News
Date set for Board of Deputies debate on Israeli annexation – but it will not be livestreamed to the public
Three motions will be discussed and voted on next month in closed session
July 19, 2020 09:37
Three motions will be discussed and voted on next month in closed session
July 19, 2020 09:37The Board of Deputies will host a debate on Israeli annexation on West Bank territory next month – but will not be livestreaming it to the public.
During a virtual Board meeting held today, its president, Marie van der Zyl, revealed that honorary officers had taken the decision that the August 23 debate would not be broadcast online. No objections to the plan were raised during the Board meeting.
She also said that three motions had been submitted and approved for debate, all of which would be voted on.
In her president’s statement, Ms van der Zyl reported that the leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, had invited the Board for discussions over party activist, Sahar Al-Faifi, following a controversial recent social media post.
Ms Al-Faifi was previously suspended from the party for a series of alleged antisemitic posts, before being readmitted after taking them down. However, in June she posted a tweet linking the death of George Floyd to Israel.
Following a letter to Mr Price from Board senior vice-president Sheila Gewolb, the candidate for South Wales Central in the Welsh Assembly was placed under investigation by the party.
Ms van der Zyl also condemned Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey for a “frankly pathetic” response after retweeting an interview in which actress Maxine Peake repeated the conspiracy theory that the choke-hold that killed George Floyd was taught by Israeli forces.
She said Ms Long-Bailey “merely claimed not to support that element of the piece. She did not even take the tweet down for several days. I think we all know what would have happened had we protested to the previous Labour leadership.”
Ms Long-Bailey was sacked as shadow education secretary by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who Ms van der Zyl praised for acting “with impressive speed and authority”.
Concerns were raised by some deputies over the Commission on Racial Inclusivity in the Jewish Community, established in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests and chaired by journalist Stephen Bush.
Janet Tresman, deputy for Finchley Progressive Synagogue, claimed that a submission by a black Jewish woman had been rejected by Mr Bush. Ms van der Zyl responded that the Board was “very grateful to have Stephen Bush as a chairman”. In the case alluded to, proper consideration had been given to the submission and Mr Bush had given his reasoning “very carefully”.
“I think we should give him a chance,” Ms van der Zyl said. “I don’t want to see this commission undermined…If people at the end of the day don’t feel he’s taken things into account, then I think we should comment at that point.
“But I think it is not very fair to make allegations that he hasn’t done things now based upon what someone might have said.”
Following complaints of the use of the phrase “all lives matter” by deputies at the last Board meeting in June, the executive report released ahead of today’s meeting showed that North Western Reform Synagogue (Alyth) in Golders Green had written to clarify that comments made by its deputy Annabelle Daiches “do not represent the views of the community”.
In the June meeting, Ms Daiches reportedly said she was “shocked and horrified” by George Floyd’s death, but claimed the Black Lives Matter group appeared to be “Marxist”.
An indicative vote on changes to the Board’s constitution – which would see the creation of four new “non-programmatic” elected trustee roles – passed with 88 per cent in favour of the reforms. A formal vote will be held in September.
