Apathy is the enemy of our community. Activism certainly isn’t – even when it poses fresh and positive challenges.
I see this issue from two perspectives.
As a grassroots activist, I co-chair Northern Ireland Friends of Israel. Launched in 2009 and with 700 supporters on our mailing list we have engaged with politicians across Northern Ireland’s political spectrum.
I was then hired by the Board of Deputies to try to replicate such pro-Israel activism in other regions of the UK. My work is funded by the Board and the Jewish Leadership Council.
Even before the crisis of last summer, Friends of Israel groups were active in Sussex, Bournemouth, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Scotland. The surge of anti-Israel extremism in 2014 saw powerful new groups emerge, for example, in Manchester, London and in the Israeli community.
The headlines often scream of tensions, impatience and lack of co-ordination. Communal organisations are taken to task for alleged slowness of response. Not everyone takes to the sometimes brash style of the newly-emerging groups.
Behind the scenes there has been much positive engagement between established community organisations and the new grassroots. The Board and the JLC offer political advice, funding and practical support. We Believe in Israel has promoted conferences, the Zionist Federation runs training seminars and Stand With Us produces campaigning literature. The Israeli embassy is more visible than ever before across the UK. Meanwhile the Community Security Trust works tirelessly to protect grassroots events.
In turn, grassroots organisations offer numerical muscle, geographic range and their own energy and ideas.
Tensions and disagreements there will always be.
But recent examples such as Southampton University and Golders Green tell me that communal leadership and grassroots working together provides a powerful combination. And that such co-operation is vital for the community’s defence against the growing threat of anti-Israel and antisemitic extremism.
Steven Jaffe is a consultant to the Board of Deputies on grassroots engagement with Israel. He co-chairs Northern Ireland Friends of Israel
