Latest news with #BoardOfDeputies
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Board of Deputies: Hamas has no incentive for accepting a deal
For nearly two years, the Board of Deputies has held weekly vigils outside Westminster and the Scottish Parliament to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages taken on October 7 2023, during the Hamas attacks, which saw more than 1,200 men, women and children violently murdered and hundreds kidnapped. Fifty people remain in captivity in Gaza now, some dead and some living. We know from the testimony of released hostages that they have faced abuse and appalling conditions for the past 21 months. This is the backdrop to the war in Gaza – a war that Israel did not start. It is a conflict which has cost thousands of lives on both sides and we are all praying for its conclusion and peace. However, will the government's decision to recognise a Palestinian state at this moment help bring peace to the region? I do not think so. The government's statement, released on Tuesday, sets conditions on Israel. The UK says that it will recognise Palestinian statehood unless Israel accepts a ceasefire. However, this means that Hamas has no incentive for accepting a deal. If they continue to turn down truce proposals, they know that this makes UK recognition of Palestine more likely. We would like the government to state unequivocally that recognition will not be forthcoming unless Hamas meets UK demands. That must include accepting a ceasefire and releasing the hostages. It must be totally unconscionable for the UK to effectively reward Hamas terrorism while the hostages remain in inhumane conditions. In saying this, I must stress that my organisation, the democratically elected representative organisation of the UK Jewish community, has long supported a negotiated two-state solution that ensures a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state. However, recognising a Palestinian state without a diplomatic agreement risks putting gestures ahead of substance. There is a danger that the government's announcement will empower Hamas. Food must not be used as a weapon of war While responsibility for this war lies with Hamas, and the destruction wrought on the Palestinian people is largely down to the actions of this terrorist group, which is proscribed in the UK, the suffering we are witnessing in the Gaza Strip demands a response. The new measures announced by Israeli authorities to address the humanitarian crisis are essential, if long overdue. We need to see a rapid, uninhibited, and sustained increase in aid through all available channels, and we need to see all agencies cooperating in this endeavour. As we have said for months, food must not be used as a weapon of war by any side in this conflict. We are also alarmed at some of the rhetoric within the Israeli government and by extremist settler violence in the West Bank. This war continues to take an unbearable toll on both Israelis and Palestinians, and nearly all of them would like to see it end as soon as possible. It is also having a profound effect on our own UK Jewish community, with a huge increase in hate crime and discrimination directed at Jews in this country. We need to export peace, not import this conflict. This is a long and attritional war which must come to an end. There is no doubt that the UK government is sincere in its desire to end suffering in the area. However, it must be aware of the concerted international drive across governments, the media and civil society, to turn Israel into a pariah state, with increasingly alarming impacts on local Jewish communities, including in the UK. The government must ensure that its good intentions are not weaponised by this campaign. In this complex and challenging moment, steps to advance a two-state solution should still be focused on substance, not gestures. The diplomatic community needs to get behind a comprehensive plan that will make a Palestinian state beside a secure Israel a reality. We need to see peace and we need to see all the hostages return to their loved ones. Only then will we end our weekly hostage vigils. Phil Rosenberg is president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Board of Deputies: Hamas has no incentive for accepting a deal
For nearly two years, the Board of Deputies has held weekly vigils outside Westminster and the Scottish Parliament to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages taken on 7th October 2023, during the Hamas attacks which saw more than 1,200 men, women and children violently murdered and hundreds kidnapped. Fifty people remain in captivity in Gaza now, some dead and some living. We know from the testimony of released hostages that they have faced abuse and appalling conditions for the past 21 months. This is the backdrop to the war in Gaza – a war that Israel did not start. It is a conflict which has cost thousands of lives on both sides and we are all praying for its conclusion and for peace. However, will the government's decision to recognise a Palestinian state at this moment help bring peace to the region? I do not think so. The government's statement, released yesterday, sets conditions on Israel. The UK says that it will recognise Palestinian statehood unless Israel accepts a ceasefire. However, this means that Hamas has no incentive for accepting a deal. If they continue to turn down truce proposals, they know that this makes UK recognition of Palestine more likely. We would like the government to state unequivocally that recognition will not be forthcoming unless Hamas meets UK demands. That must include accepting a ceasefire and releasing the hostages. It must be totally unconscionable for the UK to effectively reward Hamas terrorism while the hostages remain in inhumane conditions. In saying this I must stress that my organisation, the democratically elected representative organisation of the UK Jewish community, has long supported a negotiated two-state solution that ensures a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state. However, recognising a Palestinian state without a diplomatic agreement risks putting gestures ahead of substance. There is a danger that the government's announcement will empower Hamas. While responsibility for this war lies with Hamas and the destruction wrought on the Palestinian people is largely down to the actions of this terrorist group which is proscribed in the UK, the suffering we are witnessing in the Gaza Strip demands a response. The new measures announced by Israeli authorities to address the humanitarian crisis are essential if long overdue. We need to see a rapid, uninhibited, and sustained increase in aid through all available channels, and we need to see all agencies cooperating in this endeavour. As we have said for months, food must not be used as a weapon of war by any side in this conflict. We are also alarmed at some of the rhetoric within the Israeli government and by extremist settler violence in the West Bank. 'Food must not be used as a weapon of war' This war continues to take an unbearable toll on both Israelis and Palestinians, and nearly all of them would like to see it end as soon as possible. It is also having a profound effect on our own UK Jewish community, with a huge increase in hate crime and discrimination directed at Jews in this country. We need to export peace, not import this conflict. This is a long and attritional war which must come to an end. There is no doubt that the UK government is sincere in its desire to end suffering in the area. However, it must be aware of the concerted international drive across governments, the media and civil society, to turn Israel into a pariah state, with increasingly alarming impacts on local Jewish communities, including in the UK. The government must ensure that its good intentions are not weaponised by this campaign. In this complex and challenging moment, steps to advance a two-state solution should still be focussed on substance, not gestures. The diplomatic community needs to get behind a comprehensive plan that will make a Palestinian state beside a secure Israel a reality. We need to see peace and we need to see all the hostages return to their loved ones. Only then will we end our weekly hostage vigils.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
UK's top Jewish body demands surge in Gaza aid
LONDON: Britain's leading Jewish body has demanded that Israel launch a surge of aid to Gaza. In rare criticism of Israel's government, the Board of Deputies of British Jews called for a 'rapid, uninhibited and sustained increase in aid through all available channels' for the Palestinian enclave. It followed an emergency meeting held by the organization on Tuesday amid mounting anguish over the catastrophic situation in Gaza. Phil Rosenberg, the board's president, said: 'The suffering we are witnessing in the Gaza Strip demands a response ... We need to see a rapid, uninhibited, and sustained increase in aid through all available channels, and we need to see all agencies cooperating in this endeavor. 'As we have been saying for months, food must not be used as a weapon of war, by any side in this conflict.' A month ago, the organization took controversial disciplinary action against 36 of its elected officials who had signed an open letter criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza. Five of the 36 were suspended for two years. The board's statement represents a significant shift within the British Jewish body politic, and follows rising tensions within the community over the war in Gaza. Dozens of deputies wrote to the board leadership before Tuesday's emergency meeting demanding that the organization appeal to the Israeli government to 'end this suffering.' The letter added: 'Nothing could be more damaging to the British Jewish community than staying silent in this moment.' Marie van der Zyl, the former president of the board, wrote last week for Jewish News that 'hunger and human suffering, on this scale, are incompatible with the core values of our faith.' In a letter, a group of more than 400 influential rabbis from around the world, including many from the UK, also called on the Israeli government to end its 'callous indifference to starvation.' Jewish people worldwide 'face a great moral crisis,' the letter warned. 'We cannot condone the mass killings of civilians, including a great many women, children and elderly, or the use of starvation as a weapon of war.'
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Recognising Palestine would reward Oct 7 murderers, Starmer told
Sir Keir Starmer will 'reward' the Oct 7 terrorists if he recognises a Palestinian state, Israel's ambassador to the UK has said. Tzipi Hotovely has described proposals for recognising a Palestine state as 'nothing less than a reward for terrorism'. The ambassador, writing for The Telegraph, said that 'Palestinian recognition would be a reward for hostage-taking, for rape, for murder, for burning innocent people alive'. Ms Hotovely added that recognition would also be a 'significant departure from the policy of the US administration ', risking a damaging rift with the White House. She said: 'Terrorists are watching intently and the signal that they are receiving is that their violent tactics yield positive results for them in the UK and the West.' Her intervention came as Jewish faith leaders in Britain told the Prime Minister that recognition 'cannot improve the situation' and would be 'gesture politics'. Jewish faith leaders at the Board of Deputies, Britain's largest Jewish community organisation, have also told Sir Keir not to recognise a Palestinian state. Phil Rosenberg, the board's president, said that Hamas 'will claim recognition of Palestine as a vindication of their murderous rampages and hostage-taking'. Mr Rosenberg, writing for The Telegraph, said 'unilateral recognition cannot be a substitute for the difficult negotiations and concessions needed to realise an enduring peace'. Sir Keir has come under increasing pressure from his own party to recognise a Palestinian state. This week, 131 Labour MPs penned a letter urging their leader to follow Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and announce a plan to recognise a state. Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, and Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, have also told the Prime Minister to act immediately. The Labour-led foreign affairs committee also recommended immediate recognition this week, describing it as 'inalienable right'. Cabinet ministers have also reportedly urged the Prime Minister to act on the issue. The setting up of a new Left-wing party under Jeremy Corbyn, pledging to support 'a free and independent Palestine', is also likely to put electoral pressure on Sir Keir. On Saturday, the Prime Minister rejected calls from his party and Mr Macron to recognise a Palestinian state within the next few months. He said that while he was 'unequivocal' about recognising a Palestinian state as part of a peace process, this should come after a ceasefire and the return of Israeli hostages. Sir Keir said recognition 'must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis'. The issue is set to dominate Donald Trump's four-day visit to the UK, with Sir Keir due to meet the US president at the latter's Turnberry golf course in Scotland on Monday. He is attempting to finalise a UK-US trade deal with Mr Trump, the general terms of which were set out in May. There are fears within the Government that a disagreement with the president over Palestine recognition, which Mr Trump opposes, could derail the trade deal. Ms Hotovely described recognition as 'an act of grandstanding and virtue-signalling' and accused Mr Macron of 'Napoleonic cosplaying'. She claimed that after any recognition by Western powers, 'a Palestinian state would have all the ingredients of a would-be failed state'.
Telegraph
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Calls for James O'Brien to be ‘taken off air' after anti-Semitic comments
But the Board of Deputies of British Jews have labelled the comments 'unacceptable and highly offensive', and have called on LC to apologise and 'take Mr O'Brien off air'. The Telegraph understands the broadcast has also been reported to the Metropolitan Police, with one complaint alleging that the programme spread 'lies about Jews'. Police have reportedly been told the show ' puts Jews in very real danger '. The comments, which some have labelled 'anti-Semitic', were shared online by LBC in a clip from a longer live broadcast. It has been reported to the media regulator Ofcom, and has since been removed from X, formerly Twitter, by LBC. 'Fascinated by objectivity' In the clip, Mr O'Brien stated: 'I'm fascinated by objectivity, which is why I'm going to read out this from Chris'. He then read out a message that claimed: 'My wife was brought up Jewish and at Shabbat school in a leafy Hertfordshire town she was taught that one Jewish life is worth thousands of Arab lives and that Arabs are cockroaches to be crushed. 'Whilst young children are taught such hatred and dehumanisation – undoubtedly on both sides… then they will always be able to justify death and cruelty.' Mr O'Brien added that in relation to the Israel-Gaza conflict, there was a danger of the public only hearing about 'one side' of the 'propaganda processes'. In response to the comments, Andrew Gilbert, vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, called on LBC to apologise and take Mr O'Brien off air. In a statement shared on X, Mr Gilbert said: 'We are urgently seeking a meeting with senior executives following the completely unacceptable and highly offensive comments made by James O'Brien on his LBC show today. 'Broadcasting such a transparent falsehood and demonising the British Jewish community, at a time when antisemitism in this country is at terrifyingly high levels, must have clear consequences. 'LBC should apologise, and take Mr O'Brien off the air.' On-air apology issued Karne Pollock, the head of Holocaust Educational Trust, also pointed out that there is no such thing as a 'Shabbat school'. Other critics have taken issue with the on-air message suggesting that – beyond Israel itself – Jews in general may harbour resentment towards Arabs, and are instructed to feel this way. The day after the contentious broadcast on July 22, Mr O'Brien issued an on-air apology when he returned to the LBC studio. He said: 'This is very important. At this time yesterday on the show, I read out a message from a listener called Chris, who said that his wife had been brought up in the Jewish faith and had attended what he described as a Shabbat school. 'He went on to make further claims about what he said she had been taught in that school. 'As with all the texts and messages that I read out on the programme, I did so in good faith, but the message has understandably upset a lot of people, and I regret taking those unsubstantiated claims at face value and am genuinely sorry for that and it is very important that I get that out there. Thank you for your attention.'
