Guest contribution by Paul Shaviv
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| Jeremy Corbyn - Will he be the next Prime Minister of the UK? |
I am once again pleased to host another fine essay by Paul Shaviv, one of the most respected educators in Orthodoxy. Typical of Paul’s modesty he identifies himself only as ...an expat Brit who now lives in North America (and has) just returned from a visit to the UK. I was not going to let him get away with that.
He touches upon topics frequently discussed here.While I ordinarily add a disclaimer to guest submissions along the lines of - the views expressed by the writer do not necessarily reflect my own, in this case they very closely do. His words follow in their entirety.
England’s Jewish community is in uproar on several fronts. The biggest, by far, is on the political scene – a situation which may be a harbinger for similar, serious, developments in other countries. Here is a brief roundup:
The crisis with the Labour Party:
Britain’s equivalent of the Democrats is in crisis over antisemitism at every level within the party. For decades, the Labour party was the comfortable home to many Jews, and featured several very pro-Israel and pro-Jewish leaders. This turned completely when the then (Jewish) leader of the party, Ed Milliband, made membership and voting changes in the party structure, opening the door to the unexpected election as leader in 2015 of a hitherto fringe veteran MP, Jeremy Corbyn.
Corbyn is a hard leftist, of the neo-Communist school, and he brought into leadership positions a group of far-left individuals, all of whom identified with anti-West, anti-Establishment beliefs. They were also sympathetic to Islamist movements, and various terrorist groups – the IRA, Hamas, Hizbollah and others.
Under this umbrella, many anti-Israel and anti-semitic individuals apparently felt safe. Jews began to feel uneasy in Labour, and the language of discourse began to include “Zio”s (“Zionists” – a shorthand for Jews) and other abuse. Jewish MP’s were under online attack in the vilest terms, and multiple episodes of abuse surfaced. Half-hearted measures and “enquiries” seemed cosmetic only.
This all recently came to a head with the refusal of Labour to adopt a widely agreed definition of what constitutes antisemitism (the IHRA document) – instead, without consultation with the Jewish community, adopting a compromised definition which left open all sorts of loopholes. It didn’t help that Corbyn gave prominence to a fringe, far-left Jewish group, whose leader stated that she “only identified with Judaism in order to be able to attack Israel”; or that Corbyn’s past identification with anti-Israel groups keeps on surfacing.
The conflict has escalated and escalated. Over sixty rabbis – unprecedentedly in England, including Haredi, M O, Reform and ‘Liberal’ – published a letter of concern. Jewish newspapers in the UK published a common ‘front page’, with a giant headline “United we stand!”. Two MP’s who accused Corbyn of antisemitism were within hours placed in party disciplinary process - contrasting with the laggardly process of disciplining Labour anti-Semites themselves…..
But where will this end? It is unprecedented for the community to be in open conflict with a major political party like this. It is also unprecedented for the Labour party to treat any other community as it is currently treating Jews.
If the party comes to power – and for many reasons, including Brexit and an incredibly weak Prime Minister, it is possible – where will the Jewish community, collectively and individually, stand?
If it is defeated at the next election, will “the Jews” be blamed? Jews of all ages and all persuasions are openly discussing emigration, and are resigning from the Labour party in droves. For updates, just Google ‘Corbyn’……. Stay tuned.
Charedi schools against the Government:
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| Rabbi Abraham Pinter of Stamford Hill - a Chasidic enclave in London |
In the UK, even totally private (ie non-Government funded) schools have to meet minimum educational standards. These include minimal literacy (in English) and numeracy standards. More recently, they include the requirement of education regarding British society and ‘British values’.
For years, the Government ignored the Charedi sector, content to let this tiny group alone. Several factors have changed this: the sheer growth in numbers of Yiddish-speaking schools; the growth of Moslem schools whose curriculum content has alarmed the authorities (and the necessity of treating all schools equally…); the growing trend against ‘faith schools’ in British society; and parallel concern about health and safety standards in yeshivot.
The government, via its schools inspection service, (“Ofsted”), carried out a number of inspections of Haredi schools. Several passed the inspections with flying colours. However, the (mainly Hassidic) yeshivot in Stamford Hill cried “Gevalt!”.
The requirement is not that schools promote other religions, multiculturalism, or LGBT lifestyles, or evolution – but that they tell the students that such phenomena exist in British society, and that tolerance of others (not necessarily agreement) is necessary.
Well, there are clear signs that the younger generation of Hassidim (and Haredim) do not all agree with their leadership, and want higher ‘secular’ standards in their schools – particularly basic English skills. In confrontation and refusal to even consider the Ofsted concerns, the yeshivot cannot win; and the leadership does not have the total support of the kehilla.
Something has to change.
A third potential storm has only recently appeared on the horizon: In the course of a complex divorce case which reached the High Court, details emerged of an allegedly fraudulent process in which a young Haredi family obtained funds for house purchase to which they were not entitled; and the intricacies of which also enabled them to subsequently claim government housing assistance. The sums involved were huge.
The wife claimed that she had been coerced into this arrangement by pressure from her community, with the blessing of local London rabbis, and a ‘Grand Rabbi’ in Israel. She alleged that these arrangements were widespread in her community. The judge had harsh words to say, and the case and the alleged “widespread” irregularities were reported in the local (non-Jewish) press, and in the Jewish Chronicle.
The rabbinate of the Haredi community issued a statement demanding that the judge withdraw his comments, and declaring that they did not approve of illegal practices in any context. Online comment suggested otherwise…. If this triggers further investigations, trouble may lieahead.
The Jewish community in England’s green and pleasant land has for centuries enjoyed a relatively peaceful and harmonious existence, with few crises. The community as a whole has kept its profile low – suppressing, perhaps, the component of community/ethnic pride and activism which has played such a large part in American Jewish life. Are things changing?
Where will it lead?