An open letter from Jewish people calls out the Board of Deputies for stifling criticism of Israel

Hundreds of British Jews from more than 65 synagogues have written to the main representative body of Britain’s Jewish community – the Board of Deputies of British Jews – to condemn what appears to be an attempt to stifle dissent over Israel.

Board of Deputies of British Jews: stifling criticism of Israel

In a letter they addressed to the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Phil Rosenberg, the signatories express their dismay at the Board’s very hostile response to a courageous letter critical of Israel. 36 deputies (around 10% of the Board’s elected membership) sent the letter last month to the Financial Times. That letter made:

powerful criticisms of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war

It cited the:

breaking of the ceasefire, the blocking of food, fuel and medical supplies, and the killing of the 15 paramedics and their hasty burial in a mass grave

Moreover, it added that in the West Bank, extremist settlers, and accelerated settlement-building threaten the livelihood and the lives of Palestinians living there.

Well over 300 members of Liberal, Reform, Masorti and orthodox synagogues across Britain have signed the current letter. This states that:

the 36 deputies are speaking for us and for many other British Jews and that our voices cannot be silenced any longer.

It argues that the Board’s reaction to last month’s Financial Times letter threatens to bring the organisation’s name into disrepute:

Instead of answering their criticisms or even merely acknowledging the Jewish tradition of debate, the Board has chosen to investigate the 36 signatories for alleged breaches of the Board’s Code of Conduct. But it is not their courageous letter in the Financial Times that poses a threat to the good name of the Board or to Jewish communal unity; rather, it is the Board’s disproportionate reaction that is likely to undermine freedom of speech and to bring the Board’s name into disrepute.

Board claiming to represent UK Jewry, while shutting down dissent

The Board of Deputies has argued that the 36 are a tiny minority of the organisation. This is of course a body which claims to represent UK Jewry. In a statement on its website, president Rosenberg wrote that:

Ordinarily, we celebrate this diversity of opinion.

This case is different. Whether intentionally or otherwise, the impression that has now been put forward by certain national and international news outlets is that yesterday’s letter published in the Financial Times, signed by approximately ten percent of Deputies, is the position of the Board of Deputies as an organisation, and therefore the position of the UK Jewish community as a whole. This is emphatically not the case, and as president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, I speak for the organisation as a whole.

However, the signatories of this week’s joint open letter – organised by Progressive Jews for Justice in Israel/Palestine – tell the Board of Deputies’ president that even nine months ago:

a Jewish Policy Research (JPR) poll showed that 56% of British Jews felt ashamed of Israel to some extent

They also highlighted that it showed how:

nearly half felt that the IDF had not done enough to protect Gazan civilians, more than the number who felt that they had done.

Progressive Jews for Justice in Israel/Palestine is a UK pro-peace pro-justice grassroots organisation. The group consists of members of Liberal and Reform synagogues throughout Britain. It has members in three-quarters of Liberal synagogues and a quarter of Reform ones.

So far, some 400 British Jews have signed the open letter. This includes more than 330 members of synagogues in 18 towns and cities across the UK – and from virtually every part of Greater London. The signatories are affiliated to a wide range of Jewish denominations. They are members of more than 65 synagogues (including 19 Reform, 24 Liberal, 14 Orthodox, and 5 Masorti).

Voices cannot be silenced by the Board of Deputies any longer

The Board of Deputies has initiated an investigation into the 36 deputies’ action in publishing last month’s letter in the Financial Times. The process is expected to take several weeks.

The open letter criticises the Board’s move to investigate them. It signs off with the powerful declaration that:

Whatever the outcome of this investigation, you cannot hide the true situation: British Jews are deeply divided about the behaviour of the Netanyahu government, with many of us strongly opposed to the conduct of the Gaza war, believing with good reason that it is being prolonged for political reasons at incalculable cost to the lives of the Gazans, and also to the chances of the hostages being returned. We maintain that this is contrary both to Jewish and universal values, that the 36 deputies are speaking for us and for many other British Jews, and that our voices cannot be silenced any longer.

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