Category: NEWS

An incredible letter written by a non-Jewish Scottish professor to his students who voted to boycott Israel It's a response from Dr. Denis MacEoin to the motion put forward by The Edinburgh Student's Association to boycott all things Israeli, in which they claim Israel is under an apartheid regime. Denis is an expert in Middle Eastern affairs and was a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly. Here's his letter to the students. TO: The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association. May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic History in Buccleuch Place under William Montgomery Watt and Laurence Elwell Sutton, two of Britain 's great Middle East experts in their day. I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge and to teach Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University . Naturally, I am the author of several books and...

‘This war, like the next war, is a war to end war’ The latest announcement from some of Europe’s enlightened powers is to recognize Palestinian statehood, whatever that means. The Republic of Ireland, Spain and Norway have thrown their “considerable” weight behind what over 140 UN member states have previously recognized as the claim to nationhood of the Palestinians, again whatever that means. Where exactly does this conglomerate of pro-Palestinians countries envisage the Palestinian State to be? What are the territorial dimensions of this hypothetical state, and who is its elected government? These are tricky questions to answer when those advocating a two-state solution remove from their proposals the right of Israel to negotiate the future of its sovereignty. These ideas are at best cynically well-intentioned, and at worse an enormous fillip for Hamas and others that seek to weaken or, indeed, destroy the Jewish State. Any accord between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the only reasonable organization that purports to want...

Welcome to our bi-monthly Meet and Greet with Rebbetzen Anna, very generously hosted by Jennie Lipshaw. As we approach Shavuot, otherwise famously known as 'the cheesecake festival',  our topic today was the Book of Ruth - a sort of biblical Jilly Cooper story but with much more modesty. Ruth was so impressed with her mother-in-law (as indeed all OURS are today :-)) she converted and followed her every will. (Remember, wither thou goest, I will go ?) So when the M-I-L set her sights on marriage with Boaz for widowed Ruth, it was up to Ruth to give him a prod and let him know he was in luck. Wandering in the barley fields with a bit of unobtrusive flirting didn't seem to do the trick, but after a lot of anointing and laying at his feet (as you do), he finally took the hint and they married, had a child, and eventually a grandchild that gave us King David.  And the rest is history Not...

A different Yom Ha'atzmaut but one that reinforces why we love Israel so much. The return of the Jewish people to their homeland after 2000 years of exile is one of the greatest stories ever told. The story continues, and I hope we all appreciate that we are all part of this current chapter. Last night, at Finchley United Synagogue, Chief Rabbi Mirvis quoted Chaim Weizmann. Before the establishment of the State of Israel, Weizmann traveled to London, where he was asked by a Lord in the British Parliament: “Mr. Weizmann, why Palestine? Why not try elsewhere, somewhere you would have less enemies, less struggles, less hardships and difficulties, somewhere closer perhaps?” Weizmann replied: “My dear Lord, why is it that you insist on driving two-and-half hours—every weekend—to visit your elderly mother, when there is a perfectly decent nice old lady living just across the street?" Our connection to Israel is special, spiritual, and never-ending. יום העצמאות שמח! Happy Yom Ha'atzmaut! 🇮🇱🇮🇱...

These are my People Diaspora Jewry is going through an unprecedented trauma of questioning where they stand in the present Israel-Hamas war. Jews around the world have been subject to intimidation, accusations in being complicit in genocide and a whole host of antisemitic slurs from controlling the world’s press, to controlling world finance, and you name it, controlling everything that happens in the world!It is not surprising that Jews living in theDiaspora, many of whom are liberal in sentiment and religious affiliation, should feel confused if not bewilder by what is going on the Middle East. This is a time to reconnect with our spiritual and cultural heritage. Israel is not a far flung country that has nothing to do with Jews living in New York or London, it is an integral part of the Jewish People and to forget that is courting disaster for both the State of Israel and for those living outside its borders. We may disagree with Israeli...

TV review: Passover UK: A Jewish Journey. Late but great Sam Holder’s programme about Pesach gave me warm, fuzzy feelings      BY KEREN DAVID Edwin Shuker at his interfaith Seder When Passover UK: A Jewish Journey showed up on ITV’s schedules nearly a week after the end of the festival, it caused a fair bit of head-scratching and chortling among Jews. “It’s like putting on a programme about Christmas on January 2,” said my husband as we settled down to watch Sam Holder’s exploration of the ways in which British Jews celebrate the festival that (as Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner told him ) is in some ways the Jewish equivalent of Christmas because everyone asks each other where they are going to go. But all doubts disappeared as we watched the programme.  It was late, but it was great. For non-Jews there was a great explanation of what Pesach involves and how Jews celebrate it. For Jews there was a warm, fuzzy feeling of being...

Passover UK: An ancient Jewish festival in modern Britain Passover UK: A Jewish Journey will air on ITV 1 and ITV X on Sunday 5th May 2024 at 10.15pm. ITV News reporter Sam Holder joined families across the UK as they celebrated Passover There is an old Jewish saying: “For every two Jews, there are three opinions.” So, it is no surprise that almost every Jewish family in the UK has their own traditions when it comes to celebrating the ancient festival of Passover. For thousands of years, the Jewish people have commemorated the Exodus - the biblical story of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt. If you cannot quite remember the details from your RE classes, then it is basically the plot of the wildly popular 1998 film “The Prince of Egypt” (featuring an exceptional Oscar-winning soundtrack with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey). The very abridged story goes that in roughly 1400 B.C., the Israelites were held in captivity by the Pharaoh. After God...

An interesting review of the BBC Documentary from a London based Barmitzvah planner. Full disclosure Before I share my own reflections, you ought to know that I had some involvement in the show. In the closing hours of 2023, I got a message from one of my b'mitzvah families asking if it would be okay to give my number to a TV producer who wanted to film their child's simcha for BBC One. The producer turned out to be award-winning documentary filmmaker, Rosemary Baker, best known by some of you (or your kids!) for Channel 4's Untold: The Truth About Spiking, Gogglebox: How to Make It on OnlyFans, and The Times Critics' Choice  Unreal! With TikTok and YouTube star Olivia Neill on BBC. She is now producer director for the renowned and prolific True Vision Productions, and you're bound to've seen any number of 100s of programmes they've made for the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky. I went in to the first of...

An interview with Jonathan Pollard (son-in-law of our member, Stephen Abrahams).  Jonathan spent 30 years in prison in America, accused of being an Israeli spy. He is now in a very happy place. released in late 2020, and living in Israel with his new wife, Stephen's daughter and 7 children.    Click the link below to hear his story. A number of weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview Yehonatan Pollard. We tackle many behind the scenes issues about Israel and America. Yehonatan has an extremely unique perspective due to his knowledge and experience. It is an interview that you do not want to miss. https://youtu.be/SLje7rUWYs4...