Jewish groups alarmed as Greece poised to ban kosher slaughter

BDS Founder Omar Barghouti honored at EU event hosted by MEP Ana Gomes, calling Israel an ‘apartheid’ state and justifying his actions.
European Parliament Member Ana Gomes on Tuesday hosted an event titled “The Israeli settlements in Palestine and the European Union” and focused on slamming Israel and legitimizing BDS.
The event was held at the European Parliament, and speakers included BDS movement founder Omar Barghouti, Palestinian Authority representative to the EU, Belgium, and Luxembourg Abdalrahim Alfarra, and Institute of International and Development studies in Geneva researcher Tom Moerenhout.
European Parliament President Tajani after complaints from MEPs and Israel advocacy groups, expressed his reservations about the meeting, although he could not technically stop it from taking place. The Socialist Group, of which Gomes is a member, asked for any of their logos or party insignia to be removed from the event
The event took place despite numerous representations against it because of the presence of Barghouti, whose anti-two state solution comments, boycott calls and veiled anti-Semitism comments run counter to stated EU policy.
Gomes began her remarks by saying she was happy that the meeting was taking place despite the efforts of the ‘perverse’ Israel lobby. She then went on to chastise the EU for complicity in not doing enough to tackle settlement construction, a phenomenon she referred to as a cancer affecting the peace process. Alfarra listed a litany of views related to the occupation and urged more EU states to recognize “Palestine.”
Barghouti then outlined his perceived justifications for BDS’ actions, repeatedly calling Israel “apartheid” and accusing the government of far-right tendencies. Finally, the researcher outlined the legal case for boycotts and claimed the EU was in breach of legal obligations when trading with Israel.
The event was then opened to questions, mainly from Jewish and Israel advocates who called for a retraction from Gomes due to her un-parliamentary language, and calling out BDS as anti-peace process.
European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Marglin noted that BDS ultimately harms Palestinian Authority Arabs, since it harms the factories providing them with jobs.He also asked Barghouti to state whether his true intention was to help “Palestinians” or whether BDS’ policy is simply a result of “hating Jews no matter where they live.”
Both the event’s organizers and Barghouti had charges of anti-Semitism leveled against them.
In their responses, Gomes refused to retract, said she was not anti-Semitic. Barghouti called those accusing BDS of being anti-Semitic of being anti-Semitic themselves, said accusations of harm against Palestinian Authority were “patronizing,” claiming his actions were entirely justified.
The event was not well attended by MEPs, and perhaps 5 in total attended, all of whom are anti-Israel from the left political fringes, including Italian communist radicals.
 

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, the institution that officially represents Spanish Jews, elected David Obadía as its new president for the next four years, replacing Isaac Benzaquén.
Obadía’s first declarations after being elected focused on pointing out that the axes of his work will be “dialogue, coexistence, diversity and multiculturalism”.

The new president of the Jewish community in Spain is Spanish, son and grandson of Spaniards, and was born in Beer Sheva, Israel, in 1961. During his childhood and adolescence he lived in Melilla and, currently, in Torremolinos, where he has developed his life as a businessman in the real estate sector and also his political career.

In 2015 he entered politics through José Ortiz, former mayor of Torremolinos, who appointed him as his personal advisor. With the Ciudadanos party he held the positions in the Torremolinos Town Hall of Deputy Mayor, Councillor for Development, Urban Planning, Infrastructure, Commercial Activities, Public Roads and Heritage, and served as spokesman for his political group. However, in 2023 Ciudadanos nominated him as candidate for mayor of Torremolinos but he decided to retire from politics.

According to the FCJE, Obadía has extensive community experience that began in 1980 as a collaborator in the Yosef Obadía synagogue in Melilla, founded by his great-grandfather of the same name.

To date he has held various posts, including that of president of the Jewish community of Torremolinos for 8 years, of which he is currently honorary president; vice-president of the FCJE; head of the Spanish Jewish Youth; and current president of the Jewish community of Malaga and of the Association of Jewish communities of Andalusia. He has also received numerous awards for his extensive career in the service of Spanish Jewish life over the last 40 years.

“The Jews of Europe have had to deal daily with the Fallout of the virus but also with anti-Semitic plots and threats of cuts in the security budgets of Jewish synagogues and institutions,” said Rabbi Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Association who initiated the event.
 
Jewish communities across Europe have been severely affected by the Corona epidemic and challenges associated with lockdowns.
 
The Jewish death toll is estimated to be in the thousands. Community leaders say that in many cases the strict rules in place prevented many Jews from attending the funerals of their loved ones, and estimated that a significant number of Jews had died and were buried in civil burials as a result of the restrictions in place.
 
In order to enable European Jews to mourn and share the memory of their loved ones, Rabbi Menachem Margolin initiated the launch of a virtual Yizkor event in memory of Jewish corona victims via Zoom.
 
Omar Yankelevich, the Chief Rabbis of Israel and dozens of Jewish community leaders and rabbis from across the continent were in attendance.
 
The event also saw JNF Chairman Danny Atar announce that a tree will be planted in memory of each of Europe’s corona victims.
 
During the event, Diaspora Minister Omer Jankelevich greeted those present on behalf of the Israeli government, stating that: “we share pain, the diaspora’s pain is our pain and we in Israel know that our pain is also yours. We must mourn but we must also rebuild. And it is time for concrete actions. That is why I am heading up a 100,000 shekel fund to help support Jewish development in the diaspora, to deepen our shared bonds.”
 
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau and Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rishon Lezion, Yitzhak Yosef reminded that “G-d when he asked Moses to count Israel, he didn’t want just numbers, but names. The letters of G-d are in every name, and every one of us is special. When we mourn, G-d mourns too. We must find our strength, in our names, so interwoven with G-d to overcome, to deepen our commitment to Judaism, and to honour our loved ones.”
 
President of the French Consistoire Joel Mergui and Paris Chief Rabbi Michel  Guggenheim that “we have all carried a heavy burden. And we have cried at the loss, but also at our inability to embrace and support each other because of quarantine and lockdowns. We owe it to those who have passed to ensure that we do what we can to ensure that our synagogues will be packed as we approach the high holidays, that we show them the honour that comes from our strength to continue and to come back to our houses of prayer, stronger, more resilient and with a renewed determination to ensure a Jewish future.”
 
Belgian President of the Jewish Community of Philip Markiewicz:
 
“We suffered tremendous pain, but there was also tremendous solidarity, amongst our communities but also as society as a whole towards our communities and vice-versa. The Jewish contribution to society must continue, it must deepen. We must do this for our shared future full of optimism and hope, but also to honour the memory of our loved ones.”
 
Chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA), Rabbi Menachem Margolin,
 
“The Corona epidemic has severely damaged many Jewish communities across Europe but has strengthened our belief that we all look out for and after one another.
 
Along with dealing with the terrible crisis, we have witnessed daily the strength of the Jewish spirit and the countless acts of kindness within Jewish communities across the continent. And so, this memorial event is on the one hand a commemoration of the  many victims of the virus and on the other is to honour, strengthen and cherish the resilience and fortitude shown by Europe’s Jewish communities. “