From Ian:
Shmuley Boteach: British Jewish students attempt to silence my mention of Israel
Shmuley Boteach: British Jewish students attempt to silence my mention of Israel
Yet this week, for the first time in my life - having spoken at Universities across the world - I encountered a form of censorship in the most unlikely of all places: when I spoke to the Jewish Society at King’s College, London.Israel marks exodus of Jews from Arab countries
European Jews developed a survival instinct over centuries of persecution. They lie low, avoid public displays and use quiet diplomacy to defend themselves and Israel. British Jews have pursued this approach with a high degree of success in the last half century. However, on my current visit to England I detect a shift away from associating with Israel in the way I was accustomed to as founder and head of the Oxford L’Chaim Society.
What finally shook much of my confidence in British Jewry was my experience where I was invited to address the Jewish Society at Kings. In the course of the discussion, I focused my remarks on Israeli democracy and the blessing it can be to the innocent Arab citizens of Israel’s autocratic Arab neighbors. Israel is the great hope for the spread of human rights throughout the Middle East.
As I spoke, I could see my hosts growing restless and the discomfiture on their faces surprised me. I was in for a bigger shock, however, when my hosts essentially stopped me in the middle of my remarks. I am always happy to respond to questions, friendly or hostile, but I have rarely been interrupted so abruptly by people who invited me to speak.
When I asked for an explanation, I was told by the president of the organization, a young man wearing a yarmulke, that the Jewish Society has a policy against speaking about Israel. The group, he said was non-political and focused on “Jewish subjects.”
I was dumbfounded. Was Israel not a Jewish subject? It was as if Israel had become the Voldemort of nations, the country that dare not be named.
Israel is marking on Monday its annual Memorial Day of the expulsion of some 850,000 Jews from Arab states and Iran.Fred Maroun: Occupied by choice: why I do not support the Palestinian cause
At Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that there be an expansion of education on the heritage of Jews from Arab countries and Iran, and that consideration be given to a proposal to establish a Prime Minister’s Prize for academic research into the issue.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to flee Muslim countries in the years preceding and directly after the 1948 creation of the State of Israel. Known collectively as Mizrahi Jews, the community has gained political power in recent years alongside increased recognition of its members’ refugee status and celebration of their cultures.
The cabinet discussion preceded a UN discussion of the subject scheduled for Tuesday. Minister for Social Equality Gila Gamliel (Likud) was scheduled to fly to New York City to speak at the UN session.
Every day since November 29, 1947, exactly 68 years ago, the Palestinians chose hate, terrorism, and dependence over statehood and independence. They continue to do so today.
By contrast, the Jews accepted the 1947 UN partition plan despite strong reservations, they evacuated Gaza despite the pain it caused to many Israelis, they offered peace agreements that were agonizing for most Israelis to offer, and the Israeli Prime Minister continues to accept the two-state concept despite the decreasing credibility of that concept among Jews. This is because, unlike the Palestinians, the Jews cherish their nation-state, and they are willing to compromise to keep it.
As an Arab who feels a kinship with the Palestinian people, I would like to support the Palestinian cause. As a left-leaning person who feels sympathy towards the weak and disadvantaged, I would like to support the Palestinian cause. But I do not, and no reasonable person should.
If the Palestinian cause consisted of striving for the end of occupation and for the creation of a Palestinian state, I would support it. I would support it just as strongly as I support Israel’s right to exist. But this is not what the Palestinian cause is about. It is about the destruction of the Jewish state, and this is something that I will never support.





















