Yesterday a Director of the UK Rabbinical Executive Board wrote a letter to Jeremy Corbyn which, it said, represented the views of the United European Jews organisation (UEJ). The letter said that the organisation “reject and condemn in no uncertain terms” the recent comments in the media, claiming that the “majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety” at the prospect of a Labour government. The letter states that the media commentary does not represent the views of mainstream Chareidi Jews who live in the UK.
The letter continues: “We believe that such assertions are due to propaganda with a political and ideological agenda”, which, the group add, “is an agenda diametrically opposed to fundamental Jewish values, as well as the opinions of tens of thousands of Jews in our community”.
The Rabbinical Executive’s letter goes on to thank the Labour party leader for his “numerous acts of solidarity with the Jewish community over many years”.
A press released by UEJ describes the organisation:
United European Jews is a pan-European organisation that performs research and advocacy concerning topics of Judaism, Jewish identity, and antisemitism. The institute was founded by Rabbi Mayer Weinberger of Belgium in conjunction with Jewish faith leaders throughout Europe.
We engage in educational activities which spread information and catalyze action. UEJ offers a view of Jewish identity that at its core is representative of the mainstream 70,000 chareidi Jews that live in the UK, who do not identify with Israeli nationalism or politics as elemental to their Jewish identity.
We advocate the traditional Orthodox Jewish idea that Jewish identity is defined only by Jewish religious doctrine and is independent of foreign nationalist components. As British Jews, our home and country is the United Kingdom, and our religion is Judaism.
Here is the letter in full:
It will be very interesting to see if the media in the UK report on this letter, rather than continuing the concerted attempts to stage manage our democracy.
I would personally like to thank the Rabbinical Executive Board for such a candid, kindly and hope-inspiring letter to a candid, kindly and hope-inspiring politician.
Earlier this year, a similar letter was sent that condemned attempts to report that a meeting between Corbyn and representatives of London’s Charedi Jewish community had been abandoned because of ‘outrage’ among the community.
The letter also records “our gratitude for your numerous acts of solidarity with the Jewish Community over many years” and thanked Corbyn for his support with recent concerns regarding a coroner who was unsympathetic and unaccommodating to Jewish faith and burial custom.
Corbyn’s letter seen by the Gazette, said: “Coroner Hassell’s approach goes against our Jewish and Muslim residents’ faith and is preventing them from grieving for their lost loved ones.”
The letter, co-signed by Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South & Finsbury, and Islington councillor Richard Watts, notes that other coroner services, including Salford and Bolton’s Coroner Services, use magnetic resonance imaging scans in autopsies, removing the need for “invasive post-mortem techniques that go against a number of religious practices”.
“We regret that Coroner Hassell’s conduct … to date has caused significant upset and undue trauma for people who are already suffering so much and simply want to grieve,’ it states.
Corbyn said: ‘I have been approached by the Jewish and Muslim communities in Islington and I’m very concerned about the stress families are going through in not being able to complete burials in line with their faiths. I fully support their efforts to ensure public services respect their religious beliefs and traditions – and the coroner service should be no exception.”
Related
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Joseph Finlay, Jeremy Corbyn is an Anti-Racist, Not an Anti-Semite
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Anna Boyle, 40 Examples of Corbyn Opposing Antisemitism
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Politics and Insights 
Reblogged this on Declaration Of Opinion.
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Tweeted this @BBCr4today asking them to report some real news for a change, and shared to FB
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Reblogged this on BertieS.
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Thanks for this, Kitty. I think I remember you from The Void comment threads. Yes, it will indeed be interesting to see if it gets even a single mention in our media. It might on RT, but otherwise I’m not holding my breath!
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I miss the Void.
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Me too. Any idea what happened to Johnny? It would be such a shame if he’s not still writing, somewhere…
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I’m not sure, though he had lost a good friend and anarchist just before he stopped writing on the Void. I hope he’s ok.
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Yes indeed. I remember the upset caused to him by the few thicker-skinned/not-quite-all-there commenters who disrespected his wishes to have the comment thread for that last article he posted be just for tributes to his friend. These cretins carried on using the thread for their own ends even after Johnny gave up and disappeared, effectively appropriating someone else’s site for their own sad little circle-jerk, as they do to this day,..
I mean, have you seen it lately?!!
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I haven’t looked at comment threads, just re-read articles. Utter self obsessed wankers
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Somehow I doubt we’ll hear this latest development blurted out as a major headline on BBC News.
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Do you have confirmation the letter is genuine Kitty?
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I checked out the author, he is a real person, and looked at the website, which does exist. I also checked the second, earlier letter which tallies with events, so I’ve added links from media sources to evidence the comments in the letter.
I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the letter. It’s not as if the media are going to publish it, so I doubt someone would go to such elaborate length and provide such detail for a letter that will barely be read by most of the UK.
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Thank you for this. I’ve shared it on my Facebook page. There’s not enough factual, relevant, honest rebuttal published on any of the mainstream media or social media about the propaganda campaign waged against Jeremy Corbyn ever since he was elected leader of the Labour party. It’s hotting up hysterically now before the general election and it bewilders me to see how little the Press seem to care about verifying facts and about pointing out glaringly obvious smears designed to influence and mislead the public. What happened to courageous, thorough, unbiased investigative journalism? It seems to have gone down the drain.
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They are not journalists, they are state propagandists. If w don’t get the Tories out this time, what’s left of democracy and accountability will be gone. And they haven’t even started being nasty, yet. This is an authoritarian regime who completely control what most of the media platforms and broadcasters put out
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It died under Cameron, the man who left us in this mess.
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Deepest gratitude for your efforts to reveal the mischief being committed here by Deep State actors
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Reblogged this on groovmistress.
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Hello,
Have you considered my post on this topic? I don’t see it on the website. Here it is for reference:
I feel that using letters such as this potentially undermines our cause. Who are the UEJ? Is a bona-fide organisation, or just a bloke posting from his bedroom? How do you know that Rabbi Mayer Weinberger is a real person? It’s hard enough coping with all these false allegations of anti-semitism, without risking our position by promoting fake media.
Many thanks,
David Poyner +44 7973 114457 Poynerd@gmail.com
>
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Firstly, I did check that Rabbi Mayer Weinberger is a real person before I published this. He is. I also checked that the organisation actually exists, and found their website with the letter published on it. I also found a previous letter the group had written.
I had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the letter, therefore. I have put hyperlinks in the article to the sources I mention. I guess people will make up their own minds about this.
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The Jewish Chronicle also reported on this. The say: “One Charedi anti-Zionist group, United European Jews, wrote to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to dispute the Chief Rabbi’s claim that most British Jews were “gripped with anxiety”, saying the words did “not represent the views of the mainstream Charedi Jews who live in the UK”.
They thanked Mr Corbyn for his “numerous acts of solidarity with the Jewish community over many years”.
The letter, which listed a Stamford Hill address, was signed by the group’s Belgium-based director, Rabbi Mayer Weinberger. From its letterhead, its supporters appear to include a number of Satmar Chasidic rabbis.” The article is here: https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/rabbis-back-chief-rabbi-s-attack-on-labour-antisemitism-1.493636
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I would never publish anything without checking out the source and ensuring, on the balance of probability, that the content is true. That does not absolutely exclude the possibility that we may publish things that aren’t entirely accurate – that’s true of all journalism. But I always check the details, and as I said, there was no reason to suspect this letter is inauthentic. There were a few accounts from previously about the author of the letter, too.
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Hmm. facebook not allowing me to share….
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