LATEST POSTS News that the Methodist Church had passed an “anti-Israel” motion caused me a heavy, sad sigh at this latest sign of the times. Traditionally, the Methodists were the sort of Christians Jews could feel comfortable with. Like us, these non-conformists were for a long time outsiders, banished from the Establishment by the Anglican hegemony. We could relate to their simple unadorned churches, their Old Testament-inspired Protestantism, their commitment to social reform and education for all. Suffice to say the Methodists never organised a pogrom. So the Methodist Church’s latest move to heap criticism on Israel feels like being let down by a pleasant and respected neighbour. “How could Methodists act in such bad faith?” was the Jewish Chronicle’s pained headline. Actually, the recommendations were pretty tame: demanding a boycott of goods from “illegal” West Bank settlements and the end of the “siege of Gaza”. But Jewish response has been (over?) heated. The normally restrained Board of… Read More Blooms' short-lived Edgware restaurant Earlier this month London’s iconic kosher restaurant, Bloom’s, a once much-loved institution of Anglo-Jewry, switched off the fryers and shut its doors once and for all, after 90 years of filling stomachs and warming hearts. To walk through its doors, firstly at its Whitechapel branch (which closed in 1996) then from the 1960s the Golders Green eaterie, was to enter the world of the heimishe – homely, comfortable. A cultural phenomenon, you could fill a volume of Jewish jokes with gags that would begin: “So, Mr Cohen walked into Bloom’s…” To emphasise its beginnings among the unrefined Jewish poor of London’s East End, it employed a hilarious cadre of the grumpiest waiters whose irascibility could prick any puffed-up pretensions belonging to the upwardly mobile clientele. It was so quintessential that for non-Jewish friends it was the place to literally give them a taste of Jewish London. For example,… Read More Forgive me for a bout of optimism, but scattered amid last week’s headlines were several nuggets of good news for anyone committed to justice, peace and reconciliation in the Middle East. The big news – Israel’s decision to ease substantively the siege of Gaza – was an important step in the right direction, and should encourage new thinking on both sides of the divide, of which a surprising new poll of Palestinians is, hopefully, indicative. Conducted in West Bank and Gaza, it showed the majority of Palestinians support a peace agreement with Israel and that they believe that the Palestinian Authority should use non-violent means to achieve that political goal. Fafo, a Norwegian-based research foundation, found that 73 per cent of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza were in favour of peace negotiations with Israel, but stressed that a settlement freeze should be a precondition to talks. The poll also revealed a rise in Palestinian… Read More
The Israel boycott – now the Methodists are joining in
Bloom's restaurant, symbol of Jewish London and grumpy waiters, shuts down
Poll: Most Palestinians support a peace deal with Israel
Monday, 5 July 2010
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