{"id":80038,"date":"2013-09-17T15:34:07","date_gmt":"2013-09-17T15:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=80038"},"modified":"2013-09-20T09:07:25","modified_gmt":"2013-09-20T09:07:25","slug":"british-jewrys-golden-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=80038","title":{"rendered":"British Jewry’s Golden Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Gilad Atzmon — gilad.co.uk Sept 17, 2013<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cBritain’s Jews fall in number but grow in self-confidence\u201d\u00a0 stated yesterday\u2019s\u00a0Observer <\/span><\/span>headline<\/span><\/span><\/a>. Ned Temko ex-editor of the rabid Zionist Jewish Chronicle\u00a0 reviewed the state of the Jews in the Kingdom amid the opening of a new 50 million pounds Jewish cultural centre in West Hampstead.<\/h5>\n
According to the Observer we are awaiting a \u201cnew departure for the Jews of Britain\u201d. But don\u2019t worry folks, this time it isn\u2019t a new global war promoted by CFI (Conservative Friends of Israel) or advocated by Hasbara writer David Aaronovitch. This time it\u2019s just the opening of the\u00a0JW3 \u2013 the London Jewish Community <\/span>Centre<\/span><\/span><\/a> \u2013\u00a0 a spectacular exhibition of British Jews and their gift. \u201cIts initial menu of nearly 1,000 events features well-known figures including\u00a0Kevin<\/span> Spacey<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Nicholas<\/span> Hytner<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Zo\u00eb Wanamaker and Ruby Wax, as well as the former editor of the Times,\u00a0James<\/span> Harding<\/span><\/span><\/a>, who is now head of BBC news.\u201d<\/h5>\n
Just a few days ago, in spite of relentless pressure by the Jewish Lobby, the English speaking empire just managed to escape a new immoral interventionist war in Syria. By the weekend, the Observer was kind enough to remind us how influential Jews in this country are. \u201cDespite their major impact in areas such as the professions, science, culture and the arts, the Jews of Britain now comprise a grand total of some 260,000 souls \u2013 less than 0.5% of the population. Outwardly, they are more self-confident, especially younger Jews who have grown up in an increasingly multicultural Britain.\u201d<\/h5>\n
Notwithstanding all those \u2018progressive\u2019 voices who insist that Jews are drifting away from Israel and Zionism, The Observer article\u00a0 suggests the complete opposite. \u201cWhatever their own views on Israeli policies, for many Jews on British campuses, \u2018anti-Israel\u2019 invective has sometimes come to feel not a lot different from antisemitism.\u201d Jews in general and secular Jews in particular, do identify with Israel and for obvious reasons – It is that image of empowerment which they draw from the state that defines itself as \u2018their State\u2019.\u00a0 Consequently, they regard criticism of Israeli politics as an assault against their own existence and \u2018right to be\u2019. Similarly, the\u00a0 so-called Jewish anti- Zionist Jews, fall into the exact same trap. They also regard criticism of their vague political agenda as a racially motivated assault and an attempt to rob them of their elementary rights.<\/h5>\n
Stephen Miller, an emeritus professor of social research at City University throws some light on the matter when he repeats the line I myself\u00a0 presented in my latest book\u00a0The Wandering <\/span>Who<\/span><\/a>. “They (the Jews)\u201d, says Miller, may identify ethnically, culturally, socially or through an engagement with Israel; they may describe themselves as ‘secular Jews’. But the research shows their sense of belonging and pride in their Jewishness are, on average, not very different from their more observant counterparts.\u201d I guess Miller\u2019s observation won\u2019 surprise my readers.\u00a0 And the next question to ask is obviously what this \u2018Jewishness\u2019 is all about?<\/h5>\n
Mixed salad is the answer offered by JW3\u2019s programme. \u201ca rich mixture of Torah and Talmud sessions, debates on Israel and other communal staples. But there will also be comedy nights, jazz sessions, dance and fitness classes, even a taxidermy workshop \u2013 after which there will be time for socialising in a kosher restaurant run by proteges of the celebrated Israeli-born chef Yotam Ottolenghi.\u201d Once again we are confronted with the true meaning of contemporary Jewish culture – a chicken soup peppered with a bit of political discussion and smooth jazz in the background. Very impressive.<\/h5>\n
Raymond Simonson who runs the massive Jewish centre, hopes to bring in, not only the widest range of affiliated Jews, but others. “People who aren’t going to synagogue. People who may have married non-Jewish partners. People who haven’t been involved in anything Jewish since they were teenagers.” People who have stayed away because, in his words, they may have feared “they would be judged”.<\/h5>\n
Being one of the very few people who, ideologically and theoretically, confronts Jewish power I wonder: should I wait for JW3 to invite me to discuss the topic at their liberal Jewish centre? Perhaps I\u2019d better not hold my breath. After all, I\u2019m not a Jew anymore.<\/h5>\n
The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity Politics, available on\u00a0Amazon.<\/span>com<\/span> <\/a>&\u00a0Amazon.co.<\/span>uk<\/span><\/a><\/h5>\n

\n

Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gilad Atzmon on why he wont be invited to address a new \u00a350 million Jewish Community Centre in London. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Israel_Anti-Semitism_Zionism_and_US-UK_allies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80038"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80222,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80038\/revisions\/80222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}