Jeremy Corbyn’s accumulated sayings over the last 40 years has proved to be treasure trove for his many critics. From his inability to act as a mediator between Israelis and Palestinians to currently defending the authoritarian Maduro government in Venezuela in the name of socialism, Mr Corbyn’s past is proving to be an albatross around…
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Corbyn, Maduro and the Jews
Mahathir Mohamad and the Jews
Last week the Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, telephoned the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Gaza to express his government’s strong support for the Palestinian cause. Significantly Mahathir chose Palestinian Islamism and not Palestinian nationalism, Hamas rather than Fatah, to demonstrate Malaysian solidarity. His publicised telephone call came shortly after his controversial anti-Jewish – as…
Jewish Brigaders in the Spanish Civil War
Jewish Volunteers, the International Brigades and the Spanish Civil War (Bloomsbury 2018) pp264 By Gerben Zaagsma Of the 35,000 who served in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, at least 10% were Jews – a vastly disproportionate fraction. ‘Why the Jews?’ is Gerben Zaagsma’s central question in his fascinating book. Was it an early example of…
The Far Right in Israel
MENAHEM BEGIN spent almost three decades astutely constructing a broad coalition of the right based on his own Herut movement until his election in 1977, when he began to realise that the responsibilities of office differed vastly from opposition.He was confronted with a rebellion when only 57 per cent of Herut loyalistsvoted for the Camp…
Limmud, the Board and Naftali Bennett
Thousands of eager participants are returning from the UK Limmud Festival, whose message of openness in Jewish life has proved a challenge to conformists within the Jewish world and spawned more than 80 Limmud communities across the world – from Beijing to Jerusalem and from New Zealand to New York, run by the brightest and best of…
On the Iranian Revolution
Forty years ago, the Iranian revolution was reaching its zenith. 1978 had been marked by demonstrations and a massacre of protesters in Tehran’s Jaleh Square in September. By mid-January 1979, the Shah had gone into exile and the Queen’s visit to Iran in the royal yacht, Britannia, had been abruptly cancelled. On 1 February, the Ayatollah…
On Menasseh ben Israel
The figure of Menasseh ben Israel holds a special place in the hearts of many British Jews. He is regarded as the central advocate in pleading the case to the leaders of the English republic in 1656 to readmit the Jews into the country. A leading Sephardi rabbi in Amsterdam, he spent two frustrating years…
The First Jewish Australians
TWO HUNDRED and thirty years ago a small wooden flotilla sailed into Sydney Cove. This First Fleet of 1788 consisted of two warships and three store vessels which contained sheep, cattle and horses plus enough provisions for two years. Its most important cargo was contained in six transportation ships — 789 convicts from Britain accompanied…