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Board of Deputies representative forced out after questioning whether George Floyd murder was racist
Raymond Solomon was a Manchester Jewish Representative Council delegate at the Board
November 19, 2021 16:44
Raymond Solomon was a Manchester Jewish Representative Council delegate at the Board
November 19, 2021 16:44A Board of Deputies representative and Zionist Federation (ZF) national council member has left both posts after he questioned whether the murder of George Floyd was racist.
Raymond Solomon, who represented the Jewish Representative Council of Manchester at the Board, reportedly asked Board president Marie van der Zyl to justify a statement made on the organisation’s website that the killing of Mr Floyd was racially motivated.
According to a comments provided to the JC by the Board, Mr Solomon said: "nowhere during the trial did the prosecution provide any evidence that 1) Officer Chauvin was a racist and 2) that the death of George Floyd was racially motivated."
He added: "could I respectfully ask the President to kindly share the evidence that the BOD has to justify the word "racist"?"
Responding the the question, Ms van der Zyl said she was "suprised" that Mr Solomon "would seek to minimise the racist dimension of the police officer’s action.”
She said: “I stand by these words and would use them again. This was a brutal, racist murder. The images of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd shocked the world with its racist intent."
Marc Levy, Manchester Jewish Representative Council CEO, said his organisation had informed the Board of Deputies that Raymond Solomon would no longer represent the organisation.
He said the question posed by Mr Solomon “represents the views solely of the individual in question.”
Mr Levy added: “The organisation will shortly be voting on a new constitution that will underpin the JRCs new structure as it executes on its ambitious new manifesto in support of the Manchester Jewish Community.”
ZF chair Richard P Woolf has now called upon Mr Solomon to “immediately” resign as a member of the body’s national council and said if he did not, several council members would table a resolution to have him removed.
Mr Woolf said to “seek to minimise the obvious racist dimension of George Floyd’s murder” stood in contrast “to the ethos of the Zionist Federation.”
In a statement, the ZF said Mr Solomon did not in any way represent their views.
They added: “The brutal, racist murder of George Floyd gave rise to an unprecedented wave of both national and international condemnation which once again shone a spotlight on America’s not uncommon mistreatment of its black population at the hands of its police forces.”
Mr Floyd was murdered by Mr Chauvin in May 2020 in an incident that sparked global outrage, leading to calls to tackle institutional racism in countries across the world.
Following the killing, the Board of Deputies commissioned a 10 month report on racial inclusivity in the Jewish community.
At the time, Ms van der Zyl said: “The Commission serves as a starting point for a wider conversation in our community and in wider society about how to tackle and defeat the scourge of racism.”