What is Jewdas? Radicals who oppose capitalism and seek to overthrow the state

Jewdas, a “radical” left-wing Jewish group, prides itself in mocking mainstream Jewish community groups.

Founded in 2005 by a group of young Jews under the collective pseudonym “Geoffry Cohen”, it says it satirises “the many absurdities of the British Jewish community”.

However, Jewish leaders condemned tweets by the group, including one during London Pride which said: “Gay cops are still cops and all cops are bastards”. The group has also said that it “opposes capitalism” and wants to “overthrow the state”.

In a statement following protests organised by Jewish leaders about Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of anti-semitism, it dismissed the action as a “bout of faux outrage greased with hypocrisy and opportunism”, suggesting it was politically motivated.

It accused the Board of Deputies, the leading Jewish body, of “playing a dangerous game with people’s lives.

The group says it is opposed to anti-semitism on all sides of the political spectrum.

The group was also behind two hoaxes, including a mass email purporting to be from the Board of Deputies stating that it had cancelled a planned Israel solidarity rally.

Admitting to the hoax days later, it said: “Those who believed it, even for a moment, were being given a gift, a vision of the Jewish leadership who stood up for peace and justice, rather than mindless ethnic solidarity”.