British Jews Welcome Moslem London Mayor

The New Observer
May 9, 2016

The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the UK Zionist Federation have both welcomed the election of Sadiq Khan as the first Muslim mayor of London, defying predictions that “anti-Semitism” would drive Jews away from the Labour Party.

According to a report in the Israeli-based Arutz Sheva [Israel National News] service, “Jewish Londoners are in fact heartened by their newest mayor.”

According to that report, the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD), which officially represents the UK’s 270,000-strong Jewish community, enthusiastically congratulated the new Mayor of London.

BOD-Khan

 

Noting that “his first public engagement will be the Yom HaShoah commemoration” (a holocaust memorial event,” the BoD expressed the “hope that this will set the tone for his mayoralty’s engagement with our community.”

“We look forward to working with him in his new role,” it added.

The UK Zionist Federation (ZF)—the UK’s largest pro-Israel lobby—also sounded an optimistic note, Arutz Sheva reported.

“We are hopeful that he is a mayor we can work with,” said ZF Chairman Paul Charney. “He is moderate and pluralistic; he has shown a clear stance against anti-Semitism in his own party, even to the extent of distancing himself from [Jeremy] Corbyn,” Charney said.

And there is much reason for London’s Jews to feel positive about their new mayor, BoD President Jonathan Arkush told Arutz Sheva.

“Indeed, rather than some of his questionable past associations, London’s 170,000-strong Jewish community have been far more interested in his particularly high-profile stance against anti-Semitism in general, and Jew-hatred emanating from his own party in particular,” the report continued.

The “Jew-hatred” to which the Arutz Sheva article refers is, of course, nothing of the sort. Through their control of the media, the Jewish lobby has classed any criticism of Israeli oppression of Palestinians as “anti-Semitism.”

This ruse is deliberately designed to let Israel engage in policies which all true leftists would oppose—if they were being true to their ideology—but by falsely labelling such criticism as “anti-Semitism,” the Jewish lobby hopes to suppress all criticism of the Jews-only state.

Artuz Sheva went on to say that Arkush noted that Khan would be sharing a podium at the holocaust memorial service with the UK’s Chief Rabbi and the Israeli Ambassador, which was, he said a “strong snub to the hard-left within the Labour Party.”

“I am hopeful about him,” Arkush told Arutz Sheva. “I think that in the run-up to the election, he was exceptionally friendly in his dealings with the Jewish community.”

“He was one of the leaders of the charges within Labour that were very critical of Jeremy Corbyn,” he continued, adding that he firmly believed Khan’s sentiments toward the Jewish community were sincere.

“I don’t see any of that as being purely for electoral reasons,” he insisted. “On the contrary, I think Sadiq Khan’s commitment to genuine middle-ground politics and friendship toward all communities—certainly including the Jewish community—are entirely genuine.”

“I would like to think that if Sadiq Khan indeed develops further into a moderate, tolerant, enlightened politician from the Muslim community, that he could stand as an important role model for British Muslims, who currently lack such figures. Time will tell.”

Arkush also said that “Although to the Israeli press,” the current “Labour controversy” makes it “seem like the UK is anti-Semitic, the reality is different. These people who have been suspended from Labour are not new anti-Semites. Most of them were there all along—some of them are just more emboldened now to say what they are saying.”