When a British orthodox shul embraces an anti-Semitic MP
Op-ed: British Jewish community should pressure Leeds synagogue into cancelling MP Naz Shah event. The event is win-win for Shah and lose-lose for British Jewry.
This Sunday, British MP Naz Shah will address the Jewish community at the Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Synagogue (BHHS) in Leeds. Shah was recently suspended from the British Labour party for comments she once posted on the internet calling for Israel to be relocated to the US, with the words “problem solved.” Furthermore, she posted another comment using hashtag #IsraelApartheid adding: “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
Her defenders, who have been quick to point out that these comments were made before she became an MP, have only reinforced—albeit unwittingly—the beliefs of those among us who recognize her comments for what they truly mean. Indeed, this weak line of defense merely emphasizes Shah’s true desires to cleanse Israel ethnically of its Jews. Whether or not her comments predated her political advancement is entirely irrelevant.
Even her so-called apology in the House of Commons, in which she referred to her “mistakes,” demonstrated no remorse. “I accept and understand that the words I used caused upset and hurt to the Jewish community and I deeply regret that. I truly regret what I did,” she said without explaining precisely what she did.
Shah never apologized for anything beyond the fact that she was exposed. She expressed no remorse about the fundamental premise of her comments but merely their publication.
Despite all her hateful writing on the (social media) wall, one of the most prestigious orthodox synagogues in England has, jointly with the Leeds Jewish Representative Council—shamefully—invited the local Jewish community to submit any questions for Shah in advance, an exercise which amounts to little more than censorship and a timid attempt to avoid offending this rabid anti-Semite whose comments have contributed to the British Jewish community’s increasing sense of vulnerability.
One can only be astonished by the naivety of the BHHS spokesperson who was quoted in the Jewish Chronicle justifying the event thus: “We wouldn’t have had a meeting if she hadn’t have apologized. On this occasion we felt it was appropriate given...the apology that’s been made.” How limited must be his/her powers of analysis to fall for such amateurish and manipulative verbal acrobatics?
There comes a point at which the community must recognize that there is a time to talk and there is a time to accept reality. When there is no ambiguity whatsoever about Shah’s rhetoric, no Jewish individual or organization, let alone a synagogue, should be so deluded as to believe that if only some kind of token apology can be solicited, then it must be that they are surely, after all, not hated by individuals - individuals who have clearly stated that deporting some 6 million Jews to the United States would be a “problem solved.”
Why not invite George Galloway, Ken Livingstone or Jeremy Corbyn, and engage with them too? Truly, Corbyn’s references to Hamas as “friends” and Galloway’s incessant vitriol against Israel may cause discomfort, but one would be hard pressed to actually prove that they are anti-Semitic. Like Shah, they will certainly never admit to it before a Jewish audience or indeed anywhere in the public domain. Nevertheless, Jews have a long history of ‘training’ in this subject and it should not take a document, book or statement akin to Mein Kampf to convince them they are up against an anti-Semite who will deny being such in order to avert the political ramifications.
Naz Shah does not deserve the Leeds community’s time or courtesy. She must not be afforded the opportunity to be forgiven because of a cheap and disingenuous apology. If the Leeds Jewish community feels it is generally contrary to its religious principles to exhibit utter disrespect, it should at least, in this instance, have the courage and the backbone to demonstrate its utter contempt and send the message that she will forever be persona non grata.
Anybody who draws parallels between this and boycotts against Israel or Zionists probably possesses the same intellectual prowess as the aforementioned BHHS spokesperson.
It is the responsibility of the Leeds and, indeed, the entire British Jewish community to take a firm stance on this matter, rather than entertain the notion that through dialogue or by hearing Shah’s side—which she has already made abundantly clear—we may better understand what she actually meant. More importantly, the community must not deceive itself into hoping that she will understand its support for Israel or that our differences can be reconciled. There is no chance of such an outcome, for while she will no doubt seek to fool the community by declaring her recognition of the State of Israel, she will never recognize Jewish sovereignty over it.
The only outcome of this rendezvous is one which serves all of Shah’s interests and none of those of the Leeds Jewish community. The trick is simple: Shah will appear before a crowd of Jews and attempt to dispel accusations of anti-Semitism. If she is attacked, she will be able to tell the press and her party that she undertook sincere efforts to ingratiate herself with the Jewish community, thereby opening the way for Corbyn to reinstate her membership in the party. If she is embraced, she will have expressed her desire to see some 6 million Jews deported to the US gratis.
BHHS congregants and the Jewish community at large now have an obligation, both to themselves and to Israel, to approach religious and lay leaders and demand that the event be cancelled. Time will tell if they live up to it.
05/27/2016 UPDATE: Following this article's publication, the Shah event has been moved. It will no longer he held at BHHS.
BHHS can be contacted on (0113) 2692181.
