It’s okay to use your smart phone, tablet and laptop to boycott Israel

February 2, 2019 By Robert A. H. Cohen

I’ve been called many things over the years for daring to speak out for Palestinian rights and for supporting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to promote a truly democratic Israel/Palestine. But this week I was able to add something new to the list of insults. I am officially, thanks to the North West Friends of Israel Twitter account, a “Champagne Boycotter”. Do Palwin make champagne? I need to check. — WritingFromTheEdge (@RobertCohen2) January 31, 2019 A “Champagne Boycotter”, as... Read more

Whether it’s Brexit or Zionism – going it alone makes little sense

January 9, 2019 By Robert A. H. Cohen

Two issues have dominated the UK over the last twelve months: Brexit and antisemitism in the Labour Party. The politics of both debates turn out to have much in common. Conflicting national narratives; opposing notions of self-determination; a complex question presented as having a simple solution; a lack of civility in public debate; the use of fear tactics; and the demonisation of opponents. In short, both issues have created plenty of heat but not much light. The Brexit and antisemitism... Read more

As British Quakers divest from the Occupation, Jewish leaders seek to discredit and smear them

November 25, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

Last week Quakers in Britain became the first Christian denomination in the U.K. to adopt a responsible investment policy towards the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land. It was the first denomination but I doubt it will be the last. Within hours of the announcement, the Board of Deputies, the body which asserts its right to represent Jewish interests in Britain, had issued a statement of rebuke from its President, Marie van der Zyl. In a few short paragraphs, van de... Read more

Christian-Jewish dialogue must be more than taking tea and talking antisemitism

October 18, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

“No religion is an island” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, November 1965 Dear Archbishop Justin and Chief Rabbi Mirvis You sat down together in the rabbi’s home in north London just before the Jewish new year. You drank tea and you talked about antisemitism. A few days later, the Church of England’s Bishops’ Conference in Oxford adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism and the 11 illustrations attached to it. Your meeting, and the actions that followed, told us much about... Read more

If you want a fair definition of Zionism, it’s best to ask a Palestinian

September 6, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

There are lots of good reasons to think the IHRA document, now adopted “in full” by Labour’s NEC and by Labour MPs, is, well, a bit rubbish. • The actual definition of antisemitism is not up to much • The illustrations are a legal mess • It appears to be having no impact on antisemitism in the (few) countries which have endorsed it • And it’s already being used to prevent open debate on university campuses A recent article by... Read more

Sacks V. Corbyn: Why conflating anti-Zionism makes fighting antisemitism impossible

September 2, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

Earlier this week Rabbi Jonathan Sacks made himself look foolish, tarnishing his worldwide reputation as a man of considerable Jewish learning and wisdom by making outlandish criticism of the Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn. This morning, on the BBC Andrew Marr Show, he did it again: “He [Corbyn] implies the majority of British Jews are essentially alien to British culture…he is as great a danger as Enoch Powell.” For younger readers and those less familiar with U.K. political history, Enoch... Read more

Bringing it all back home – Marc Ellis on the return of the Jewish prophetic

August 19, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

(Book review followed by interview with Professor Marc Ellis) This summer has seen young American Jews walk out of Birthright tours in Israel, fed up with the lack of Jewish community acknowledgement of Palestinian oppression; it’s seen prayers for Palestinian protestors shot dead in Gaza by Israeli snipers read in public by young British Jews; it’s seen the launch in Britain of Na’amod, a Jewish anti-occupation group inspired by If Not Now in America; it’s seen more than 40 Jewish... Read more

The Jewish establishment’s ‘War Against Corbyn’ risks bringing real antisemitism to Britain

July 28, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

Greetings from Britain, where the Jewish community is facing an “existential threat to Jewish life”. At least that’s according to an editorial shared by all three of our Jewish community newspapers this week – the Jewish Chronicle, The Jewish News, and the Jewish Telegraph. You’re probably thinking that Her Majesty’s Government must have just introduced the equivalent of Hitler’s Nuremberg race Laws of 1935. Perhaps it’s worse. Perhaps the round-ups have already begun. Don’t worry, you haven’t missed a major... Read more

Dear Ed Husain, don’t let your call for moderate Islam give Israel a blank cheque

June 24, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

Dear Ed Husain I’ve just finished reading your new book ‘The House of Islam’, and like your autobiographical debut ‘The Islamist – Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left’, it’s going to be a bestseller. There’s much to welcome in your new work, in particular your strong critique of Salafi-Whahhabi beliefs which have fueled al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram and others to commit brutal and murderous crimes. But when it comes to your... Read more

They prayed for the dead of Gaza, now it’s time to say Kaddish for Zionism

May 25, 2018 By Robert A. H. Cohen

I’ve seen the Jewish future in Britain and it looks good. The next generation of Jewish leadership showed up in Parliament Square on 16th May and gave their elders a lesson in Jewish ethics and how to avoid compromise, timidity and hypocrisy when faced with a clear case of atrocity. They also began the long haul to rescue Judaism, and the Jewish community in Britain, from the dead hand of Zionism. At least I hope that’s what happened. There’s a... Read more