46 OPINION
15 SEPTEMBER 2021
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OPINION
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There is more than one view OPINION PIECE BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN We are now well into the ten days of penitence, known also as the Days of Awe. Now is the time to think about how we have behaved towards others. Have we said or done things which we now regret and how do we go about rectifying those wrongs. I know that I have been exasperated with the approach taken by others in the Jewish community and I am sure I have made comments which might have been too much. This though is understandable when the subject matter is so sensitive, such as anti-Semitism and Israel. What is not understandable is how so many activists in the community feel able to judge whether they should attend an event where the Israeli Ambassador is involved. For there to be a healthy discussion on any subject there needs to be a wide range of views, some of which are going to be unacceptable to some, yet this is what a democratic process is about. By refusing
to meet with the Ambassador or take part in any event where she is present is as petty as it is irresponsible. Our community is becoming more fractured and so the need for open dialogue is more urgent than ever. Sadly, the atmosphere in so many debates now involve regular attacks on individuals and sometimes that appears all they are about. Even more sadly some of our communal leaders have chosen to go down this path as well. The result is that some of those who describe
Issues and people are complex and this needs to be understood by those demanding no-platforms and bans for those they don’t want to hear.
Le Pen charged with inciting antisemitism BY SIMCHA ABIR French far-right party National Front (now National Rally) founder Jean-Marie Le Pen has been charged with ‘inciting antisemitic hatred’. Le Pen reportedly denounced a number of French celebrities who disagreed with his political views including Jewish singer and actor Patrick Bruel, in a 2014 video on the Party’s website. Jean-Marie Le Pen It is understood Frederic Joachim, Le Pen’s lawyer, wants charges dismissed as they are based on a phrase taken out of context, Le Pen, who denies allegations, has faced trial before for antisemitism-related comments. France’s Court of Cassation upheld a conviction for Holocaust denial after Le Pen said the Holocaust was “a detail” of World War II in 2018. His daughter, National Front leader Marine Le Pen, expelled him from the Party. “Le Pen’s record speaks for itself,” commented a Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesperson.
themselves as being progressive refuse to attend a meeting with the representative of the State of Israel. Occasionally a course of conduct is so ridiculous that it is indefensible. This is one such example. Tzipi Hotoveley speaks on behalf of the State of Israel not on her own account. For those who claim that they cannot go near the Ambassador because of comments made by her prior to her appointment are failing to grasp the difference between the office
and the office holder. This simple but vital distinction which is lost on her critics is unfortunately symptomatic of the lack of understanding of so many issues in the Jewish community. Not every issue involves a simple good or bad outcome in the same way that not every individual is one-dimensional in their thinking. Issues and people are complex and this needs to be understood by those demanding no-platforms and bans for those they don’t want to hear. Now surely is the time for some self-reflection on this behaviour since if it continues the broad consensus on so many issues which has lasted for so long will fall away, and with it the remaining semblance of communal unity and our ability to speak with one voice. 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.
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“His prominence in French public life is a stain on the country and even ambitious politicians on the far-right seek to distance themselves from him and his odious views. We shall be watching the trial with interest.” President Macron condemned antisemitism to the American Jewish Committee last June. Praising contributions of French Jews, he noted at the time, “Antisemitism PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK is, as it has always been, an unacceptable, unjustifiable, menace, in the face of which we must relentlessly mobilise all our energies,”. Macron called on France to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism although the definition alone was “not enough”. The French leader noted a network of investigators and magistrates to provide care for victims of hate crimes and be more efficiency in dealing with investigations. Outlining how France was tackling online hate through its watchdog, Macron said Holocaust education was “at the heart” of the fight against antisemitism.”
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