Open letter from British Jews to Archbishop Welby, September 2024
The letter below is being circulated to gather the signatures of UK
Jews, before being delivered to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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If you identify as Jewish and wish to support the letter, please sign HERE
The Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace, London
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Dear Archbishop Welby
The signatories of this letter are Jews from a wide range of perspectives, united in our outrage at Israel’s savage war on the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
We greatly welcome your recent statement (August 2nd) that, in the light of the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion of 19th July, Israel’s Occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal and Israel should immediately withdraw.
We write now to urge you to take full account of the diversity of Jewish opinion on Israel and Palestine, both religious and secular, and to widen the range of Jewish organisations that you listen to and meet with.
We deplore the unfailing backing Israel receives from the supposedly official voices of British Jewry, the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) and the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. The BoD regularly insists that its is the sole legitimate voice, and that other Jewish voices, which it does not hesitate to denigrate, must be ignored. Equally concerning is the fact that mainstream politicians and media seem to accept the BoD’s claim to be the sole representative of British Jews. The result is that British Jews are generally portrayed as supporting the occupation of Palestine, the proliferating illegal settlements, and, now, the mass killings in Gaza.
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In fact, the BoD and Chief Rabbi Mirvis represent only a minority of the British Jewish community [i]. To be involved in electing Deputies to the Board, one must be a member of a United or other BoD-affiliated synagogue, or be connected to one of the BoD-affiliated communal organisations. Rabbi Mirvis is Chief Rabbi only of the United Synagogue, a union of Orthodox British synagogues, but not of the other Jewish denominations.
Jews who are not members of United or other BoD-affiliated organisations are not represented. For example, the UK Haredi community, some 75,000 strong [ii], about 25% of all British Jews, along with most secular Jews, are not represented by either Chief Rabbi Mirvis or the BOD, whose views on Israel many of us strongly oppose [iii].
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We ask you to reflect on the shame and horror we feel at being represented as approving of the murderous oppression of Palestinians by the self-declared Jewish supremacist state of Israel. To be tarred with the brush of complicity in its programme of land theft, house demolitions, pogroms and, now, mass killing, connects us, viscerally, to our own historic experience as victims of pogroms and the Nazi genocide. In the light of this alone, we are resolute in our condemnation of Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their lands.
We are deeply concerned at the systematic deployment of the charge of antisemitism against those, including Jews, who criticise Israel. The charge of antisemitism has particular impact on members of Muslim communities who, as reported to us, too often feel unable to speak freely on Palestine and Israel. Their perspectives and concerns are being silenced by the amplification of establishment Jewish perspectives.
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Many Jews dissent from the position of the BOD and Chief Rabbi Mirvis, as witness the array of Jewish organisations critical of Israel – Jewish Voice for Labour, Jewish Network for Palestine, Na’amod, Black-Jewish Alliance, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Jewish Socialist Group, as well as the Haredi communities [iv]. The national marches for Palestine incorporate a Jewish Bloc, sometimes more than one thousand strong.
Attributing, to all British Jews, the views of the BOD and Chief Rabbi Mirvis, perpetuates the misleading impression of the UK Jewish community as a monolithic bloc. This falsehood harms community relations, not least because it plays to the antisemitic trope that Jews, by our very nature, are of one mind in pursuit of self-serving and nefarious purposes. The British establishment’s support for Israel, despite the steadily mounting evidence of genocide, strengthens the impression of sinister Jewish power.
The need to nurture positive relations between the Established Church and the Jewish establishment should not lead to the marginalisation of other Jewish voices, and must not overrule the urgent need to recognise and denounce the evil of what Israel is doing to the Palestinians.
It is desperately urgent that dissenting Jewish voices should be heard. We write because we believe that as head of the Established Church, you should listen. We ask that you agree to meet a delegation drawn from the list of signatories below. The organisers of this letter would welcome the opportunity to facilitate such an engagement.
We are yours Sincerely
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Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor, St Antony’s College, Oxford University
Antony Lerman, Senior Fellow at the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue, Vienna
Richard Kuper, co-founder of Jews for Justice for Palestinians
Jenny Manson, Co-Chair, Jewish Voice for Labour
Naomi Wimbourne-Idrissi, Media Officer, Jewish Voice for Labour
Jonathan Rosenhead, Chair, British Committee for the Universities of Palestine
Moshé Machover, Emeritus Professor, KCL
Miranda Pinch, Producer of documentary From Balfour to Banksy, CAMPAIN
Robert A.H. Cohen (see Writing from the Edge)
David Epstein FRS, Emeritus Professor, University of Warwick
Dr. George Wilmers, Mathematical Logician
Michael Rosen, Author
Alexei Sayle, Comedian
David Mond, CAMPAIN
Bernard Spiegal, CAMPAIN
Professor Ludi Simpson, Hon. Professor, University of Manchester School of Social Sciences
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If you are Jewish and wish, to support this letter, please sign HERE
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We shall periodically add further signatures below the endnotes
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​Endnotes​
​i. See reprint of a 2015 article by Joseph Finlay in the Jewish Quarterly
ii. See report of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research on Haredi Jews around the World; population trends and estimates
iii. See article on orthodox Jews protesting at a BoD annual dinner
iv. See article on orthodox Jewish organisations letter of gratitude to Jeremy Corbyn ​​​​
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*List of signatories: we rely on signatories correctly defining themselves as Jewish. Some have volunteered information on their organisational affiliation
First Name | Last Name | Organisation or Affiliation |
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Michele | Aaron | Professor, University of Warwick |
Avigail | Abarbanel | |
Michele | Abendstern | |
Jeanette | Abendstern | |
John | Abraham | |
Larne | Abse Gogarty | UCL |
Lauren | Ackerman | Newcastle University |
Marion | Adler | JfjfP |
Erika | Adler | |
Vicky | Album | Progressive Jews for Justice in Israel and Palestine |
Lesley | Alterman | |
Rev Dr John S | Anderson | The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area |
Philip | Appleby | |
Mark | Armstrong | Palestine Solidarity Campaign |
Deborah | Asher | Na'amod |
Nathan | Asher | |
Rosalind | Austin | |
Ali | Avery | |
Anthony | Baldwin | |
Sue | Bard | Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community and Progressive Jews for Justice in Israel Palestine |
Julia | Bard | |
Graham | Bash | Political Officer, Jewish Voice For Labour |
Lucy | Baxandall | Jews for Justice for Palestinians |
Sandi | Beecher | |
Andree | Beida Ryan | |
Michele | Benn | Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation |
Jacqueline | Bentley | |
Marge | Berer | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Frances | Bernstein | |
Gabrielle | Bernstone | |
Rica | Bird | Unite the Union NW/96 |
Jonathan | Bloch | |
Emanuel | Bloom | |
Louise | Bloom | |
Carla | Bloom | Na'amod |
Jenny | Bloom | |
Hagit | Borer | Queen Mary University of London |
Lauren | Bourque | |
Nicholas | Brady | |
Gabriella | Braun | Na'amod |
Haim | Bresheeth-Zabner | Jewish Network for Palestine |
Sage | Brice | UK Jewish Academic Network |
Peter | Buckman | Writer & Literary Agent |
Erica | Burman | Professor of Education, University of Manchester |
Jenni | Calder | |
Anthony | Callender | N/A |
David | Cannon | Chair of Jewish Network for Palestine |
Richard | Carabine | |
David | Carey | |
Tom | Chachewitz | |
Alan | Chapman | Global University for Humanity |
Ian | Chard | University of Edinburgh |
Julie | Clare | |
Sue | Coatman | West Yorkshire jews for a ceasefire |
Sylvia | Cohen | JVL. Jfjfp |
Simon | Cohen | Na'amod and author of 'Jews Did Count but for the Wrong Reasons.' |
Barbara | Cohen | Jews for justice for Palestinians, New Israel Fund. British Friends of Oasis of Peace UK. |
Zoe | Cohen | Zoe Cohen Limited |
Katy | Colley | Hastings Jews for Justice and Na'amod |
Jake | Colman | Previously a synagogue co-director |
Julia | Corwin | Assistant Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science |
Dianne | Cox | Sabeel Kairis, PSC, ICAHD |
Judith | Cravitz | Jews for Justice for Palestinians |
Mandy | Croft | Brighton and Hove progressive synagogue |
Francesca | Cupido | |
Mike | Cushman | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Malicia | Dabrowicz | |
Rita | Dabrowicz | |
Cathy | Daniels | |
Isabelle | Darmon | University of Edinburgh |
Minna | Daum | |
Bernard | Davies | |
Hilary | De Santos | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Judith | De Witt | |
Ivor | Dembina | |
David | Denison | |
Rebekah | Diski | University of Warwick |
Shlomo | Dowen | |
Charles | Drazin | |
Elizabeth | Dresner | |
Laurence | Dreyfus | University of Oxford |
Pamela | Dub | |
Rebecca | Earle | historian |
Rosalind | Edwards | Na'amod |
Susan | Egert | Jews for Justice for Palestinians |
Elizabeth | Elkind | |
Lyn | Ellerker | |
Stephen | Engelhard | |
Alexandra | Farr | |
Judy | Farrar | |
Gene | Feder FMedSci OBE | Professor of primary care, University of Bristol |
Pia | Feig | supporter of Manchester Jewish Action on Palestine |
Jonathan | Feldman | Sheffield Jews Against Israeli Apartheid |
Shelley | Feldman | |
Neil | Finer | Doctor |
Emily | Finer | University of St Andrews |
Sylvia | Finzi | Jews for Justice for Palestinians |
Rajmil | Fischman | Keele University |
Frank | Fisher | JVL |
Ali | Flebotte | Na'amod. Member of a Glasgow synagogue |
Michael | Flexer | University of Exeter |
Dora | Frankel | |
Alexander | Franklin | Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, King's College London |
Debbie | Friedman | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Kenny | Fryde | |
Ellen | Galford | |
Ophira | Gamliel | University of Glasgow |
Carrie | Gaye | Na'amod / Jews for Justice for Palestinans |
Margaret | Gelb | |
Victor | Gelb | |
Carolyn | Gelenter | |
Rene | Gimpel | Jewish Voice for Labour |
René | Gimpel | Jewish Voice for Labour |
David | Goldberg | |
Martin | Golding | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Simon | Goodman | Associate Professor of Psychology |
John | Goodman | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Yvonne | Gordon | |
Neve | Gordon | |
Melanie | Gould | Brighton & Hove Jews against the occupation (JATO) |
Daniella | Gould | |
M | Greenwood | Jews for Justice for Palestiians |
Grahame | Gross | Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation and PJJIP |
Janie | Grote | |
Mark | Gutteridge | Na'amod |
Yohai | Hakak | Brunel University |
Noel | Hamel | |
Alison | Harris | Greater Manchester Jewish Voice |
Sandra | Harris Ramini | |
A.D. | Harvey | author |
Abe | Hayeem | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Jeanne | Heal | |
Patricia | Heatherington | |
Maurice | Herson | |
Judith | Hirson | |
Amanda | Hopkinson | |
Andrew | Hornung | JVL |
Asa | Horwood | |
Adam | Hurst | JVL |
Steve | Jackson | |
Claire | Jackson | Leicester OG member of Progressive Jews for Justice in Israel Palestine |
Estelle | Jacobs | |
Lin | James | Newcastle Reform Synagogue (NRS) |
Joanna | Jellinek | Jews for justice for Palestians |
William | Johnston | |
Jenny | Kassman | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Itamar | Kastner | University of Edinburgh |
Paul | Kaufman | |
Chris | Kaufman | Former national officer, Unite the Union |
Talitha | Kearey | Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community / PJJIP |
David | Keys | Journalist. Also member of The Ark Synagogue, Northwood |
Allison | Koh | |
Pauline | Kollontai | Professor Emeritus, York St John University |
Agnes | Kory | |
Debbie | Krantz | |
Jon | Kurta | |
David | Landau | |
Ronnie | Landau | Holocaust historian |
Madeline | Landauer | |
Bernice | Laschinger | Jvl |
Ruth | Lass | Actress |
Michelle | Laufer | |
Felicity | Laurence | |
Coleen | Le | |
Katherine | Lebow | UK Jewish Academic Network; Jewish Faculty at Oxford |
Jessica | Leschnikoff | Na'amod / Jewish Voice for Labour |
Leah | Levane | Co Chair Jewish Voice for Labour |
Mark | Levene | Emeritus Fellow, Parkes Centre for Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton |
Sonya | Levene | Na'amod UK |
Betty | Levene | |
Caroline | Lever | Na'amod |
Les | Levidow | Jewish Network for Palestine (JNP) |
Susanne | Levin | |
Colin | Levine | Raised in the Orthodox tradition |
Marsha | Levine | |
Stephen | Linton | |
Alon | Lischinsky | Oxford Brookes University |
Adrian | Litvinoff | Justice for Palestinians Leamington Spa |
Robert | Lizar | Jewish Action for Palestine and Jewish Socialist Group |
Teri | Lockton | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Gill | Lucas | |
Ruth | Lukom | |
Deborah | Maccoby | Jewish Voice for Labour and Jews for Justice for Palestinians |
Dorothy | Macedo | |
Jane | Macintosh | |
Viv | Mackay | JVL |
Moshe | Mankoff | |
Glenn | Martin | |
Helen | Martins | Member, Jewish Socialists' Group and Jewish Voice for Labour |
Pamela | Mayorcas | |
Avi | Mayorcas | |
Rosalind | Meadow | Worthing and Adur Palestine Solidarity Campaign (chair) |
Ronald | Mendel | Jews for Justice for Palestinians |
Rita | Mendelson | |
Heather | Mendick | |
Juliet | Michaelson | |
Karen | Midgen | Jfjfp |
Dr Laura | Miller | Jewish Voice for Labour, Jewish Socialists Group |
Angie | Mindel | Jewish Voice for Labour |
Gabriel | Mond | |
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