Opinion
Our missions for the year ahead
Three communal leaders set out their hopes and objectives for 2020
December 31, 2019 14:34
4 min read
Three communal leaders set out their hopes and objectives for 2020
December 31, 2019 14:34I delayed writing this until after the election because the result was always going to be so important to the year that lay ahead.
Suffice to say that neither I nor CST are party political but, when the results came through, our collective sigh of relief was huge. Most of all, I look forward to no longer spending days and nights worrying how CST would, or even could, have helped bolster communal morale had Jeremy Corbyn become Prime Minister.
There are, nevertheless, more than enough other challenges for CST and I to face. I do not look forward to them as such, but they are highly motivational in the sense of why we do this work and why we feel such a keen sense of mission.
The biggest challenge is the one that has always been there — or at least for the 30-plus years in which I have been a volunteer, staffer, regional head and now chief executive for CST. It is to protect the Jewish community from the threat of terrorism and antisemitism. The innate challenge is always how to do this while encouraging the community to lead an open, confident Jewish life.
Two big CST projects lie ahead for the next year. The first is a Community Awareness Programme that will encourage British Jews to better understand how they can all play their part in recognising what we call “suspicious behaviour”; and how they should respond if they ever find themselves caught up in a terrorist attack.
The second is our Safe (Security Advice For Everyone) programme, in which CST will use our example and expertise to advise non-Jewish communities on how they can better protect themselves. Both projects are sadly necessary, because both jihadi and far-right terrorism are not going to magically stop any time soon.
I wish there wasn’t the need for CST to have these two big projects, but then again, I wish there wasn’t any need for any of our work.
Until that day comes, I look forward to leading our contribution in helping make our Jewish community a welcoming, confident and
happy place.
Most importantly, I invite you all to join our mission, because our local security teams need volunteers and support throughout the country. Thank you.
To paraphrase Tony Blair, the guest speaker at the Board of Deputies’ recent annual dinner, it feels as if “things can only get better” in 2020.
However, even as Jews and true anti-racists breathe a sigh of relief over the imminent departure of Jeremy Corbyn, there are concerns for who will replace him as Labour Party leader.
He or she will have a battle on their hands to reclaim the heart and soul of the party. My hope for 2020 is that Labour rediscovers the values that it seems to have left behind over the past four years — values of tolerance and respect for Jewish members who have been hounded and abused.
I hope the word “Zionist” will no longer be regarded as a term of abuse in Labour and that those who peddle horrendous antisemitic tropes will be dealt with swiftly and firmly.
Brexit will continue to be a challenge for our country until future trade terms are sorted out between the UK and the EU.
I would like the new government to ensure trade continues with Israel; to legislate to ensure that terrorist organisations are subject to at least the same sanctions as operated by the EU; to guarantee that shechitah is maintained and, very importantly, to ensure that Jews and other minorities are protected and respected in Brexit’s aftermath.
My hope for our own community is that we retain the unity forged through adversity. Never have we shown more solidarity and togetherness than we have when confronting anti-Jewish racism. If we can harness this spirit, our community will be stronger and we will all benefit.
Finally, I hope for an end to the cycle of inconclusive elections in Israel and make a heartfelt plea for reconciliation.
My wish is for a strong government which can set Israel on the road towards an end to the perpetual violence which has plagued it since its birth. Just now, it may seem like a pipe dream, but we cannot give up on peace.
We cannot ignore the difficult year we leave behind us, where we faced adversity and sometimes felt abandoned by some we thought we could count on. But, at the same time, in what felt like unprecedented times for us as a British Jewish community, we used our voice. We spoke out.
We stood united and we said enough is enough. And, whilst some may have stood by, others stood up — our allies — brave people putting their heads above the parapet, sometimes at personal cost.
As we look ahead to a new decade, we must renew that spirit of strength, of standing together with Jew and non-Jew alike against antisemitism, racism, bigotry and hatred.
This year is a seminal year for Holocaust remembrance and education, full of challenges and opportunities. In just a few weeks, we will mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the largest single killing site of the Holocaust, Auschwitz-Birkenau, where over a million Jewish men, women and children were murdered. I will stand together with Holocaust survivors from across the globe at Auschwitz and remember those whose lives were cut short.
In April, the country will come together to mark the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by the British troops of the 11th Armoured Division. By then, thousands of young people from across the country will have taken part in a new project to learn about Britain’s relationship to this horror, as part of our Belsen75 project.
And later, in August, we will remember with joy the arrival of the first group of ‘The Boys’ in the UK, the first group of 732 child survivors sponsored by the British government.
This year may be the last significant anniversary of the Holocaust we will share with our beloved survivors. As a community and as a country, we will be their witnesses.
