President of Board of Deputies of British Jews says concerns about rising tide of anti-Zionism in Britain are just “alarmist”
Well, let me confess to feeling a little perplexed today and let me also ask whether someone could enlighten me as to what precisely is going on. The top and bottom of it is that Vivian Wineman, the President of the Board of British Jews, has chosen to write a piece in the Jerusalem Post seeking to refute my own piece of last week on the increasing hostility to Israel in the British mainstream.
Since being elected to his position in May, this appears to be the first article in a major international newspaper that Mr. Wineman has written. In other words, he is setting out his stall on Britain’s relationship with Israel. It is an important moment for him, and he has used that moment to argue that although there are a few problems, there is really very little to worry about. Wineman, a former chairman of British Friends of Peace Now, had the following points to make:
1) Talk of a serious downturn in Israel’s reputation in Britain is “misguided and alarmist”.
2) The attacks on Israel now, as they have always been, are primarily being made by a small but vocal group with no real influence.
3) Although the Guardian newspaper — house journal of the BBC and the focal point of the British opinion forming classes — continues to be a problem, it doesn’t really matter. The Guardian and leftist charities such as War on Want are just the “usual suspects”.
4) In fact, there is a tremendous amount of good news to talk about: “The political landscape, while affected by these [negative] things, has benefited hugely from the relentless work done by our community in several areas.” These areas include Britain’s leadership role in calling for sanctions against Iran, the fact that the British parliament has held an inquiry into anti-Semitism, the rejection of academic boycotts by ordinary union members as well as a set of other matters including improved trade relations. The hard work of Mr. Wineman and company is yielding results! Israel’s relationship with Britain is on the right track.
5) Even to suggest that British opinion formers are among the most hostile to Israel in the western world is “simply misleading”.
There is obviously a lot more to this piece than meets the eye. But I am keeping my powder dry for now. I will respond in full in due course.
I have already seen the slating this piece is getting on the Jerusalem Post website as well as elsewhere on other relevant websites. But what do you think? You can leave your (polite) comments for publication below, or at the end of the article in the Jerusalem Post itself. The link to that article is here:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1248277904878&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
July 28th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I do not believe that a majority of elected Deputies would agree with Vivian. I certainly don’t.
Jonathan Hoffman
Co-Vice Chair ZF (elected)
Deputy, Board of Deputies (elected)
Member, International Division, Board of Deputies (elected)
July 28th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I totally disagree with Vivian. Robin, your article was terrifyingly accurate. I fail to understand why some insist on burying their heads in the sand. It seems that they believe total denial of the ugly truth will make it go away, but that can never work, and we all know it.
I am writing this not in my capacity as an elected Deputy on the Board of Deputies, nor in my capacity as an elected member of the International Division of the Board of Deputies, but as a common sense, eyes wide open, VERY concerned British Jew. I do not feel that this statement by the President represents me, nor does it represent the feelings and concerns of most British Jews (and non-Jews) I know. I certainly also judged the feeling in the room at the BOD meetings I have attended to be quite the opposite of what Vivian has written.