1360 – 28th March 2024

The secret to being happy and healthy p32

A heroes’ welcome

Q: How does our Border Force treat brave Israelis who saved countless lives on 7/10? A: As a security threat

my identity

Tom Rosenthal on being Jew-ish

Israeli brothers who were interrogated for two hours at Manchester Airport this week have told Jewish News that once they told border o cers they were Jewish, “the attitude just got worse”.

Daniel and Neriya Sharabi arrived in Manchester on Sunday 24 March, on a flight from Brussels. They had been invited to speak at Chabad in the City in Manchester to share their experiences as survivors of the Nova music festival massacre on 7 October.

The pair, whose bravery has been widely praised as having saved many lives during the music festival terror attack, told Jewish News that as soon as they handed their Israeli passports to Passport Control, the Border Police asked them what they were doing in Manchester.

The brothers said they had come to talk about what had happened to them at the music festival, which took place at Kibbutz Re’im, not far from the Gaza Strip.

“As soon as we said that we were survivors of the murders, we were told to stand to one side,” said 24-yearold Daniel Sharabi.

The pair were detained and questioned for nearly two hours, including

being asked about whether they served in the Israeli army. When finally a decision was taken to allow them into the UK, the brothers allege that the male o cer who was questioning them, together with a female colleague, told them: “We have to make sure that you are not going to do what you’re doing in Gaza over here.”

Daniel Sharabi was distraught as Continued on page 3

PURIM WITH ADDED OOMPH!

baking and face painting.

COMMUNITY WISHES KATE SPEEDY CANCER RECOVERY

Communal leaders and charities have sent the Princess of Wales heartfelt messages of support for a speedy cancer recovery.

The Royal Family is, of course, the object of prayer in every synagogue in the country each Shabbat. And so many Jewish organisa-

tions across the community have sent their warm wishes for a quick recovery to the Princess of Wales, who announced she is receiving preventative chemotherapy for cancer.

my sadness in learning that the Princess of Wales is battling cancer and extend heartfelt wishes to her for a ‘refuah shelema’ – a swift and complete recovery.”

a speedy recovery”.

and the reminder of how vital being surrounded by community and loved ones is.

Louise Hager, chair of the community’s Chai Cancer Care, said: “We were shocked to hear the news. We wish her much strength throughout her cancer treatment and send heartfelt wishes for a full and speedy recovery.” Kate

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim wrote: “I join people throughout the UK and across the globe in expressing

The Board of Deputies echoed this message, while the Jewish Leadership Council also wished the princess “continued strength and

There were warm thoughts, too, from Progressive Judaism, whose leaders, Rabbi Josh Levy and Rabbi Charley Baginsky, said: “We know that many of our members, whose own lives and families have been touched by cancer, will appreciate her message of faith and hope

US-Israel tensions ignite after Gaza ceasefire vote

Tensions between Israel and the United States boiled over this week following Washington’s abstention from a UN Security Council resolution vote calling for an immediate ceasefire and release of all 134 hostages from Gaza.

The resolution “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a sustainable lasting ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”.

It also calls for humanitarian access for medical and other humanitarian needs in Gaza, and that the parties “comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain”.

Benjamin Netanyahu issued a strongly worded statement, saying he was cancelling an Israeli delegation’s visit to Washington to discuss alternatives to a Rafah ground operation.

“The United States has abandoned its policy in the UN today. Just a few days ago, it supported a Security Council resolution that linked a call for a ceasefire to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed that resolution partly because they opposed a ceasefire that was linked

to the release of hostages. Yet today, Russia and China joined Algeria and others in supporting the new resolution precisely because it had no such linkage,” he said.

“Regrettably, the US did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages. This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. Today’s resolution gives Hamas hope international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,

thus harming both the war e ort and the e ort to release the hostages.”

The US pushed back on Netanyahu’s claims, with national security council spokesperson John Kirby saying the US vote “does not represent a shift in our policy. There’s no reason for this to be seen as some sort of escalation… The reason we abstained is because this resolution text did not condemn Hamas.”

Netanyahu was criticised by the opposition and members of his government for creating a crisis with Israel’s most important ally.

War cabinet minister Benny

Sunak ‘pleased’ to back latest UN war resolution

Rishi Sunak has said the UK was “pleased to support” to support a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the “unconditional release of all hostages”.

The prime minister told the Commons Liaison Committee the resolution was consistent with the UK position, for an immediate sustained humanitarian pause to allow for the safe release of hostages, more aid into Gaza and provide a platform for a more lasting durable ceasefire.

The UN Security Council resolution pressed for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – the first time the body has called for a halt to the fighting.

Meanwhile, Foreign O ce minister Andrew Mitchell told the Commons the Israeli government must provide an explanation for attacks on British aid agencies in Gaza.

Both Alicia Kearns, Conserva-

tive chair of the foreign a airs select committee, and Labour MP Jess Phillips had raised an incident on 18 January “as to why there have been British aid agencies bombed by Israel with weapons potentially provided in part by us?”

Phillips told MPs she had also been to the UN in the last few weeks and raised it with diplomats there.

Mitchell replied: “We require an explanation from the Israeli government for the actions which took

place, we continue to press, but she will understand the timing of that is not a matter which rests with the British government. The Israeli government will have heard her and indeed our voices raised.”

During Tuesday’s latest statement on the situation in Gaza, some Tory MPs raised concerns a UKbacked UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza would “undermine” e orts to free hostages.

MP Matthew O ord (Hendon) said the resolution will “embolden” Hamas while former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers said her Chipping Barnet constituents “feel badly let down” by the votes at the UN.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy welcomed the UN resolution, describing it as a “turning point” in e orts to stop the fighting in Gaza and “incredibly welcome and overdue”.

Gantz called the “special” relationship between Israel and the United States an “anchor in Israel’s security and foreign relations”.

“The direct dialogue with the American administration is essential, and must not be abandoned, even when there are challenges and disputes. The prime minister would do well to travel to the US himself and hold direct dialogue with President Biden and senior o cials,” he said.

Gantz’s criticism of Netanyhau comes after he vowed to quit the government this week over a controversial draft bill exempting ultraorthodox from the army.

Gantz called the draft bill “a red line during normal times, and a black flag during wartime. The people will not be able to put up with it, the Knesset will not be able to vote for it and my colleagues and I will not be able to be members of the emergency government if such legislation passes.”

bedroom, chained by her left ankle, and asked every day by her ‘guard’ [Mohamed] when her period was due.

Soussana tried to pretend her period lasted longer than normal, but eventually Mohammed forced her to take a shower.

Meanwhile, The New York Times released an interview with the first former hostage to say publicly she was sexually abused during captivity.

Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old Israeli lawyer, was kidnapped on 7 October and held in several places in Gaza. She was held alone in a child’s

“I turned around and I saw him standing there. With the gun. He said, ‘Amit, take it [the towel] o . Finally, I took it o . He sat me on the edge of the bath. And I closed my legs. And I resisted. And he kept punching me and put his gun in my face.

“Then he dragged me to the bedroom,” Soussana told the newspaper. She said Mohammed forced her to commit a sexual act on him.

Soussana is one of many Israeli victims of sexual assault and rape during the six- month war.

180 TERRORISTS DIE IN HOSPITAL BATTLE

More than 180 terrorists have been killed in and around the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza in the past week, the Israeli army said on Monday.

While Hamas initially denied being present at the hospital, accusing Israel of “fabricating” the story, the terror group later admitted it was clashing with soldiers in the compound.

“The scope of Israel’s o ensive in Al-Shifa Hospital cannot be understated, nor the importance of the figures arrested or killed, but the forces of resistance in the Strip are dynamic organisations that don’t lean on any one man,” a Hamas source told the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper.

An IDF o cial said some 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad a liates have been arrested so far, with many providing information about the terror group’s operations in Gaza.

Soldiers were met with fierce resistance inside the hospital, the o cial said, with terrorists barri-

cading themselves in and shooting from maternity wards and emergency rooms. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed in the operation at the hospital so far.

As ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue, the IDF is preparing a plan to evacuate over one million Palestinians from Rafah to “humanitarian islands”, the ocial said, while Israel is “flooding” Gaza with humanitarian aid, although distribution remains the big problem because Northern Gaza is “still a war zone”.

Ex-BBC editor criticises far left’s Starmer stance

MPS AND PEERS CALL FOR BAN

Former BBC journalist Paul Mason has condemned farleft claims that Keir Starmer is controlled by Israel, telling one activist at a meeting: “Why didn’t you just say Jew?”, writes Lee Harpin.

Israeli sponsors.” She continued: “And the fact that so many in the Labour Party are supported and funded by Israel.

“How can anyone even consider voting Labour? They don’t stand for the people.”

Mason was on the panel of an event entitled Is It Worth Voting Labour in 2024?, featuring the former MP Emma Dent Coad, now standing as an independent candidate, and former NEU union general secretary Kevin Courtney.

At Monday’s meeting, organised by a group in north-west London named Better Kensal & Kilburn, which was chaired by Melissa Benn, an activist, who declared herself a supporter of Dent Coad, repeatedly linked the Labour leader with Israel in a speech.

Dent obliterated through

A recording of the meeting confirms the woman said: “Jeremy Corbyn was outed and obliterated through the media because of Keir Starmer and his

The same woman added: “The only hope that we have and why I’m here supporting Emma is because she’s local. She would have stood for Labour again, but Starmer and his Israeli body didn’t want her standing. And that’s been the case, as we’ve seen across the country.”

After she finished speaking, the woman, identified by Dent Coad as being named Leearna, was loudly applauded by many of those in the room.

Responding, a clearly angry Mason said: “She’s asked me to keep it brief and punchy, I’m afraid I will because, why didn’t you just say ‘Jew’? Why didn’t you just say ‘is a Jewish agent’? ”

The former Newsnight and Channel 4 News economics editor’s remarks immediately sparked unrest in the room.

But he continued: “Any-

body in this room who wants to be part of a left where you go around saying that Starmer is an Israel agent, if you want to do that, fine, form a party together, form an alliance, support Emma. But don’t bother supporting the Labour Party because we are anti-racist. We will never accept that Keir Starmer is an agent of Israel.”

The woman then spoke again suggesting that was “not what I meant”. But Mason continued to speak out, telling the audience they needed to decide “whether you are for it or against it”.

A man then shouted out, “genocide!” Mason responded: “I don’t need any lectures about genocide. I’ve been to Gaza. I’ve seen what the Israelis do.”

Mason, who once himself supported Corbyn, has more recently emerged as an outspoken critic of the ideology pursued by the former leader. His name has been put forward to the party as a possible candidate to stand against Corbyn in Islington North if the ex-leader runs as an independent.

A letter signed by more than 130 MPs and peers is calling on the UK to ban arms sales to Israel.

The letter, co-ordinated by the Labour MP Zarah Sultana, says that “business as usual” for UK arms exports to Israel is “totally unacceptable”.

It notes that UK-made arms are being used in Gaza and highlights a recent UN investigation that found an F-16 fighter jet made with UK parts could have been used in for the bombing of British doctors in Gaza.

The letter notes that two previous UK governments have suspended arms sales to Israel during conflicts in Gaza.

Sent to the foreign secretary, David Cameron, it also mentions action taken by countries including Canada which last week announced it would halt all arms exports to Israel.

“Today the scale of violence committed by the Israeli military is vastly more deadly, but the UK government has failed to act,” the letter says.

It has been signed by was signed by 107 MPs and 27 peers.

The signatories include the former Labour Middle East minister Peter Hain, the Scottish National party’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn and the former shadow minister Jess Phillips, along with the Conservative peer Nosheena Mobarik, and other more regular critics of Israel.

In the Commons this week, Foreign O ce minister Andrew Mitchell said the government would not be disclosing legal advice given to them on Israel’s continued war against Hamas in Gaza.

7/10 HEROES DETAINED FOR TWO HOURS

Continued on page 3

he spoke about the incident. He filmed the two Border Force o cers as they returned their passports to the brothers, with the male o cer aggressively telling them: “Keep quiet, look at me, are you clear with that? We are the bosses, not you.”

He spoke to Jewish News as the brothers prepared to return to Israel. “We just want to go home,” he said, adding that though there were other Israeli passport holders on their flight, he did not see what had happened to them or whether they were also questioned by Border Force o cers.

The allegation about the Gaza comment and the aggressive attitude of the Border Force o cer in Daniel Sharabi’s video has caused consternation at the highest levels. In parliament on Tuesday, the alleged conduct was labelled “a disgrace beyond all proportion” by the senior Jewish Conservative MP, Sir Michael Ellis.

Sir Michael, a former attorneygeneral, told the Commons the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel of 7 October had provoked “widespread antisemitism in this country across the world, with the latest manifestation of this at Manchester Airport”.

Of the Border Force guards, he added: “Two innocent victims of the [Nova] music festival slaughter were

berated and told, ‘We have to make sure that you are not going to do what you’re doing in Gaza over here.’ Blaming all Jews for the actions of their country is obviously antisemitic.

“These are people in uniform acting for this country as Border Force o cers. It is a disgrace beyond all proportion. Their detention for several hours was clearly unlawful.”

Speaking during Tuesday’s latest government statement on the situation in Gaza, Sir Michael then asked Foreign O ce minister Andrew Mitchell if “Jews and Israelis are still welcome in this country”.

Mitchell responded that there had been an “absolutely outrageous, shocking and disgraceful incident” being “personally” investigated by home secretary James Cleverly.

The minister added that he would “condemn without reservation” the “extraordinary events that appear to have taken place”, made “even worse” by the details of the duo’s detention.

Cleverly tweeted after the incident: “We are investigating this. We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination. This incident will be handled in line with our disciplinary procedures”. A complaint was lodged by the Manchester Jewish Representative Council, whose chief executive, Marc Levy, said: “We request urgent

clarification on what immediate steps will be taken, to ensure others travelling with Israeli passports are not subjected to the same abuse.”

A Home O ce spokesperson later said it was investigating, adding: “While the facts and circumstances are being established, it must be reiterated that we do not tolerate antisemitism, in any forms, anywhere.”

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: “These are serious allegations so, as one would expect, we are in touch with UKBF and the Home O ce to ensure they are looked into.”

Despite their distress, the Sharabi brothers went ahead with their

planned post-Purim presentation to Chabad in the City in Manchester.

The brothers have been described as heroes for their actions at the festival. As their friend, lawyer Daniel Berke, noted: “They were partying, the Hamas terrorists began shooting, and they got away — but then they turned around and went back.

“There was a tank which had crashed, its occupants had been killed. Under very heavy fire, they got people behind the tank. Then they climbed into the tank, while RPGs were being fired at it. Then something really incredible happened, they had an argument with God, because they

couldn’t find any weapons in the tank. They found a machine-gun, but it didn’t work, because it needed grease.

So from the people hiding behind the tank they found a small jar of Vaseline. It was like the miracle of Chanukah.”

Neriya Sharabi, 22, managed to get the machine gun to work and was fighting o terrorists around the tank. His brother Daniel is a combat medic and was treating wounded people sheltering behind the tank. Several of the friends with whom they had been partying before the attack were killed at the festival, including their friends Karin Journo and Yosef Ohana.

“They saved many lives,” says Berke. “But afterwards they were a complete mess. Some moron had the idea of sending Neriya to his reserve duty to come and pull bodies out of the kibbutzim. After two days of that, he was broken.

“So the brothers first set up a WhatsApp support group for survivors, and then asked what they could do to help. Almost everyone had PTSD or felt suicidal.” The Sharabis set up a not-for-profit group which uses yoga retreats and music therapy to help survivors of the 7 October attacks.

“All they were doing when they came to Manchester was trying to share their story. This has really upset them.”

All Jews affected by 7/10, Khan tells JW3 audience

In an opening statement to the audience at JW3 at the latest London Jewish Forum (LJF) breakfast event, the mayor of London said he had not met a Jewish Londoner unaffected by 7 October and admitted that “fear” was still present six months on, writes Lee Harpin.

Sadiq Khan added: “All of us, whether Muslim, Jewish or any other faith, are praying for the safe return of the hostages still being kept by Hamas.”

Asked about the effect that near-weekly pro-Palestinian protests were having on the community, along with claims that policing of them could be tougher, Khan pointed to the fact that about 1,000 arrests had been made, for incidents affecting the community as well as since the rallies began after 7 October.

He said some of these arrests had been made as a result of footage posted on social media, which could be “distressing” to the community who feared action was not being taken.

“To reassure you, the police are taking action,” said the mayor. “It’s important though that politicians aren’t telling the police who to arrest, and so forth.

“There has got to be operational independence. Because what’s to stop somebody else who we don’t like as a politician telling the police who to arrest.

“It’s a really important rule, and I’m afraid we’ve got national politicians who are giving the impression that the reason why police aren’t arresting is because the mayor happens to be a Muslim and he’s telling the police to go soft. That is not the case.”

Khan also openly criticised the conduct of some of those attending pro-Palestine protests

who used banners and placards, or chants, that while not breaking the law, did cause distress.

“Whether it’s projecting things on to the side of Big Ben, these kind of things, you may not be breaking the law, but why do that when you are causing distress, anxiety and fear to your friends , neighbours and colleagues.”

Khan added, in response to a question from Brent councillor Neil Nerva: “Once the conflict is over, and God willing it will be over, we have got to carry on being friends, neighbours and colleagues.”

The mayor also responded to a question about the annual Al Quds Day march in London and concerns about support for proscribed organisations, saying he would raise the issue

in a meeting scheduled to be held with home secretary James Cleverly in the coming week.

In response to a question put to him by respected Board of Deputies representative Jerry Lewis, the mayor also confirmed that he had been due to visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories during his current term in City Hall, but that trip had been postponed due to the impact of the pandemic. On the prospect of rearranging a visit to the region if he is re-elected the mayor said he would be “keen to go, as soon as we possibly can”.

LJF has staged events, partnered by Jewish News, with all the candidates taking part in the mayoral election on 2 May, but with the Liberal Democrat candidate still to have their event, it

HALFON QUITS JOB AS EDUCATION MINISTER

One of the Conservative Party’s most senior Jewish MPs this week announced he is quitting his government role as higher education minister, and will also be standing down at the general election.

The MP for Harlow wrote to prime minister Rishi Sunak stating: “I feel that it is time for me to step down at the forthcoming general election, and in doing so, to resign as a minister in your government.”

Having served his constituency for nearly 24 years, Halfon has been an outspoken supporter of Israel, and has also been a campaigning voice in parliament against antisemitism.

He once declared: “I am a proud Jewish member of parliament. My faith influences me because Jewish tradition is focused around education, work ethic, compassion and support for the state of Israel.

“Being Jewish I have always learnt about the Holocaust which forms the backdrop of Jewish historical learning.”

The 55-year-old also once said that one of the three things that motivate him in politics is “unashamed support for the State of Israel, as the only real democracy and progressive force in the Middle East”.

The resignation as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister of Halfon, a vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council, was unexpected. He has also played a leading role in the influential Conservative Friends of Israel organisation..

Halfon attempted to get the advocacy organisation Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) banned from the House of Commons in 2011. He has also campaigned

against Libyan funding of British universities, prompted by the experiences of his Italian-Jewish refugee grandfather Renato Halfon, who was making a living in Libya before being expelled alongside other Jews.

Only last month he praised the government’s efforts to tackle antisemitism, telling a Jewish newspaper of plans to introduce a “seal of quality” awarded only to universities that adhere to “the highest standards in dealing with antisemitism”.

He said of rising antisemitism on campus: “We are going to deal with this. We are going to stamp it out.”

Addressing a parliamentary select committee last week Halfon said: “I fear that there is ghettoisation going on across universities, with Jewish students unable to do what they should be doing – having the best time of their life at university.”

was clear that Khan, seeking to become mayor for a third time in the capital, who attracted the biggest turn-out, at an event starting at 7.30am.

Acknowledging that London’s cohesion and diversity was put under severe strain in the aftermath of 7 October, Khan noted the “public transport isn’t as safe as it should be for Jewish Londoners” and he pledged to create a Transport Hate Crime Taskforce to tackle hate crime on London’s transport network

He said he had been informed of a “heartbreaking story of Jewish Londoners travelling between Stamford Hill and Golders Green who had been on the receiving end of antisemitism in Finsbury Park”.

In response to further questions, Khan expressed solidarity with the Union of Jewish Students after president Edward Isaacs spoke of the weak response his organisation had received from other student bodies after seeking allyship in the face of rising antisemitism. Khan also praised the contribution of female voices in both the Jewish and Muslim communities in seeking to unite rather than further divide communities here in response to the events in the Middle East.

UK DROPS FOOD AID INTO GAZA

The UK this week airdropped food into Gaza for the first time as the defence secretary urged Israel to allow more aid into the territory.

The Royal Air Force parachuted more than 10 tonnes of aid, including water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula to Gaza civilians on Monday.

An RAF A400M aircraft flew from Amman to drop the supplies along Gaza’s northern coastline as part of a Jordanian-led international aid mission, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Grant Shapps authorised the airdrop following an assessed reduction in threat to the military mission and risk to civilians.

He said: “The UK has already tripled our aid budget to Gaza, but we want to go further in order to reduce human suffering. Today’s

airdrop has provided a further way to deliver humanitarian support and I thank the RAF personnel involved in this essential mission, as well as our Jordanian partners for their leadership.

“The hell that was unleashed by the October 7 Hamas attack has led to widescale innocent loss of life.

“The UK’s goal is to use every route possible to deliver life-saving aid, whether that is by road, air or new routes via the sea.

“We also continue to call on Israel to provide port access and open more land crossings in order to increase incoming aid deliveries to Gaza.”

The aid delivery came on the day the UK backed a United Nations Security Council call for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

‘Tackling antisemitic hate is tougher now’

Flawed government legislation is failing to protect Jewish youngsters from the shocking rise in antisemitism at schools, universities, and online, Labour’s shadow education secretary has warned, writes Lee Harpin.

Bridget Phillipson confirmed she held meetings with Union of Jewish Students (UJS) leaders to discuss fears that laws passed last year putting new duties on universities, colleges and student unions to promote free speech had actually contributed to an increase in antisemitism.

In an exclusive interview, she also said that if Labour were elected into power at the next general election the party would “need to look again” at the government’s weak online safety legislation.

The shadow minister said at present the legislation was not strong enough to protect young people from the onslaught of antisemitic, racist and misogynist hate being directed at them online.

Phillipson spoke to Jewish News during her visit to JFS secondary school in north-west London, where she engaged in a free-flowing and wide-ranging Q&A session with sixthform politics students.

The MP for Houghton and Sunderland South since 2010 stressed that she was only too aware of the need for action to tackle rising anti-Jewish sentiment across society in the aftermath of the 7 October Hamas terror attack in Israel.

“I am very concerned about the fact I hear reports about Jewish children and young people not feeling safe going to and from school and the real concern about rising levels of anti-

semitism that we see in our society and the impact that has on children and young people,” she said. “I want all children to be safe, and supported. I am also concerned about what we see increasingly on our campuses around hate speech and the targeting of Jewish students.

“And, across the board, the kind of rising levels of hate crime and Islamophobic hate crime as well. And how government must be a force in seeking to bring communities together to foster a society that is tolerant, respectful and welcoming of all.

“Sadly, all too often from the Conservatives I think we have had an approach that has stoked tension and division at a time when we need to do everything we can as a country to bring our diverse communities together.”

Phillipson also highlighted the flaws she believes that are evident in the Tories’ attempt to tackle antisemitism, and the rise of other forms of hate within society, through legislation passed in parliament.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) 2023 Act, passed last May, had been an attempt

by government to intervene over claims that an increasing number of events, including proIsrael debates, were being cancelled by university student unions with “no-platforming” of speakers a regular occurence.

Critics had argued that official figures showed only a tiny fraction of events were actually cancelled on campus, while Labour warned that a stricter commitment to the ideals of free speech under the new legislation actually made it easier to stage problematic debates, including around Holocaust denial.

In the aftermath of 7 October, the legislation also made it more difficult for intervention over hard-line pro-Palestine events where slogans such as “intifada” and “from the river to sea” can be defended on free speech grounds.

Phillipson, who was elected as an MP in 2010 and wrote a devastating 3,000-word critique of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership for the New Statesman, confirms: “I’ve met with UJS, as has Matt Western, Labour’s shadow university minister, who keeps in regular contact. I’m really concerned.

“We can really see the impact that rising levels of antisemitism is having on students. All young people, including Jewish students should feel safe and supported.”

The 40-year-old MP, a mother of two, says

battling antisemitic and other hate speech impacting on young people requires an improvement in “critical thinking skills”.

Worryingly, she concludes that at present “the messages being pumped out to our young people could, I think, well represent in the years to come a threat to national security”.

Hostile stage actors are using social media platforms as a way of spreading disinformation among young people, says Phillipson.

“That’s why it’s incredibly important that we give young people the critical thinking skills that they need to analyse and access things in front of them. To ask questions and not to take things at face value.

“That’s true when it comes to the spread of misogyny, antisemitism, hatred, and also wider conspiracy theories.”

She says Labour would commit to carrying out a curriculum assessment review, which the party would deliver in government.

They would seek to ensure that maths lessons include ways to “challenge and consider the use of statistics” , while in history pupils would learn to question how an author might choose to present “one kind of view”.

Children would be encouraged to “ask questions essential to a lively and vibrant democracy”.

Susan Hall tells Jews: ‘I’m on your side’

Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall has told a communal event she is on the “side” of the Jewish community, many of whom currently “not only feel ignored, but also unsafe” in London, writes Lee Harpin.

Speaking at the London Jewish Forum’s mayoral election breakfast event on Monday, Hall also suggested the Metropolitan Police “need to get a grip on antisemitism” adding “Jewish Londoners have a right to feel safe”.

Hall spoke briefly to the audience at JW3 in north-west London about her ambitions if she was elected as the next London mayor.

She said: “I know that many of you in the Jewish community do not only feel ignored, but also feel unsafe.

“I want to give you my assurance that I am on your side and I will do all I can to listen and to stop antisemitism.”

On the situation in Gaza, Hall said she supported “temporary humanitarian pauses to

allow aid to get in” but she said the “main focus” should be on ensuring the hostages captured by Hamas “get back to their families”.

On the rise in antisemitism in London, and issues for some of those attending the pro-Palestinian marches, the Harrow councillor said: “I am clear, and I will be clear with Mark Rowley, the police commissioner, that “the police need to get a grip on antisemtism. Jewish Londoners have a right to feel safe.”

Hall said she was also aware of concerns over pro-Palestine demos in the capital and after speaking with home secretary James Cleverly she was “delighted that the government is putting in stricter controls and ensuring the police have the power to stop hateful, dangerous and intimidating behaviour.”

Answering questions from the floor, Hall denied that she was placing too much blame on the police for rising antisemitism.

She told Jewish News: “What I meant was

that when police see it, they must deal with it. If people behave in a way that is intimidating our Jewish community, then the police should deal with it.”

Hall said a “lot of the recent issues” around antisemitism had been “caused or exacerbated by the war and situation in Israel and Gaza”, which she added “has made things worse”.

Pressed on the fact that there is no law that allows the police to arrest people using chants such as “From The River To The Sea”, unless it is used directly outside a synagogue, Hall said “if they (the marchers) are allowed to do it, they’ll do it again and again.”

Later she said she knew “about things to do with the Jewish religion” because of friends she had in the community.

Hall added: “I am completely tolerant of all different communities.”

The Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates are taking part in their own LJF

Kosher food is being ‘targeted

Kosher food is being “targeted by racists” and removed from stores, the government’s antisemitism adviser has warned.

Non-affiliated peer Lord Mann criticised the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, a Palestinian-led movement that targets Israeli produce and goods.

The former Labour MP said not buying a product from Israel is a personal choice but actions that remove the ability of Jewish people to access kosher food is attacking a “fundamental freedom”.

He said: “If one decides not to buy Jaffa oranges because one doesn’t like Israel or the Israeli government, hat’s a choice one is free to make.

“If one stops a shop, say, in a university or in a local authority from stocking Jaffa oranges, then that

means people who wish to buy them can’t do so.

“And it’s particularly invidious when a religion – and there are several religions – have specific dietary rules and laws.

“So in the case of Judaism, kosher food, to specifically isolate the ability of individuals who choose to follow the religion’s norms and rules in terms of diet to ban the

right of them to do so –it’s much more invidious because what it’s doing is impacting one’s way of life and therefore the principle is far greater.”

His comments came as peers started a line-by-line scrutiny of the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill.

This bans public bodies from taking unilateral action, such as boycotts,

against countries. It also allows the government to exempt certain countries, with and it is intended Russia and Belarus will be exempt immediately.

Special protections have been granted to Israel due to BDS targeting, meaning the Bill does not allow ministers to make regulations to exempt Israel, the Palestinian territories or the Golan Heights.

Lord Mann said the Bill should ensure public bodies do not prevent the provision of foods prepared in line with religious practices, such as kosher.

Cabinet Office minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe said the ban established by the Bill applied to all procurement decisions, so if a public authority decided not to procure kosher food because of moral or political disapproval of Israel, the Bill would prohibit it.

A Jewish councillor in Bury, Greater Manchester, has confirmed to Jewish News he will not contest the ward at the May elections.

Nathan Boroda won the Unsworth seat for Labour in May 2021 and has served as cabinet member for health and wellbeing as well as representing the Council on the University of Manchester General Assembly.

a huge thank you to Unsworth residents and council colleagues who have supported me ... serving as your councillor has been amazing but now is the right time to pass on the reins to someone else.”

The former King David High School head boy said: “I want to say

Ex-Gogglebox television star Josh Tapper has been selected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Hertsmere to contest the seat held by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden.

Tapper, an account manager at Hanbury Strategy, said he was “thrilled and honoured” after winning the backing over another Jewish candidate Louis Trup.

Tapper will have to pull off a shock to defeat Dowden, who secured a 16,951 majority in 2019.

Boroda, who represents the Jewish Labour Movement on the Board of Deputies and sits on the management board of the Manchester Jewish Representative Council, was also praised for his work by Labour MP Christian Wakeford.

But Tapper gained vital campaigning experience in local Barnet elections, where he performed above expectations in the previously non-Labour areas of the newly formed Edgwarebury seat.

The ex-Rosh Pinah Primary School and Yavneh College pupil appeared on Gogglebox in 2017.

Nurses ‘forced Jewish child from his sickbed’

A Manchester hospital has “taken action” after allegations of the mistreatment of a seriously-ill young Jewish patient by nurses wearing ‘Free Palestine’ badges, writes Jenni Frazer.

The British-born Israel-based uncle of the unnamed nine-year-old, who has an autoimmune blood disease, claims the child, while visibly wearing his kippa and tzitzit, was “kicked out of his bay” at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital by a nurse allegedly “covered in ProPalestine badges and stickers” and was forced to “lie on the floor with a canula in”.

In the story, which was widely shared across social media by appalled members of the public including TV presenter Rachel Riley, the uncle says: “As a religious Jewish family, my nephew wears his black Kippa (yamulka, religious hat whatever you want to call it) and his tzitzit proudly. Not today. Why you ask? The nurses (NHS employees) are all walking around wearing “Free Palestine” pins and he was scared.

“Beyond that, the last few times he went in he was denied correct medical care by the same couple of nurses every time.”

In a statement responding to family feedback, Manchester University NHS Trust said it had “taken action” and offered “prompt reassurance it and the wider NHS, provides care and

treatment for all people regardless of race, faith, or background, and does not discriminate”.

The trust said it was proud of its good relationship with Jewish communities across Greater Manchester and would continue to build their confidence in accessing services through our engagement with patients, faith

leaders, and communities. It added: “We have reminded all staff of the need to adhere to the trust’s dress code policy which only permits the wearing of badges endorsed by officially sanctioned NHS campaigns. We do not tolerate any discriminatory practice and react swiftly where there is evidence of such behaviour.”

A cover story essay in the latest issue of the London Review of Books, titled The Shoah After Gaza, has been denounced for its attacks on Israel.

The near-8,000-word essay by Indian-born Hindu writer Pankaj Mishra fails to mention Hamas murdering 1,200 Israelis on 7 October nor kidnapping hostages and using them as a bargaining chip by the terrorists.

Instead, Mishra writes that “all these universalist reference points – the Shoah as the measure of all crimes, antisemitism as the most lethal form of bigotry – are in danger of disappearing as the Israeli military massacres and starves Palestinians ... while denouncing as antisemitic or champions of Hamas all who plead with it to desist”.

The writer David Herman was among those to condemn the essay for “airbrushing” historical examples of the persecution of the Jewish people.

Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer wrote on X/Twitter: “There [are] plenty of ways of criticising Israel over the war in Gaza, but writing 8,000 words lecturing Jews that they are like Nazis and anyway the Holocaust actually wasn’t so special says more about this pseud than it does about Israelis or Jews.”

The Board of Deputies said Mishra’s article contained “multiple examples of Holocaust inversion” and “the LRB’s eagerness to publish such a grotesquely warped viewpoint utterly disgraces the publication”.

A post-7/10 blueprint for British Jewish life

Unprecedented plans to strengthen the UK Jewish community following 7 October have been launched by the Jewish Leadership Council, writes Jenni Frazer.

Forge the Future is a densely worded document which emerged from JLC strategy conference convened last month, in which 180 leaders from di erent parts of the community discussed how British Jews should proceed followng the Hamas attack on Israel and its impact on Jewish communities worldwide.

After 7 October, the JLC says, “our context and needs changed overnight”. Forge the Future is an attempt to grapple with some of the challenges facing the community now, to streamline responses and deal better with external threats.

Keith Black, the JLC’s chair, says his organisation’s aim is not to control but to co-ordinate the work, and remove duplication. “We want to ensure that for anything strategic, for anything that will have a long-term impact on the community, that we get all the right wise heads in the room, discussing how to handle it.”

The February brainstorm generated “5,000 Post-It notes” and a sense that it was “abundantly clear that there is an appetite for change and innovation in how we work as a community”.

The notes and breakout recommendations have been distilled into nine aims, arising from four main objectives.

These four are: empowering and supporting the next generations; winning support and allies; ensuring fair

media coverage; enforcing our legal rights.

The JLC, says Keith Black, is now “in deep conversation with significant funders” as those involved in Forge the Future are aware that some of the proposals cannot happen without proper support. However, Black says he is “confident the funders will listen” if the aims are presented seriously and fully costed.

He added: “We have explicitly removed from this document any of the long-term strategic challenges that the community was facing before 7 October. So we’ve not dealt with the Charedi community or the decline in funders or the needs for social care.

“These are issues we feel the community is thinking about and working with and there’s an established peace time structure to deal with many of those issues.

“We are a community under grave threat: a deeply anxious community, worried for its future and not set up to deal with the level of animus and hatred that we are feeling at the moment. It’s simply not there. We’ve not dealt previously with the depth of the

— much of the running on this has been made, up to now by the Campaign Against Antisemitism and UK Lawyers for Israel.

But Black believes that centrist opinion will enable the “broad church” of the community to come to agreement on how to fight legal issues “without descending into deep division”.

anti-Israel narrative prevalent in too much of civic society. That needs to be challenged.”

One of the big challenges, Black said, is “allies”. He believes that a silent majority of the British population “will have no truck with antisemitism. But we need to go out and find our friends, in the interfaith movement, in trade unions, in arts and culture, in the NHS… wherever it may be. We hear about the enemies. But we don’t hear enough from those who are prepared to stand up for Jews in this country, so we need to find a network of ambassadors.

“We shouldn’t fight this battle alone. The anxiety that our community feels today is a national disgrace. That has to be brought to everybody’s attention – it’s not acceptable.” Though the community’s physical protection was well looked after by the CST, Black said, “our psychological protection is vulnerable”.

Among the nine target recommendations is the creation of a Community Legal Action Group to co-ordinate all legal activity. Black is aware of di erences of opinion in how that operates

EIGHT-DAY TEACHER STRIKE CANCELLED

A planned eight-day teacher strike at King Solomon High School has been called o , writes Michelle Rosenberg.

Thirty-eight members of sta at Essex’s only Jewish secondary school had voted to strike because of a dispute with headteacher Michele Phillips and the school governors over teaching supervision.

cation. We appreciate that the teachers work hard and do not like all the changes that are being introduced, however these are necessary to bring the school out of requires improvement.

Also in the frame is a need to “deliver a responsive, joined up community media and communications function”, so a coherent message is presented.

Acknowledging that the Board of Deputies, on the eve of its elections, was “in purdah” at the moment, Black conceded that the JLC was rethinking its relationship with the Board.

National Union of Education members were seeking guarantees that monitoring of sta to improve teaching would not become formal procedures. Their call added that such lesson supervision should be restricted to three times a year.

Parents furious at the prospect of the strikes crippling the school backed the head and governors.

One told Jewish News: “Our children have already had to endure numerous lesson cancellations due to illness and shortages of teachers. This strike is totally unacceptable in such a crucial stage of their edu-

“For the teachers to further impact the shortcomings of this year’s teaching levels by striking is selfish, and only impacts the children’s education further.”

Fifty members of sta in total are in the NEU, though not all voted for strike action.

The district secretary of Redbridge NEU told Jewish News two weeks ago that “members of the NEU are keen to avoid strike action and are calling on parents to write to the headteacher and the local authority to help resolve the dispute.

“A Zoom meeting for parents of King Solomon High School is due to be called to give them more details about the dispute.”

The meeting is expected to inform parents the strikes have been called o .

Wizo ‘can do’ ethic praised at awards

Nearly 250 members and supporters of Wizo, the veteran women’s organisation which has become Israel’s largest independent welfare provider, gathered in central London this week for a unique event — the Commitment Awards, writes Jenni Frazer.

The awards, given in six categories, go to men and women perceived to have made a di erence in their respective fields.

Each nominee was chosen by a panel of judges who picked winners for their contribution to Israeli and wider society. The judges were chaired by the Apprentice star and business leader Claude Littner.

Each award was sponsored – and the Jewish News was delighted to sponsor the inclusion and diversity in the media award, which went to blogger and influencer Hen Mazzig.

The judges said: “With 256,000 followers on Instagram, his content has been consistent and excellent since 7 October and very helpful and informative to young people and Jews fighting antisemitism online.

He speaks up for Sephardi Mizrahi Jews, and creates awareness around that, when there is very little in the wider media.”

Mazzig was unable to receive his award in person but sent a message saying he was honoured. “This award serves as a reminder of the importance of amplifying marginalised voices and challenging stereotypes in our society,” he added.

“As we mark courageous individuals tonight, let us remember that our work is far from over. In a world still plagued by anti-Jewish hate, discrimination and inequality, it is our collective responsibility to continue advocating for change.”

Mazzig’s message was echoed by the other winners: Esty Bruck, programme director of The Friendship Circle, which works with people with disabilities, who won the girls’ and women’s education award; David Fraser of the Ready10 group, who won the equality in the workplace award, and whose company highlights diversity and inclusion; Naomi Russell,

who took the women in leadership award for her launch of Food Bank Aid, which has, in just four short years, supplied more than £4m of practical aid to thousands of households; Mel Bona, who won the innovation that has changed women’s lives award, for her art therapy work in her company Electric Umbrella; and Bianca Sokol, who took the Wizo major achievement award for an inspiring woman leading the way. She set up the charity, Sebby’s Corner, when trying to find somewhere to donate clothes her children had outgrown. Now she has an MBE for the work done to help thousands of vulnerable children.

Naomi Russell and Bianca Sokol told the audience that they had never intended to set up charities. But, they said, their experience had taught them not to wait for others to do something, but go ahead with what needed to be done. “Just do it!” said Russell.

A separate Changing Lives award was won by Charly Young MBE, cofounder of The Girls’ Network and the Equilibrium Gender Collective.

That ‘can do’ attitude of Wizo was highlighted through the evening, not least in the special message of support from President Isaac Herzog, who spoke with warmth about the place of Wizo in his family. David Dangoor, the sponsor of the Commitment Awards, said Wizo was the natural organisation of choice when his late parents, Renee and Sir Naim, were starting to integrate into the UK community. His sponsorship was made in their memory, a couple “dedicated to changing lives and building futures”.

Wizo UK chair Annabel Stelzer welcomed guests with an overview of its work in Israel. She said Wizo was dealing with “the collective trauma

of Israeli society” after 7 October and that its personnel, in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks, had “stepped up in the manner of first responders”, opening day care centres for the children of medical professionals so that the adults could carry out much needed work.

Stelzer also noted the “huge spike in domestic violence” in Israel after 7 October, another issue for Wizo and its professional team.

The evening was augmented by music from a 14-year-old and now resident of a Wizo Youth Village, Lara Pines; by Opera Holland Park, and by presentations from Countdown personality Rachel Riley.

APPRENTICE STAR STANDS WITH ANTI-ISRAEL DOCTOR

A jewellery company owner fired from The Apprentice claims she skipped the spin-o show due to having a “negative experience” taking part in the main series and in solidarity with a fellow former contestant who was kicked o the spin-o show after making vile remarks about Israel, Zionists, Hindus and women.

Noor Bouziane, from Liverpool, missed Thursday’s edition of The Apprentice: You’re Fired, where contestants talk about the series after being sent home on that week’s episode.

A statement from The Apprentice said she “has had access to any support she needs, and this is ongoing, even now she has left the process”.

On the main BBC One show, Lord Sugar said it was “with regret” that he had to fire Bouziane after she made a 30-second advert for an electric van which featured a segment where two women were looking at their phones.

He also complained that her pitch for a firm that allows ecommerce companies to sell directly to consumers failed to show the van moving.

As 23-year-old Bouziane defended the video for her product, Lord Sugar said he was “frustrated” that she did not seem to understand how she went wrong.

She said: “I’ve had a really negative experience… and you know you guys deserve to know why I refused to go on the You’ve Been Fired show.”

During the course of the clip, she also said that coming o the show had been “one of the most traumatic experiences of my whole entire life” and claimed that “it had that much of an impact on me that I had to literally leave

the UK, go to Morocco for a month to really heal and get my mind right because it was too much”.

Bouziane also said she missed the spino series, hosted by comedian Tom Allen, as fellow candidate Dr Asif Munaf, a doctor from She eld, was “cut” from his episode of The Apprentice: You’re Fired

Munaf has been suspended by the General Medical Council following a series of vile and o ensive remarks about Israel, Zionists, Hindus and women.

As reported by Jewish News, Munaf also accused Israel of “weaponising the Holocaust” and following the Hamas terror atrocities of 7 October, wrote on Twitter: “One of my sons will liberate Palestine.”

Before the series of the BBC1 show, Munaf used his Twitter account to criticise “odious ogre-like” Zionists and “the Zionist antichrist”.

He said that he apologised for “any o ence caused by my online content/social media”, but denied allegations of antisemitism.

Man in court charged over Hackney arson

A man was charged with arson this week after a fire at a house in Hackney, east London injured four people, writes Joy Falk.

Ian Pitkin, 63, appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with arson with intent to endanger life. He was also charged with possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and possession of an o ensive weapon in a private place.

Police said during the early stages of the investigation into the blaze they had

arrested a man with regard to a potential hate crime.

Following the arrest, however, Det Supt James Conway said: “To protect the integrity of the judicial process and to ensure justice for the victims and our community, we are rightfully limited in what we can now say.

“However, we will continue to engage with our close partners in the local community, including the Community Security Trust and Shomrim to support those impacted by this incident.”

Emergency services had

been called to the incident on Newick Road in Hackney on Wednesday around 12.45pm.

A fleet of eight fire engines and roughly 60 firefighters helped to battle the blaze.

The ground and first floors of the three-storey house were destroyed by the fire, the London Fire Brigade said.

Station commander Alan Bendell, who attended the scene, said: “Crews worked hard to bring the fire under control and stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring properties.”

Three people were seen

leaving the building before the brigade’s arrival.

In all, o cisals said, four were taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews. No one was reported to be seriously injured.

A spokesman for the local police unit covering Hackney, said the police and partner agencies had responded swiftly to the incident, which had been “rapidly unfolding”.

He added: “We are pleased that our thorough investigation has led the Crown Prosecution Service to agree to these significant charges.”

Golders Green rabbi charged in sex case

2022.

Rabbi Halpern, 65, of Bridge Lane, NW11, was charged after a police investigation following claims made in an Israeli TV programme in November of that year.

In the programme, a woman, appearing anonymously, alleged she had been the victim of non-recent sexual o ences said to have taken place in London.

In March 2023, a man in his 60s was arrested in connection with the matter, and a file was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in December 2023.

Police said Halpern has now been charged and has been bailed to appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Friday 19 April.

In a statement, the Met Police said that investigating o cers continued to support the alleged victim.

The statement added that “all allegations of sexual o ences are taken extremely seriously by the Met and we would always encourage victims to come forward in confidence so we can support them and investigate further”.

MASKED MEN INTIMIDATE STAFF AT KOSHER SHOPS

Police and the CST are stepping up patrols in the Radlett area after a group of masked males were reported to have been entering Jewish shops in the main shopping street, and questioning sta about their feelings towards the Israel Defence Forces. Radlett has a large Jewish population, writes Jenni Frazer.

On Monday, members of the public contacted police and the CST to complain that three men, believed to have previously assembled outside the nearby Budgens store, entered the Fress Deli and Noshers shops to ask the employees about the IDF. The men were reported to have been acting suspiciously, according to Hertfordshire Police.

Its spokesman said: “A member

of the public felt uncomfortable about the interactions and reported the incident. An o cer attended both stores to talk to employees

regarding their interactions with the males and CCTV footage is being reviewed”.

Reports say that when the men asked the sta in each shop about whether they supported Israel or the IDF, the response was simply “we sell cakes and bagels”.

Police told Jewish News that inquiries were continuing and they would be “conducting patrols around the area to provide reassurance”.

A CST spokesman added: “This is a disturbing example of antiJewish harassment, ostensibly in the name of anti-Israel activism. It is completely unjustifiable and we will be increasing security in the area in the coming days to reassure the Jewish community.”

/

SPIELBERG ‘ALARMED’ BY POST 7/10 HATE

Steven Spielberg has warned that “the echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate” as he gave an impassioned speech urging the importance of stopping the rise of antisemitism and extremist views.

The iconic Jewish filmmaker appeared during a ceremony which honoured the USC Shoah Foundation receiving the University of Southern California (USC) Medallion – its highest honour.

The foundation, which gives Holocaust survivors and witnesses the opportunity to preserve their testimonies, was established by Spielberg in 1994 following the release of his Oscar-winning film Schindler’s List

“I am increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history, to once again have to fight for the very

right to be Jewish,” Spielberg said, in a nod to the conflict between Israel and Gaza which began in October.

He added: “We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of 7 October and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza.

“This makes us a unique force for good in the world and is why we are here today to celebrate the work of the Shoah Foundation, which is more crucial now than it even was in 1994.

“It is crucial in the wake of the horrific October 7 massacre.

“It is crucial to the stopping of political violence caused by misinformation, conspiracy theories and ignorance.

“It is crucial because stopping the rise of antisemitism and hate of any kind is critical to the health of our

democratic republic and the future of democracy all over the civilised world,” Spielberg said.

The testimonies of more than 55,000 survivors are preserved at the USC Shoah Foundation, which becomes only the fourth recipient of the University Medallion, which was last awarded to US philanthropist Wallis Annenberg in 2017.

During the ceremony which included 30 Holocaust survivors and their families, Spielberg said: “The echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate. The rise of extremist views has created a dangerous environment and radical intolerance that leads to a society which no longer celebrates di erences, but instead conspires to demonise those who are di erent to the point of creating the other.”

Interfaith schools join soccer stars in world water campaign

British Jewish and Muslim primary school children have taken part in an international campaign called Rehydrating the Earth, a 10-year scheme to mobilise football to help highlight water issues around the world.

Ahead of United Nations World Water Day last Friday, pupils from Rosh Pinah Primary School in Edgware, under the auspices of Football for Peace and the Sir David Amess UK Children’s Parliament, joined Muslim and Christian counterparts from London and West Midlands primary schools to raise awareness about water scarcity and security.

The campaign kicked o in Washington DC via Football for Peace. In Britain, the children attending the launch event at Parliament were organised by Maccabi GB, the Chil-

Young participants in Westminster

dren’s Parliament, the Association of British Muslims and the Catholic charity St Vincent de Paul.

The event was supported by Baroness Uddin, who, with MP Anna Firth, is a co-parliamentary champion of the Children’s Parliament. Other supporters included the Prime Minister’s special envoy on freedom

of religion or belief Fiona Bruce MP and her deputy, David Burrows.

Ms Bruce said: “The recently published White Paper on International Development recognised the need for action which tackles religious vulnerabilities.

“It is therefore timely that Football for Peace is launching its Rehydrating the Earth project which is focused on water and unity, bringing people from all religious and cultural backgrounds together through the power of sports diplomacy to tackle water challenges.”

Former professional footballers Adebayo Akinfenwa and Oumar Niasse and Brentford FC women’s player Alexandra Nord took part, and several professional clubs and federations are also supporting the event internationally.

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Keegan tells of ‘deeply moving and troubling’ Auschwitz visit

Education secretary Gillian Keegan has described a visit to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau as “deeply moving and troubling” and “something you have to experience firsthand”, writes Lee Harpin.

She joined hundreds of post-16 students from West Midlands schools for the visit as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s (HET) Lessons from Auschwitz Project.

Speaking to Jewish media about the experience after returning to the UK, Keegan said: “It’s extraordinary and does hit you when you go and I think it’s something that you have to experience first-hand.

“You see something that was purpose built for the world, really for the destruction of millions of people, or hundreds of thousands of people.

“That really is quite shocking. I mean, it’s obviously very deeply moving, but also quite incomprehensible still. Even though you know everything that’s happened, you’ve read all about it, you’ve seen it in movies. But actually seeing the scale of it for yourself was deeply, deeply moving and troubling.”

Keegan had pledged in a speech at last September’s HET fundraiser dinner in London to make the trip. No one could have predicted that just one month later, Hamas would launch its 7 October attack.

In the aftermath of that atrocity, Keegan said the Auschwitz trip “felt very poignant because for the first time in a long time, Jewish people in many countries, including in

our country, are feeling threatened and scared and are feeling more subjected to levels of hatred that they never thought would be possible.”

Keegan rejected claims that the subsequent banners and placards comparing Israeli actions against Hamas in Gaza with the Holocaust showed education around the causes of the Shoah was failing.

She said: “Yes, there are some groups on our streets. Obviously we’re not comfortable with what’s happening on our streets and we must do everything to stamp it out. But I don’t think that means that Holocaust education is not being successful.”

Noting the alarming rise in antisemitism in schools and

universities, Keegan stressed that in terms of Holocaust education: “I wouldn’t say it’s been ine ective.”

Asked what she would say to those who continue to make the comparison between Gaza and the Holocaust, she added: “We say clearly they are not comparable.

“Obviously there’s the discussions about the use of the word genocide, but clearly this is not comparable.

“Maybe that’s a reason more people do need to visit Auschwitz – anyone who sees the systematic design and build of death camps, and concentration camps with gas chambers, this is a very di erent thing.”

Keegan revealed her visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau felt

slightly di erent from an earlier one to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. “I also found that incredibly moving,” she said.

“The visit to Yad Vashem really hits you, maybe because it’s the first time I’d been.

“It’s a very full-on experience. I found that deeply distressing actually.”

Keegan also addressed Jewish News’ report that the government’s plan to invest £7m into further antisemitism

awareness training in the country’s schools had been “paused” over concerns about the process to choose the organisation involved in conducting the educational classes.

She confirmed: “It has only been paused to get the procurement right, not for any other reason.”

Money would also be directed at combating antisemitism in universities, she added.

“What we are looking to do

is show this is what tackling antisemitism looks like. This is what good looks like. Most people want to do the right thing. It’s just knowing what the right thing is.”

Keegan also spoke of the need to end the wearing of political badges in schools, adding “sometimes they are being used for political activism”.

She praised the introduction of free-speech legislation in higher education “in terms of making sure you get that balance, which is a tricky balance.”

Praising Keegan for making her trip, HET chief executive Karen Pollock said: “The impact of visiting Auschwitz can never be underestimated.

“By joining us, she has demonstrated her personal commitment and support to ensure future generations continue to remember the Holocaust and the six million men, women and children murdered just because they were Jewish.”

Bowman ‘ahead’ in race to lead Board

Leaked canvassing data for the forthcoming Board of Deputies presidential election appears to show Amanda Bowman comfortably out in front in the early stage of the race, writes Lee Harpin.

Figures seen by Jewish News suggest 50 percent of deputies who have said they have already made up their minds as to who they want to succeed outgoing president Marie van der Zyl believe current vice-president Bowman, the deputy for Hampstead Synagogue, is the best option.

According to the unofficial figures, based on responses from about 140 of the 280 deputies who sit on the Board, Phil Rosenberg, who represents Brondesbury United Synagogue and previously worked for the communal organisation, has the support of about 25 percent deputies who have made up their minds on who to vote for.

The remaining two contenders Michael Ziff, the deputy for Maccabi GB and current Board treasurer, and Sheila Gewolb, a current vice-president and Cardiff United Synagogue representative are each currently attracting 12.5 percent support.

Sources close to Bowman’s campaign team are believed to have informed her of the optimistic data prediction for the election result on 12 May.

“It looks like it’s Amanda’s race to lose at the moment,” said one source. “But it’s very early days in the campaign.”

Meanwhile a source close to Rosenberg’s campaign said: “On the numbers we have, we remain confident that we are ahead.

“Our data would suggest these notably round numbers represent nothing more than wishful thinking with a supposed ‘leak’ suspiciously

timed to give Amanda’s campaign an artificial boost as we enter the hustings phase of the election.

“That said, perhaps unlike others, we do not trade in fantasy or a sense of entitlement. We are taking nothing for granted and will be fighting for every vote.”

Jewish News understands no candidate is ruling out their chance of being voted president by Deputies in the election yet.

A source close to another candidate told Jewish News: “Let’s see where we are in six weeks’ time before jumping to any conclusions.”

Current president van der Zyl will step down in June after serving a maximum of two three-year terms in succession.

Board of Deputies triennial hustings start in Manchester on 2 April.

Seder seat for a hostage

The Board of Deputies has begun a new campaign for Pesach, the festival of freedom.

Seder Seat for a Hostage is designed to remind people of the men, women and children in captivity in Gaza.

The Board’s website will feature pictures of the hos-

tages for people to download and print, and those holding a seder are urged to set an extra place at the table. “We would also encourage people to share pictures of their laid seder table with the seat set aside for a chosen hostage, along with the hashtag, #SederSeatForA-

Hostage”, the Board said in a statement.

Board president Marie van der Zyl said: “We should view the initiative as ‘commemorating the festival of freedom, remembering those in captivity’. We pray for their release, and for this terrible

conflict to come to an end with Hamas uprooted, so that Israelis and Palestinians can together build a better future. And when we say ‘Next year in Jerusalem’, we will be thinking of all those who are not with us for the seder this year, hoping for their safe return.”

VACCINATION URGED AS MEASLES GROWS

The London Jewish Health Partnership is urging members of the community to make sure they are protected as measles cases rise.

There has been an increase in the number of people with the illness and most of these are young children who have not had a measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination.

NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are asking community leaders to raise awareness of risks in communities and areas with low vaccination coverage.

Measles is very infectious, which means it can spread quickly among schools, nurseries, synagogues and workplaces, if people have not had two dose the MMR vaccine.

While most people recover completely within a couple of weeks, measles can cause very

serious illness: sometimes it leads to permanent disability and in rare cases, death. There is a version of the MMR vaccine, Priorix, which has no pork ingredients. You can request Priorix from your GP.

Andrew Gilbert, co-chair, London Jewish Health Partnership, said: “Measles is a serious illness, with one in five children who get the disease having to be admitted to hospital for treatment.

“Vaccination with two doses of MMR is the only way to give people maximum protection. Measles does not just affect young children –anyone who has missed their MMR vaccination can get measles.

“So, if anyone in your family is not up to date with their MMR, contact your GP surgery to arrange vaccination as soon as possible.”

HAVE A HUMPY PURIM!

This year’s Purim celebrations were muted for obvious reasons, but the sombre mood didn’t prevent people from pulling out all the stops to mark the festival, including this gentleman who hitched a ride to synagogue on a cooperative camel.

Jewish New York history goes digital

Jewish New York was once defined by pushcarts and peddlers, immigrants arriving through Ellis Island, densely packed kosher restaurants, lively Yiddish theatre and daily newspapers in Yiddish and Ladino.

Those days are long gone, but that period is just some of the Jewish history captured in documents and ephemera collected and carefully catalogued by the Dorot Jewish Division at the New York Public Library.

The collection includes the very first edition, dated 1897, of the Yiddish daily newspaper Der Forverts, matchbooks from Jewish businesses such as Schapiro’s Kosher Wines, scripts of plays from the Yiddish writer Sholem Asch and photographs of the Lower East Side from more than 100 years ago.

For decades, New Yorkers could request to

see such items during a visit to the New York Public Library’s main branch.

Now, as part of a belated celebration of the Dorot Jewish Division’s 125th anniversary – in November 2022 – the library has curated and digitised select materials from the division’s archives for an online exhibit.

It means anyone, anywhere can scroll virtually through thousands of years of Jewish history both local and global, from amulets found in Jewish tombs in Jordan dating from the fifth and sixth centuries to a 1903 guide welcoming new Jewish immigrants to the US.

Lyudmila Sholokhova, curator of the Dorot Jewish collection, said the project, funded by the David Berg Foundation, took about two years to complete.

To put the online exhibit together, Sholok-

hova first had to winnow down the 250,000 items in the Dorot Jewish Division archives to approximately 100 that would represent the highlights of the collection.

“The goal was to reflect the variety of items in our collection to show the scope of our collection chronologically and also geographically,” Sholokhova told New York Jewish Week

“I chose the most visually compelling items that also have a history behind them and of course I also wanted to pay special attention to the history of Jewish community in the United States and to the history of the division to show how the library’s collection was shaped.”

Sholokhova, who arrived at the library in 2020 after 16 years at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, admits it wasn’t easy cutting down 800 years of Jewish history into a few

dozen online images. “It was a really big project,” she said. “It was a privilege to work with all these people throughout the library.”

•Visit the online exhibition at: nypl.org/events/ exhibitions/125-years-dorot-jewish-division

A HOSTAGE PLEA FROM THE HEART OF ROME

This banner was put up last week on the facade of the Jewish Schools in Rome (Scuole Ebraiche di Roma) in the historic Ghetto district, the scene of several vigils. On 16 October last year, just over a week after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel, Rome held a series of events to mark 80 years since the Nazi deportation of more than 1,000 of the city’s Jews to Auschwitz. Photograph: RomanJews by Marco Misano

“I just hope to survive the winter”

Hanna’s home was destroyed by a bomb. This winter, temperatures will reach -20°C in Ukraine. She needs your help.

Will you repair Hanna’s home and keep her warm this winter?

T:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send us your comments

PO Box 815, Edgware, HA8 4SX | letters@jewishnews.co.uk

ISRAEL’S EYLON OWN GOAL

The Israeli government has scored an own goal by suspending its best spokesperson, Eylon Levy. On the whole, Israel receives a bad press in the UK, but Eylon was able to present clear and articulate arguments on Israel’s behalf and can calmly refute the dishonest and damaging allegations that are levelled against Israel by the media. Israel is not just fighting for its existential survival but also for its image to be portrayed accurately and fairly and Eylan, who is internationally recognised, can help to achieve this. Also, kol ha kavod to Melanie Phillips for her recent defence of Israel on BBC1’s Question Time.

GLAZER’S TRUE INTENT

David Frencel, commenting on Jonathan Glazer’s speech at the Academy Awards (21 March), says Glazer’s remarks can be seen as simply expressing “intolerance of the democratic Zionism of the state of Israel” in line with “the fashionable, Jewish anti-Zionism”. In fact, Glazer’s intentions went much further, as explained by the writer Daniel Greenfield.

Mr Greenfield said Jews and Jewish organisations embraced the film Zone of Interest because they failed to understand it, its message being “there are always holocausts going on, shooting and screaming, just a little past where we choose to look while we enjoy our comfortable lives“.

Like most revisionists, Glazer’s goal was to create a film that would show we’re emotionally and politically closer to the perpetrator culture than we think – we are the new Nazis. Glazer hijacked the Holocaust to promote his own warped narrative.

By email

HAMAS MUST BE DEFEATED

Joe Biden, in an election year, had his mind set on appeasement as a priority to satisfy the progressives and far left of his party, and thus instructed Anthony Blinken to obtain as many air miles as necessary to achieve a ceasefire. Yes, releasing innocent hostages should take priority; however, nothing must deter the path to eliminate all elements of the barbaric Hamas while limiting civilian casualties. These attempts hit a brick wall when they were vetoed at the UN by Algeria, China and Russia, though even if passed they would have not been binding. Therefore, the seeking out for destruction of the top echelons that instigated and planned 7/10 must always be paramount. Stephen Vishnick, By email

Response to starvation

Journalist John Ware suggests “the Jewish response to starvation in Gaza” should include diaspora Jewish institutions supporting civilians facing food insecurity (21 March). He dutifully lists atrocities Israel has faced since 7 October and then tries to see past Israel’s pain. The facts fly in the face of his perspectives.

Israel currently – and for the foreseeable future – is in pain. The trauma of 7/10 and the existential war Israel is fighting against terror organisations mean it must focus its resources on survival.

It is doing so while trying to limit civilian casualties to a greater extent than both the UK and the USA in their campaigns against Isis and Osama Bin Laden. This has been verified by British military experts. The real problem with the thrust of Mr Ware’s column is two-fold.

First, tragically, civilian casualties and starvation are inevitable in any war, with the destruction of infrastructure and disruption of food supply chains. This war could end immediately if Hamas would release the hostages brutally kidnapped and lay down their arms.

Hamas is cynically weaponising the civilian populations and media outlets and journalists are useful tools in their deliberate strategy.

Second, Mr Ware fails to identify those responsible for the food insecurity and hold them to account. The only way to solve the problems that beset this region is to demand humanitarian standards from those receiving the aid, and leadership that will educate its people to live peace with its neighbours instead of constantly stoking war.

IT TAKES COURAGE TO SEE THE OTHER SIDE

I wanted to write a comment at the foot of John Ware’s online opinion piece, but was unable to do so online. So, I just want to say how much I agree with his article.

To express deep concern at the prospect of thousands of inhabitants of Gaza facing starvation in no way compromises one’s loyalty to Israel, and it is, indeed, a crying shame that Jewish communal organisations have shown little or no empathy, publicly, with the plight of Palestinians.

I write as a Holocaust historian, who believes in the sanctity of all life. ‘Never again’ applies to everyone, not just yesterday’s victims. I should add I am extremely worried we Jews may no longer be able to seek shelter under the protective umbrella of Holocaust memory.

But I congratulate you for having the courage in the midst of this polarising conflict to publish John Ware’s outstanding piece.

THREAT IS NOTHING NEW

In the wake of Purim, I wish to remind everyone to learn from history. Haman hated the Jews and wanted to annihilate them. Fast forward – Hamas hates the Jews and wants to annihilate them. Let’s focus on the end result of this conflict. Just as the Jews of old were victorious over Haman’s evil plans, present-day Jews are also going to be victorious. There is hope for Israel.

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UN

PREFERABLE

RESOLUTION IS

Why did Benjamin Netanyahu publicly denouce the United Nations Security Council resolution on Monday calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the immediate release of all 134 hostages in Gaza?

This vote is a significantly better course of action compared to the ceasefire deal that was discussed in Qatar with Netanyahu’s approval.

For starters, the United Nations resolution makes no mention of the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many of them coldblooded killers. The Qatar deal did.

I support Israel’s aim to destroy Hamas once and for all, but cannot for the life of me understand Benjamin Netanyahu’s war leadership. This is a fight that requires time. Months, maybe years. It is not something to which to attach a best-before date. The IDF’s tactics suggest impatience.

Goldstone, By email

Double standards and Israel’s higher standards

On a recent morning, listeners to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme will have awakened to a UN o cial aerating on famine in Gaza. In precise detail he sought to elucidate, with some complex definitions, how Israel’s actions in the territory had created “the worst humanitarian crisis I have seen in 50 years”.

Another UN o cial, Marin Gri ths, would claim on Sky News what he had witnessed in Gaza was more alarming than the Syrian civil war and the ‘horrors’ of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the 1970s.

All humanitarian crises are terrible and no one, even the hardest-hearted Israel supporters, could not be moved by some of the pictures beamed from Gaza or the possibility of a catastrophe.

Yet the language and data deployed by UN o cials was apoplectic.

More so when one considers 825,000

people, or 25 percent of the population, died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia: a genocide marked alongside the Shoah on Holocaust Memorial Day.

What was especially troubling about the Today exchange was that soon afterwards the presenters did a promo for a special report, to be broadcast later in the day from Sudan. The substance of the dispatch was that the forgotten conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces ‘has created a humanitarian crisis in Sudan’.

The numbers a ected by the Sudan conflict are truly horrifying.

Some 24.7m people, 14m children, are in need of urgent assistance. Some three million children have been uprooted and many killed and injured (UNICEF data). All comparisons of child deaths and famine are invidious.

The presenters emoting about the scale of the tragedy in Gaza, as described by the UN, were unable to process the idea that however bad it may be, the scale of harm is as nothing to what was going on in nearby Sudan, south of Egypt and on the Red Sea.

Supporters of Israel cannot but think that

when it comes to Israel and the Gaza conflict, the media and the West are demonstrating a double standard.

In an appearance on the US broadcast Face the Nation in early March, Benjamin Netanyahu retorted, after tough questioning: “What would America do after something like the 7 October attack? Would you not be doing what Israel is doing?”

The World Jewish Congress has pounced on the West for ‘criticising Israeli defensive operations, but not those of other Western democracies’ as an example of antisemitism.

So, is there a double standard? It is unquestionably true that the world’s media and Western democracies are scrutinising Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza more closely than most of the other horrors in the world such as what is happening in Sudan.

The vehemence of claims of famine by the UN and comparisons with past horrors are unacceptable. Defenders of Israel and those who value the work and independence of the UN and its agencies have every right to resist the bile and bias.

The di culty is that Israel always holds itself up to a higher standard than its regional neighbours.

How many countless times, when caught up in a debate about the Middle East, do Israel’s supporters talk about it being the only vibrant democracy in the Middle East?

The narrative also includes descriptions of how the IDF sets the standard among military forces for the care it takes to preserve civilian life in conflict.

There are undoubtedly double standards in diplomacy, reporting and at the UN. But the restrictions Israel imposed on clean water supplies, power, telecoms and medical and food assistance in Gaza do not conform to its reputation as a civilised and humanitarian state.

The lies, exaggerations and loose use of language and false testimony by medics and others about what is going on in Gaza are outrageous.

But Israel and the IDF, in defence of the state and the well-being of hostages, should be better than their enemies – even in the most horrifying circumstances.

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Time to reform Britain’s dysfunctional asylum plan

BARONESS RABBI JULIA NEUBERGER

Almost everyone agrees the UK’s asylum system is broken. It is expensive, ineffective and harmful.

There is a desperate need for new ideas on how to create a system that works e ectively and enjoys public consent.

Taking up this challenge over the past two years, I joined the Commission on the Integration of Refugees to undertake the most significant and detailed exploration of the UK asylum system in a generation.

Joining me were 21 other commissioners, including other British Jews such as the chair, Dr Ed Kessler, founder of the Woolf Institute; Lord Alex Carlile, former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, and Janice Lopatkin, UK programme director of World Jewish Relief, who established the successful refugee employment programme The Specialist Training and Employment Programme (STEP).

Alongside other commissioners, including refugees, we have diverse expertise and varied political perspectives and our work has shown it is possible to find solutions and to build political consensus around them.

There have until now been few opportunities for people like us – with ostensibly incompatible views – to come together, listen to each other’s perspectives and experiences and try to articulate a shared agenda.

We all signed up to the commission in the knowledge that we disagree with several of our fellow commissioners.

But we are all committed to envisioning a refugee and asylum system that works for a society where everybody – including refugees and asylum seekers– feels welcome and part of strong, cohesive communities.

Only through building consensus across experiential and political divides will we be able to find practical solutions to create a better system; better for refugees and better for communities.

But I have another reason for being part of this. My mother came to this country as a refugee from Nazi Germany in 1937. She

came as a domestic servant, one of the few ways to get here relatively easily as a young woman. She was 22. She worked for the amazing Dobbs family, and then they paid for her education. She did not stay to complete it – at LSE – because by then Kristallnacht had taken place and her much younger brother’s teacher had been in touch with her to say she must get her brother out of Germany.

She got my uncle out and ultimately her parents too, thanks to wonderful non- Jewish friends, thanks to the inestimable consul Robert Smallbones in Frankfurt, and his deputy, Arthur Dowden, who signed my grandparents’ papers in late 1939.

They were also helped by my maternal grandmother, who chaired the welfare Committee of the Refugee Committee at Woburn House, and who had herself arrived from Germany, though not as a refugee but a new bride before World War One.

The commission has been able to achieve full- or near-consensus around 16 recommendations to propose an integration-based asylum system that can deliver benefits not only for refugees but for wider

society – from contributing to tackling the housing crisis and homelessness to promoting economic flourishing.

The recommendations are underpinned by a financial model developed by the London School of Economics, which found that they would yield a net economic benefit to the country of at least £1.2bn by year five of their implementation.

There is an abundance of good practice available to guide this shift towards localisation, including from the devolved national governments of Scotland and Wales, but also from other local authorities in the UK, from other countries, and from the success of initiatives including the community sponsorship and Ukrainian refugee-settlement programmes.

The solutions we are proposing would not only be more e ective than the current system, but cheaper, more coherent, more in tune with the values of compassion and fairness that so many people manifest towards asylum seekers, and capable of delivering long-term economic benefits and positive social outcomes both for refugees and wider British society.

JEWISH COMMUNITY SINGLES GROUP Sponsorship Opportunity for Jewish Singles Events

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Exciting news!

We’re gearing up for a new series of events tailored for our Jewish singles in our community.

From social mixers to various get togethers for groups of 60+ people aged 28-90+. Our aim is to foster meaningful connections and create unforgettable experiences.

We’re reaching out to find potential sponsors who are passionate about supporting initiatives within our Jewish community. By partnering with us, you’ll not only have the chance to showcase your brand to a targeted audience of over 12,000 but also play a crucial role in bringing people together.

If your company shares our commitment to enriching the lives of Jewish singles and believes in the power of community, we’d love to discuss sponsorship opportunities with you.

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All good wishes

Genevieve and Sarah

Antisemitism is a toxic issue for British Muslims

The war in Gaza has deeply damaged Israel’s global reputation – of that there is no doubt.

There’s also no doubt that the reported 31,000 deaths of Palestinians, many of them civilian women and children, will be a dark chapter in Israel’s response to the murderous attack by the Islamist group Hamas.

It is sad to see what the conflict has thrown up in our country and the way community relations have fractured, bar a few symbolic acts of friendships and Iftar evenings where Muslims have invited selected members of Jewish communities to break their fast with them.

about things that are unjust and plain wrong. Reflecting back on my life, this morality was strengthened in me through years of Jesuit Catholic and Methodist schools I attended which promoted morality through the life of Christ. It was further reinforced by my parents who talked about morality and how Islam stresses ‘being just’. This was further layered later in life by Jewish traditions that have resonated with me for the last two decades. Each of these three faiths have, much like a layer cake, strengthened my core values in morality – in what is right and wrong and in speaking up about things when they are wrong.

A FUTURE LABOUR GOVERNMENT MUST ACT SWIFTLY TO TACKLE ANTISEMITISM WITHIN UK MUSLIM COMMUNITIES ❝

We are in a bad place. Many Jews and Muslims understand and realise this. However, tribal politics stops people from speaking out, apart from a handful of heroes, such as the deeply inspiring and moving Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg. On the Muslim side, there is a vacuum of imams who have actively spoken out against Hamas, their actions and the corresponding rise in antisemitic attacks in our country. It is this lack of voices from imams that deeply troubles me.

Well, we have reached this point of the highest number of recorded antisemitic attacks because of a number of reasons, one of which has been the lack of a real drive to tackle antisemitism within small but vocal parts of British Muslim communities. This does not absolve or deflect from some of the appalling racism that has shown itself through small but vocal and aggressive groups of Kahanists in Israel, who are both anti-Arab and anti-Muslim.

Growing up I always thought that it was central to the concept of morality to speak out

But here is the point. They have no traction in British Jewish communities, while Islamism and Islamist extremism is a wider problem that stubbornly spreads its hateful language and actions against our Jewish brothers and sisters here in the United Kingdom.

Why do I raise this and link the issues? Well, what I hear from some Muslims when I stress the point that Muslim antisemitism has to be tackled head on, is that Jewish extremism is a problem within Israel, but it is not a problem in the United Kingdom . This argument is meant to deflect from the very real and ingrained problem of antisemitism within small, vocal and very active parts of Muslim communities in our country. (This is the group of individuals and groups that I refer to when I use the term ‘Muslim antisemitism’).

What has been the Government’s actions against this toxic problem? It has been doing what it does best – sending out political messages that lean on the police to do more. The Government has simply pushed the police to make more arrests when pro-Palestine rallies have taken place.

Their first line of action, rightly so, has therefore been to impress the need for police forces to use existing laws to tackle hate and intolerance. However, there has been no Government action to build organisations who can challenge Muslim antisemitism.

This has been an ongoing problem. It’s as if there are no partners in Muslim communities that the Government can work it. This, I have t o add, is the penumbra in the focus of work that needs to be done to tackle the ingrained issue of antisemitism.

Let us also not kid ourselves that Muslim antisemitism is a recent issue. It has been an issue since the first intifida. I have noted this many times in articles over the last decade. This means that we have had successive Conservative and Labour governments that have failed to tackle the issue. No doubt, with a potential Labour victory on the horizon, the party will be very sensitive to supporting any challenge

to antisemitism from small sections of Muslim communities. If they follow this path of inaction, be in no doubt that it will come back to bite them. Labour must act and act with clarity and a bold vision to tackle antisemitism within these small parts of Muslim communities.

I am not going to talk further about the actions of Israel within the context of antisemitism. I do this since there is no justification for antisemitism. We also can’t set aside how the conflict has sent many people into dark mental spaces where common sense has gone out the window.

Finally, I will leave you with this example of something that struck me a week ago when I was working with a counselling client. He is a young and dynamic Muslim man of Pakistani heritage who arrived in the UK in the last decade. As a professional person, he has made his life in the country and his partner is Jewish. There is a deep bond between him and his partner who, he says, is one of the ‘beautiful’ lights in his life.

During one of my therapy sessions, he described how his partner cannot travel into central London and feels unsafe as something could happen if she went shopping on a Saturday in the city.

He felt sad, shocked and disturbed at the level of insecurity she feels and how she really does fear for her safety in one of the most vibrant cities in the world.

The cause is simple; pro-Palestine demonstrations have triggered fears within her. While the vast majority of people on these demonstrations are our law-abiding friends, colleagues and partners, the impact of them has had tsunami-type impact on the emotional and mental health of Britain’s Jews.

What he did not realise was that his words resonated deeply with me. As a Muslim who has spoken repeatedly about the issue of Muslim antisemitism, my client did not realise how proud I felt for him regarding his care and empathy for his partner.

Antisemitism is therefore not just an issue for Britain’s Jews to overcome. It is something for all of us to challenge.

 Fiyaz Mughal is founder of Faith Matters and Muslims Against Antisemitism and is a practising counsellor and therapist counselling4anxiety.com

Jewish, Jew-ish or not Jewish?

Tom Rosenthal tells Nicole Lampert why appearing in Pilgrimage has been such a revelation for him

Sometimes the Jewish gene is so strong that it simply cannot be denied. Tom Rosenthal is almost the walking, talking embodiment of a Jewish cliche; clever, strangely neurotic, famously funny, prone to introspection – he even has the foreign name and not insignificant schnoz.

As an actor he keeps getting cast as a Jew – from Chicken Soup with Barley at the Royal Court to finding television fame in Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner. He says a Jewish colleague once joked he was like “Larry David from Berkshire”.

But he has never even been inside a synagogue and has only attended one actual Friday night dinner.

He’s about to appear in Pilgrimage where he is the closest approximation to a Jew(ish) celebrity. But admits he knows no more about Judaism than he does any other religion.

The son of Jewish sports presenter Jim Rosenthal and the not-Jewish-at-all Newsnight presenter Christine Smith, he was brought up with no religion. But because he seems so Jewish, he even has a well-used and slightly tortuous spiel in which he attempts to articulate his complicated relationship with the religion.

“It doesn’t annoy me when people ask me if I am Jewish but it does provoke some worry because I then have to explain this relationship I have with it,” he begins. “I am aware that most people have a categorisation in their head which is you either are or you are not and I kind of sail in this annoying middle ground which I feel needs lot of qualification.

“I have never really considered myself to be

a Jewish person but that’s a lot to do with my upbringing and what I was told as a child – and it is slightly in conflict with my surname and my body of work and the fact that I am like a caricature of a Jewish person,” he continues.

“I wasn’t brought up in the religion or the culture. When I did Friday Night Dinner, I had to kind of research this idea. A friend invited me to one and it was brilliant – but it’s not something that happened in my family. That’s really bad, isn’t it? Essentially, I didn’t know any Jews growing up – apart from myself, I suppose.” And his dad, of course.

This presents an interesting category – is he a Jewish non-Jew or non-Jewish Jew? While patrilineal Jews are increasingly accepted, they are harder to define if they have had no sort of Jewish upbringing.

Tom’s heritage includes famed thinker Oscar Levy, his great grandfather, who was the last really ‘Jewy’ Jew in his family.

Tom, 36, wonders whether his father’s experience of antisemitism at school is what made him turn his back on the religion completely. At one point he even asked his son if he wanted to change his name to Smith, his mother’s maiden name; it is also his middle name.

“My dad had issues at school, being bullied for being Jewish, and he didn’t want that to happen to me.

“He had his own issues. And he’s not interested in religion at all; he has no belief in God. He just wanted me to let me make up my own mind. So, I was raised in this household which was not necessarily proud of their Jewish lineage.

“I know that is kind of confusing to other people. I know there are some in the Jewish community who feel like I am denying my heritage or trying to cover it up and that feels very hurtful. I am just being honest by saying I am not Jewish, for all the reasons I’ve laid out; I have a complicated identity.”

Perhaps it was an act of rebellion, therefore, which made him somewhat obsessed with religion. As he tells his fellow pilgrims, he got the best A-level result in religious education in the country and he studied theology at King’s College London.

And it is why he leapt at the

chance to go on a real pilgrimage for the BBC2 programme, which begins over Easter.

He’s accompanied by presenter Michaela Strachan, who is atheist, reality star Spencer Matthews (who discovers via the show that Jesus was a real person), presenter Sonali Shah, who is a Jain, former Muslim Eshaan Akbar, former Traitors star Amanda LoveP, who is Catholic, and former model Christine McGuinness, who considers herself more spiritual than religious.

Over the course of two weeks, they travel 220 miles of stunning North Wales countryside as they visit some of the oldest churches in the country.

For Tom, who says he experienced two or three genuinely spiritual experiences on the pilgrimage, it was a huge chance to learn about himself. In one of the last episodes of the three-part series he comes close to tears as he considers the impact of a grief he was barely aware of.

“I was surprised by how powerful the pilgrimage was and realised for the first time that it is a mechanism for processing grief essentially and that is why pilgrimages are such an important part of human history,” he says.

“I wanted to connect with a higher version of myself and I think I completely achieved that but I also learned I was carrying something that I hadn’t realised. There was this moment where I burst into tears and it allowed me to process some grief – it doesn’t matter what it was about – and I also left feeling more spiritually connected than I have ever been before.”

In the first episode Christine, who has autism along with her three children, mentioned to Tom that she believed he was

too as he had so many traits. Since the show finished, he has been pondering whether to get an o cial diagnosis.

“My head has two voices in it about what to do,” he admits. “Up until Pilgrimage I felt like it didn’t really suit me to get a diagnosis despite the fact that every romantic partner and a lot of close friends have called me autistic. Not in a bad way, just that I do have a lot of the behavioural things that people who are diagnosed as autistic also have.

“I don’t feel like it has impacted my life too much but there have been some things in recent times where people have found me very rude in emails and stu when I thought I was just being very open and direct.

“So, I am in that space of thinking, I just don’t know what to do. I’m in a relationship with someone who’s also had a diagnosis and it helped her massively. But I don’t think that it would make me feel any di erent about myself if I had a label on it. I don’t want to look like a box ticker or like I’m doing it for attention but also, because of the work that I do, maybe it could help other people.

“And then I read an article which said people who are getting diagnosis are taking resources away from people who need it more who are more strongly on the spectrum. I don’t know. I just want to go on pilgrimages for the rest of my life.”

Poor Tom is confused. He looks at me.

“What do you think I should do?’ I am not ready to be his Jewish mum but I would give this adorable, complicated and Jewishy man some chicken soup any time he asked.

 Pilgrimage: The Road Through North Wales is available from 29 March on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer

Mindfulness, Manifestations and Moments of Self-Care

The authors of two new books talk about how we can look a er ourselves better. By Debbie Collins

We’re constantly told to make space in our schedules for ourselves, but in reality it’s not that easy. Lack of time, money and interest hold us back from self-care and from introducing new practices into our lives.

Contrary to this mindset are Nicole Goodman and Lauren Mishcon, authors of a new book called Have You Tried This?

Both women very much believe in making positive changes.

based on a 60-minute radio show where we would try out a practice such as yoga, talk about the benefits and scientific research, and have an expert on. We knew the idea had legs.”

Lauren worked as a doula for 16 years until 2023 and in 2019 had started an internet radio show about women’s wellness. At the same time Nicole had shifted away from a long career in hairdressing and had begun podcasting, alongside her life coach journey. A mutual friend suggested that they guest on each other’s show.

When lockdown hit, everything shifted to Zoom and it was the best thing that could ever have happened to the podcast, says Nicole, 47.

ever have happened

“We gained listeners who never left. People were very much in need of self-care. It’s quite something that we are now approaching 500 episodes.”

When it comes to many self-care pursuits, such as goat yoga and cryotherapy, she notes: “Wellness is elitist and expensive. It often exploits people who are desperately looking for something to look after themselves, so with our book, the focus is on free practices.”

Nicole and Lauren, both from north London, have their favourite practices which they are both still building on.

“Learning to say ‘no’ and asking for help is a work in progress for everyone,” Nicole says.

“We both admit we’re bad at it. But in having di cult conversations, maybe with friends or at work, you can only get better at having that conversation.”

40s – kids of today will be getting hold of these skills now, which is fantastic.”

Their new podcast 40-ish launches later this year and focuses on midlife.

Lauren, 46, recalls: “We met and just clicked, bemoaning how self-care became yet another part of the ‘mental load’ and we set up the Self Care Club podcast. The show format was

embraced by many open-minded females, but what about the men?

“Men often come to me with a ‘my wife made me’ attitude. We start with some gentle talking therapy and then some cognitive exercises and I casually ask ‘would you like a little treatment?’

‘It’s all about self-healing’

wanting to personally

The book was a clear vision, both wanting to personally write one. Lauren says: “We’d done pretty much everything there was out there and a book was the perfect vehicle to ‘have everything in one place’ as a self-care reference guide complementing our podcast.”

Lauren says: “My favourite chapter in the book is ‘micro connections’ and I’m following my own advice having just signed up to be an Age UK telephone talker. It costs half an hour of my time but it’s so rewarding to create connections.”

Also filling the bookshelves with positivity is Nicci Roscoe, 63, from Hertfordshire, who has more than 40 years’ experience in helping people through life coaching, crystal healing and Reiki. Nicci’s third book is called Manifest Your Everything, and she says: “Every page features something valuable from my own experiences to help people to make positive changes in their lives.”

Manifest boards might be all the rage for Gen Z but Nicci says: “I’ve been manifesting forever! As a teen I wanted to work in TV and magazines and really focused on it, or ‘manifested’ – the idea being it will come to you ‘if it’s meant to be and if it’s right for you’.

we are all taught to not ask for what we learn a lot of these things in my

Nicole highlights her own personal chapter on ‘body neutrality’, saying, “It’s about asking for what you want, because we are all taught to not ask for what we want, which stops us stepping into what we truly want. I had to learn a lot of these things in my

“I looked at my board of pictures and cutouts on my wall every single day and it happened for me.”

such as Reiki and crystal

Then they’re ready to lie down! Every person I’ve done this with has commented positively afterwards with, ‘What did you do to me?’”

Nicci channels her practices into the younger generation too.

a little treatment?’ tively afterwards with, ‘What did generation too. I

“For Mental Health Week I visited a girls’ primary school, focusing on meditation and mindfulness. They all loved it and I gave each one a rose quartz crystal to hold.”

Everything seems so positive in Nicci’s life but it’s worth remembering that she had to learn to love herself again after her brain tumour operation in 2002, the reason for her path to wellbeing. “I did every practice to help my pain and healing process. I meditated a lot.

and cutouts on my happened for me.” Practices such as and crystal healing are readily a lot.

how to relax and cool myself down. I became as a life coach, did a masters in NLP (neurolinguistic

“My background in the fitness industry really helped, as I knew how to relax and cool myself down. I became as a life coach, did a masters in NLP (neurolinguistic programming) and trained in Reiki. I’m now a Reiki master teacher. It’s all about self-healing.”

all about self-healing.”

What would you say to non-

“Go outside and explore nature second. My go-to crystal for 2024 is green calcite for calm. It’s great rage.”

What would you say to nonbelievers in this sort of self-care? “Go outside and explore nature – find that peace, even for a split second. My go-to crystal for 2024 is green calcite for calm. It’s great for in the car if you su er from road rage.”

Nicci’s favourite chapter is Loving Yourself, which says: “Give yourself what you need so you can feel that peace from within and manifest the person you are meant to be.”

I’m o to have (yet another) di cult conversation with my daughters about their messy bedrooms, but this time I’ll be clutching my green calcite.

yourself what you need so you and manifest the person you are clutching my green calcite.

 Have You Tried This? and Manifest Your Everything are available to buy from Amazon at £10.99 and £15

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JFS SCHOOL

POST OF DIRECTOR OF JEWISH LEARNING

JFS School - Brent • New • Quick apply

Salary: Inner London Pay Scale - Leadership (Competitive)

Job type: Full Time, Permanent

Start date: 1st September 2024

Apply by: 2nd April 2024

Jewish education has been at the heart of JFS since its founding in 1732. We want our students to appreciate that Judaism is not just ancient texts and prayers, but a living, breathing and vibrant faith that inspires them daily.

Today, JFS remains a pioneer in Jewish education and a vitally important institution for Jewish life in Britain. To advance this mission, we are now seeking to appoint an innovative and experienced Jewish Educator who can work alongside Mrs Abi Keene, Director of Jewish Life, in providing a dynamic Jewish experience to our students.

For more information, please contact our Headteacher directly: david.moody@jfs.brent.sch.uk or Mrs Abi Keene: keene@jfs.brent.sch.uk

When in Rome Beatrice Sayers enjoys street food in the Ghetto and a distinctive seder – but not the Pesach kind

In Rome for a holiday that incorporated a two-week Italian language course, I enjoyed learning about the country’s Jews and their traditions. After a stimulating morning in the classroom, I would go and explore the city.

I knew the quality of the classes would be the foundation of a successful trip and was thrilled to have discovered a well-kept secret in Scudit (Scuola d’Italiano).

Directed by Roberto Tartaglione, who founded it more than 20 years ago, it has a no-frills approach that suited me perfectly. With only three students in my class, and a wonderful teacher in Eugenia, there was plenty of opportunity to speak and ask questions.

(‘by weight’), a great way to enjoy slices of two or three di erent pizzas at one meal.

My first afternoon was spent at the Great Synagogue. With a huge, square dome and richly decorated interior, its completion in 1904 symbolised the freedom of Rome’s Jews after 300 years in the Ghetto. The museum in its basement tells the story of the community from the second century BCE, which has grown through immigration from Spain and Portugal and, more recently, from Libya.

of history to get through I

By 1pm, my head bubbling with new words and idioms, I would seek some pizza al taglio

With more than 2,000 years of history to get through I sought help from the engaging and knowledgeable Dr Marco Misano, a Vatican-licensed guide as well as a graduate of the Rome Yeshiva. He o ers tours in either English or Hebrew but not in his native Italian, having developed a stammer as a child after being caught up in the terrorist attack on the synagogue in 1982. In English he was completely fluent and very engaging : “There are three rules for tour guides – never mention politics, religion or sex,” he told me. “I break all three.”

This was autumn and a chance to experience my first Rosh Hashanah seder. For this distinctive Italian tradition, apples and honey are joined on the table by pomegranates, fennel, dates and egg, all of which represent, through plenty of creative Hebrew wordplay, our hopes and wishes for the coming 12 months. Ninety

members and visitors at the city’s progressive community Beth Hillel, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary, filled a room at a hotel for a service in Hebrew, Italian and English before feasting at a nearby restaurant.

Temperatures for September were unusually high, which was an opportunity to explore Rome’s parks. I spent a long afternoon at the wonderful Villa Borghese Gardens in the north. My trip was a piedi but you could equally well rent a bike or even a tandem. From mid-afternoon locals and tourists alike began to gather at the terrace overlooking Piazza del Popolo, which is where to be at sunset.

required extra fuel, and the Ghetto’s main street, Via del Portico d’Ottavia, next to the Great Synagogue, is where to experience the cuisine seen as the most authentically Roman. Tourists, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, fill the seats at the many restaurants, enjoying Carciofi alla Giudia (Jewish-style artichokes), Fiori di Zucca (fried courgette flowers) and the street food staple, supplì (deep-fried rice balls}.

For a more formal meal, one of my finds was the Taverna dei Quaranta, round the corner from the Piazza del Colosseo but a world away from the crowds and the kitsch. It serves delicious Roman dishes in large portions in a stylish, well-lit space, with tables outside if you prefer. I had delicious Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe (pasta with cheese and black pepper).

wonderful Villa Borghese Gardens in but stylish, well-lit space, with tables outNavona. The setting for a scene from the 2010 film

My favourite outdoor space, and the biggest public park in Rome, was Villa Doria Pamphili in Gianicolo, to the west of the city centre and a 15-minute climb from Trastevere. This is where families go for a day out and there is scarcely a tourist in sight. The terrace of the nearby Piazzale Garibaldi gave fabulous views of the city. I also enjoyed an afternoon at the vast Parco della Ca arella, close to the old Appian Way in the south. All these wonderful green spaces – and there are many more – can be reached easily by bus or Metro.

My search for local colour also took me to Largo Febo, a tiny, picturesque square a minute’s walk from Piazza Navona. The setting for a scene from the 2010 film Eat, Pray, Love, the piazza is the weekly meeting place for an outdoor chess group, and its Santa Lucia Ristorante is a peaceful place to stop for a drink or a meal.

For visitors, the legacy of ancient Rome and the city’s medieval and Renaissance treasures are always breathtaking but so are its green spaces, I discovered. Among the hopes and wishes at the Rosh Hashanah seder, one of mine was to return to Rome before too long.

Getting about almost exclusively on foot

 Dr Marco Misano can be found at RomanJews.com

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MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA

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

Hope and promise in an olive leaf

This week we read an extra portion known as parshat Parah – a segment from the Torah all about the red heifer. It is usually read on the Shabbat before parshat Hachodesh, which we read to herald the month of Nissan and the festival of Pesach.

The red heifer is a strange and anomalous mitzvah. A completely perfect red cow that has never been used for work or any other purpose is taken outside of the camp and is completely burnt. Its ashes are then mixed with water to enable those who have been rendered tameh (impure) through touching a dead body to become tahor (pure). The cohen (priest), who must be tahor to sprinkle the mixture, paradoxically becomes tameh through performing this ritual.

During times when the Jewish people could bring a korban pesach, they would have to do so in a state of being tahor. For those who had become tameh this would be the right time of year for this mitzvah to be performed, to enable them to bring a korban pesach a few weeks later, thus we remember this through reading this portion.

The Torah terms this whole mitzvah a chok, traditionally understood to mean a mitzvah that defies rational explanation, but it does not stop us from trying to draw meaning from this ritual.

Most simply, coming face-to-face with death can be both deeply sad and inspiring at the same time. Mourning the loss of someone who will no longer be an active part of our lives can be deeply upsetting and cause great despair. Conversely, people surviving neardeath experiences or witnessing a loss that could have been them, find they are able to refocus and more sharply prioritise what is

truly important. Indeed, the Talmud (Brachot 10a) teaches that King David “looked upon his day of death and broke into song”. It takes the greatness of a King David to be able to look at his own mortality and celebrate the godliness in everything, including death.

We can even draw meaning from the location where the parah adumah was burnt. During Temple times it was taken outside of Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olives. The midrash in Bereishit Rabbah teaches that when Noach sent out the dove to bring back signs of life after the flood, the olive branch came from the Mount of Olives. Rav Silverberg points out that this teaches the person who has had an encounter with death that even in the darkest moments, “there is an ‘olive leaf’ of hope and promise, which can and must inspire him to move onward with confidence and faith”.

As this awful post-7 October reality continues, with so many lives lost and

An olive leaf ‘inspires confidence and faith’

hostages still to be recovered, and now seeing nations turning their back on Israel even more, this message we can take from the parah adumah is more relevant than ever.

Honouring the lives of those who have been lost by reflecting on their legacy can help us to find meaning, while recognising and respecting the efforts of everyone can hopefully enable us to draw strength from each other.

WE’RE HIRING

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND EDUCATION OFFICER

The Office of the Chief Rabbi is looking for an External Affairs and Education Officer to work in the areas of interfaith, political engagement, social responsibility and education. The role is suited to someone who understands our community, has strong communication skills and is proactive and well-organised. Deadline for applications – 1st April. http://chiefrabbi.org/vacancies for full job description and for application information.

Progressive Judaism

LEAP OF FAITH

OF REFORM RABBIS & CANTORS, UK MACHZOR EDITORIAL GROUP, RABBI AT EDGWARE & HENDON REFORM SYNAGOGUE

Fruit of forty years’ work

In 1985 the Sinclair C5 electric buggy was launched, as was the first mobile phone network in the UK. The miners’ strike came to an end and the Live Aid concerts took place. This was the year in which the previous Movement for Reform Judaism machzor, our prayer book for the High Holy Days, was published.

Almost 40 years later, co-editors Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet and Rabbi Paul Freedman have just published the ninth edition of Days of Awe Yamim Noraim since the original in 1840. It was launched at the Movement for Reform Judaism Chagigah conference this month. Several members of the group of rabbis and cantors who advised our

editors were there with them and we literally danced the hora together in celebration of the 10 years of work that created the machzor.

When you hear how long ago the last edition was published, it becomes obvious that in a Judaism that lives in the present, it was necessary to get to work and ensure that in the hands of Reform Jews of today and the future, there is a renewed prayer book for the High Holy Days. We renewed our siddur Forms of Prayer Seder HaTefillot in 2008 and have carried over many of the popular innovations from that siddur.

We aim for this to be an especially accessible machzor. All Hebrew prayers are also available in transliteration. The great graphical design of the siddur by sofer Marc Michaels was adapted for the machzor so that it is now clear where you are in the many services. To make the second day of Rosh Hashanah di erent there

are choices of interpretive prayers and readings alongside the traditional prayers, and this sense of choice is also there throughout Yom Kippur.

The 2024 machzor includes more than a thousand study passages and additional readings, poems and medi-

UNIVERSITY JEWISH CHAPLAINCY

CHAPLAIN VACANCIES

University Jewish Chaplaincy is an independent charity which supports Jewish students, whoever they are and whatever their need, by placing Chaplains and Chaplaincy couples on campuses across the UK.

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We are seeking inspirational Rabbis/Rebbetzins with a background in rabbinic and Jewish communal leadership to work with some of the largest, growing and exciting Jewish student populations in the UK.

You will be a source of strength and support to all Jewish students and serve as representatives to the universities in your region.

Responsibilities will include creating and providing educational programming, welfare support, home hospitality and spiritual guidance, as well as developing and empowering student leadership and fostering a commitment to Judaism within a diverse Jewish student population.

University Jewish Chaplaincy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our service users and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and a DBS check of the appropriate level will be required.

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A stimulating series where progressive rabbis consider how to navigate Judaism in the face of 21st-century issues

tative pieces to help all to find their own meaning on the High Holy Days. Far more are written by women than was the case in 1985, both startlingly contemporary and steeped in classical Jewish ideas of past millennia. We tackle issues that are likely to mark out the coming generation, such as the climate crisis, our increasing distance from the direct trauma of the

Holocaust, and Israel’s roles in Jewish life. Our machzor is published in two volumes so that each is light to hold on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In their slipcase they will be a great resource for our own home preparation for the High Holy Days.

Copies will soon be easily available from the Movement for Reform Judaism and most of our synagogues.

Ask our

Our trusty team of advisers answers your questions about everything from law and finance to dating and dentistry. This week: Israel-bound container ships, FCA consumer duty and the challenges of the job market

Dear Stephen

We hear of so many problems with container ships. What is the situation with the UK to Israel route?

Isabelle

Dear Isabelle

The route for container ships sailing from the UK to Israel is through the Mediterranean and not The Red Sea. We always use ZIM. This is one of the top 20 Global Carriers and it was founded in 1945 by The Jewish Agency for Israel. It is now a public company quoted on the New York Stock Exchange and we trust ZIM with all our UK to Israel and Israel to UK shipments by sea.

Dear Jacob

I’m a local mortgage and insurance broker and keep hearing about the FCA consumer duty. Are you able to explain what this is about and what I need to do?

Jonathan

Dear Jonathan

Since the war in Gaza commenced, the route to Israel has remained open and all our shipments have travelled safely. However, there is one important caveat –Sailing dates and times do change.

There is usually a vessel sailing every week with a transit time of just 17 days.

Recently, however, storms at sea and generally bad weather have slowed down vessels and there have been delays of a few days and even cancelled sailings where ports have had their visits cancelled so that routes could be reconfigured. But these delays and changes are small and rare. That is why we use ZIM.

Stephen Morris Shipping is still the largest shipper of household and personal e[ects to Israel from the UK. We constantly ship to and from Israel and o[er a sensiblypriced, stress free, reliable service and have done so now for nearly 45 years.

The FCA’s aim with consumer duty is to establish a higher and clearer standard of care for the services you provide.

The FCA added a twelfth principle to their consumer principles, which says that firms are required to deliver good outcomes for customers. This means that firms must act in good faith, avoid causing foreseeable harm, and enable and support customers to pursue their financial objectives, (among other obligations).

More specifically for mortgage and insurance brokers, Richdale advise you to:

1. Fully consider your customer’s needs, as well as the costs and risks involved.

2. Obtain clear information and a clear understanding of each product’s target market, costs and benefits, prices and

fees and fair value assessment.

3. Provide your customers with clear and transparent information to enable them to make informed choices and understand the costs involved.

4. Have appropriate controls in place to protect your customers from fraud and financial crime.

5. Provide appropriate support to meet your customers’ needs. This includes for example, ensuring your customers don’t face unreasonable barriers to make a complaint or to change products.

6. Support vulnerable customers, by (for example) helping and encouraging them to contact providers for support and advice.

Dear Kim

I am 64-years-old and currently looking for a job. How do I deal with the challenges I might face during the recruitment process?

Shelley

Dear Shelley

I recommend creating an age-less CV, where you can demonstrate the extent of the experience, knowledge

and skills that you will bring to the role.

The CV should not highlight your age so don’t include your date of birth or dates of qualifications and only go back in your work history as far as relevant (normally 5 to 10 years). A CV should be no more than two pages and in an easy to- read format, making sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors.

An interview may seem daunting but basically, it’s just a conversation. One can never do too much preparation for a job interview, so be thorough.

If you are asked about your age highlight not your length of experience but what you have achieved and what you can o er.

Image is important so

dress workplace appropriately and to highlight your youthfulness in order to give the right impression. Feel free to enhance your personality through accessories, but it’s best not to wear anything that might distract the interviewer

If the interview is on Zoom still dress as if you were at the interview in person and make sure to set up the device so the camera is at eye level.

One of Resource’s main areas of expertise is helping our clients in the 55+ age group utilise their wealth of experience, whilst drawing attention away from their age (which should not be relevant in recruitment in any event).

If you’d like more advice, please book an appointment with one of our experienced advisors here at Resource.

Ask our experts / Professional advice from our panel

Our Experts

Do you have a question for a member of our team? Email: editorial@jewishnews.co.uk

HUMAN RESOURCES / EMPLOYMENT LAW

DONNA OBSTFELD

Qualifications:

• FCIPD Chartered HR Professional

• 25 years in HR and business management.

• Mediator, business coach, trainer, author and speaker

• Supporting businesses and charities with the hiring, managing, inspiring and firing of their staff

DOHR LTD 020 8088 8958 www.dohr.co.uk donna@dohr.co.uk

ACCOUNTANT

ADAM SHELLEY

Qualifications:

• FCCA chartered certified accountant

• Accounting, taxation and business advisory services

• Entrepreneurial business specialist including start-up businesses

• Specialises in charities; personal tax returns

• Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation Volunteer of the Year JVN award

SOBELL RHODES LLP 020 8429 8800

www.sobellrhodes.co.uk

a.shelley@sobellrhodes.co.uk

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

LISA WIMBORNE

Qualifications:

Able to draw on the charity’s 50 years of experience in enabling people with physical disabilities or impaired vision to live independently, including:

• The provision of specialist accommodation with 24/7 on-site support

• Knowledge of the innovations that empower people and the benefits available

• Understanding of the impact of a disability diagnosis

JEWISH BLIND & DISABLED 020 8371 6611

www.jbd.org

Lisa@jbd.org

CAREER ADVISER

LESLEY TRENNER

Qualifications:

• Provides free professional one-to-one advice at Resource to help unemployed into work

• Offers mock interviews and workshops to maximise job prospects

• Expert in corporate management holding director level marketing, commercial and general management roles

RESOURCE

020 8346 4000

www.resource-centre.org

office@resource-centre.org

PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SPECIALIST

TREVOR GEE

Qualifications:

• Managing director, consultant specialists in affordable family health insurance

• Advising on maximising cover, lower premiums, pre-existing conditions

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

• LLB solicitors finals

• Member of Chartered Insurance Institute

PATIENT HEALTH

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

ISRAEL PROPERTY

ILAN RUBINSTEIN

Qualifications:

& MORTGAGE BROKER

• UK born, licenced Israel estate agent in Israel since 2001

• Ilan assists in buying, financing & re-sale of new & existing property in Israel.

• Helps level the playing field opposite vendors, developers & even the bank

• Attentive to your needs, saving you time, hassle & money

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

JEWELLER

JONATHAN WILLIAMS

Qualifications:

• Jewellery manufacturer since 1980s

• Expert in the manufacture and supply of diamond jewellery, wedding rings and general jewellery

FINANCIAL SERVICES (FCA) COMPLIANCE

JACOB BERNSTEIN

Qualifications:

• A member of the APCC, specialising in financial services compliance for:

• Mortgage, protection and general insurance intermediaries;

• Lenders, credit brokers, debt counsellors and debt managers;

• Alternative Investment Fund managers;

• E-Money, payment services, PISP, AISP and grant-making charities.

RICHDALE CONSULTANTS LTD

020 7781 8019

www.richdale.co.uk

jacob@richdale.co.uk

FINANCIAL SERVICES

JOE OZER

Qualifications:

• Executive director for the United Kingdom at DCI (Intl) Ltd

• Worked in finance for more than 20 years

• Specialists in distribution and promotion of Israel Bonds

DEVELOPMENT COMPANY FOR ISRAEL

020 3936 2712

www.israelbondsintl.com

joe.ozer@israelbondsintl.com

GOAL ATTAINMENT SPECIALIST

DR BEN LEVY

Qualifications:

• Doctor of psychology with 15 years’ experience in education and corporate sectors

• Uses robust, evidence-based methods to help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be

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

CAROLYN ADDLEMAN

Qualifications:

• Specialist in supply of diamonds to the public at trade prices

DIRECTOR OF LEGACIES

• Lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in will drafting and trust and estate administration. Last 14 years at KKL Executor and Trustee Company

• In close contact with clients to ensure all legal and pastoral needs are cared for

• Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

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

REMOVALS MANAGING DIRECTOR

STEPHEN MORRIS

Qualifications:

• Managing director of Stephen Morris Shipping Ltd

• 45 years’ experience in shipping household and personal effects

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

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

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

• Works with clients individually to maximise success

MAKE IT HAPPEN

07779 619 597

www.makeit-happen.co.uk ben@makeit-happen.co.uk

SUE CIPIN OBE

Qualifications:

CHARITY EXECUTIVE

• 24 years+ hands-on experience, leading JDA in significant growth and development.

• Understanding of the impact of deafness on people, including children, at all stages

• Extensive services for people affected by hearing loss/tinnitus

• Technology room with expert advice on and facilities to try out the latest equipment.

• Hearing aid advice, support and maintenance

JEWISH DEAF ASSOCIATION

020 8446 0502

www.jdeaf.org.uk mail@jdeaf.org.uk

PRINCIPAL, PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL

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 19 years ago

DANCING WITH LOUISE

075 0621 7833

www.dancingwithlouise.co.uk

Info@dancingwithlouise.com

Fun, games and prizes

THE JEWISH NEWS CROSSWORD

WORDSEARCH CROSSWORD CODEWORD

ACROSS

1 44th US president (5)

4 High-pitched yells (7)

9 Mouth balm (3-5)

11 Female rabbit (3)

12 Morally proper (7)

13 Blue Shoes, Presley song (5)

14 Culinary pulveriser (6)

16 Plus (2,4)

19 Farmland units (5)

21 Make more secure (7)

23 Try to win the affection of (3)

24 Sudden thrust (5)

25 Take away (7)

26 Tending flocks (11)

DOWN

2 Dog’s restraining chain (5)

3 Appendix to a will (7)

4 Wax light with a wick (6)

5 ___ basket, wickerwork carrycot (5)

6 Bishop’s area (7)

7 Signal to take action (4-2,4)

10 Of clothes, reaching the middle of the leg (4-6)

15 Squash (7)

17 With vision (7)

18 Heavy uninteresting food (6)

20 Lottery (5)

SUDOKU

SUDOKU

Fill the grid with the numbers 1 to 9 so that each row, column and 3x3 block contains the numbers 1 to 9.

Fill the grid with the numbers 1 to 9 so that each row column and 3x3 block contains the numbers 1 to 9.

procedure (12)

SUGURU

14 Mitigate relieve (7)

16 Illuminated at night (7)

18 Cider with ___ Laurie Lee novel (5)

22 Practise for a feat of endurance (5)

20 Central (5)

CODEWORD

line.

SUGURU

Each cell in an outlined block must contain a digit: a two-cell block contains the digits 1 and 2, a three-cell block contains the digits 1, 2 and 3; and so on. The same digit must not appear in neighbouring cells, not even diagonally.

Each cell in an outlined block must contain a digit: a two-cell block contains the digits 1 and 2 a three-cell block contains the digits 1 2 and 3; and so on. The same digit must not appear in neighbouring cells not even diagonally.

The listed words associated with the TV series Outnumbered can all be found in the grid. Words may run either forwards or backwards in a horizontal vertical or diagonal direction but always in a straight unbroken line.

In this finished crossword, every letter of the alphabet appears as a code number. All you have to do is crack the code and fill in the grid. Replacing the decoded numbers with their letters in the grid will help you to guess the identity of other letters. with

In this finished crossword every letter of the alphabet appears as a code number. All you have to do is crack the code and fill in the grid. Replacing the decoded numbers with their letters in the grid will help you to guess the identity of other letters.

LL IE RY G

KLA N TST D

IOI AR UM

BB POE RB U

MA DHR SI

EAEAA CI N

GM S ELS O

ATS DN AB H

SH IR EAP

OM P ETE U

ATE PM UR TE

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

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

See next issue for puzzle solutions.

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

Last issue’s solutions