20 OPINION
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2 DECEMBER 2021
OPINION
Parliamentarians united over Israel at Board Chanukah celebration OPINION PIECE BY MARIE VAN DER ZYL It is three years since the Board of Deputies last held its last Parliamentary Chanukah Reception. In 2019, our reception fell victim to the unfortunate scheduling of the General Election and last year’s celebration was cancelled as the result of the pandemic. So it was with a huge amount of joy that we were able to welcome Home Secretary Priti Patel and Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer, alongside representatives from both chambers of Parliament, on Monday evening in the House of Lords. We had plenty to thank them for. There has been cross-party support shown on many issues of interest to the Jewish community in recent times. These include ensuring the Coronavirus Bill was amended to avoid the prospect of mandatory cremations for Jews and Muslims, as well as support for the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, which hopefully in due course will sit just a couple of hundred yards
from where our guests gathered on Monday. And most recently, there was wide backing given to the Government’s announcement of its intention to proscribe the Hamas terror group in its entirety. The Home Secretary spoke about this in her speech, saying this was part of the Government’s “sincere commitment to do right by the Jewish community in the UK.” I was grateful for the opportunity to thank her in person for the Government’s work on this most vital issue for our community. We were also delighted to welcome the ambassadors of both Israel and Bahrain, which goes to show how far the situation in the Middle East has progressed since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020. Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely spoke
of the new strategic partnership between Israel and the UK, which is great news for the two countries and all of Israel’s supporters in the Jewish community. The Chief Rabbi gave an uplifting address speaking about the centrality of family to the festival of Chanukah, before lighting the Chanukah candles and leading a stirring rendition of Maoz Tzur. The room was filled with distinguished guests. These included Stephen Bush, Chair of the Board’s Commission on Racial Inclusivity in the Jewish Community, as well as representatives of EcoSynagogue, a partnership with the Board of Deputies which is working hard to make the Jewish community more ecologically conscious. And I was really delighted to see Baroness
It has been a very difficult 18 months for both our country and the world. But, in kindling the lights of the menorah, we pray that we are finally beginning to emerge from that dark time into a new era of opportunity and hope.
Merron, who this time last year was our Chief Executive before her elevation to the House of Lords. We also welcomed friends from the Union of Jewish Students and Bristol University Jewish Society, who, in the face of considerable opposition, stood firm and ensured that a foul conspiracy theorist was held to account for his actions. We were proud to support them in that effort and will always work to ensure that Jewish students feel safe on campus and in schools. The first Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, once said: “A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness”. These wise words are still so true today. It has been a very difficult 18 months for both our country and the world. But, in kindling the lights of the menorah, we pray that we are finally beginning to emerge from that dark time into a new era of opportunity and hope. Next year, Covid permitting, we will be able to welcome even more friends and colleagues to our Parliamentary reception. And I can guarantee there will be plenty of doughnuts and latkes to go around. Marie van der Zyl is President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The blinkers need to come off OPINION PIECE BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN Last week it was revealed that Azeem Rafiq the former Yorkshire cricketer who was giving evidence to Parliament about the racism he had suffered had, when he was 19, produced some anti-Semitic comments on social media. He has since apologised for this and much has been written about his conduct from 10 years ago. It is generally accepted that his subsequent apology is heartfelt and sincere and hoped that we can all move from this. On a personal level this is likely. There is though a more significant issue and that is how do address the bigotry present in the community from which Mr Rafiq originated. This of course is tricky territory. Claudia Mendoza, the co-CEO of the Jewish Leadership council referred to this in her piece in the Jewish Chronicle on the 24th November. She said: “The Institute for Jewish Policy Research showed that most Muslims are not antisemitic (and it is damaging to stigmatise all Muslims as such) but also, sadly, that a significant proportion do hold bigoted views about Jews to a greater degree than the general population. Or as the British Muslim commentator Mehdi Hasan put it: “it pains me to have to admit this but antisemitism isn’t just tolerated in some sections of the British Muslim community; it’s routine and commonplace”.
So what is to be done with this problem. Ms Mendoza went on to say: “The danger with wading into this arena is that it is so vulnerable to manipulation by those who have an agenda. I note that Rafiq has already been embraced by the campaigning organisation MEND which self-promotes as working for a cohesive society. No doubt Rafiq is unaware of MEND’s history of inflammatory comments from some of its senior members. Sometimes it can just seem easiest to avoid this minefield all together. That, too, is wrong and dangerous. Vacating the space leaves it open to those who will be only too willing to fill it with venom. To quote Jonathan Boyd from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, “when we see such complex territory before us, we have a choice: to avoid it, fight it, or to enter into it with caution and thoughtfulness. I would advise the third: to enter it with caution, with a clear goal in mind”. He is right.” Ms Mendoza has put her head above the parapet in an area which is fraught with risk, a brave move on behalf of an organisation which prides itself in trying to steer a middle course between those who see Jew-haters behind every tweet and those who believe that those from ethnic minorities are incapable of being racist. What is interesting is that Ms Mendoza appears so far be a lone voice. There have been plenty communal leaders referring to the comments alone, but so far nothing on the origin of the bigotry and what might be done to deal with it.
Last week four men accused of engaging in racist abuse by yelling sick antisemitic abuse from a car in a ‘Convoy for Palestine’ in May of this year entered not guilty pleas. Their trial is likely to take place next year. Commentary appears to be centred on them as individuals which of course is safe territory. So what is the right approach, since whatever has been tried – if anything – over the last few years clearly hasn’t worked. Perhaps the starting point is for us as a community to recognise that there is a problem which needs to be addressed. Ignoring and hoping it will go away is not an option. Calling for a two state solution as a means of demonstrating our even handedness has also failed, as have calls of solidarity in relation to Islamophobia, well-meaning those these actions are. The convoy in May was about Jews, not Israel. The calls for violence were against Jews and for as long as we ignore the roots of this hatred not only will it not go away, it will only get worse. There needs to be engagement, proper engagement and not solely centred on those areas of agreement, such as concerns about the far right. The engagement has to concentrate on the bigotry referred to by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and it has to not pull any punches. It needs to distinguish between concerns over Palestinians and outright anti-Semitism and additionally there needs to be acceptance by all concerned that there is indeed a serious issue which needs firm and sensible attention.
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This is not about picking a fight with another minority group, it is about being realistic concerning the challenges faced by the Jewish community every time there is a conflagration in the Middle East. Sadly there are still countries which refuse to deal with Israel. As Al Jazeera reported last week – “a major squash tournament in Malaysia has been cancelled, the sport’s governing body has said after the Southeast Asian country refused to grant visas to an Israeli team. It is the latest instance of Muslim-majority Malaysia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, barring the country’s athletes.” It is not all bad news though. Reports of Jews openly wearing kipot in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are now becoming commonplace, evidence that it is perfectly possible for good relations to exist between Jews and Muslims. On a further positive note, the Jewish museum in Melbourne in Australia has reached out to the non-Jewish community, including Muslims and Christians with the result that engagement between these communities is positive and two way. It is time that the Jewish community in the UK took a deep breath and followed these examples. Robert Festenstein is a practising solicitor and has been the principal of his Salford based firm for over 20 years. He has fought BDS motions to the Court of Appeal and is President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester which serves to protect and defend the democratic State of Israel.
