By, Charlotte Oliver
1 min read
ByCharlotte Oliver, Charlotte Oliver
A cross-communal group of 30 rabbis have written to Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub, asking him to “do what you can” to halt the demolition of Palestinian homes in a West Bank village.
Signing their names under the umbrella group British Friends of Rabbis for Human Rights, the rabbis – most of them from the Liberal and Reform movements – spoke out against the imminent destruction of 37 houses in Susiya on the West Bank.
Among the signatories were Masorti Judaism’s Senior Rabbi, Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of Reform Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John's Wood, Alexandra Wright and Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick, convener of the Reform Beth Din.
Other names included Rabbi Zvi Solomons, the former rabbi at Reading Hebrew Congregation (Orthodox), Rabbi Danny Smith, senior rabbi at Edgware and District shul (Reform), and Dr Jeremy Gordon, rabbi at New London Synagogue (Masorti).
Together, they said they were writing to the ambassador “out of deep commitment to Israel and to Judaism”.
They noted that, as it was recently Tisha b’av – a day marking the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem – the “injustice of destroying the homes of the villagers of Susiya therefore feels especially poignant”.
According to the group, the recent ruling made by Israeli courts that 37 buildings in the West Bank village must be demolished because they were constructed without permits “reflects the greater injustice in which 94 per cent of all residential building applications are routinely denied to over 150,000 Palestinians”.
They continued: “Our greatest desire is for all the citizens of the state of Israel to live in peace and safety according to our shared Jewish values and teachings.
“The proposed action in Susiya is not only in itself unjust, but reflects badly on Israel’s image in the eyes of other nations and in the view of much of the Jewish community itself.”
Their appeal to Mr Taub follows an open letter written last week signed by 200 Israelis artists, authors and public figures, including writers Amos Oz and A B Yehoshua, claiming that the demolition of the houses would be “cruel, immoral and illegal”.
Susiya hit the headlines last year, when former Board of Deputies treasurer Laurence Brass spoke out against the “squalid surroundings” he witnessed during a visit to the West Bank.
He said at the time: “What a shame that there are not more leaders of the Anglo-Jewish community willing to tackle these troubling issues.”
