Board of Deputies Community Briefing 5th November 2020

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COMMUNITY BRIEFING

Board of Deputies President tells Holocaust
Centre inquiry: ‘Memorial next to Westminster
will be uniquely powerful'

Board of Deputies of British Jews President Marie This will not be a memorial which will only be
van der Zyl today made a statement to the relevant to Jews, she said. “It will provide a stark
Holocaust Memorial public inquiry in which she said lesson about the horrors of racism and persecution
that “there is something uniquely powerful in have been high on the news agenda too: whether it
locating a memorial and learning centre to be the systemic racism that Black people suffer on
humankind’s greatest crime right next to the centre both sides of the Atlantic, or the state-backed
of the UK’s democracy in Westminster". persecution of the Uyhgurs in China.”

She said: “Crucially, it will give a voice to those who While it could be a target for terrorists, this should
cannot speak out about what they endured. The not deter those responsible for building the memorial
diminishing group of Holocaust survivors have and learning centre. “I reflect that the UK Jewish
themselves said how important it is to have a community has painfully learned over the past 50
memorial on a specific and important site. years, schools and synagogues need to be
protected against those who would do us harm.
She added that while Britain has a mixed record in What we have not done, however, is to close down
those centres of prayer and Jewish learning. We

its response to the Nazis’ attempted genocide, the have carried on, proudly, as British Jews.”
memorial and learning centre would “recognise this Read the full text of the statement here.
duality”.

Jewish community leaders thank Keir Starmer for firm
and constructive response to damning EHRC verdict

Marie van der Zyl, President of the Board of Deputies, Jonathan Goldstein, Chair of the Jewish Leadership
Council, Mark Gardner, Chief Executive of the Community Security Trust and Mike Katz, Chair of the Jewish
Labour Movement, held an online meeting with Labour Leader Keir Starmer this week.

They said: “We thanked Keir Starmer and the Labour Party for their firm and constructive response to the
damning verdict delivered by the Equality and Human Rights Commission last week.

“We expressed our disgust that his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn had, by contrast, responded by diminishing
and dismissing the legal findings of the report, thereby challenging the Labour Party’s new commitment to
rooting out the problem and giving the Party no choice but to suspend him.

“While we discussed a constructive means of Labour delivering the technical recommendations of the
EHRC report, a crucial element of the way forward is about culture.

“Those who are responsible for obstructing the new, positive direction set for the Party around antisemitism
and undermining the confidence of the Jewish community and Jewish Labour Party members are part of
the problem and the Labour leadership will need to find a way to put a stop to it.

“Calls for leniency on the basis of party unity are misplaced when the issue at hand is antisemitism. If the
Party is to show zero tolerance to antisemitism, there can be no unity with antisemites or their enablers.
Indeed, the EHRC rightly dismissed such political considerations as being inappropriate for an issue in
which Labour has moral and legal responsibilities.

“Recognising the progress made, but that there is still a long way to go, we expressed our ongoing
willingness to work with Keir Starmer and Labour to return the Party to being proudly and unequivocally
anti-racist once more.”

Read the JC report here and the Jewish News story here.

To celebrate its 260th anniversary on 3 November, the Board of Deputies held an online L'Chaim for all
Deputies and staff. Efrat Sopher, one of our newest Deputies representing the oldest constituencies - the S&P
Sephardi Community - presented the Board with an antique print showing the travels of long-time President
Sir Moses Montefiore. Efrat said: "We are standing together with the Board of Deputies today, after all these
years, because we’ve acted with wisdom, prudence and care for the values and for the people whom we
serve. We look forward to continuing to do so together in the future." President Marie van der Zyl sent this
message to all Deputies.

Join the Board of Deputies for an #InterfaithWeek discussion on how people of faith can navigate questions of
race and identity in Britain in 2020. Watch LIVE on our website or on our Facebook and YouTube pages, no
need to register. Post your questions for the panel in comments. With: Rev Celia Apeagyei-Collins - Christian
Pastor and Founder of Rehoboth Foundation; Cllr Awale Olad - Camden Councillor and Somali Muslim; Jodeci
Joseph - Black-Jewish Motivational Speaker. Chaired by Stephen Bush - Chair of Commission on Racial
Inclusivity in the Jewish Community and Political Editor of the New Statesman

ACTIVITY REPORT

ARCHIVES AND HERITAGE

Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman presented at an event, held by the Insiders/Outsiders
festival, entitled Hidden Treasures: World War Two Internment Archives on the Isle of Man. Dawn introduced
the Board of Deputies’ Hidden Treasures project and drew attention to the many participating archives that
hold material telling the story of Jewish internees; the Association of Jewish Refugees’ Refugee Voices, Tate
Britain, The Wiener Holocaust Library, the Imperial War Museum and The National Archives as well as, of
course, Manx National Heritage. Yvonne Cresswell, of Manx National Heritage on the Isle of Man, gave a
fascinating presentation on their collection of material on the internment of civilians, many of them Jewish,
during the First and Second World Wars. The session will be available on You Tube.

THE BODCAST

Join the Board of Deputies for an #InterfaithWeek discussion entitled Realising Religious Freedom around
the Globe, on Tuesday10 November, 6:00pm – 7:00pm'. Watch LIVE on our website or on our Facebook
and YouTube pages, no need to register. Post your questions for the panel in comments. With: Kiri
Kankhwende - Press and Public Affairs Team Leader, Christian Solidarity Worldwide; Padideh Sabeti -
Director, Office of Public Affairs of the UK Bahá'í Community; Board of Deputies Vice President Edwin
Shuker; Nury Turkel - Attorney and Commissioner, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Chaired by Board of Deputies Chief Executive Gillian Merron.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg, Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer Daniel
Elton and International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby held a catch-up call with Luke Akehurst, Director
of We Believe in Israel to discuss priorities of Israel advocacy and collaboration opportunities.

International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby spoke with Leon Saltiel, Representative at UN Geneva and
UNESCO and Coordinator on Countering Antisemitism for the World Jewish Congress, about anti-Israel
bias at the UN and tackling antisemitism.

COMMUNITY

Chief Executive Gillian Merron convened and chaired a meeting of the Board of Deputies CEO Forum.
The CEOs heard from guest speaker Stephen Bush, Chair of the Board of Deputies' Commission on Racial
Inclusivity in the Jewish Community. Rachel Century, Head of Outreach at the Holocaust Memorial Day
Trust, gave a presentation on ‘Wellbeing In Our Teams’. The event was attended by CEOs from 55
communal organisations.

Regional Coronavirus Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan met Edward Green and
Hilary Rifkind, Deputy and Chair of Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, to discuss further Deputy engagement
and future work together.

Regional Coronavirus Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan met Phil Diamon and
Joshua Simons, Deputy and Chair of Shenley United Synagogue, to discuss further Deputy engagement
and future work together.

The Community Engagement Team of Director of Operations Judy Silkoff, Regional Coronavirus
Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan, Community Engagement Officer Lauren
Keiles and Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman welcomed 40 Deputies to a Coffee Break.

Regional Coronavirus Advice Capacity Help (Co-Ach) Manager Sara Radivan met Leon Smith and
David Turns, Deputy and President of Bristol Hebrew Congregation.

E D U C AT I O N

Senior Vice President Sheila Gewolb made a Judaism Talking Heads video recording as part of Cumbria
SACRE’s virtual teaching resource for primary schools which features representatives of different faiths.

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