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Chrissie Hynde
: Don't Get Me Wrong: I Won't Stand For Cruelty to Geese
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Ed Miliband
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Charles Moore
: Margaret Thatcher's First Visit to Washington of the Reagan Presidency
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Natalie Bennett
: Jobs You Can Build a Life On: The British Economy Isn't Delivering
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Seth Freedman
: We Don't Need No Regulation
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
I have to admit to a certain amount of confusion of late. I was asked recently by a friend 'what' I considered myself. I live in Scotland and here, in the run up to the referendum on independence next autumn, most people are trying to figure out, in essence, if they're more Scottish than British or vice versa.
Hungary is insisting it's taking a firm stand against rising anti-Semitism in the country but questions remain over a perceived lack of commitment by its government. At a meeting in Budapest, the World Jewish Congress called on Hungary to take immediate and decisive action against extremism in the country on Tuesday.
Until now, Chinese Jews caught in a discrepancy between identity and status, have undergone individual conversion procedures, but as more and more such Jews emerge, it begs the question of whether world Jewry needs to reassess their situation and give them blanket recognition.
David and Ed Miliband's family lost over 40 family members to the Holocaust, the supreme expression of fascism and anti-Semitism. Their late father and their mother barely escaped extermination themselves. What the hell did anyone expect this man to do but resign from a football club whose manager has made the 'Roman salute' and who has reportedly stated, according to the BBC, that Mussolini "was deeply misunderstood".
It pains me to have to admit this but anti-Semitism isn't just tolerated in some sections of the British Muslim community; it's routine and commonplace. Any Muslims reading this article - if they are honest with themselves - will know instantly what I am referring to. It's our dirty little secret. You could call it the banality of Muslim anti-Semitism.
The alleged comments made by Lord Nazir Ahmed about a Jewish Conspiracy to explain his dangerous driving conviction are made in an atmosphere of paranoia. It is a paranoia that has gripped the psyche of some within the Muslim community and allowed those in positions of authority to justify their own incompetence and lack of understanding of the modern world.
A rather grand colleague drifted over to me as I was flagging down a passing tray of miniature devilled eggs. "Your people", he observed, eyeing me over his cognac, "do like to eat." Well yes, we do. And where's the shame? Jews and food - everyone knows it, and so it was impossible to take offense.
What would happen if the different faiths began automatically adding 'humanism' to their names, Islamic humanism, Buddhist, Judaic, Hindu, Christian humanism, for example - then explored what each meant. We'd probably end up with a rich dialogue based on a celebration of two great realities: our shared humanity and the richness of our different religious traditions.
What would you think of David Cameron if he called a general election on Christmas Day? Among the politer reactions would be 'Did he really have to choose that day? This the Jewish equivalent of what Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has done in calling a general election for 14 September 14.
Doing a piece about child sexual abuse is never easy. Asking people to talk to you about something so private and so traumatic on television is clearly expecting a great deal. But for me, it's rarely been as difficult as during our Dispatches documentary which tackles the issue within the ultra orthodox Jewish community, the Charedi.
Do we want another chief rabbi at all? This is partly because of the strange origins of the office, which, far being a traditional Jewish institution, is relatively modern and began in Britain.
Making this decision to move away from my Jewish roots has not been easy. The push and pull of the pressure of belonging to such an insular community and losing my faith in God has led me to experience a crisis of identity of sorts.
William Cooper, an Aboriginal elder of the Yorta Yorta tribe in Australia led a march to the German consulate in Melbourne in December of 1938 to protest Germany's persecution of the Jews.
I am a rabbi. I value faith. However, I am very worried about faith schools and the impact they are having both on the children who attend and on the type of society that will emerge as they grow up.
I'm a Jewish Spurs supporter and have had a season-ticket for two decades. The Tottenham faithful have incessantly chanted Yid Army throughout that time. And while I have witnessed the occasional flurry of anti-Semitic chanting, it has been decidedly rare.
Just as the reams of fervent pieces I read in the British media supporting Palestine make wholly worthwhile points, so too does the American press make the same justifications for the opposing side, and perhaps a wider cross referencing of reading on the matter might encourage people to look at the situation anew.
