David Lee
Kingston
Dumb and dumber
What a gift the State of Israel has been to antisemites. After the facts of the Holocaust were revealed, it was considered, at least, poor taste to make derogatory remarks about Jews.
But, since Israel has become strong, they can make it very clear that they are not against Jews, just ‘Israel’.
The latest chochma is to say that Jews (whoops! excuse me! Israelis) are “weaponising” (Raz Segal in the Guardian) or “instrumentalising” (Adam Shatz in the London Review of Books) the Holocaust for their nefarious purpose. In other words, we want non-Jews who don’t, like us, have the Shoah ever-present in their minds, to remember it and be warned.
Both these geniuses are professors at highly-rated universities in the New York area. One is even (wait for it) a professor of Holocaust studies.
There are some facts before which even Jewish humour is dumb. But not as dumb as Segal and Shatz.
Rhoda Koenig
London SW2
Lending apartments
Many of your readers own apartments in Israel and a certain percentage of these apartments are not presently occupied. I would like to ask if they would be willing to make the apartment available to a family who have been temporarily moved out of their home due to constant aerial bombardment from Gaza.
Most of those who are looking to stay somewhere in a relaxed (non-active) area have been put into hotels, but, firstly, there are not enough rooms and, secondly, it is just not “home”. I am a real estate broker in Israel and would be willing to see to all the arrangements, see the people in and see them out. I would do this as part of my own contribution to the amazing sense of unity and mutual assistance which we today see all around us in this time of war.
If you are willing to assist in this way, please feel free to call or write to me.
Dina Greenbaum (Becker)
greenbaum.dina@gmail.com
Not safe for Jews
I wish to report a crime. Jewish people are not safe to walk about London on Saturdays because the public’s access to safe and peaceful walking is obstructed and it is dangerous for any identifiable Jewish person due to aggressive demonstrations.
Stanford Myer-O’Reilly
Thornton Heath
Labour not yet safe
Sir Keir Starmer would have us believe that it is once again safe for Jews to vote for the Labour Party. Certainly he has been firm in his support for Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas terrorists, but this is not a view shared by large numbers of the party’s elected MPs and councillors.
If Starmer wants to prove he is tough on antisemitism and tough on the causes of antisemitism, he should expel Jeremy Corbyn and his acolytes from the party once and for all. The Conservative Party has argued that however bad we may think they are, a Labour government would be far worse. Until now, I did not think that this was even possible.
David Miller
Chigwell, Essex
No meaningful answer
It seems that the world is awash with calls for a ceasefire. Whether it is Antonio Guterres, Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham or Humza Yousaf, the demand is clear: Israel’s actions in Gaza must stop.
It is odd that many of these parties agreed that Israel had a right of self-defence following the attacks on October 7. This now appears to have been no more than hot air, just an obligatory phrase designed to appease the Jewish community.
If these figures want a ceasefire, they should explain how the genocidal terrorists of Hamas can be disarmed and then removed from power, which is the only way in which Israelis will feel secure in their own homes. They should offer a rescue plan for more than 200 Israelis held hostage.
In the absence of a disarmament plan, they should finally tell us how future wars between Hamas and Israel can be prevented, given the terrorists will continue to stockpile weapons and build extensive tunnels in which to plan their attacks. I doubt they will have any meaningful answers.
Jeremy Havardi
Director, B’nai B’rith UK Bureau of International Affairs
FOR THE RECORD
The JC seeks to correct errors quickly.
l In our article Archbishop of Canterbury hosts hardline Islamists for tea and cake (21 September 2023 online and 22 September 2023 in print), the Jewish Chronicle made reference to Mr Omar Salha.
We are happy to make clear that there is no suggestion that Mr Salha himself is a hardline Islamist. We acknowledge Mr Salha’s commitment to fostering inter-faith dialogue. Furthermore, the article indicated that Mr Salha had been asked for comment. Unfortunately, Mr Salha’s response was inadvertently overlooked and not referred to in the article. This was an error on our part, which we regret. We apologise to Mr Salha for this.
