Sunday, December 6, 2009

The Future of British Jewry

Unprecedented turnout at the Aliyah fair held in Manchester and London.

The fair which was held in Manchester last night and today in London experienced unprecedented turnout as British Jews flocked to find information about making their home in Israel. Over a thousand potenial Olim turned up packing out the hall. The representative from Misrad HaKlita had technical problems processing people due to slow Wireless connection and the fact that the Misrad HaKlita security policy blocks access to the system outside regular office hours in Israel and so half way through the fair, connection was terminated and they had to continue to process the large queue of people by hand. Someone didn't think this through obviously.

I wonder why the fair was so popular? Here are some possible reasons: Over 1,000 Anti-Semitic incidents were reported so far in Britain for 2009, more than doubling the attacks from 2008 which itself, was the largest recorded attacks since records began in the UK.

Britain seems totally impotent to act against a massive rise of Anti-Semitism from Muslims, Christians, Fascists and Socialists due to its drowning is political correctness and a suicidal policy of multiculturalism. How ironic that laws and attitudes created and nurtured to tackle Anti-Semitism in Britain of the 20th Century are the very tools being used by Anti-Semites today to attack Jews.

A London shul after an attack

British Court decides who is a Jew.
In October The British Rabbanut's Office lost a land mark ruling in the UK courts.

The Court of Appeal ruled that it was racist to reject the application of a child (who's mother received a non-Orthodox conversion) to the Orthodox JFS School. The Chief Rabbi's Office tried to argue that Judaism was only a religion and not an ethnic group or national people. They told the court that "its admissions policy giving preference to Jewish children when the school was oversubscribed was lawful because it was based on religious and not racial criteria".

The judges however were not impressed and announced that "the requirement that if a pupil is to qualify for admission his mother must be Jewish, whether by descent or by conversion, is a test of ethnicity which contravenes the Race Relations Act". (I seriously question the wisdom of the Chief Rabbi's office in taking such a position in the first place). This means that British Jews can no longer decide who is a Jew by their own definition because it falls foul of the Racial Discrimination Act. This should be deeply disturbing to all Orthodox Jews as it calls into question the viability to continue to educate Jewish children according to halacha in Britain.

Anti-Semitic documentary on British National TV

On November 16, Channel 4 "Dispatches" Programme investigated the "sinister" nature of a secret group of wealthy and influential Jews who are controlling Britain's policy in the Middle East. A quote from the programme: "Despite wielding great influence among the highest realms of British politics and media, little is known about the individuals and groups which collectively are known as the pro-Israel lobby." The programme didn't ask the question that if this lobby was so powerful, how comes Britain's Foreign Office and Press are amongst the most anti-Israel in Europe? The programme ignored the fact that there is a much larger Arab Lobby which seems to have far more influence over British policy. (Something to do with oil perhaps?). All this adds up to a programme akin to the modern version of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" on British National Television.

Blatant Anti-Semitism in Britain's National Newspapers

On the 3rd December, the Guardian Newspaper allowed a blatantly anti-Semitic letter to be published that contained obvious Holocaust Denial. When challenged they eventually removed the letter from the site claiming that they hadn't read the letter properly and it had slipped through. The problem with this explanation is that anti-Semitic talkbacks are unfortunately common place at The Guardian website.

Central London church holds Anti-Semitic carol service

On December 4th at the Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church in Central London they held a special Xmas Carol concert in support of Hamas. The YouTube Video of the event is essential viewing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fUKsDG9v2A&feature=player_embedded What I find most shocking in this Video is not the anti-Semitic idiot they spend most of the time interviewing but the Church vicar who when told that Hamas is a actually a brutal terrorist organisation and has murdered not only Jews but Xtians as well, he looks genuinely surprised and shocked. Are we to believe that this vicar, the head of a major central London church allowed this Anti-Semitic Carol Hate-fest to go on in his church and was totally hoodwinked through ignorance? By the look on his face, probably so.

Scottish National Union urges Celtic fans to support Hamas

On the 2nd December the premier Scottish Football Club, Celtic FC played Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Scottish fans waved Palestinian and Hamas flags at the match. One could defend this action by arguing that it was just a bit of football fan taunting which doesn't really mean anything except, that is that the order to demonstrate came directly from the National Scottish Trade Unions.

The Lord Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks declares special Shabbat

Meanwhile, The Lord Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has declared that this Shabbat, Parshas Vayishlach is to be a special Shabbat to call awareness to a very important issue.

In the parsha, Yaakov confronts Eisav who is out to kill him and his entire family. This parsha has been used by Chaza"l throughout the generations as a blueprint for how to defend the Jewish people from the anti-semitic attacks of Edom.

The Lord Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has announced that this is to be a special Sabbath devoted to the, (wait for it...), the environment, ahead of the climate talks due to be held next week in Copenhagen.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3815131,00.html His Lordship, Jonathan Sacks says he wants the Shabbat beginning Friday night to be focused on environmental issues and has asked Jews across the UK to pray for sustainable habits of consumption and energy use. To quote a British sports term, I don't think that The Lord Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has his eye on the ball (unlike this chap).

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