Board of Deputies of British Jewish- Community Briefing
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Board of Deputies to release Jewish Manifesto following General Election announcement 
The Board of Deputies has responded to this week’s announcement of a General Election to be held on Thursday December 12. A spokesperson said: “As in all elections, we will shortly be releasing to candidates from all parties our updated Jewish Manifesto which will cover the issues pertinent to the community. As always, we will make no recommendation on how individual Jews should vote, as we trust that members of our community are fully able to make for themselves the decision about which parties and candidates best represent their interests.”
Support for slave trade memorial in Hyde Park Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl has supported a plan to build a slave trade memorial in Hyde Park. Marie said: “In the same way that the Government is supporting a Holocaust Memorial at Westminster, we will feel it is fitting that it should fund a slave trade memorial in Hyde Park as a tribute to the millions of people who were brought over from Africa and suffered in servitude for generations.”
Marie was a signatory to a letter supporting the memorial which appeared in The Times this week. You can read the letter here.
Politicians from all parties put disputes about Brexit and elections aside to support Mitzvah Day at a parliamentary event organised by the Board of Deputies and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Jews. Pictured (left to right) Andrew Hollingsworth of The Passage – a charity which helps the homeless; Laura Marks, Founder and Chair of Mitzvah Day; Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Theresa Villiers; Board of Deputies Preisdent Marie van der Zyl and Mitzvah Day Chief Executive Georgina Bye. Read a full report on the event here. ACTIVITY REPORT INTERNATIONAL President Marie van der Zyl and Chief Executive Gillian Merron attended a meeting of the Executive Committee of the World Jewish Congress in Munich. There were discussions on Jewish unity and religious diversity, the Iranian threat, and there was a round table with the International Special Envoys and Coordinators Combatting Antisemitism which included Lord Pickles. As members of the WJC delegation, President Marie van der Zyl and Chief Executive Gillian Merron participated in a service at the memorial to the murdered Israeli 1972 Olympic athletes, and at the Dachau Concentration Camp.
International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby attended an event in Parliament hosted by the Henry Jackson Society, with United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combatting Antisemitism, Elan Carr.
Senior Vice President Sheila Gewolb and International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby met with the Azerbaijani Ambassador following the Board of Deputies’ successful first ever delegation to Azerbaijan, to discuss ties between the UK and Azerbaijani Jewish communities, and peace and security in the Middle East.
Senior Vice President Sheila Gewolb and International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby attended an event at the US Embassy for International Religious Freedom Day, and to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali. The Board of Deputies was also represented at the National Day Celebrations and Independence Day celebrations of the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus.
ANTISEMITISM Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg joined communal colleagues from the Community Security Trust, Antisemitism Policy Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council at the Cross Government Working Group on tackling antisemitism. The community representatives discussed the current situation of antisemitism in the UK and internationally, and ways to tackle it, with Faith and Communities Minister, the Viscount Younger of Leckie, as well as officials from the Home Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Education, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Crown Prosecution Service. Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg addressed the Camden Neighbourhood Clergy and Community Leaders Interfaith Forum about antisemitism and its manifestations in the Labour Party.
HERITAGE Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman attended the private view of the United Synagogue’s new House of Life Exhibition about the project to tell the stories of people buried at Willesden Cemetery. This was held in the Library in Willesden. EDUCATION Senior Vice President Sheila Gewolb attended the Executive meeting of the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (NASACRE), which was held at the Baha’i Centre in Knightsbridge. Topics discussed included a training film project for SACRE best practice, the new Ofsted framework, and the regional conference in May 2020. Copyright © 2019 Board of Deputies of British Jews, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed on our website, or because you are a deputy or designated under-35 observer of the Board of Deputies. If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click here.
