Jewish-Arab school in Israel wins global prize for overcoming adversity

November 4, 2023 Article

A bilingual and integrated Jewish-Arab school in Israel has won a global education prize in recognition of its efforts to heal longstanding divisions.

The Max Rayne Hand In Hand Jerusalem School – where Jewish and Arab students learn together in both Hebrew and Arabic – has been crowned winner of the T4 Education World’s Best School prize for overcoming adversity.

It comes as thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of Israelis have been taken hostage by the militants in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war broke out nearly a month ago.

The leadership of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School reflects the diversity of its student body, with an Arab elementary school principal and a Jewish secondary school principal.

There is also equal representation of Jewish and Arab staff, who work closely together to create an inclusive learning environment for all the students.

Dani Elazar, chief executive of Hand in Hand – which runs a network of bilingual, multicultural Jewish-Arab schools in Israel, said: “Winning an award as ‘the best school in the world’ would normally be a cause for celebration.

“With a war waging and thousands of precious lives lost, this is not the time for celebration. It is the time for resolution.

“We resolve to continue overcoming adversity, day by day, for the sake of a better future for all, Jews and Arabs alike. Overcoming adversity is precisely what the Max Rayne Hand in Hand School is doing at this very moment.

“We hope that the conferral of this award will raise people’s awareness that there is an alternative to hatred and fear. All children of this land deserve a better future. Together is the only way we will achieve it.”

Cadoxton Primary School in Barry, south Wales, reached the final three for the overcoming adversity category – but missed out to the school in Jerusalem.

The winners of the five World’s Best prizes – for community collaboration, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity, and supporting healthy lives – will all receive 50,000 US dollars (£40,000).

The Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School intends to use the prize money to support its unique co-teaching model and to raise awareness of the values of shared society and equality among a wider audience.

Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education, said: “My deepest congratulations to The Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School. In dark times, you shine a light.

“By healing longstanding divisions between Jews and Arabs through the transformative power of education, you show that there is a path to understanding and with it peace.

“Educators across the world should look to the example of your school in the difference you have made to so many lives. And governments must look to the trailblazing work you have done as they seek answers to the great challenges we face today. Where you lead, they must follow.”

Last year, Dunoon Grammar School, a state secondary school in Scotland, was crowned winner of the global prize for community collaboration.

The post Jewish-Arab school in Israel wins global prize for overcoming adversity appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Arab, Israel, Jerusalem, Max Rayne Hand in Hand, News, School

Jewish-Arab school in Israel wins global prize for overcoming adversity

November 4, 2023 Article

A bilingual and integrated Jewish-Arab school in Israel has won a global education prize in recognition of its efforts to heal longstanding divisions.

The Max Rayne Hand In Hand Jerusalem School – where Jewish and Arab students learn together in both Hebrew and Arabic – has been crowned winner of the T4 Education World’s Best School prize for overcoming adversity.

It comes as thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of Israelis have been taken hostage by the militants in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war broke out nearly a month ago.

The leadership of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School reflects the diversity of its student body, with an Arab elementary school principal and a Jewish secondary school principal.

There is also equal representation of Jewish and Arab staff, who work closely together to create an inclusive learning environment for all the students.

Dani Elazar, chief executive of Hand in Hand – which runs a network of bilingual, multicultural Jewish-Arab schools in Israel, said: “Winning an award as ‘the best school in the world’ would normally be a cause for celebration.

“With a war waging and thousands of precious lives lost, this is not the time for celebration. It is the time for resolution.

“We resolve to continue overcoming adversity, day by day, for the sake of a better future for all, Jews and Arabs alike. Overcoming adversity is precisely what the Max Rayne Hand in Hand School is doing at this very moment.

“We hope that the conferral of this award will raise people’s awareness that there is an alternative to hatred and fear. All children of this land deserve a better future. Together is the only way we will achieve it.”

Cadoxton Primary School in Barry, south Wales, reached the final three for the overcoming adversity category – but missed out to the school in Jerusalem.

The winners of the five World’s Best prizes – for community collaboration, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity, and supporting healthy lives – will all receive 50,000 US dollars (£40,000).

The Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School intends to use the prize money to support its unique co-teaching model and to raise awareness of the values of shared society and equality among a wider audience.

Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education, said: “My deepest congratulations to The Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School. In dark times, you shine a light.

“By healing longstanding divisions between Jews and Arabs through the transformative power of education, you show that there is a path to understanding and with it peace.

“Educators across the world should look to the example of your school in the difference you have made to so many lives. And governments must look to the trailblazing work you have done as they seek answers to the great challenges we face today. Where you lead, they must follow.”

Last year, Dunoon Grammar School, a state secondary school in Scotland, was crowned winner of the global prize for community collaboration.

The post Jewish-Arab school in Israel wins global prize for overcoming adversity appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Arab, Israel, Jerusalem, Max Rayne Hand in Hand, News, School

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman formally sentenced to death

August 3, 2023 Article

The man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue has been formally sentenced to death, one day after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.

US District Judge Robert Colville ordered death by lethal injection for Robert Bowers, a 50-year-old lorry driver whose vicious antisemitism led him to shoot his way into a place of worship and target people for practising their faith.

“I have nothing specific that I care to say to Mr Bowers,” Judge Colville said from the bench. “I am however convinced there is nothing I could say to him that might be meaningful.”

Grieving families confronted Bowers in court before Judge Colville pronounced the sentence, describing the pain and suffering he had inflicted, and calling him evil and cowardly.

Bowers, who chose not to speak, spent the entire hearing shuffling through papers and writing, and refused to look those he victimised in the eye, even when invited to do so.

Several survivors spoke of lingering traumas – sleeplessness, fear of crowds and loud noises, and physical and cognitive struggles triggered by the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue.

But survivors and family members, several wearing yarmulkes signifying Jewish observance, also emphasised their resilience in practising the Judaism that the defendant hated.

Alan Mallinger, son of 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, the attack’s oldest victim, told Bowers the synagogue would be rebuilt, the scene of future bar and bat mitzvahs and other rituals of Jewish worship.

“We continue to thrive as Jewish people … stronger than ever,” he declared.

Bowers, from suburban Baldwin, ranted about Jews online before carrying out the attack at Tree of Life, in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, on October 27, 2018.

He killed members of the Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life congregations, which shared the synagogue building. Bowers told police at the scene that “all these Jews must die” and has since expressed pride in the killings.

Jurors were unanimous in finding that Bowers’ attack was motivated by his hatred of Jews, and that he chose Tree of Life for its location in one of the largest and most historic Jewish communities in the nation so he could “maximise the devastation, amplify the harm of his crimes, and instill fear within the local, national, and international Jewish communities”. They also found that Bowers lacked remorse.

The jury rejected defence claims that Bowers has schizophrenia and that his delusions about Jewish people spurred the attack.

“Mr Bowers, you met my beloved husband in the kitchen. Your callous disregard for the person he was repulses me,” said Peg Durachko, wife of 65-year-old Dr Richard Gottfried, a dentist who was shot and killed. “Your hateful act took my soulmate from me.”

Mark Simon, whose parents, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, were killed in the attack, said he still has their bloodied prayer shawl. He said he remains haunted by the 911 call placed by his mother, whom Bowers shot while she was on the line.

“My parents died alone, without any living soul to comfort them or to hold their hand in their last moments,” said Mr Simon, condemning “that defendant” and urging the judge to show him no mercy.

“You will never be forgiven. Never,” Mr Simon told Bowers.

It was the first federal death sentence imposed during the presidency of Joe Biden, who pledged during his 2020 campaign to end capital punishment.

Mr Biden’s Justice Department has placed a moratorium on federal executions and has declined to authorise the death penalty in hundreds of new cases where it could apply.

But federal prosecutors said death was the appropriate punishment for Bowers, citing the vulnerability of his mainly elderly victims and his hate-based targeting of a religious community.

An appeal is expected, meaning that Bowers will likely spend years on federal death row even if the Justice Department lifts the moratorium on executions.

Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.

The gunman was convicted in June of 63 federal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death.

The synagogue has been closed since the shootings. The Tree of Life congregation plans to overhaul the synagogue complex to house a sanctuary, museum, memorial and centre for fighting antisemitism.

Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers — speaking as a survivor and the “pastor of a wounded congregation” — said in court that many members remain hesitant to return to worship because of trauma or fear. “My beloved synagogue is the 12th victim,” he said.

The judge said he could not begin to understand the pain of the survivors and loved ones of those killed in the attack.

“May their memory be a blessing,” said Judge Colville, invoking the traditional Jewish expression in honor of the deceased.

Read more: Pittsburgh synagogue victims include 97 year old

The post Pittsburgh synagogue gunman formally sentenced to death appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: gunman, Pittsburgh synagogue, Robert Bowers

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman formally sentenced to death

August 3, 2023 Article

The man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue has been formally sentenced to death, one day after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.

US District Judge Robert Colville ordered death by lethal injection for Robert Bowers, a 50-year-old lorry driver whose vicious antisemitism led him to shoot his way into a place of worship and target people for practising their faith.

“I have nothing specific that I care to say to Mr Bowers,” Judge Colville said from the bench. “I am however convinced there is nothing I could say to him that might be meaningful.”

Grieving families confronted Bowers in court before Judge Colville pronounced the sentence, describing the pain and suffering he had inflicted, and calling him evil and cowardly.

Bowers, who chose not to speak, spent the entire hearing shuffling through papers and writing, and refused to look those he victimised in the eye, even when invited to do so.

Several survivors spoke of lingering traumas – sleeplessness, fear of crowds and loud noises, and physical and cognitive struggles triggered by the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue.

But survivors and family members, several wearing yarmulkes signifying Jewish observance, also emphasised their resilience in practising the Judaism that the defendant hated.

Alan Mallinger, son of 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, the attack’s oldest victim, told Bowers the synagogue would be rebuilt, the scene of future bar and bat mitzvahs and other rituals of Jewish worship.

“We continue to thrive as Jewish people … stronger than ever,” he declared.

Bowers, from suburban Baldwin, ranted about Jews online before carrying out the attack at Tree of Life, in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, on October 27, 2018.

He killed members of the Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life congregations, which shared the synagogue building. Bowers told police at the scene that “all these Jews must die” and has since expressed pride in the killings.

Jurors were unanimous in finding that Bowers’ attack was motivated by his hatred of Jews, and that he chose Tree of Life for its location in one of the largest and most historic Jewish communities in the nation so he could “maximise the devastation, amplify the harm of his crimes, and instill fear within the local, national, and international Jewish communities”. They also found that Bowers lacked remorse.

The jury rejected defence claims that Bowers has schizophrenia and that his delusions about Jewish people spurred the attack.

“Mr Bowers, you met my beloved husband in the kitchen. Your callous disregard for the person he was repulses me,” said Peg Durachko, wife of 65-year-old Dr Richard Gottfried, a dentist who was shot and killed. “Your hateful act took my soulmate from me.”

Mark Simon, whose parents, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, were killed in the attack, said he still has their bloodied prayer shawl. He said he remains haunted by the 911 call placed by his mother, whom Bowers shot while she was on the line.

“My parents died alone, without any living soul to comfort them or to hold their hand in their last moments,” said Mr Simon, condemning “that defendant” and urging the judge to show him no mercy.

“You will never be forgiven. Never,” Mr Simon told Bowers.

It was the first federal death sentence imposed during the presidency of Joe Biden, who pledged during his 2020 campaign to end capital punishment.

Mr Biden’s Justice Department has placed a moratorium on federal executions and has declined to authorise the death penalty in hundreds of new cases where it could apply.

But federal prosecutors said death was the appropriate punishment for Bowers, citing the vulnerability of his mainly elderly victims and his hate-based targeting of a religious community.

An appeal is expected, meaning that Bowers will likely spend years on federal death row even if the Justice Department lifts the moratorium on executions.

Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.

The gunman was convicted in June of 63 federal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death.

The synagogue has been closed since the shootings. The Tree of Life congregation plans to overhaul the synagogue complex to house a sanctuary, museum, memorial and centre for fighting antisemitism.

Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers — speaking as a survivor and the “pastor of a wounded congregation” — said in court that many members remain hesitant to return to worship because of trauma or fear. “My beloved synagogue is the 12th victim,” he said.

The judge said he could not begin to understand the pain of the survivors and loved ones of those killed in the attack.

“May their memory be a blessing,” said Judge Colville, invoking the traditional Jewish expression in honor of the deceased.

Read more: Pittsburgh synagogue victims include 97 year old

The post Pittsburgh synagogue gunman formally sentenced to death appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: gunman, Pittsburgh synagogue, Robert Bowers

Man who attacked Jews, including boy, 14, had prayer to protect against ‘enemy’

November 10, 2022 Article

A man has been found guilty of carrying out antisemitic attacks on three Jews after travelling to north London from West Yorkshire.

Abdullah Qureshi’s targets included a 14-year-old boy on his way to school and a 64-year-old man, who was knocked out as he made his way to the synagogue.

The 30-year-old also hit a teacher in the head with a plastic bottle as he carried out the attacks over a two-hour period last August 18 in the Stamford Hill area, which is known for its orthodox Jewish population.

Qureshi claimed “it was just a coincidence” his three victims were all wearing traditional orthodox Jewish clothing and said he lashed out after becoming “angrier and angrier” following a row in a shop.

But prosecutor Varinder Hayre suggested to Qureshi he travelled from his home in Dewsbury to target Jews because “you hate them”.

Following a trial at Stratford Magistrates’ Court in east London, District Judge John Law on Thursday found Qureshi guilty of inflicting religiously aggravated grievous bodily harm and two counts of religiously aggravated assault by beating.

“The three complainants not only were orthodox Jews but were clearly identifiable as such,” said the judge.

“I am drawn to the inescapable conclusion that their selection by this defendant was not a coincidence.”

Mr Law committed the case to Snaresbrook Crown Court for sentencing on December 8, granting Qureshi bail on the condition he does not enter the London borough of Hackney.

Qureshi had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Jacob Lipschitz and assaulting Chaine Greenfeld, without the religiously aggravated element, in pleas initially accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

But prosecutors were allowed to reinstate the charges, including the religiously aggravated element, along with a further charge against then then 14-year-old boy, following complaints from campaigners.

Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Yasmin Lalani said: “We will not tolerate hate crime of any form in London.

“The Met has a zero-tolerance policy for hate crime.

“We want to build safe and strong communities where people say no to hate crime.”

Qureshi, playing Arabic music on his mobile phone, hit Mr Greenfeld in the head with a bottle as he stood in the street at around 6.40pm, the court was told.

“I felt shocked,” Mr Greenfield said while giving evidence from behind a screen.

“When I came home, I was quite traumatised and it traumatised my kids that their father was slapped like that in the road.”

Asked why he thought he was attacked, Mr Greenfeld said: “He wanted to attack me about I’m another religion – that I’m Jewish.

“It shouldn’t be happening another time to our community, to our religion, and it should be everything peaceful as I thought as a young child that London is a peaceful and safe place and as I said, it’s not really.”

Qureshi slapped the 14-year-old, who cannot be identified because of his age, as he walked to an orthodox Jewish school at about 7.45pm.

“The man said nothing to me and just slapped me and walked away,” the teenager said in a statement read in court.

“That’s not good for me or anyone who is Jewish or anyone else. That must not happen to anyone.”

The prosecutor said Mr Lipschitz, then 64, was walking to the synagogue at about 8.30pm when he was punched on the ear with “tremendous power”, causing him to hit his head on the wall of a building with “such force” it left him unconscious.

He was left with broken glasses, facial bruising, a sprained ankle and four breaks in his foot, which twisted as he collapsed.

Mr Lipschitz said he was “traumatised” by the attack and left with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I used to be walking the street tall and strong and confident and now I’m just a cowardly wreck. Any noise, I jump,” he said.

Asked why he believes he was targeted, Mr Lipschitz told the judge: “I imagine he didn’t like me, I will be honest with you, sir, because I’m Jewish.”

Qureshi was arrested after his father recognised him in a police appeal.

Officers found a message on his mobile called: “Dua for protection from your enemy.”

A dua is a type of Islamic prayer.

“Oh Allah, we ask You to restrain them by their necks and we seek refuge in You from their evil,” it read.

Ms Hayre suggested Qureshi considers Jewish people to be “evil” and his “enemy”.

“You don’t like Jewish people,” she said.

“When you attacked those people they were in vulnerable positions, by themselves. They were standing, facing you in Jewish clothing while they were on their own.”

But Qureshi said he has “nothing against Jewish people” and insisted: “It was just a coincidence.

“It was nothing to do with what clothing people were wearing. I was just angry.”

He claimed he grew “angrier and angrier” after an argument in a shop, adding: “I just lashed out because I was angry, wound up.”

Qureshi told the court he was in London to visit relatives and was staying overnight in the area because he found a cheap room at a hostel there.

He said he was “shopping for food” and sightseeing, “visiting the cemetery” and monuments on the day of the attacks.

“I didn’t mean any harm,” he said.

“I would like to apologise for any harm caused and the distress caused to Mr Greenfeld and Mr Lipschitz.”

The post Man who attacked Jews, including boy, 14, had prayer to protect against ‘enemy’ appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Abdullah Qureshi, Antisemitism, Dewsbury, Jews, Orthodox Jewish population, Stamford Hill

Dozens arrested after night of chaos in Jerusalem

April 23, 2021 Article

A total of 44 people have been arrested and 20 Israeli police officers were injured on a night of chaos in Jerusalem, as security forces clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby.

Tensions have risen in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Residents braced for possible further unrest ahead of Muslim Friday prayers as police stepped up security measures.

Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The tensions began when police placed barricades outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, where Muslims traditionally gather to enjoy the evening after the daytime fast.

Later on Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians hurled stones and bottles at police, who fired water cannon and stun grenades to disperse them.

Dozens of Palestinians were injured during the unrest.

Meanwhile, a far-right Jewish group known as Lahava led a march of hundreds of protesters chanting “Arabs get out” toward the Damascus Gate.

The show of force came in response to videos circulated on TikTok showing Palestinians slapping religious Jews at random. Other videos made in response to them appear to show Jews assaulting Arabs.

Police used metal barricades to halt the far-right protesters a few hundred yards from Damascus Gate.

Later, they used water cannon, stun grenades and mounted police to push them back toward mostly Jewish west Jerusalem.

Videos circulated online showed smaller clashes and fires elsewhere in the city.

One video showed what appeared to be a group of Palestinians beating an ultra-Orthodox Jew near Damascus Gate.

They could be seen punching, kicking and throwing the man to the ground before police chased them off.

The police statement did not specify whether those arrested were Palestinian or Jewish and did not refer to any specific instances of violence.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. Its fate has been one of the most divisive issues in the peace process, which ground to a halt more than a decade ago.

Thousands of Palestinians were expected to attend weekly prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City later on Friday.

The site is the third holiest in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

The sprawling hilltop holy site has been the scene of clashes on a number of occasions over the years, and was the epicentre of the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

The post Dozens arrested after night of chaos in Jerusalem appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Al Aqsa, Arab, Clashes, Jerusalem, News, Ramadhan, Temple Mount

Exclusive: Tomasz Greniuch & the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Poland

February 23, 2021 Article

The recent resignation of Tomasz Greniuch raises fundamental questions about how one of the most critically important institutions in Poland, the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), carries out its due diligence of potential staff and why it did not intervene sooner, as Greniuch’s links to the far-right are no secret.

As our investigation reveals, Greniuch’s links to the far-right, ultranationalist National Radical Camp (ONR) run as late as 2018.

Jewish and anti-racist groups raised their concerns, with some calling for his sacking. Now, two weeks later, his tenure ends not by firing but resignation.  What due diligence did the IPN carry out? We stress that none of Greniuch’s activities was a secret, found openly on various blogs, social media, and newspapers, including information he openly shared.

Greniuch offered a public apology, published in English on the IPN website.

Faith Matters details its original investigation below, having updated the story to reflect the above.

The appointment of a former far-right activist to a local branch of the IPN has caused shock across Poland, with one major anti-racism organisation calling for his resignation.

The appointment of Tomasz Greniuch, published in a press release on February 9, was combative, insisting that Greniuch had ‘apologised’ for his ‘past mistakes’ made in his ‘youth’.

Faith Matters, however, can reveal the links to the far-right are more recent, as three speaking events in 2018 had the sponsorship of, or included Mr Greniuch speaking in front of the flags of the ultranationalist, neo-fascist National Radical Camp (ONR), having founded a local branch in Opole.

On March 16, 2018, Civitas Christiania listed Greniuch as their keynote speaker in an event sponsored by the ONR (their logo appears on the official promotional poster).

     

Mr Greniuch promoted the Facebook event (the text of which referenced the ONR) on a promotional page for his book Śmiertelni – Historia oparta na faktach.

The second speaking event, uploaded to YouTube on May 21, 2018, features an introduction given by a woman wearing the ONR armband, and throughout the discussion, the ONR flags appear on either side of Greniuch.

The third event, dated (per the upload on YouTube), as of September 22, 2018, featured Greniuch and was co-sponsored by a local ONR chapter (their banners and flags appear in the background throughout).

Promotional materials for another speaking event from Greniuch in February 2018 included sponsorship from the nationalist clothing brand ProPatriae. The owner of this clothing brand, Jakub Sadowski, had links to the ONR leadership, according to Oko Press.

In 2016, ProPatriae publicly thanked Greniuch for wearing their clothing on Facebook.

Other sponsors included the website Kierunki (which has retweeted ONR accounts and Twitter and gives a platform for their propaganda).

The final sponsor is Marsz Niepodległości – which organises the Independence Day marches. Its founder, Robert Bąkiewicz, was described as being an ‘important’ member of the ONR.

Away from far-right-sponsored events and indeed activities within Poland, as in late 2017, Greniuch spoke at the now-infamous Slough book fare event, profiled by BBC Newsnight a year later, following revelations that funds from the Polish Embassy went towards the event.

The full Newsnight investigation includes quotes from Greniuch (but does not name him). One such quote includes reference to “ethnic transformation” being “a real biological time bomb.”

Credit: BBC Newsnight

Other photos of Greniuch at the Slough event appeared on subsequent social media posts.

Various reports about Greniuch and the ONR have appeared over the years in the Polish-language media.

Nor has he escaped the attention of the English-language media either. In November 2019, the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported his appointment within the Opole branch of the IPN.

Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress and Chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation, discussed Greniuch’s appointment in a broader article which began: “I am deeply concerned for Poland. Something is changing, and I’m afraid a country I care about deeply is moving in a very dangerous direction.”

Both Notes from Poland and Polish News report that Greniuch is “mentioned as one of the originators of the first nationalist demonstration on the occasion of Independence Day in Warsaw in 2006.”

The vice-president of Wroclaw, Sebastian Lorenc, condemned the appointment on Facebook. The anger in Wroclaw has not gone away either, with protests and even a resignation occurring.

Other politicians called for his resignation.

On Twitter, the Israeli Embassy spoke of their ‘surprise’ at the appointment, urging Greniuch to visit the Auschwitz museum.

The anti-racism organisation Never Again said: “The Institute of National Memory is one of the most important and powerful institutions in Poland. The nomination of Tomasz Greniuch to one of its key positions is shocking and disgusting. It illustrates the current breakdown of democratic values in Polish society and the strength of far-right historical revisionism and Holocaust distortion. It spits on the graves of the victims of fascism. We call for his immediate dismissal.”

Faith Matters investigation of Greniuch’s historic ONR agitations in Opole included a notorious public eulogy of the convicted Holocaust denier Dariusz Ratajczaj in 2012.

Read more: Neo Fascist ONR, Oboz Naradowo-Radykalny, Offshoot in Manchester

The post Exclusive: Tomasz Greniuch & the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Poland appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Anti-Racist groups, Institute of National Remembrance, IPN, National Radical Camp, ONR, Opinions, Opole, Tomasz Greniuch

What’s This Jewish Thing? The Man Asked the Rabbi

March 1, 2019 Article

Dear Community,

I was having a coffee at Charing X Station when a man approached me and asked with bemusement, ‘What’s this anti-Jewish thing?’

I muttered something about hate, racism, age-old, when he asked again, ‘What’s that ‘s’ word?’ ‘Anti-Semitism?’ ‘Ah, yes, that’s it’, and he wandered off.

I was left asking myself why I didn’t have a proper pre-prepared one-liner. The answer is partly because books are being written on the subject, currently by Deborah Lipstadt in the States, and another, I believe, by Rabbi Dame Julia Neuberger here. But it’s also because I’m not willing to say anything which might invite the response: ‘Well, if you weren’t successful…; if you didn’t keep yourselves to yourselves…; if you didn’t have Israel… people would like you more.’

It’s no doubt true that different groups can always do more to open the door, build bridges, make themselves better understood. I believe in such activity.

But it must not lead to blaming the victim. The responsibility for hating lies with the hater. We are neither able nor entitled to take away other people’s answerability for their conduct. The responsibility for racism lies with the racist.

It must be faced, individually and institutionally. It won’t do to think, as it seems some in high places do: ‘I’m ideologically anti-racist. I always have been. Therefore, nothing I do can be anti-Semitic’ or anti-Muslim or anti- any other group.

Like love, hope, fear and anger, hate is a human response. None of us is immune. I’m uneasy when anyone says, ‘I’m not prejudiced’. Prejudice springs eternal in the human breast. Uncertainty, frustration, envy, even too many people in the waiting-room: we fix on someone to blame. The someone easily becomes them; they become a conspiracy. The The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was exposed as a vicious forgery in The Times in 1921. But tragically, like fake news, it’s not the facts which have the impact but the supply of a seductive story which suits, promotes and magnifies peoples’ prejudice.

Vigilance against racism, anti-Semitism, any form of bigotry which fixes on a collective target, must begin at home, in the mind and conscience. Self-deceit is easy. So is blaming the victim for being upset at the perpetrator. It’s a truism that not everything a ‘victim’ says is necessarily fair: everyone carries their history, sensitivities, prejudices of their own. But the refusal to meet, listen to and engage with the coherent responses of victim groups is a further and clear sign of bigotry.

Vigilance must extend to public discourse, the media and social media, the pulpit, local and national politics and the law. Lives are at stake: the safety in the street of people like you and me, sometimes Jews, sometimes Muslims, sometimes people who are black, sometimes refugees. The reputation of the country is at stake.

In the growing environment of racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia I’m especially concerned as a rabbi with how we develop individual and communal spiritual resilience, show solidarity with other vulnerable groups, and understand identity.

A cynic once called anti-Semitism ‘the rabbi’s friend’; it makes more Jews feel Jewish than the longest of sermons.

I don’t love what I’d call such ‘negative identity’; it’s not the Judaism I want to promote. Professor Arnold Eisen writes about the difference between a covenant of fate and a covenant of destiny. One doesn’t choose the former. It happens by birth; it’s reinforced the moment someone says, ‘You Jew!’

The covenant of destiny is what we make of our given identity. It’s how we live, love, cherish, and study it; how we interact with its ancient wisdom and contemporary communities so that they deepen our conscience, open our hearts and guide our values and actions.

Humanity hasn’t got the time to waste on hatred. There’s too much, too important, to be getting on with.

Shabbat Shalom

Jonathan Wittenberg

Letter to the congregants of the North London Synagogue by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg – February 2019

The post What’s This Jewish Thing? The Man Asked the Rabbi appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Antisemitism, Blaming the victim, News, North London synagogue, Opinions, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg

Interfaith solidarity is a fight worth fighting

January 30, 2019 Article

Solidarity costs nothing but can mean everything. Against the snarling packs of extremists flanking both sides of a hostile debate, the significance of maintaining a common bond with those from a different group but facing prejudice is precious. In these times, it’s sometimes all we have.

Last night, an exhibition was held at the Jewish Community Centre in Finchley Road to honour Holocaust Memorial Day. There was music and food and stories. There was a sombre but hopeful tone to the evening. The atrocities inflicted upon Jews in Europe are a stain on the continent’s soul and a memory that can and must never be forgotten. Millions were murdered for the world to learn the need for human rights and fair treatment of minorities. Unfortunately, we live in a time of increased polarisation where hate and bigotry are once again being fanned by those too irresponsible with their positions of power and influence. Even the Holocaust is whitewashed as a crime against humanity rather than an atrocity that focused primarily on Jews.

The Jewish community is again being assailed by hate crime. Across any society, find how they treat women, gays and Jews, and you get a rough idea of how they are as a nation. And unfortunately, in Britain, hate and intolerance of Jews has never completely dissolved and is once again climbing. A combination of Islamist rhetoric and far-left populism has made Jews the “Other” for which all the ills and wrongs of society are placed upon.

Which is why last night’s exhibition was fundamental to the construction of interfaith tolerance and community cohesion. It celebrated the solidarity that existed when Muslims saved as many Jews as they could from persecution during the Holocaust. The stories were spread across Europe but articulated different families selflessly and courageously risking their safeties to protect Jews.

And it was made all the more special after a mosque in Golders Green had been pressured by extremists into not holding the exhibition. It was a sore point, a blow for those who believe in a pluralistic and mutualist society in which differences are not seen as irreconcilable. But, as I said before, solidarity costs nothing but can mean everything. Another mosque, in Redbridge, stepped forward and hosted the event.

In the grand scheme of things this can seem like a small story washed away by the relentless tide of news stories on Brexit. But it’s a story of solidarity and attachment to each other beyond the exclusionary and narrow labels of identity. In the time of extremism and racism, these are the stories that we cling onto as hope that the pluralistic society is still achievable and that empathy with others is a virtuous feature of human behaviour. There was something saddening in visiting the Jewish Community Centre, a beautiful family-orientated institution, and realising they needed security because they weren’t safe. No people should ever have to apologise for who they were. But I was also heartened by the exhibition, reassured by the possibility that a future of coexistence with different groups is still something people yearn for. The attachment to a community is the transcendent feeling that can bring people together, whatever their faiths. This exhibition was about Muslims who saved Jews from persecution. But it can mean so much about where we want to go forward as a society.

The post Interfaith solidarity is a fight worth fighting appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Brexit, Golders Green, Holocaust, interfaith, Opinions, Redbridge

Germany needs to do more to combat anti-Semitism, official says

April 28, 2018 Article

Germany must do more to tackle anti-Semitism and should set up a national database to record anti-Semitic incidents that are not included in crime statistics, the country’s first anti-Semitism commissioner Felix Klein said on Friday.

The former diplomat, who will take up the newly created position next month, also said anti-Semitism was still rooted largely in extreme right-wing ideology and was not only being driven by Germany’s growing Muslim population.

Anti-Semitism is a highly sensitive issue in Germany, whose Nazi-era government murdered more than 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.

“There are many things going on to combat anti-Semitism but all the efforts have to be coordinated and sharpened,” Klein told Reuters.

“I hear from Jewish communities that they feel that anti-Semitic attacks and incidents have risen but that there is not yet a serious database that underlines and supports that perception.”

He said a national database should include everything that is not considered criminal, such as vulgar behaviour and “stupid” comments. By drawing a more detailed picture, that would help authorities devise measures to combat anti-Semitism.

Last week, an Israeli Arab who wore the Jewish cap, or kippa, in Berlin as an experiment was subjected to verbal abuse by three people and was lashed with a belt by a Syrian Palestinian. A video was posted on the internet.

That followed reports of bullying of Jewish children in schools. Thousands of Germans wearing Jewish caps took part in nationwide rallies on Wednesday to show solidarity with the Jewish community.

Official figures for the first eight months of 2017 showed nearly 93 percent of reported anti-Semitic crimes were linked to far-right extremism, despite predictions that a big jump in the Muslim population since Europe’s 2015 migrant crisis could fuel attacks or discrimination against Jews.

Klein stressed that anti-Semitism had been a problem in Germany long before the refugee influx and added that Jewish institutions here and in other countries had needed police protection before migrants started coming in large numbers.

“Anti-Semitism is not only Muslim-driven in Germany,” he said. “Of course we have a new challenge and new forms of anti-Semitism which we have to address and combat, but the great problem also rests with right-wing anti-Semitism and we have to develop good strategies to combat that, as we did before.”

The post Germany needs to do more to combat anti-Semitism, official says appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: anti-Semitism, combat anti-Semitism, Fascism, Felix Klein, Germany, Muslim, Muslim population, News