April 02, 2005

Aren't bananas kosher?

There's a very sad story on the front page of the Jewish Chronicle. (Subscription required) this weekend. It's about a woman who converted to orthodox Judaism in Israel in 1990 under the auspices of the Sephardi Beth Din. (Rabbinical court) who is not allowed to send her son to the Jews' Free School because her conversion is not recognised by the UK's Beth Din. Why it's not recognised is a long story and I'm not sure I understand it myself but what struck me was her statement to the JC.
I am shocked and upset at what the Beth Din has decided. I and my family are accepted as Jews in Israel, my son went to a Jewish school in Israel and my husband served in the army. Yet when we want to send out son to a Jewish school here, we are told we are not Jewish. How can we be Jewish in one country and not in another? It's not some banana republic. This is a ridiculous situation and we will do everything we can to get them to change their minds.
I always thought bananas were kosher.

Also in the JC

Jewish boys arrested for racial abuse of Muslim woman

I think this is a case involving 3 teenagers harrassing a Muslim woman for a couple of years now. Police had said there was nothing they could do but, according to the JC, video evidence has made the arrests possible.

MPAC targets Jack Straw

Apparently the Muslim Public Affairs Committee has been "attempting to unseat [Jack Straw]....by claiming he is "ideologocally driven to support Israel."" MPAC should know Straw better than to accuse of him being "ideologically driven" to do anything. That would suggest that he has principles and he has none. When the UK wanted some kind of Iranian support for the war on Iraq, Straw penned an article for the occasionally anti-semitic Tehran Times "sympathising" with the plight of Arabs in what he called, once only, "Palestine". This, of course, caused a furore in Israel. Since then he has got back on the zionist track, only ever making reference to Israeli deaths in the intifada. I remember when about 200 Israelis had been killed he said that every Israeli knew someone who had been killed by terrorists. At the time this would have meant that every Israeli who got killed by Palestinians, knew about 30,000 people. He made no reference at all to the fact that far more Palestinians had been killed and that every Palestinian is suffering from the struggle with Israel whereas a recent survey put "terrorism" fourth on a list of Israelis' concerns, behind, crime, the economy and road accidents.

The article goes on to say that Oona King is also in MPAC's sights, suggesting that "the black-Jewish MP" has "perceived sympathy for Israel." Actually, it's her support for the war wot dunnit. Oona King is on record as comparing Israel's governance of Gaza to the nazis' governance of the Warsaw ghetto.

The JC. does employ a lot of sheer deviousness in its support for Israel so it's hard to know what is true and what is not. I can only hope that MPAC wouldn't be so witless as to target Jack Straw and Oona King on account of them being Jews. Again I say, that to accuse Jack Straw of being "ideologically driven" is a compliment that the abject opportunist doesn't deserve.

And pigs might fly

Oliver Letwin tells Conservative Friends of Israel that "he looked forward to a time when there would be no need for organisations such as the CFI" because one day "Israel's...case would no longer be in question." I didn't know that annihilating the Palestinians was Tory policy.

Iain Hook

As reported in the Socialist Worker, the Foreign Office has rejected a BBC request to hand over information about Israel's shooting of the unarmed Iain Hook in Jenin. The reason they offer is informative. "Officials argued that releasing the information could damage Britain's relations "with another state." It doesn't say which state. I like to think it's America and not Israel but that's just me. The JC. then goes on to give the Israeli army's version of events without any suggestion that their version is hotly disputed by the UN and witnesses. The article even says that his phone, that is the phone that he was using at the time an Israeli soldier shot him in the back, was mistaken for a gun. The inquest is being conducted by Ipswich coroner, Dr Peter Dean.

Hitler knew details of the holocaust

This might look like a pope is catholic kind of a story but it has long been said that Hitler, whilst wanting the eradication of the Jews from Europe (and presumably the world), didn't actually order or have detailed knowledge of the holocaust. David Irving is particularly fond of this one. Of course many organising criminals in governments and on the streets, don't have detailed knowledge of crimes committed on their behalf. Look at Ariel Sharon, who is said to have ordered or allowed the massacres at Shatila and Sabra with a wave of his hand. Anyway, thanks to a book on Hitler (The Hitler Book ), compiled for Stalin, it appears that he knew it all, from the strategy to the operations.

Still more on anti-semitism

"The leader of Germany's Jewish community has warned of a rampant anti-Semitism in academic and intellectual circles." He also says that he receives a lot of anti-semitic emails from people who often give their names and addresses. Apparently, 25 complaints have been made against people who sign such letters. We'll see how the complaints get on in due course but it must be said that the article is dominated by the allegation of academic and intellectual anti-semitism and yet not one example is given.

Stupid article by David Aaronovitch

David Aaronovitch writes of how he turned down an offer to be the JC's. editor. He sites as one reason the fact that he is "not Jewish enough," before traipsing off into a barely coherent ramble about why he's "not Jewish enough." He then gets to another reason which gave him his headline Preaching to the converted is no fun. Why then am I hearing rumours that this pro-war zionist is going to work for Rupert Murdoch's Times.?

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