A letter by our Chairman, Rabbi Margolin to the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Mr Josep Borrell

May 7, 2020

Our Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin has written to the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Mr Josep Borrell after it emerged that a senior EU diplomat to the Palestinian Authority advised Palestinian groups that terrorist activity or support for it was not an impediment to receiving EU grants and funding. 

Rabbi Margolin has asked for urgent clarification and a clear repudiation of this position from Mr Borrell. You can read his letter to the EU high representative below: 

Additional Articles

Greece: Kosher slaughter 'under direct attack'

Jewish freedom of religion is under direct attack across Europe from the very institutions that have vowed to protect our communities, says European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, after the Greek Supreme Court ruled that slaughter without stunning violates EU law.
The move comes as a consequence of the European Court of Justice Ruling last December that member countries may ban the practice of ritual slaughter in order to promote animal welfare, without infringing the rights of religious groups.
The December ruling said that the EU’s animal slaughter regulation “does not preclude member states from imposing an obligation to stun animals prior to killing which also applies in the case of slaughter prescribed by religious rites”, but encouraged member states to find a balance.
It is now clear that a number of member states are zealously applying the former whilst ignoring the latter.
In a statement this evening, the Chairman of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, which represents hundreds of communities across the continent, said: “We warned in December about the downstream consequences that the European Court of Justice ruling carried with it, and now we see the outcome. Jewish Freedom of Religion is under direct attack. It started in Belgium, moved to Poland and Cyprus and now it is Greece’s turn.
“These direct attacks are coming from many of the same governments and institutions who have sworn to protect their Jewish Communities. What we are witnessing is rank hypocrisy. When it comes to antisemitism, governments and institutions rightly stand behind us. But when our faith and practice is assailed left and right by laws, they are nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be found. What use is it to protect Jews while legislating fundamental pillars of our religion out of existence?
“We will be urgently making representations to the highest levels of the Greek government to get direct answers to this simple but fundamental question: How can there be Jews in Europe if you keep bringing in laws against us?”

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/315829

Antisemitic incidents in the UK reach new high, new data shows

By EuroNews (https://www.euronews.com/2024/02/15/antisemitic-incidents-in-the-uk-reach-new-high-new-data-shows)

The war in Gaza appears to have triggered an alarming spike in threats against Jews and Jewish institutions, regardless of their relationship to the state of Israel.

The number of antisemitic incidents in the UK has reached a new annual high, according to data gathered by a Jewish safety watchdog.

The annual report from the Community Security Trust, or CST, recorded 4,103 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2023, the highest total ever reported to the group in a single year.

The report’s findings, released on Thursday, represent the highest number of antisemitic incidents reported in a year in the UK since consistent monitoring began.

According to its data, drawn from self-reported incidents, two-thirds of the 2023 incidents occurred after the October 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel: 2,699, compared with 392 over the same period in 2022.

This included 416 incidents reported to the CST, which works to protect British Jews from antisemitism, in the week following the attacks – the largest number in any week last year.

The types of altercations recorded include assault (up 96% since 2022) damage and desecration of Jewish property (up 146%), threats (up 196%) and abusive behaviour (up 149%). Online antisemitism rose by 257%.

“Seismic effect”

CST stated that the “driving force” behind the  147% surge in anti-Jewish abuse last year was Hamas’s attack on Israel on the 7th of October.

“This trigger event had a seismic effect on antisemitic incident levels in the UK that outweighs the impact of previous wars involving Israel, and the impact was instant,” the report said.

“Thirty-one instances of anti-Jewish hate were reported on 7 October, the day of Hamas’ attack, whereas CST had recorded an average of five incidents per day between 1 January and 6 October.”

British Home Secretary James Cleverly condemned the rise in antisemitic abuse as “utterly deplorable”.

He said the government had taken steps to confront it, including increasing funding for protective security at Jewish schools and places of worship.

Letter by Rabbi margolin to the Ghent University

This letter was sent this morning to Ghent University by Rabbi Menachem margolin following complaints by local students.

EU JEWISH HEAD CHALLENGES CORBYN’S COMMITMENT TO ANTI-SEMITISM

EU JEWISH HEAD CHALLENGES CORBYN’S COMMITMENT TO ANTI-SEMITISM AS ONE OF HIS MEPS TO TAKE STAGE ON TUESDAY WITH FORMER IRA TERRORIST AND INFAMOUS BLAIR CITIZEN’S ARREST JOURNALIST AT ANTI-ISRAEL EVENT IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

EJA Head Rabbi Margolin says Corbyn must demand that MEP removes herself from event, lest all his statements on anti-Semitism are deemed “worthless, pointless, devoid of meaning, substance and fraudulent”.

Brussels 18 January 2019. Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA) this morning wrote to Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn asking him to demand that one of his MEPs stand down from speaking at an anti-Israel event in the European Parliament on the 22 January. Labour MEP Julie Ward would be sharing the stage with  convicted IRA terrorist and Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson, who has described Israelis as “a rash”, and a journalist David Cronin who glorifies Hamas actions in his blog on the ‘Electronic Intifada’ website and who tried unsuccessfully to make a citizen’s arrest for former Labour Leader Tony Blair for alleged war crimes.

Rabbi Margolin’s call comes as Labour seeks to distance itself from accusations of anti-Semitism masked behind criticism of Israel.

Tuesday’s event in the European Parliament is called “Nation State Law – Occupation and discrimination in Israel” and is organised by the Europal Forum, a group that advocates for Boycotts and Sanctions against Israel and incites students on campus to take action.

In his letter to Mr Corbyn, Rabbi Margolin said,

“Despite many statements from you and your party regarding your commitment to fight anti-Semitism the actions of your members continue to fly in the face of such assurances.

“If you find it appropriate that an elected representative of your Party – MEP Julia Ward – should share a stage with an avowed Israel-hater and former convicted IRA terrorist who has described Israelis as “a rash”, and a journalist who has made it his life’s work slating the world’s only Jewish state and who tried to make a citizen’s arrest on your former Party Leader Tony Blair for alleaged war crimes in in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon and Serbia, that is your prerogative.

“If you find it appropriate that a Labour Party MEP take part in such a blatantly biased event that uses divisive terms “discrimination” and “occupation” in its title, instead of engaging in a civil and rational dialogue on issues pertaining to the peace process and Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that too is your prerogative.

“If this is the case, then you can rest assured that your statements, your pronouncements and your efforts to distance you and your party from accusations of anti-Semitism will be rendered worthless, pointless, devoid of meaning, substance and fraudulent, and will be judged as such by European Jewry.

“If on the other hand, having one of your MEPs speak at such an event, with such people alarms you, then you must demand that this senior representative of the Labour Party remove herself and your party name from this event, or remove herself from the party in whose name she will be advocating with those who support Hamas and the IRA and who make repeated vile and patently false statements about Israel and its citizens.

“I look forward to your reply”,  concluded Margolin.

     
Corbyn letter 1

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