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FEATURES Alistair de Kare Silver Get involved! I have recently been working in Parliament with Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, with the aim of going into public affairs. During the past year I became a deputy on the Board of Deputies of British Jews representing Stanmore Synagogue and, in the summer, I was then elected to the Community Issues Division. The intention of this body is to launch initiatives which increase communal involvement in many different areas such as education, heritage and social action. Given my interests in political activity, I decided that I want to create a working group to increase political engagement with MPs at a grass roots level. I believe that we need a concerted effort to ensure we have strong relationships in place with MPs of all political persuasions in order that the relationship is already there, should issues arise. At the moment there are a number of MPs who have strong ties to Conservative Friends of Israel, but have little or no relationship with the wider Jewish community. Whilst it is usually perceived that Israel is the most pressing issue facing the Jewish community, recent events have clearly demonstrated that we are going to face renewed difficulties and threats to core Jewish practices such as Shechita and Brit Milah. It is important therefore that we bring these MPs on board and engage them with the wider community. It is also important to consolidate existing relationships with them, as well as forge new relationships with MPs with whom we have no contact. In constituencies where there are large Jewish populations, strong relationships already do exist; for example with Matthew Offord, MP for Hendon, Mike Freer, MP for Hendon and Golders Green, and Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East. The importance of these relationships cannot be underestimated and these MPs have been the most vocal in their unequivocal support for Israel, in particular during the recent crisis in Gaza. In the summer Bob Blackman MP secured a debate on the 40th Anniversary Bob Blackman with a group of Stanmore members at the AJEX Remembrance Parade of the massacre at the Munich Olympic Games. In a speech to the House of Commons he said: Everyone will have their own views on the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Games. I think that it was right that we remembered the fallen of two world wars and, of course, the victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks, but the one thing that was not mentioned was the darkest hour of the Olympic games—the Munich massacre. I think that it is indeed shameful that the International Olympic Committee could not find one minute during the six weeks of the games to commemorate the victims of the worst terrorist attack in Olympic history. I feel very strongly about this and have been very vocal in my belief. I have trumpeted it not only in the House of Commons, but at every event during the summer to do with the Olympics. Whilst it is essential that these excellent relationships are maintained and consolidated, the wider aim of this project is to move beyond the confines of North West London and establish relationships where they either don’t exist or in areas where there are few or no Jewish constituents. Consolidating existing relationships and establishing ones where they don’t exist can be done in a number of ways. What we need to do as members of Harrow East, together with other groups who live in heavily Jewish populated areas, is to maintain regular email contact with MPs and invite them to communal events. I have already started to do this with Bob Blackman MP as demonstrated recently when he attended the AJEX memorial parade and subsequently events taking place in Stanmore Synagogue as part of Mitzvah day. He recently attended the annual doughnut party. In order to establish new relationships with MPs which are not already in place, I am going to start inviting them to high profile activities in the communal calendar such as Mitzvah Day and other important services that take place during Holocaust Memorial Day. Over time the objective is to see more and more MPs at important events throughout the communal calendar such as the Ajex parade, Mitzvah Day and Israel’s Independence Day. I am convinced that the more MPs we have on board over time, the more support we will have in times of crisis. 38
FEATURES Sue Garfield The Other Side of the Wall – Christy’s Story Christy is a Palestinian Christian law student from the West Bank who has endured intafadas and occupation by Israeli soldiers but who views the situation from a unique perspective: she stands with Israel. Howard Stern is a mediator who works to reconcile the UK church to Israel and who, in the course of a visit to Israel, found himself staying at Christy’s family guesthouse in the West Bank. Together, Howard and Christy went on to form the Emmaus Project with a view to working with Arab Christians, Palestinians and the UK church to raise awareness of all the key issues surrounding Israel and to simply speak the truth. Christy’s extraordinary journey and the vision of the Emmaus Project made for a compelling evening organised by the Stanmore & Canons Park and Belmont Synagogues Israel Committees, together with the Zionist Federation. The subject of the talk was ‘The Other Side of the Wall’ and Dani Goldberg welcomed Gary Zakol from the Zionist Federation before inviting Howard Stern to take the microphone. Howard told the large audience that he wanted to share two narratives: Christy’s incredibly brave and personal journey, as well as information concerning Palestinian Christians which does not reach the mainstream media. He movingly told how he and his wife had ‘adopted’ Christy as a member of their family now that she was in the UK and he was hopeful that the newly formed Emmaus Project would be a dynamic and effective force to educate those who needed to be enlightened. Howard introduced Christy who, for obvious reasons did not wish to have further details disclosed, nor have photographs taken. He told how Christy had been rejected by her own family and was experiencing great emotional pain. Christy told how she had been born in Bethlehem and described how life had been peaceful before Palestinians started throwing stones and the Israeli army occupied buildings, often conducting their searches when she was half asleep. Their house was surrounded on all sides by the Wall and she had already decided that she wanted to learn more about Human Rights and Justice at the time when Howard was looking for accommodation and her mother was the only person to reply. Christy started to question how Israel could win so many wars with massive numbers stacked against them, sometimes 500 against 80,000 soldiers, and concluded that it must be ‘the work of God’s hand’. She recalls weeping at Yad Vashem and how she insisted on taking friends there to share the experience. She became increasingly convinced that ‘As a Christian, you can’t stand against Israel’. Talking about the problems which had beset her people, Christy identified three key words which epitomised the situation as she sees it: WAR – people are indiscriminately killing each other. WEALTH – benefits are taken by the corrupt Palestinian Government. WOMEN – wives and daughters are only regarded as ‘property’ and hitting is permissible, other than to the face which is seen in public. Furthermore, she told how regular contact with the Christian community showed that corruption was widespread in both the State and the church, tribal law preceded Christian values and radical Islam was rising. Honour killings were commonplace and bodies could just be thrown into the garbage. ‘First we will finish with the Saturday people, then the Sunday people’, was the chilling message which was being openly and increasingly conveyed. Christy decided she would apply for a visa to come to the UK, but was shocked to find that barbaric Islamic rituals such as female circumcision could be rife, even in this country. She stated that it would be her mission to speak out and tell the truth. At this point people were invited to ask Christy and Howard questions and the hope was universally expressed that Christy’s inspiring story and the work of Emmaus would be heard by a wider audience, especially those who were hostile to Israel’s very right to exist. Someone suggested she should speak to the House of Commons and challenge the financial aid which is being given to the West Bank, as well as highlight the position of Israel. Appreciation of all Christy had achieved was expressed on behalf of everyone by adding, ‘We are behind you every step of the way’ which was greeted with long applause. Dani gave a personal vote of thanks to Christy and Howard for their moving and inspiring talk and presented them both with books as a token of appreciation. Gary Sakol added his thanks on behalf of the Zionist Federation and showed a film on the work of the Zionist Federation. His message to the audience was direct – ‘Don’t Let Others Determine Israel’s Fate – Get Involved’. 39
Page 1 and 2: STANMORE & CANONS PARK SYNAGOGUE SP
Page 3 and 4: Editors’ Note The views expressed
Page 5 and 6: EXECUTVE REPORT Stephanie z’l, Jo
Page 7 and 8: EXECUTVE REPORT From the Wardens’
Page 9 and 10: STRATEGY REVIEW Anthony Angel Strat
Page 11: PESACH MESSAGE Rabbi Mendel Lew All
Page 15: PESACH MESSAGE Rabbi Benji Landau W
Page 18 and 19: NOBODY CARES True or False False We
Page 21 and 22: FOOD FOR THOUGHT Ashley Goldblatt I
Page 23: FOOD FOR THOUGHT Dr Ian Goodman Are
Page 27: ISHA CHACHMAT LEV Melanie Angel Sus
Page 31: FEATURES Joan Sheridan Nachus Nachu
Page 34 and 35: FEATURES go together. From what I h
Page 36 and 37: FEATURES cont. from 33 By the time
Page 38 and 39: FEATURES Sara Greenfield A Week of
Page 42 and 43: FEATURES Martin Kisner Postcards fr
Page 44 and 45: FEATURES Fourth postcard posted 18
Page 46 and 47: FEATURES Graham Newman What is Spir
Page 48 and 49: OBITUARY Synagogue in 1973, it was
Page 50 and 51: AROUND SHUL Susan Lipman Baby Bless
Page 52 and 53: AROUND SHUL Stanmore Synagogue Comm
Page 54 and 55: AROUND SHUL cont. from 51 medical d
Page 56 and 57: YOUNG STANMORE SHED is an awesome w
Page 58 and 59: YOUNG STANMORE cont. from 55 candle
Page 60 and 61: YOUNG STANMORE Ashleigh Jacobs One
Page 62 and 63: GROUP REPORT YITZCHAK RABIN LODGE O
Page 64 and 65: CALENDAR 5773-5774 2013 5773 Monday
Page 66: CONTACT INFORMATION YOU CAN ALSO CO

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