Monthly Archives: January 2015

Jerusalem Post’s Letter from London 25th January 2015 5 Shevat 5775

Is it a sign of the times that I greeted the following quote with an awkward grimace rather than the risible smile it deserved? Former Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, on his death bed observed of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet in 1986 that “it was too little Old Etonian and a little too old Estonian“.

Prime Minister and humourist

Prime Minister and humourist

He was, of course, referring to the ethnic and racial makeup of her cabinet. For that cabinet was approximately one third of Jewish extract. For me there are two things that make the quote and observation remarkable. One, that Jews were so prevalent in the cabinet is extraordinary and two that such a comment could have passed without so much as bat of a defamatory eyelid. British politics has always been peppered with more than its fair share of Jews and British politics has been plastered with more than its fair share of anti-Semitic tropes, so what. I would surmise the following, no one was bothered and no one took offence.

So what is offensive? Well over the last couple of weeks (since the events of Paris) I’ve been trying to hold a dialogue with one of our British politicians. He is familiar to some of us for being, well let’s just say, “Not onside with Zionism”. David Ward is the MP for Bradford East. After the events of Paris, David shared his feelings on his social media using a cyber barometer, a hashtag. He hoped to trend with #JeSuisPalestinian following in the footsteps of other successful hashtags such as Charlie and Juif. But what, I wondered did this tag mean and where did it rate on the offence barometer? Now David is normally a very responsive sort of politician, but on this one he wasn’t willing to furnish me with a response despite several attempts. Even Daniel Taub seems unable to break his silence on the matter. This was my latest pitch to David. I was hoping to catch him in a good mood after his local football team’s historic victory over the Premiership giants of Chelsea in the FA Cup. But I also wanted to highlight just what British politicians can be like these days…

Dear David,

I imagine you are still recovering from the city’s remarkable FA Cup exploits. As a football fan (not Chelsea) I share in your joy! I think today maybe we are all #JeSuisBradfordCity.

But before we get to carried away, any explanation of another hashtag? I was hoping to hear from you by now regarding #JeSuisPalestinian reference to the Paris events (now becoming a more distant memory yet still painful). I have written to you 3 times previously regarding this. Previously when I’ve written to you on other matters, you have always responded promptly.

I have started to get a little paranoid as to why the silence. You might have gathered that I am not a Muslim. In fact, you may gather that I am Jewish. I am a member of our National Liberal Club in Whitehall as I have a political leaning towards Liberals (both with a big and little “l”).

My paranoia has been exasperated by reading that MPAC boasted about how it influenced the outcome of 2010 Bradford elections which you won.

The previous incumbent, Labour’s Terry Rooney (not Jewish, but pro-Israeli) lost by 365 votes in the 2010 general election after MPAC distributed thousands of leaflets calling him a Zionist Islamophobe and “warmonger” who could not represent Muslims. You appeared to be the beneficiary of this racial smear campaign, David.

And since then, you have fulfilled some of MPAC’s wildest expectations. In 2013, you were suspended from the Lib Dem parliamentary party after criticising “the Jews” for inflicting atrocities on the Palestinians and questioning Israel’s right to exist.

During the Gaza conflict last year you stated: “If I lived in Gaza, would I fire a rocket? Probably yes.”

Until January last year, you employed MPAC’s spokesman, Raza Nadim, as your constituency assistant.

Given all of this, would I really be making a wild leap of faith in assuming you might not dignify Jews with the same courtesies as others? You do seem to hold us responsible for some bad “stuff”?

David, I’m sure this would be easy to clarify if you would only answer my original question…… #JeSuisPalestinian? Porquois?

I hold out hope for a rational explanation and am sure you can dispel my paranoia.

I’m not holding my breath!

So with such established antisemitism heralded by certain communities and supporting politicians into power is it any wonder that the media trip over these narratives and journalists can’t always tell the right from the wrong.

Stand up Tim Willcox. Tim has caused quite a stir here in London and amongst those who watch with suspicion the behaviour of Auntie Beeb (the BBC’s fondly chosen moniker). Tim was on the march in Paris. He was there employed as one of the live reporters for the BBC. He thrust his trusty microphone in front of a couple of mourning Parisians (of potential Jewish extract) and proposed that the murdered Jews might have, in some way, deserved their fate due to the behaviour of Israel when dealing with its neighbours recently. His interviewees seemed speechless. He then followed up by trying to suggest there was justification for these murders. I expect there’s a good chance you’ve been following the whole messed up situation. Now many of us have complained and it appears that the BBC is taking the unusual step of expediting the complaint and dealing with all complaints in their totality. Well better late than never. But, here is the thing, if people hadn’t complained the BBC would have done nothing. A live reporter employed by the BBC at one of this decade’s most significant events is able to roll out an anti-Semitic narrative. That is quite remarkable. I can only imagine what Tim would have done if he was around at the time of Martin Luther King’s march to Selma?

Good luck Tim, I’m sure that British politics has a career waiting for you (strategist or PR, take your pick). Once the BBC finally work out what to do about racist opinions being delivered by their employees during live broadcasts, you’ll have the pick of the best Her Majesty’s Government has to offer.

And maybe, if Tim feels a strong leaning to the left he can join the Greens. Their leader, Natalie Bennett laid out the Green Party policy on membership of extremist organisations. She said it’s ok. If you want to join ISIS or al Quada you can. Natalie explained that people should be free to think what they want and to become members of organisations where similar values are held. So if you think beheading is good and slaughtering thousands of innocent children is just part of day to day life then it’s ok to go and join up with ISIS or other popular terrorist clubs. Well, it’s hard to know where to begin when our politicians are seriously espousing policies such as this. I could hardly wait to drop the leadership a line (and I’ll bet I wasn’t alone). I had two simple points:

1. Those that join terrorist organisations don’t normally stop there. The practice of getting involved is always encouraged. And getting involved usually involves murdering lots of innocent people for bad reasons.

2. If it’s ok to be a member of organisations that promote hate, I presume you’ll be supportive of those who wish to join organisations that promote hate and violence towards gay people, black people, Muslims, women, disabled people and so on. It’s ok to support and encourage terror and hate as long as they don’t “actually” do anything about it?

Are you sure this is a good idea?

PS. Before World War II lots of Germans joined a party. They didn’t have to do any terrorising themselves if they didn’t want to, just be supportive. It didn’t work out particularly well.

To finish on another MacMillan quote, “Events, dear boy, events” when asked what would be most likely to blow governments off course. However, Harold, it feels like “events” blowing chill winds through our society are currently knocking our moral compasses off course.

Jerusalem Post’s Letter from London 10th January 2015 19 Tevet 5775

I’m finding it strangely difficult to bring myself to write when the sights and sounds of this week are still so resonant. This may seem odd, given that it was fellow writers, putting their opinions into the public domain that apparently sparked these events of evil. Words seem so futile. And there are so many words that have been written and spoken regarding the events in Paris it seems that everything has been said. So I will talk of that which was not written.

In London, as we journeyed forward to New Year’s Eve, there was a sense that 2014 was a year we were all going to be glad to see the back of. Amongst my friends we talked of the relief at seeing out an awful year for Jews (as Queen Elizabeth once declared, an “annus horribilis”). We saw antisemitism reaching new highs, the conflict in Israel and Gaza in the summer and the attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv later in the year. The fireworks over the Thames at midnight and the strains of Auld Lang Syne seemed to offer new hope and comfort for 2015. Also, for many of us here in the UK, it would also be an opportunity for us to look back at 2014 and say, “we made a difference”; “we made a stand”; “we found our voice”; “we changed for the better”. But whilst we felt we made a change, the calendar rolled over into the first days of January, we sadly discovered that the world hadn’t. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (the more things change, the more things stay the same).

The First, Unwritten…..

Just before New Year, I wrote to HarperCollins about a World Atlas that they produced for their Arabic market. This atlas was designed in English for Arabic students as a reference book. In it one reference that was not apparent was Israel. Israel had been removed. The land mass was there, Gaza was there, Jordan was there, but no Israel. Once I had informed the CEO of the situation, HarperCollins, within a couple of hours, confirmed to me that they would be removing the product from sale and all remaining stock would be pulped. HarperCollins made a full apology. But the reasoning behind the original strategy revealed a sinister message. Their reasoning for the removal of the State of Israel was, according to the company’s representatives, that their customers would have found the inclusion of Israel “unacceptable” so the Atlas was amended for “local preferences”.

Missing Israel

Missing Israel

The Second, Unpublished…..

In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack, many journalists and publishers in the UK immediately stood up and said that they would not kowtow to the terrorist threats of extremists. Free speech was everything. There was a certain sense of righteousness that the media would now not fear delivering the story with any censorship. We would all see what the commotion was about, why 12 people had been murdered for free speech. We would not see OUR press cower in fear. Yet the morning after the murders of these cartoonists, exactly as their editor, Stephane Charbonier had predicted but had hoped would not be the case, the press stood down. Stephane himself had said he would rather “die standing”. Not one British newspaper, not one TV channel was prepared to publish or show these cartoons. Some spoke bravely (such as Andrew Neill and David Aaronovich), but otherwise they all hid behind the “insensitivity” of publishing those satirical cartoons. This fear of offence has become a wider topic now here in the UK, yet we are still no closer to addressing it. It feels for many that the extremists have won. Jonathan Glass epitomized the feeling of many when he wrote imploring The Independent, an ambitious and usually brave broadsheet, to do the right thing. He said “all organs of the media must resist the assault on free speech”. And further, “If only our journalistic elite had the same concern about standing up for what is right”. But no….

The Third, Unmentioned…..

During these awful events, one fact is rarely being uttered. You see, if it were, it might cause us to think the worst. The French exodus. Here’s a very brief letter summarising the situation which I sent to The Independent, as a reminder of the situation the French Jews find themselves in.

Regular attacks on religious establishments and amenities, physical attacks on those going about their daily lives, terror, threat and murder. Jews are victims in France daily. And the perpetrators are always the same.

Jews in France are leaving in their droves. 20% of French Jews have fled France in the last 2 years (100,000 emigrated from France to Britain, US and Israel).

France will be Judenfrei before 2020 thanks to the Islamic terror campaign and the inertia of successive governments. This campaign achieving what even the Nazis failed to do, rid France of Jews.

In Europe, we are sleepwalking into a catastrophe. Wake up Europe before it’s too late.

It remained unmentioned in most of the reporting, that Islamic terror and the inertia of successive French governments is leading to the eradication of Jews in France. It is a powerful message, yet one the media are frightened to mention as only one conclusion can be drawn. Again, through fear of terrorists and extremists, it is easier to accept the victimisation of Jews rather than offend others with the truth. However, yesterday, Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle did speak out saying “Every single French Jew I know has either left or is actively working out how to leave”. And tonight as I prepared to publish this very article the BBC and ITV news did finally carry interviews with concerned French Jews. The message was “when are we leaving?” or “where will we go?”
The Fourth, Unspoken…..

“Not in my name”. This is the rhetoric spoken by many Muslim leaders. These leaders seem to be decent and caring people. They are genuinely concerned and as outraged as the next man. Yet, “not in my name” doesn’t help. It distances Islam from the extremists and hopes that they’ll go away by denying they exist within the boundaries of the faith. These radicals, these terrorists, these extremists are doing these egregious acts in the name of Islam. And rather than saying “not in my name”, Muslims need to come out and say what their name is. When I see tens of thousands of Muslims protesting against their brothers, marching on Westminster saying “Muslims against Jihad”, “Muslims against apostasy”, “Muslims want freedom of speech” and “Muslims for British values” and so on then I will start to believe. This is what is not spoken.

Unfortunately, with the exception of Paris this weekend, the only time we witness the outpouring of emotion is when global brothers are offended and not when others outside of their faith are. Where are the Keffiyeh clad protest marches for the Christians of Yazidi, the Israelis murdered in Jerusalem, the children of Nigeria, the slaughtered refugees of Sudan and even the victims of genocidal war of Syria? Muslim leaders must be brave. They must take ownership of Islamic terror. They must put their arms around it and smother it with love and saturate it with good not evil. Start this in the schools, continue it in the mosques and send it out into the world. Prove that Islam is a religion of love not war. Shunning the terror, ignoring it, excusing it, will just make it breed and prosper.


 

There is a tradition at midnight on New Year’s Eve of singing an old poem by the Scottish bard, Rabbie Burns (not to be confused with the Rabbi Burns). We sing “For the sake of Auld Lang Syne”, it means “for the sake of old times”. We sing it to reminisce for the good old times and we wish for more of the same. This year let us hope, despite the dreadful start, that we can put the bad times behind us and enjoy more of the good ones.

#JeSuisCharlie #JesSuisJuif

#JeSuisCharlie
#JeSuisJuif