Israeli fire in Friday’s protest, according to Gaza health officials, making it the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers have not said whether the final aim of protests, which are to continue off and on for six weeks, is an attempted mass breach of the border fence.

The terrorist group’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has hinted at an escalation, saying Friday’s protests had a “limit”, but that “next time, we won’t know where that line would be”. Israel accused Hamas of trying to attack its border under the guise of protests.

Officials said Israel had a right to defend its border and that troops were instructed to target what the army described as the “main instigators”.

However, the military’s open-fire policies came under more scrutiny as two amateur videos emerged purportedly showing two Palestinians being shot – one killed and one wounded – while not posing any apparent threat to soldiers.

In one video, a man later identified as Ibrahim Abu Shanab is seen kneeling on the ground in the first of two rows of worship-

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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13

Gaza border clashes / Israel News Photo by Momen Faiz/NurPhoto/Sipa US

HAMAS PUSHES STRIP UP INTERNATIONAL AGENDA CALEV BEN-DOR DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, BICOM

Protesters in the southern Gaza Strip clash with Israeli forces after a demonstration near the border

Israel’s 70th anniversary. The date is mourned by Palestinians as their “nakba”, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were uprooted in the 1948 Middle East war over Israel’s creation.

Most of Gaza’s two million people are descendants of Palestinian refugees.

Gaza’s continued border closure has made it increasingly difficult for Hamas to govern. Life in the coastal strip has deteriorated further in recent

months, with rising unemployment, grinding poverty and daily blackouts that last for hours.

In a risky strategy, Hamas appears to be using the protests to draw attention to the difficult conditions in Gaza, without plunging into another war with Israel.

The sides have fought three wars in the past decade, resulting in heavy losses to Hamas and heavy damage to Gaza.

As the blame game continues over Friday’s events that left 18 Palestinians dead, 11 of whom reportedly belonged to Hamas or jihadi organisations, it is important to step back and consider the context within which the so-called Great March of Return occurred.

Gaza’s humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with water, energy and sewerage problems remaining unresolved.

Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, which was due to alleviate some of the crisis, has been an abject failure, beset by arguments over Hamas’s military wing and the absence of sanctions relief by the Palestinian Authority. Coupled with this is greater Iranian involvement in Gaza, and Israel’s technological success in foiling Hamas’s tunnels, which has left the terrorist group with the dilemma of what to do next.

Add to this the recent “successful” infiltration attempts by Gazans into

Israel and one can begin to better understand why both Hamas and Israel acted in the way they did.

That Gaza has returned to the international agenda will be considered by Hamas as a victory, although the numbers of protesters was well below their expectations. Having run out of options, Hamas will continue its marches with the aim of increasing international diplomatic pressure on Israel.

An important future component will be the number of marchers, as well as casualties. As 15 May approaches – when Nakba Day, the beginning of Ramadan and the relocation of the American Embassy all coincide – both are likely to increase. This, in turn, may limit Israel’s ability to respond.

Lost in the debate over the ‘march’ is the pressing need to resolve the Strip’s failing infrastructure. Yet while international donors recently discussed ideas, implementation is made significantly harder by continued Hamas control over Gaza, the failure of Palestinian reconciliation and the continued Palestinian Authority boycott of the US Administration.

14

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

Editorial comment and letters ISSUE NO.

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS

1048

Small steps on path to zero tolerance Continued from page 1 It would be wrong to suggest things haven’t moved on over that time. The Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) have ensured that. It’s only after their intervention that Corbyn acknowledged the scourge in his ranks is more than just a few bad apples and apologised for the hurt caused; and publicly listed examples of anti-Semitic anti-Zionism; and attached new urgency attached to full implementation of the Chakrabarti report. Only after their unprecedented intervention did we hear an admission that some disciplinary cases have not been dealt with quickly enough.

Of course, these are but words at a time of huge media pressure. But you can only start addressing a problem once you’ve acknowledged it. Our mainstream leadership must deal with the reality of where we are today, not some wishful alternative reality. That meets holding face-to-face talks. After all, the Board and JLC can’t very well berate Corbyn for meeting fringe groups while refusing to meet him themselves.

But action is what he will be judged on. Steps they’ve urged, such as banning elected officials from sharing platforms with suspended members, and introducing a fixed timetable for disciplinary cases – starting with Ken Livingstone – should be simple steps on the path to zero tolerance.

They must be given the time to make their voices heard, in the full knowledge that the scale of the problem means more days of one step forward, two steps back are likely.

If the Board and JLC finally hit a brick wall after everything we’ve witnessed in the past two weeks, they will have a duty to say so – clearly and publicly – and there will finally be nowhere left for Corbyn to hide. If they make progress, a tarnished party and a battered community will draw back from the brink. All who care about the fight against racism will hope for the latter. And quickly.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send us your comments PO Box 815, London HA8 4SX | letters@thejngroup.com

TWISTED LOGIC OF THE FAR-LEFT Regarding your interview with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and opposition to him by community leaders (Jewish News, 29 March), it seems to me the ‘logic’ of the far-left that seems to have taken over the party regarding Jewish people is derived from four propositions (with which I do not agree): 1. Zionism is racism as decided by the UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 adopted on 10 November 1975. It was revoked in 1991 only because of pressure by international Jewry, which works behind the scenes to achieve world domination.

2. Zionists distort the Holocaust by exaggerating the number of Jewish victims and use

Sketches & kvetches

THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES DAYS TO GO...

...for the government to stop Hezbollah terror flags flying in London at the Al Quds Day parade on 10 June

65 THIS WEEKEND'S SHABBAT AND PASSOVER TIMES...

7th day of Passover comes in Thursday night 7.26pm

Yom Tov and Shabbat ends Saturday night 8.32pm

Shabbat begins Friday night 7.28pm

Sedra: Pesach

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‘I’ll calm things down by returning to the old technique of kissing babies. That can’t backfire!’

this to whitewash Israel’s genocide of native Palestinians.

3. Most Jewish groups support Zionism and vilify those Jews who have the courage to support Palestinian rights. They also use accusations of anti-Semitism to silence criticism of the apartheid policies of the Israeli state.

4. Jews are not a race, so antiracists can dislike them for the above reasons.

If my analysis is correct, the far left is anti-Semitic and its Socialism is of the National variety.

By not rooting it out, Corbyn is betraying the progressive principles he claims to hold dear.

Martin Stern Salford

A POETIC TRIBUTE TO WOMEN AT PESACH I’d like to share my poem for Pesach with readers: In preparation for Pesach men everywhere, let’s recognise The hard work and dedication to the cause that our wives Have shown in recent weeks – they’ve hardly stopped Having constantly cooked,

cleaned and shopped To ensure that our homes definitely will Be ready for celebrating this festival Each one of them, an Eshet Chayil May every wallet and stomach Survive the rigours.

WHY KEEP SHTUM

ONE LAW FOR THEM

The Chief Rabbi knows very well why some Muslim leaders keep shtum on antiSemitism (Jewish News, 22 March). If they said aloud what they really think of us, it would not go down well in multi-faith Britain.

Every week at football, I hear black fans chanting the word ‘Yid’. Imagine if it was Jewish fans chanting the ‘n’ word. The stadium would be evacuated and the fans banned or worse. Is this not pure anti-Semitism?

John de Lange By email

Barry Davis By email

J D Milaric By email

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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Editorial comment and letters

Preposterous defence of Labour leader’s record attends Jewish commual I read with incredulity events. How far back is he Joseph Finlay’s column going in order to make this defending Jeremy claim?

Corbyn (Jewish News, Since becoming leader, 29 March).

Corbyn has turned down First, he states numerous invitations to Corbyn has Jews at attend Jewish communal the heart of his team.

Jon Lansman events, including the celebraSo what? He refers to tion of the Balfour Declaration. In Jon Lansman, the father of the past two and a half years, and Momentum. before the Jewdas seder, he had Corbyn supporters include the attended only three Jewish events: unpleasant Jewish Voice for Lathe Jewish Labour Movement’s bour, whose strapline is ‘As a Jew’. lighting of Chanukah candles and This group claims that last week’s the Islington chanukiah lighting Jewish demonstration outside last year, and a Labour Friends Parliament was purely political of Israel fringe event at the party and not a protest against anticonference (where he omitted to Semitism. mention the word Israel).

Finlay also claims that it is The charge sheet against likely a sizeable number of Jews Corbyn is long and supported by voted for Corbyn. What empirievidence of his actions and his cal evidence does he have for this ‘friends’ with whom he has allied. assertion?

Peter Mickler Again, Finlay says Corbyn Newcastle frequently visits synagogues and

PICTURES OF CZESLAWA A TALE OF TWO JEREMYS & FILLED ME WITH TEARS THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

We have all seen so many pictures of victims of the Holocaust that it could be accurate to say that many of us are becoming inured to the horrors.

However, the pictures you published of poor Czeslawa Kwoka (pictured) brought tears to my eyes and filled me with anguish (Jewish News, 22 March).

This poor teenage girl was so very young, so innocent, and the tragedy that befell her was so unnecessary.

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

Joe Hayward Stanmore

BADDIEL’S IDEA OF HUMOUR IS COMPLETELY BAFFLING

In last week’s edition of Jewish News the name ‘Jeremy’ appeared in two separate articles about two very different men.

One is Jewish and the other is not. One has been accused of ineptly handling racial hatred in his political party, the other the financial affairs of a leading Jewish charity. Is this a case of Weeping Jeremiahs?

I cannot believe what I read: that David Baddiel thinks the Holocaust is a subject for humour.

What part does he find funny?

Babies on the end of bayonets?

Thousands led into gas chambers?

Mass slaughter?

Baddiel may believe in free speech, but what if these horrors were ever to happen again? Words fail me.

AW Kaye Stamford Hill

Gloria Holman By email

Tune into this Friday’s Jewish Views podcast!

The community’s top kosher chef Denise Phillips gives us some yummy ideas for Passover. Zara Provisor from Leket tells us how her organisation combats food wastage in Israel. Bobbie Sherman on his musical A Spoonful of Sherman, the work of his father and uncle – aka The Sherman Brothers.

Plus our Rabbinic Thought for the HOW TO LISTEN...

Week comes from PODCAST: Fridays iTUNES ‘The Jewish Views’ Rabbi Steven Katz of Edgware WEB RADIO: Sundays at 10pm on Wandsworth Radio & Hendon Reform ONLINE: jewishnews.co.uk Synagogue.

How Corbyn helped reaffirm my Judaism JONAH LIPTON JEWDAS

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n Monday, walking home from a seder in Islington, I told my friends that the only time I’d felt so Jewish was at my barmitzvah.

On reflection, it is not surprising that Passover should inspire this response. The seder has been my favourite Jewish tradition for as long as I can remember.

It is hard to imagine a denser or deeper ritual. The Haggadah reminds us that we are not telling this story because our ancestors were slaves in Egypt, but because “we” were slaves in Egypt.

Freedom lies in moments of exceptional festivity – the absolute central question of the seder is “why is this night different from all other nights?” – but also in everyday profanity.

This seder was hosted by Jewdas.

It’s a group I’ve known about for a while.

My mum – a Jewish scholar and educator, now living in Jerusalem – told me today that she gave a talk at one of the first Jewdas events, 10 or 15 years ago, hosted under Waterloo Bridge. In more recent years, since I came back to London after some

time working in Sierra Leone, I’ve spent a few Jewish festivals with Jewdas.

I knew a number of those at the seder from various stages of my life; like my former jazz piano teacher from when I was 15, and other dear friends from university, and acquaintances from London. Most seders that I have attended over the years involve non-Jewish guests too, who get the unique opportunity, I believe, for one night to experience life as Jews.

One notable guest at this seder was sitting at my table. At the beginning of the evening I had been star-struck when I saw a man with a grey beard in a black suit and blue shirt with a few buttons undone, his hands in his pockets, mingling around the entrance to the room, and generally looking very like Jeremy Corbyn. I think I did about 13 double takes.

There was a buzz of excitement in the room. But moments later, as he took his seat, he seemed as at home in the surroundings as any of us.

He arrived with maror (horseradish) – the ritual food that reminds us of the bitterness of slavery – fresh from his allotment. (There are many layers and depths of symbolism to unpack there I’m sure.)

During the evening’s lengthy and joyous proceedings, I found myself glancing up every now and again over in Jeremy Corbyn’s direction, and each time saw him following and singing along to the passages and songs in English, Hebrew and Yiddish, surrounded by friends.

He nodded with familiarity as one of the older participants told us about some key moments in Jewish Socialist London history that slightly predated many of the younger participants’ awareness.

He stayed until the sweet end, chatting with old friends and new.

It’s perhaps strange that this politician’s presence at a seder should not only have made me feel comfortable, but deeply happy and fulfilled.

For a room full of Jews like myself, navigating the place of religion in our lives as

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adults, figuring out how political and social commitments might tangle up with family traditions, his participation was wonderfully affirming.

Judaism has deep-rooted left-wing and social justice credentials to draw upon, which this seder explicitly celebrated more than most, but the question of how to integrate Jewish practice and identity into society in any given time and place is always, and for everyone, a challenge, in part because the contours are always shifting.

This past week or so I, along with many others, have found myself asking this question: what does it mean to be Jewish in the UK now?

Monday night’s Passover seder was – in ways I can and cannot explain – a rare moment of clarity for me. I’m deeply grateful for it.

JEREMY ARRIVED AT THE JEWDAS SEDER WITH MAROR FROM HIS ALLOTMENT – LAYERS OF SYMBOLISM THERE, I’M SURE

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

Opinion

The Netanyahu case and a tale of two newspapers DAVID WOLCHOVER BARRISTER

A

lthough there is clearly not space here for a detailed critique of the various allegations of bribery in office made against Benjamin Netanyahu, it is worth examining Case 2000, one of the two which the police have referred to Attorney-General Mendelblit for indictment. This is because of all the cases under investigation the core evidence has been extolled as the most compelling, coming as it does from the horse’s mouth, from Netanyahu himself.

The case arises out of secret talks he held with Arnon Mozes, owner of the left-wing daily Yedioth Aharanoth. The paper had long been intensely critical of Netanyahu and enjoyed unrivalled circulation until 2007 when his close friend and ally, the American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, founded Israel Hayom. The new daily dedicated itself to carrying a torch for

Netanyahu and may have helped to secure his 2009 electoral victory.

The key problem for Mozes was that Israel Hayom was free and far outperformed Yedioth in readership numbers.

Although it clocked up enormous losses, for as long as Adelson was prepared to sustain them in order to keep his protégé in office, it seriously threatened Yedioth’s profitability.

For the time being Netanyahu enjoyed the upper hand but he may have feared that Adelson would eventually tire of losing money and pull the plug, leaving him without the support of a mass circulation daily. So he talked to Mozes about a possible deal. What if he worked to stem the competition? Would Yedioth moderate its attacks? (To give up criticism altogether and go over to supporting him outright would look too suspicious.)

We know about the talks because Netanyahu had them taped by his chief of staff Ari Harrow and when Harrow was arrested the tapes were seized.

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THIS ATTEMPT TO INSINUATE A LINK BETWEEN BIBI AND THE BILL TURNED UPON AN ABSURDITY Published extracts feature exchanges about possible legislation to ban or curtail free papers, with Netanyahu vaguely suggesting he could “set up a committee.”

However, the tapes also reveal Netanyahu expressing considerable reservations about whether Adelson would go along with a deal and he was understandably wary of being cold-shouldered by his benefactor.

The talks dwindled, the attacks continued unabated and in 2014 Yedioth backed a bill in the Knesset banning free papers.

It was clearly aimed at damaging Israel

Hayom although its objective was disguised as the protection of press freedom, supposedly at risk from free papers as a consequence of journalists’ salaries dropping.

Very importantly, any suggestion that Netanyahu was secretly complicit in the legislative process is wholly inconsistent with the widely perceived view reported

by Haaretz – an organ which has otherwise been zealously gunning for him – that a key motive behind his decision to call an early election in March 2015 was to kill the bill.

With Israel Hayom dominant and Adelson content to subsidise it, Netanyahu must have asked himself why on earth he should sacrifice its unambiguously favourable coverage for a mere “lowering of [Yedioth’s] hostility from 9.5 to 7.5,” to quote him from the tapes.

Some vague, meandering, intermittent and ultimately abortive chat about diverse possibilities which never crystallised into any kind of a concrete proposal, let alone agreement, constitutes neither bribery or an attempt to bribe.

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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Opinion

Gaza border protests are about terrorism, not land JEREMY HAVARDI

DIRECTOR, B’NAI BRITH LONDON BUREAU

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ast Friday, Hamas terrorists attempted to infiltrate Israel at the Gaza border under cover of a peaceful protest. A number of their operatives launched a violent attack and, in the aftermath, at least 18 Palestinians were killed by the IDF. A further number were injured, although no accurate figures are as yet available. But that has not stopped the usual orgy of inaccuracy, misreporting and misrepresentation.

The Observer talked of a peaceful protest for “refugees and their descendants to return to their ancestral homes in Israel”. The killings were a ‘wake up call to the world’ about Israel’s ‘intransigence’, said The Guardian.

The Independent called it a “return march” which had brought about a “ruthless” Israeli response. The headline in The New York Times (before true casualty figures was known) was telling: “Israeli Military Kills 8 in Confrontations on Gaza Border”. Of course,

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan weighed in, blasting Israel’s “inhumane attack”.

Judging by words like ‘protest’ and ‘march’, one pictures a group of civilians engaging in a peaceful rally against Israeli policy. It also conjures up an image of triggerhappy Israeli soldiers picking off innocents for fun. While some protestors were peaceful, they provided cover for the violent riot that was designed to kill and maim Israelis and breach the country’s border fence.

This attempted enemy infiltration was accompanied by acts of violence: the use of Molotov cocktails, rocks hurled towards Israeli soldiers, tyres set on fire and live gunfire directed towards the IDF. Israel was entitled to defend its sovereign border from a violent enemy attack. Moreover, any country facing a comparable threat would have responded with force, and been right to do so.

If the descriptions in the media are to be believed, those shot by the IDF were all innocents. This is simply not the case. The IDF released images of 10 people killed on

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the first day, showing that they were affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. Even Hamas has accepted that five of those mentioned were affiliated with the organisation’s military wing, describing them as mujaheddin. Let us not forget that Hamas seeks to purge the world of Jews and continues to demand Israel’s obliteration. As its leader Yahya Sinwar put it: “The March of Return affirms that our people can’t give up one inch of the land of Palestine.”

The IDF has accused Hamas of fabricating some video footage. One shows a Palestinian being shot but from a position where it would have been impossible for the IDF to have hit him, meaning his injuries were faked.

Seasoned observers of this conflict call this ‘Pallywood’. They know that even the most amateurish attempts to create staged atrocities can pull in the gullible and ensure that falsehoods have global reach.

What the media should do, if only to provide context, is remind their readers that Hamas has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on creating an infrastructure of

terror. Instead of using these vast sums to improve Gaza’s water supply and meet the basic needs of its citizens, some 40 percent of whom are unemployed, Hamas has spent money on rockets and tunnels.

Of course, there is a debate within Israel about the best ways to control such situations in the future. It is only wise and right that such processes happen in a democracy.

But the world should not be blind to Hamas’ human shields policy and its destructive attitude to the people of Gaza. They deserve better than to be ruled by these despots.

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Opinion

Barnet Labour taking lead role in anti-Semitism fight BARRY RAWLINGS LEADER, BARNET LABOUR GROUP OF COUNCILLORS

L

ast week, to show our solidarity with the Jewish community, I led a delegation of Barnet Labour councillors, local election candidates and party members to the call to action against anti-Semitism in Parliament Square.

Barnet has the largest Jewish population of any local authority area in the UK, and we know from experience the level of concern Jewish residents have about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.

They feel these concerns are not being fully acknowledged and addressed by the Labour leadership, and that’s why I am glad Jeremy Corbyn has said he wants to meet urgently with the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Serious progress must be made to acknowledge and address these deep-seated concerns, and that requires more than making statements – it requires action.

Labour in Barnet has called consistently on the party leadership to take effective disciplinary action against evidence of antiSemitic conduct and statements within the Labour membership.

Our frustration at the failure to take action on complaints about anti-Semitic conduct led to two of our constituency parties, Hendon and Finchley and Golders Green, passing rule change motions in 2016 that explicitly banned hate speech within the party for the first time.

These rule changes were passed at the 2017 Labour conference by a margin of 98 percent, with the support of the Jewish Labour Movement, Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour national executive.

We now want to see the new rule being used to deal with evidence of anti-Semitic conduct within the Party – and to build confidence this must happen swiftly.

Barnet Labour stands alongside the Jewish community, as we always have and we always will. We are a local party and Labour group that is drawn from our diverse communities in Barnet, including the

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BARNET WILL TAKE THE LEAD IN MAKING SURE THE NEW RULE IS KEPT OR, IF NEED BE, STRENGTHENED Jewish community. Indeed, a quarter of our current Labour councillors are Jewish, and other Jewish members of the party have put themselves forward and have been selected as local election candidates this year.

We were the first Labour group in the country to call for Ken Livingstone to be expelled from the party.

We want the Jewish community in Barnet to know that we are vigilant, we will take disciplinary action against any member where there is evidence of anti-Semitic conduct, and if the new Party rule is not shown to be effec-

tive we will lead the campaign to strengthen it.

Barnet Council was the first local authority to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism following motions submitted to it, including one by Barnet Labour councillors.

We are committed to working with the Jewish community to ensure anti-Semitism has no refuge in our party or anywhere.

Last week’s protest against Labour anti-Semitism outside Parliament

Chief Rabbi spot on about silence in my community FIYAZ MUGHAL FOUNDER, FAITH MATTERS

T

he Chief Rabbi is absolutely right.

Speaking at the Global Forum for Combatting Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem last month, he said: “Our journey is a frustrating one. The rule today is that around the world, Muslim faith leaders are keeping schtum (on anti-Semitism).”

The fact that there have barely been any imams who have publicly spoken up about the need to tackle anti-Semitism within and beyond Muslim communities is telling.

While, in no way, am I suggesting this is inherently a Muslim issue, I do say that antiSemitism has remained unchallenged within sections of Muslim communities and for far too long.

Imams who have a pastoral care role do not speak openly about the need to counter anti-Semitic discourse and their silence, is partly because they fear a backlash from their congregations.

In the end, many imams do not want to shake the status quo since mosque committees hold their employment in their hands

and most of so that when tackling the mosque anti-Semitism is committees mentioned, the drawbridge rises and are made up the moat fills. of males over Yet, there the age of 60. have been many What examples of when goes on in Muslims have the mosque been persecuted is within the and when Jewish collective communities came domain of to their defence. these senior I have had 20 citizens; forget years of working pluralism or within Muslim increasing the front communities and diversity of ws Ne sh wi Je Last month’s ents there are changes afoot voices and age f Rabbi’s comm ie Ch e th on page which are positive. groups, so you can Let me also re-iterate the fact that there is a imagine where tackling anti-Semitism sits. growing sense of intolerance against Muslims The fact is that those who have publicly and this needs to be challenged with every cell spoken up against anti-Semitism are mainly and sinew in our bodies as I have made the social activists or social commentators and case for anti-Semitism to be challenged. they can be counted on one hand.

Yet do not think for a second that the gains Which is why the Chief Rabbi’s frustration made, mean that they are set in stone. is so real and palpable.

This is why we, collectively, must always It seems as though the Middle East conflict push boundaries for the greater good. has developed even higher walls of Jericho Granted, people can make mistakes and around Muslim communities here, so much

look the other way in their lives and in their use of language, though the key is as long as they learn from these mistakes.

We all make them and which is one element that makes us human.

Yet what I am talking about is that the wall of continuing silence around anti-Semitism within Muslim communities and which desperately needs to end.

How sad and depressing it is that the Chief Rabbi had to pubicly express what is patently obvious.

Hearing his words, the phrase ‘L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim’ plays out in my head.

Until next year in Jerusalem, Chief Rabbi...

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ANTI-SEMITISM HAS REMAINED UNCHALLENGED IN PARTS OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY FOR FAR TOO LONG

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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Community / Scene & Be Scene

1FESTIVAL OF FUN

The Wohl Ilford Jewish Primary School Dance Group performed at the recent Israeli Dance Institute’s Annual Israeli Dance Festival. Having learned more than 30 partner, circle and line dances in their weekly after-school Israeli dance club, the Y2 to Y5 pupils showed off their moves at the festival.

Deborah Harris, Jewish Studies lead, said: “They are all so enthusiastic and dedicated, and worked so hard to learn all the dances. The group performed beautifully at the festival and are now looking forward to dancing the day away on Yom Ha’atzmaut.”

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

2 DADS KEEP THE BEAT

Email us at community@thejngroup.com

More than 50 dads and their children joined The Centre Borehamwood for its first innovative Dad Time event.

Attendees enjoyed a special drumming workshop led by JooJoo Drums, along with music, arts and crafts and brunch that was led by Rabbi Gary Bazak. He said: “There are lots of mums and babies groups around and also family events.

The centre wanted to find a new way of helping dads to spend some extra quality time with their kids.”

3 LADIES NIGHT

UJIA Women’s Division celebrated its second major event of the year with the flagship Ladies Night event at Grosvenor House. Raising £154,000 for a women’s social enterprise in Israel, co-chair Pippa Collins welcomed 250 guests. She said: “Tonight is all about Jewish women’s philanthropy and how we can come together to influence the future.” Money raised will go towards supporting 22 women at the Al Sanabel social impact initiative in northern Israel, which provides 3,100 meals per day for underprivileged schoolchildren.

4 FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Nightingale House embarked on a week-long programme of activities to mark the global Nutrition and Hydration Week. The activities at the South London residential care home formed part of the charity’s wider “Nutrition and Hydration Advocates” work. Tiffany Barron Gutierrez, dietetic assistant practitioner at Nightingale Hammerson, said: “This programme is part of our commitment to promoting the holistic well-being of our residents. Programmes such as these are vital to engage our residents in taking care of their nutritional needs, as well as being educational.”

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

Scene & Be Seen / Community Email your story to community@thejngroup.com

5 LGBT’S PASSOVER

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The Jewish LGBT+ Group (formerly JGLG) celebrated its second night seder in north London, attracting more than 50 LGBT+ Jews and their partners. Chair and organiser David Rubin, who also led the seder, said: “We were oversubscribed, with several people coming for the first time. Everyone participated in readings from Liberal Judaism’s Haggadah B’Chol Dor Va-Dor. We prayed, sang, laughed and ate and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly.”

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THIS YEAR’S SEDER HAD AN EVEN WARMER COMMUNAL FEEL TO IT

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6 LIBERAL LEARNINGS

Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue (NPLS) (pictured) welcomed guests from Northwood United Reform Church, who asked the two NPLS rabbis questions about the traditions and practices of the seder. Elsewhere, more than 120 people of all ages joined the second annual East London and Essex Liberal Synagogue seder.

Jointly led by Rabbis Richard Jacobi and David Hulbert, the former said: “This year’s seder had an even warmer communal feel to it as we were hosted by Clore Tikva School.”

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7 PESACH PACKATHON More than 50 people of all ages from across the community rallied round to take part in a GIFT Passover packathon this week, packing fruit, vegetables and Pesach food for hundreds of families. The food was generously donated by two

ampus compass

8A SPECIAL SEDER

The Liberal Synagogue Elstree saw 55 people share a seder, which saw them use a special Haggadah looking at the Pesach experiences of Jewish children through the ages. Candles were lit by 13-year-old Magde Belcher.

Rabbi Pete Tobias, who wrote and compiled the Haggadah 20 years ago, said: “It was a lovely evening. As one participant wrote in a Facebook comment ‘It was like being part of a big family.’”

9 YN’S ANNIVERSARY Norwood is this year celebrating 25 years of Young Norwood (YN) – the charity’s network for young lay leaders, future fundraisers and volunteers. Founded in 1993 by Norwood’s chair of trustees, David Ereira, YN has become one of the largest young professional lay networks in the British Jewish community, and has nearly 3,000 supporters aged between 21 and 35, contributing more than £500,000 a year. This year’s Property Awards Dinner raised more than £170,000.

Ereira (pictured with members of the YN Committee) said: “YN is as current today as it was back in the nineties, if not more so – with members and committees raising incredible funds, but more importantly, showing what can be achieved if young lay talent is given a platform to shine.”

YOUR MONTHLY ROUND-UP OF JEWISH UNIVERSITY LIFE

Birmingham JSoc marked Purim with several banquets, parties and megillah readings.

Students attended a Shabbaton organised

by Brighton & Sussex, Kent, Southampton, Bournemouth and Hertfordshire JSocs.

sisters in the community, in memory of their departed loved ones.

Nottingham JSoc held a ‘Peace Week’. Events included a stall in the students’ union and a panel event titled ‘Is the two-state solution dead?’

Nearly 200 students attended the annual Leeds JSoc Charity Ball, where more than £3,000 was raised for Save A Child’s Heart.

5 April 2018 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Life

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Exhibition / Lifestyle

IN THIS SECTION: Travel 22 Competition 31

Flashes of inspiration

As a retrospective of photographer Elsbeth Juda’s work goes on display at London’s Jewish Museum, we take a peek at some of her iconic images

Peter Blake with model Marie-Lise Gres in his studio 1961

Shelagh Wilson in playsuit, Copacabana beach, Brazil, 1951

Goalen with Calico Printers’ Association board members, 1950

Winston Churchill sitting for Graham Sutherland, 1954

Shelagh Wilson with a parrot, Copacabana beach, 1951

Photos by Victoria and Albert Museum, London

F

rom Margot Fonteyn, Winston Churchill and Henry Moore, to Britain’s first supermodel, Barbara Goalen, photographer Elsbeth Juda was responsible for capturing some of the biggest icons of the 20th century, writes Francine Wolfisz.

Now a new retrospective of this trailblazer is on display at the Jewish Museum until July. Known professionally as Jay, Juda was best known for her work from The Ambassador magazine over a career spanning 45 years as a commercial photographer.

Born in Germany in 1911, she and her husband Hans fled the Nazis in 1933. In 1946, Hans relaunched the established trade journal International Textiles as The Ambassador magazine, focused on promoting British fashion, art, culture, trade and industry for the global export market.

With Hans as editor and Juda as in-house photographer and associate editor, The Ambassador was published monthly with subscribers in more than 90 countries.

This exhibition, organised in collaboration with L’Equipment des Art, showcases her glamourous commercial shots and portraits of some of the best-known British faces in the 1950s and 1960s.  Elsbeth Juda: Grit and Glamour runs until 1 July at the Jewish Museum London. Curator talks will be held on 9 April, 14 May and 11 June, 2pm.

Details: jewishmuseum.org.uk

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Jewish News 5 April 2018

www.jewishnews.co.uk

Lifestyle / Travel

The magic of

Above: The Chora harbour.

Left: A bedroom in the Myconian Avaton Resort

MYKONOS Lucy Daltroff explores the stunning Greek island where Shirley Valentine was filmed and discovers the myths and mystery surrounding the world’s oldest synagogue in Delos

W

ith its striking white buildings, blue skies and lingering sunsets, it’s no wonder that Mykonos was the destination chosen as the backdrop to the 1989 smash hit Shirley Valentine – or indeed that the island has sustained its lavish status, despite the recession in Greece, thanks to its reputation as a holiday hotspot.

Yael Morad, one of many Israelis staying at the five-star Myconian Avaton Resort, enthuses about this beautiful Greek island.

“There is nothing like this in Israel, it’s an easy journey and it makes a really lovely break,” she says.

To understand more about the island’s magic, I decided to take a stroll around the capital, Chora, one fine evening and walked past a series of bright white windmills overlooking the sea.

These are the famous landmarks, not only of Mykonos itself, but also the whole of the group of islands to which Mykonos belongs: the Cyclades. The mills were an important part of the economy as they used to grind cereals and provide bread to passing ships.

Continuing on, threading around many churches and smelling the sweet fragrance of the bougainvillea trees, I came upon an unexpected library and cultural centre open each evening until 11pm. It was donated by a local teacher and intellectual, who gave up his substantial house to host an extensive collection of music and books.

When I reached the centre of Chora, I was immediately swept along by the locals dancing in the narrow streets – a feat probably only possible during the low season – to join the general air of happiness.

The best place to end up for the evening

is Little Venice, an area of brightly-coloured houses that lap the sea edge. During the 18th century, they belonged to the few prosperous merchants residing on Mykonos, but now the buildings have been turned into buzzing restaurants and cafés. The atmosphere is great and it’s a perfect place to sip a cocktail and watch one of the famous sunsets over the Aegean Sea. It’s not always been quite this cushy. During the 1950s, Mykonos ran a barter economy and was bare and poor. But all was transformed when Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his uber-stylish wife, Jackie O, famously dropped anchor. Thereafter, the island became known as a mecca for the rich and famous.

One man in particular saw this trend and helped the island monetise its potential.

George Daktylides, who operated the public transport system, went on to build the first hotel in 1979 and, within a few years, had opened the five-star Ambassador Relais & Châteaux.

He and his wife Eleftheria simultaneously made the decision to send their four sons to the finest International Hotel School in Lausanne, Switzerland. The result today is the Myconian Collection, run by the boys and comprising nine outstanding hotels, which together have changed the status of the whole island. Each one has its own design features, spas and special characteristics, making Mykonos one of the ritziest tourist spots in the world.

On day three of my stay, I tore myself away from the luxury and took the short two kilometres ferry ride to the island of Delos – one of the most important historical and archaeological locations in Greece and, understandably, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Only a select few archaeologists live there, and I was told in advance about the importance

of wearing good walking shoes and taking a bottle of water, as there is very little shade.

As visitors are only allowed a maximum of four hours, remember to research in advance the times of return ferries. Then we were advised to turn off our phones and let the ferry transport us back in time.

The origins of Delos trace back to Greek mythology and, according to the tale, both Apollo and his twin sister, the goddess Artemis, were born here, rendering the precious island sacred. As a consequence, all pregnant mothers were sent by boat to give birth on a neighbouring island, but despite this inconvenience, by 100BC the community had grown to 30,000 people.

The Romans converted Delos into a free port attracting a multitude of traders and it became a hub of commercial, military, maritime trading and slaving. Our guide took us to see the huge amphitheatre where the community went to enjoy themselves, and then to some beautiful houses, complete with mosaic floors, where the prosperous merchants lived.

Finally, we viewed the famous Terrace of the Lions, the ancient statues that guarded the garden where Apollo and Artemis were said to have been born.

On the eastern side of the city, far away from the most important ruins, is what is thought to be oldest synagogue known in the world today.

A team led by archaeologist André Plassart discovered the ruins in 1912 – the synagogue is believed to have remained in use until the end of the 2nd century AD. It consists of two large rooms containing a throne and multiple marble benches.

While there is disagreement between academics as to whether it is an actual synagogue or not, there is a certainty that Jews did at one time live and prosper here on this fascinating island.

LUCY’S TRAVEL TIPS

Ruins of what is thought to be the world’s oldest synagogue in Delos

Lucy stayed at the Myconian Avaton Resort, avatonresort.com, where rooms start from £225 per night. The hotel is part of the Myconian collection, myconiancollection.gr. For more information about Mykonos and Delos, go to visitgreece.gr/en

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23

Residential care at its best.

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“The fact that we were worried about mum going in to care has been replaced with worry for her coming out is testimony to the ethos in your home.”

• Extensive entertainment programmes ranging from local school choirs to professional musicians.

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Lifestyle / Israel’s public art

Celebrating Tel Aviv’s urban icons Mia Serra finds works of art that inspire on the streets of Israel’s most vibrant cit

W

hether it’s the place you fooled around with friends during Israel tour, or the place you found yourself after getting lost in the nearby shopping mall of the same name, chances are Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Fountain will hold memories for you. The structure, which echoes the architecture of the nearby Dizengoff Tower with its cylindrical cog shape, has been an icon of Tel Aviv’s city centre for nearly four decades. So, you can imagine my surprise when strolling casually towards the raised platform that straddles Dizengoff Street I noticed it was, well, gone.

The lady on the checkout at Superpharm, Israel’s answer to Boots, on the west side of the square, reassured me the fountain was still intact. It had just been moved, temporarily. The municipality (or Irya, as locals call it) had finally decided to fix the mistake that Mayor Shlomo Lahat admitted to making in 1978 – the raising of the square (or Kikar in Hebrew, meaning square or roundabout) to a concrete pedestrian platform, giving the busy roads below priority.

In a $15million effort to beautify the area, something this particularly concrete-clad corner of the city is in need of, the rebuild should take Kikar Dizengoff back to its original imaginings.

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The square itself was inaugurated in 1938 as the “Étoile of Tel Aviv”, a mini version of Place de l’Étoile, home to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, with a roundabout at the meeting of six roads.

The area thrived for many years as a popular meeting place providing a shaded park, benches and a fountain, before the concrete platform transformed it into a hub of undesirables.

The fountain we know today was added in 1986 as an afterthought, perhaps as an attempt to add colour and appeal to an unpopular structure.

Designed by Yaacov Agam, who also designed the colourful façade of the Dan Hotel, the fountain has a playful ’80s feel and has been popular with tourists. Although it fell into disrepair for many years, a 2012 renovation saw it returned to its former glory: playing music, spraying water skywards and shooting out flames.

It is worth noting there are plenty of other urban icons that have sprung up in the white city over the years, including three iconic sculptures to visit on strolls or cycle rides.

Top of the list are three giant discs leaning to one side as if defying gravity outside the renovated HaBima theatre complex.

This work, by the late Menashe Kadishman, has a yellow counterpart in High Park in Toronto and is one of my favourites: poised precariously, yet perfectly, like the country it stands in, in an impossible state of balance with dark red rusted discs like the simple faces Kadishman used in later work to symbolise fallen soldiers and the sacrifice of Isaac.

The giant marble vase at the northern end of Ibn Gvirol, a major road traversing Tel Aviv from the centre to the north, was the first sculpture to catch my eye on my arrival in Tel Aviv.

It is next to a café by the junction with Nordau Boulevard that heads towards the sea and I have always wanted to stick a sunflower on top to cheer it up a bit. But it is a vase without a flower, apparently intentional, in line with creator Gideon Gechtman’s focus on death and his mission to bring it out into the light of day. It cannot help however but be influenced by its cheerful sunbleached café surroundings. And perhaps that’s what Gideon would have wanted.

Further south down Ibn Gvirol, the road opens on to Rabin Square where, beyond the giant cuboid of the 1960s’ Iriya or town hall, stands the giant Holocaust and Revival structure

by German-born Israeli artist Igael Tumarkin.

Tumarkin’s provocative views and anti-religious comments are undetectable in this seemingly menorah-inspired inverted pyramid. At the base of the structure is an area where people can explore, and become part of the revival this monument attests to, its burnished steel frame, rib-cage-like and rusty brown from the elements, looming above

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25

Orthodox Judaism

SEDRA Pesach

BY RABBI NAFTALI SCHIFF The eight days of Pesach are bookended by two sets of yom tovim. The first two days mark the exodus from Egypt and the last two the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea. Put very simply, after finally letting the Children of Israel go, Pharaoh has a change of heart and rallies his troops in hot pursuit of our ancestors who end up penned in against the sea.

As is well known, the sea splits, the Jews walk through, each tribe through their own individual pathway and our tormentors are drowned. This narrative sealed our fate as free people and enabled us to march on to our destiny.

This story is so critical to our identity that the resultant song, the Shirat Hayam, makes up part of the daily Shacharit service. The commentators explain that when we recite this song we are meant to envision ourselves being part of this remarkable story and come to a deeper appreciation of life and our own identity. This appreciation of the value of life and God’s intimate involvement in it is the perfect introduction to our communicating with the Almighty in prayer.

Perhaps here lies another lesson: that Jewish continuity cannot be achieved by passing on facts alone. Stories lend themselves to imagination and participation. Pesach is about the telling of stories; not “history”, but rather our story.

Judaism can be experienced vividly, with different paths of engagement from which to choose. If taught in the right way, our children can feel that they have a page to write in our epic story. Chag sameach!  Naftali Schiff is the founder and chief executive of Jewish Futures

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Progressive Judaism

The Bible Says What?

Progressively Speaking

Isaac was doing ...WHAT?

BY RABBI PETE TOBIAS We like to think our patriarchs and matriarchs are special, noble people.

But the original Biblical audience, and, indeed, today’s Hebrew speakers, realise the reality is different.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah are human beings, ridden with weaknesses and flaws.

Take the moment in Genesis chapter 24 when Isaac and Rebecca meet. The chance encounter at the well that first brought Rebecca into the story is pure Barbara Cartland.

It’s the conclusion of the story that offers the best moment, however. Verse 63 tells us that Isaac was out in the field. Some translations say he was walking, others that he was meditating.

The Hebrew verb lasu’ach, which tells what Isaac was doing, is a tricky one. Ancient texts are translated based on the different contexts in which the words appear. Sometimes, a word shows up only once – this is a

hapax legomenon (Greek for “is said once”). Basically we have no idea what this word means…

While he is doing whatever it is – and we can use our imaginations – Isaac looks up and sees Rebecca approaching on her camel. The Hebrew then explains va-tipol mei’al ha-gamal: “She fell off her camel.”

Any Hebrew speaker, ancient or modern, would know this.

So whatever Isaac was doing, when Rebecca saw it, she tumbled, perhaps in amusement, perhaps in alarm, suggesting many of the Torah’s stories are intended to amuse and entertain a Biblical audience.

I think we do the authors and their listeners a disservice when we treat these characters with unnecessary reverence. Today’s Jews can learn more from their faults and flaws than by pretending they were perfect.  Pete Tobias is rabbi of The Liberal Synagogue Elstree

Should we ever joke about the Holocaust?

BY RABBI DEBBIE YOUNG-SOMERS Context is everything. Making people laugh is a tricky business, and performing stand-up at JW3 in 2016 was possibly the scariest thing I’ve done. Walking through the world as a woman rabbi, you get some pretty funny responses, so I focused on those.

Some are funny, because they are just awful. Sexism and racism aren’t really funny, but we can make a joke out of them, and at them, and Jews have always laughed at themselves.

Yet while I can merrily make a joke about my mum, if you did the same I may well take it the wrong way!

Mark Meechan was recently convicted of making a grossly offensive video of his girlfriend’s pug performing a Hitler salute at the command “Sieg Heil” and responding with excited movement when Meechan said “Gas the Jews”.

The comedian David Baddiel defended Meechan, arguing for freedom of speech and saying that a

tiny-legged pug saluting looks hilarious. Baddiel also pointed out that Meechan makes clear at the start of the video he wants to turn this adored pet into the “least cute thing I could think of, which is a Nazi”.

In context, it makes some sense to me, so I thought I’d better see it.

Meechan contextualises the video as wanting to make the cute pug un-cute, but sitting listening to him repeatedly say through his giggles “Gas the Jews” does get uncomfort-

able. I was offended by the video, but that isn’t enough reason to ban it – the right to be offended and the right to offend others is the nature of free speech.

Where it became more important to continue the context was in following the trail of Meechan’s videos: rants about oppressed white Britons, transphobic hatred, none of it in the name of comedy.

Freedom of speech is a hugely important principle. I don’t think we can always get it right, but as Jews we must always balance freedom with responsibility, just as the freedom of Pesach is balanced with the responsibility given at Shavuot through Torah.

Challenging jokes might be possible in context, but this one definitely didn’t make me laugh.  Debbie Young-Somers is community educator at the Movement for Reform Judaism

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Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

Ask our

Mastermind your financial future

Our trusty team of advisers answer your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry.

This week: Job hunting motivation, dispute mediation and Microsoft Office woes...

LESLEY TRENNER CAREER ADVISER

RESOURCE THE JEWISH EMPLOYMENT ADVICE CENTRE Dear Lesley I’ve been job hunting for ages and it’s getting me down. I’m not depressed, just struggling to keep up my motivation. Help!

Helen Dear Helen Job hunting is a full-time job and it can be draining, but there are ways to stay positive.

First, try to have structure in your week, including taking part in regular activities that you enjoy. A weekly check-in with a jobhunting buddy or an old friend is one thing that could make you feel better.

Put aside your most productive time of day

ANDREW MILLER QC MEDIATOR

AMQC MEDIATION Dear Andrew If I suggest mediation to settle my dispute, won’t it be seen as a sign of weakness or lack of belief in my case by the other party?

Kenneth Dear Kenneth This is a common misapprehension on the

part of one or both parties in a dispute, and sometimes prevents mediation ever taking place.

A party who wants to use mediation to resolve the conflict is taking a positive step to deal proactively with the ongoing dispute between the parties.

The reality is that if you are the one who suggests mediation to the other side, then you are signalling that you are prepared to work in a constructive manner to find a solution to the conflict.

Mediation allows you to control the process and reach a settlement agreeable to both parties within a short time frame and at a fraction of the

for job search activities, including phone calls and coffees with networking contacts.

And then take some time off, so you’re not job hunting online 24/7, as that will get you down. You may also find that offering to help someone else can cheer you up and make you feel useful again.

Looking after your physical health will also help to motivate you. The best way to do this is using a combination of relaxation and exercise.

Find ways to calm your mind, like meditation or mindfulness, and do whatever exercise you can enjoy without spending a lot of money.

It’s tempting to eat comfort food or drink too much, but you’ll probably feel better sticking to a healthy diet. Try to ‘count your blessings’ and keep your sense of humour – laughter releases tension and makes us feel good.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Resource has a whole range of free services to speed your journey back to work.

cost of a full-blown court case.

It is therefore difficult to see how any party who pushes for a quicker and cheaper resolution to their legal dispute is acting in a weak manner.

Additionally, if you are involved in a court action, then you are expected by the court to both consider and enter into an alternative dispute resolution process, which usually means mediation.

If you do not, and you are successful at trial, the court can, and is likely to, penalise you in costs.

Therefore, far from being weak you will be doing exactly what the court process envisages you should do.

IAN GREEN IT SPECIALIST

MAN ON A BIKE Dear Man on a Bike All of a sudden, the icons on my desktop have changed to a red Microsoft one. I cannot open any of my documents, although they seem to be there. The computer just asks me to buy Office again. Pictures are not affected. The internet has also changed how it used

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to look. I’ve not checked anything else yet. I am running Windows 10.

Could it be a virus?

Things were running slowly before it happened.

Gary Dear Gary It could be a virus, but it sounds more like you have reset the computer to what is termed as a refresh. This reinstalls Windows as it came from the manufacturer but, luckily, it doesn’t remove your personal files.

The process removes programmes so you will need to reinstall your Microsoft Office package, if that is what you had originally. You’ll also need

things such as Adobe reader, anti-virus and possibly to reset your emails. On the desktop, there should be a file that tells you what programmes have been removed.

This is likely to have happened following a failed attempt to restart the computer that then took you to advanced options.

It’s something we have had to deal with on several occasions for clients, and thankfully once the programmes are reinstalled, everything is back to normal.

If you need help reinstalling any of the programmes, or would rather someone did it for you, we can always send around a Man on a Bike to sort you out.

28

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Ask Our Experts / Professional advice from our panel

Our Experts Do you have a question for a member of our team? Email: editorial@thejngroup.com CHARITY EXECUTIVE

WEALTH AND FINANCIAL ADVISOR

SOCIAL WORKER

NEIL POOLE MBA DipPFS Qualifications: • Experienced in providing comprehensive wealth planning services to individuals, couples, families, trustees and businesses • Retirement planning and pension review • Family wealth preservation • Financial risk identification and mitigation

CAROLYN COHEN Qualifications: • Supports couples dealing with infertility and reproductive health.

• Strictly confidential helpline.

• Specialist medical support and information.

• Counselling for individuals and couples and educational events.

• Expert medical advisory panel.

NEIL POOLE 07710 757 503 www.neilpoole.com neil.poole@sjpp.co.uk

CHANA 020 8203 8455 Helpline: 020 8201 5774 / 020 8800 0018 www.chana.org.uk info@chana.org.uk

PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST

KITCHEN DESIGNER

ELAINE KERR Qualifications: • Able to draw on the expertise of Norwood’s professional staff team, including social workers, educational psychologists, drug and alcohol specialists, speech & language and occupational therapists, teachers, psychologists, benefit advisers.

• Expertise in services available for children and their families and young people with special educational needs, and adults with learning disabilities.

TREVOR GEE Qualifications: •Managing director, consultants in affordable family and corporate health insurance.

• Specialise in maximising cover, lowering premiums and pre-existing conditions.

• Excellent knowledge of health insurers, cover levels and hospital lists.

• Board member UK International Health Management Ass • LLB, solicitor finals, FCA Regulated 773729.

SHANTI PANCHANI Qualifications: • Experienced Designer with more than 25 years’ experience in German and English kitchens and have supplied kosher-friendly kitchens for more than 10 years • We provide a full circle approach from designing, supplying and installing your new kitchen including appliances and speciality worktops.

• We deal with suppliers who are flexible in design.

NORWOOD 020 8809 8809 www.norwood.org.uk elaine.kerr@norwood.org.uk

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

THE HOME CONSULTANCY 07738 067671 www.thehomeconsultancy.com shanti@thehomeconsultancy.com

ESTATE AGENT

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

MAXI ROSE Qualifications: • MD at RCUK since 1999. Grown the business into three substantial UK branches serving clients worldwide – USA, Europe & Middle East.

• Telecoms specialist in business & consumer mobile solutions, landline and broadband services and Ofcom Telecoms registered reseller.

• Successfully established the RCUK International Travel

STEVE WAYNE Qualifications: • Owner of Benjamin Stevens established in 2004 with offices in Edgware and Bushey and dealing with all surrounding areas.

• Specialist in buy 2 let investments and managing lettings portfolios.

• Deals with residential sales locally and an expert on all things property in North West London.

• Partner at Frederick George & Co

SUE CIPIN Qualifications: • 18 years’ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

• Deep understanding of the impact of deafness on people at all stages of life, and their families.

• Practical and emotional support for families of deaf children.

• Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus.

RCUK 020 8815 4115 www.rcuk.biz maxi@rcuk.biz

BENJAMIN STEVENS ESTATE AGENTS 020 8950 7777 www.benjaminstevens.co.uk Steve@benjaminstevens.co.uk

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION 020 8446 0502 info@jewishdeaf.org.uk www.jewishdeaf.org.uk

TELECOMS SPECIALIST

JEWELLER

TRAVEL AGENT

CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITOR

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.

DAVID SEGEL Qualifications: • Managing director of West End Travel, established in 1972.

• Leading UK El Al agent with branches in Swiss Cottage and Edgware.

• Specialist in Israel travel, cruises and kosher holidays.

• Leading business travel company, ranked in top 50 UK agents.

• Frequent travel broadcaster on radio and TV.

CARL WOOLF Qualifications: • 20+ years experience as a criminal defence solicitor and higher court advocate.

• Specialising in all aspects of criminal law including murder, drug offences, fraud and money laundering, offences of violence, sexual offences and all aspects of road traffic law.

• Visiting associate professor at Brunel University.

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

WEST END TRAVEL 020 7644 1500 www.westendtravel.co.uk David.Segel@westendtravel.co.uk

NOBLE SOLICITORS 01582 544 370 carl.woolf@noblesolicitors.co.uk

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

CAROLYN ADDLEMAN Qualifications: Lawyer with more than 15 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration, eight years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company.

Keeps in close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for.

Member of Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

•

STEPHEN MORRIS Qualifications: • Managing Director of Stephen Morris Shipping Ltd. • 45 years’ experience in shipping household and personal effects.

• Chosen mover for four royal families and three UK prime ministers.

• Offering proven quality specialist advice for moving anyone across the world or round the corner.

LOUISE LEACH Qualifications: • Professional choreographer qualified in dance, drama and Zumba (ZIN, ISTD & LAMDA), gaining an honours degree at Birmingham University.

• Former contestant on ITV’s Popstars, reaching bootcamp with Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Kym Marsh.

• Set up Dancing with Louise 10 years ago.

KKL EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE COMPANY 0800 358 3587 www.kkl.org.uk wills@kkl.org.uk

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

DANCING WITH LOUISE 020 8203 5242 www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk louise@dancingwithlouise.co.uk

• •

5 April 2018 Jewish News

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29

Professional advice from our panel / Ask Our Experts

ACCOUNTANT

IT SPECIALIST

HEARING AID AUDIOLOGIST

MELVYN SOBELL Qualifications: • Chartered accountant FCA. • Accounting, taxation and business advisory services.

• Specialises in forensic accounting.

• CEDR accredited mediator.

• Expert witness advice for all financial matters.

EWA KOZLOWSKA MSHAA Qualifications: • Fully qualified, HCPC registered, Hearing Aid Audiologist.

• Specialist in hearing healthcare including tinnitus management and wax removal.

• Fully understands the impact of hearing loss and will work with you to find the best solution for your unique hearing needs and lifestyle.

IAN GREEN Qualifications: • Launched Man on a Bike IT consultancy 15 years ago to provide computer support for the home and small businesses.

• Clients range from legal firms in the City to families, small business owners and synagogues.

• More than 18 years’ experience.

SOBELL RHODES 020 8429 8800 www.sobellrhodes.co.uk m.sobell@sobellrhodes.co.uk

BLOOM HEARING SPECIALISTS 020 8869 9999 www.bloomhearing.co.uk pinner@bloomhearing.co.uk

MAN ON A BIKE 020 8731 6171 www.manonabike.co.uk mail@manonabike.co.uk

ALIYAH ADVISER

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

BUILDING CONTRACTOR

DOV NEWMARK Qualifications: • Director of UK Aliyah for Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organisation that helps facilitate aliyah from the UK. • Conducts monthly seminars and personal aliyah meetings in London.

• An expert in working together with clients to help plan a successful aliyah.

BAYLA PERRIN Qualifications: • Free professional service delivering immediate practical help with domestic administrative matters, assisting those alone and in crisis.

• Providing workable solutions for debt management, budgeting, bills, utilities, insurance, welfare & benefits, form filling, financial correspondence, bureaucracy and divorce procedures. Cross communal and throughout London.

HOWARD GOLD Qualifications: • Member of the Federation of Master Builders.

• Member of the Consumer Protection Association offering an underwritten insurance backed guarantee of 5 years on all projects.

• Providing a tailored end-to-end property service for residential property clients in north and north-west London. Focusing on a quality service.

NEFESH B’NEFESH 0800 075 7200 www.nbn.org.il dov@nbn.org.il

THE PAPERWEIGHT TRUST 020 8455 4996 www.paperweighttrust.com info@paperweighttrust.com

HPS 077 1005 7233 / 020 8457 1320 wwww.hpsuk.com howard@hpsuk.com

MEDIATOR

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

ANDREW MILLER QC Qualifications: • Mediator with more than 25 years of experience of using mediation to economically resolve commercial disputes.

• Queen’s Counsel (Barrister) with 25+ years legal experience of conducting commercial cases.

• Providing a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to the court litigation process.

HAZEL KAYE Qualifications: • Able to draw on the charity’s 45+ years of experience in providing specialist accommodation designed to enable independence.

• Knowledge of the features and innovations that can empower people to undertake everyday tasks and awareness of relevant grants and benefits available.

• Understands the impact of a diagnosis of disability.

MR ALI NOORANI Qualifications: • MBBS BSc (Hons) MRCS FRCS (Trauma & Orth) • Substantive orthopaedic and trauma surgeon specialising in trauma and upper limb surgery • Multidisciplinary approach to treatment as not all patients require surgery • Uses LEAN methodology to streamline the patient journey

AMQC MEDIATION @ 2TG 020 7822 1260 www.2tg.co.uk amqc@2tg.co.uk

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

HIGHGATE PRIVATE HOSPITAL 020 8003 0889 www.highgatehospital.co.uk enquiries@highgatehospital.co.uk

SENIOR EMPLOYMENT ADVISER

CAREER ADVISER

SHARON GLASSMAN Qualifications: Born and raised in Israel.

Worked in the private sector.

15 years experience with new olim while working for the government.

Vast knowledge of the Israeli business and labour market.

LESLEY TRENNER Qualifications: • Provides free professional one-to-one advice at Resource to help unemployed into work.

• Offers practical support, workshops and networking opportunities to maximise job prospects.

• Expert in change management and people development. International Coach Federation certified coach helping people with career development and midlife change including dilemmas around ageing parents.

THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL 020 8371 5258 www.jewishagency.org sharong@jafi.org

RESOURCE THE JEWISH EMPLOYMENT ADVICE CENTRE 020 8346 4000 www.resource-centre.org office@resource-centre.org

• • • •

FAMILY SOLICITOR

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

REBEKAH GERSHUNY Qualifications: Member of Resolution, Law Society Accredited and registered with the Family Mediation Council.

Collaborative family lawyer, with more than 20 years’ experience and founder of family mediation practice, Evolve Family Mediation.

Promotes a constructive and non-confrontational approach.

•

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Got a question for a member of our team?

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CHANGE A LIFE, STARTING WITH YOUR OWN. NORWOOD HAS A RANGE OF REWARDING VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES TO SUIT EVERYONE. FIND OUT MORE AT NORWOOD.ORG.UK/VOLUNTEERING

30

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Jewish News 5 April 2018 !

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“A POISONOUS WORLD CUP”?

A LOOK AT ENGLAND’S CHANCES OF GLORY AND THE PROSPECT OF RACISM AND VIOLENCE AT RUSSIA 2018

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Win West End theatre tickets / Fun, games and prizes

WIN TICKETS TO AN IDEAL HUSBAND IN THE WEST END! April – 14 July), before playing at the Theatre Royal Bath for its summer season.

Starring real-life father and son Edward (The Audience, The Day of the Jackal) and Freddie Fox (The Judas Kiss, Cucumber and Banana), Frances Barber (Silk, Antony and Cleopatra), Nathaniel Parker (This House, Wolf Hall), Sally Bretton (Not Going Out, King Lear) and Susan Hampshire (The Forsyte Saga, Monarch of the Glen).

TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: • Which well-known father-and-son actors star in An Ideal Husband?

A: Edward and Freddie Fox

 For more details and to book tickets (from £19.50), call 0330 333 4814, or visit classicspring.co.uk.

For terms & conditions, see jewish news.co.uk

Hilarious Hebrew Hilarious Hebrew Word the Week Word ofof the Week

B: Tom and Collin Hanks

THE JewishNews CROSSWORD 1

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”ZIONISM IS AN INFINITE IDEAL”

The WZO and ZF run subsidised Ulpan (Hebrew language) classes across the UK. For more information, contact ulpanuk@wzo.org.il or call 020 8202 0202

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*** From the book Hilarious Hebrew – the Fun and Fast Way to Learn the Language, available on Amazon and in book and gift shops around NW London. www.hilarioushebrew.com

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120 YEARS OF ZIONISM

The Hebrew word for 'elephant' is… pil ‫פִּיל‬

Closing date 19 April 2018

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD

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The ELEPHANT is ill, he needs to take a PILL

ENTER ONLINE:

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C: Kirk and Michael Douglas

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Last issue’s solutions ACROSS: 1 Roost 4 Email 7 Oui 8 Overrun 9 Data 10 Emit 13 Yam 15 Arid 16 Edgy 19 Pre-date 21 Imp 22 Nudge 23 Resit DOWN: 1 Riot 2 Origami 3 Two-way 4 Eyes 5 Air 6 Length 11 Magpies 12 Dampen 14 Meteor 17 Wade 18 Spot 20 End

All puzzles © Puzzler Media Ltd - www.puzzler.com

By Paul Solomons

Jewish News is offering three lucky winners a pair of top-price tickets to see An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre, London.

The Rolls-Royce of English comedies, Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband explores corruption and morality, bringing an act of political sin into the heart of the English home.

An ambitious government minister, Sir Robert Chiltern’s smooth ascent to the top seems assured – until Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning proof of his past financial chicanery.

A witty new production from director Jonathan Church (Singin’ in the Rain and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Chichester), An Ideal Husband opens at the Vaudeville Theatre (20

See next issue for solution.

05/04

BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTORY 32

Jewish News 5 April 2018

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34

Active

How did you keep active this week?

Send details of what you’ve been up to and forthcoming events to: andrews@thejngroup.com

Fencers engage in a community first FENCING Wannabe musketeers, together with those picking up a sword for the first time, took part in Maccabi GB’s inaugural fencing event.

The first time a fencing event had been held for the community, participants of all ages, which included those interested in taking up a new sport, coupled with others looking to get some match practice and improve on their skills, received oneon-one coaching from Team GB’s 2017 Maccabiah medalists Nicholas Lakeland and Richard Bernstein.

With the aim to encourage more people to take up the sport and ultimately compete for Great Britain at the 2019

European Maccabi Games in Budapest, Lakeland said: “Today has been a huge success. It’s exciting to see so many fencers from the community get active with us.

“A very good standard has been on show and we hope this will be the start of building a squad for both the 2019 European Games and 2020 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

MGB’s Head of Sport Neil Taylor said: “We encourage anyone who’s interested in the sport to contact us.

“Trials for the European Games will be taking place in the coming months and we want to hear from people about getting active and representing British Jewry at future international games.”

Stuart sets out on 3,000 mile ride

CYCLING

Avid cyclist Stuart Bookatz has begun his 3,000 mile charity cycle in a bid to raise awareness for mental health. Setting off on his 46-day challenge on Sunday – which starts in California and ends in Florida – he said on his arrival in San Diego: “This morning I stood on the beach with my bike looking at the Pacific Ocean. Ready and excited to begin my journey.” Taking part alongside 11 other cyclists, he’s hoping to raise more than £250,000 for seven charities, including Jewish Care and Chai Cancer in the UK and The Jewish National Fund and The Jewish Federation in the US.

 You can sponsor Stuart at: https://www.

justgiving.com/fundraising/stuart-bookatz

ACTIV8 STAY ACTIVE NEXT WEEK...

1 2 3 4

6th Edgware Brownies 9 April – 5.45pm-7.15pm office@edgwareu.com Zumba 9 April – 8.00pm www.jw3.org.uk Ladies keep-fit club 10 April – 7.00pm nwes@newwestend.org.uk Israeli dancing at Ealing Shul 10 April – 8.00pm-10.00pm office@ealingsynagogue.org.uk

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Classical Egyptian Belly Dancing 11 April – 7.10pm www.jw3.org.uk Israeli Dancing Class 11 April – 7.45pm littmanfamily@btinternet.com Tone & Stretch class 12 April – 9.30am office@muswellhillsynagogue.org.uk Israeli dancing workshop 12 April – 8.00pm office@southhampstead.org

AND IF YOU’RE FEELING INACTIVE...

Jewish Historical Society of England talk 10 April – 8.00pm kenlancer@usa.net

Katz helps Apollo land double Jewish table tennis star Dov Katz had double reason to celebrate after helping his side complete a second consecutive league and cup double. Part of the Apollo team which won the Wembley & Harrow League and Cup, Katz (pictured on left) said: “Apollo seems to go from strength to strength. Our achievement of repeating last year’s double is extraordinary given the immense quality of the opposition. Our phenomenal team spirit, togetherness and strength of determination and character are lessons to aspiring young table tennis players, it’s a joy and enjoyment to play for Apollo.” From a personal perspec-

tive, I’m playing the best table tennis of my life having won seven trophies, including five titles in the space of just a few weeks.”

Jacob raises the bar!

Jacob Shulman-Miller celebrated his barmitzvah with a difference – by taking part in a Bar-athlon to raise money for charity.

The self-confessed ‘couch potato’ spent the past six weeks completing a barmitzvah-inspired triathlon which saw him swim 1,600m, walk 13km from his school to home and cycle 40km in the gym. Raising more than £1,600 for World Jewish Relief and Jewish Care, he said: “As my barmitzvah approached, I decided that as well as celebrating this amazing milestone, I also wanted to make a difference. Now that it’s complete I’m relieved and proud of myself.

Volunteering is important and I feel good about making a contribution.” Simon Morris, Jewish Care’s Chief Executive, said: “Through this event Jacob has demonstrated his commitment to our communi-

TABLE TENNIS

TRIATHLON

ty.” Paul Anticoni, WJR’s Chief Executive, said: “It’s wonderful when a young person gets involved in charitable work and we’re delighted that going to see our work in Moldova inspired Jacob to raise money.”

5 April 2018 Jewish News

www.jewishnews.co.uk

35

ADVERTORIAL

All shuk up!

Jerusalem’s world-famous Machane Yehuda market comes to London this month! Here’s what to expect...

A

s every local or tourist in Jerusalem knows, a visit to Machane Yehuda market (or the “shuk”) on a Friday lunchtime is not for the faint hearted. With intoxicating aromas of za’atar and nana (mint), stall vendors lovingly screaming in your face about the last of their cheap tomatoes, giant mounds of shiny olives glistening in the sun, freshly baked pita at every turn, tempting halva samples, hands already laden with heavy plastic bags grabbing at avocados to test their ripeness, shekels, elbows and boxes flying everywhere. This is a truly authentic Israeli experience.

Above and right: Colourful stalls at Machane Yehuda

Did you know that buried deep in the shuk you will find a tiny but fully functioning synagogue, world class restaurants, three barber shops, four “granny cart” specialist stalls, no less than 13 stalls offering knife-sharpening services and even a police station? In the 1990s the authorities tried to enforce a law banning yelling in the shuk (but this law was quickly shouted down).

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Ezer Mizion (founded in 1979) is Israel’s biggest provider of

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36

Jewish News 5 April 2018

British Friends of Ezer Mizion PRESENTS

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Grab your shopping bags, rally your taste buds, and get ready for a one-of-a-kind culinary and cultural experience, straight from Jerusalem!

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