A selection of
Having been a subscriber for some 50 years, I did not take the JC last week for reasons that I do not need to spell out to you.
You could not have been ignorant of the fact that Islamic Relief Worldwide is a constituent member of the DEC, and that its branches in Gaza and the West Bank have links to Hamas. In essence, you have encouraged your readers to support an organisation that helps fund Hamas and offers it moral as well as financial support.
Hamas is attempting to obliterate the State of Israel.
How do you justify your action? How do you think the bereaved Israeli families and wounded soldiers feel about the major organ of British Jewry encouraging the collection of funds for Hamas?
Funds may indeed be sent for humanitarian effort but we know exactly how that term is construed by Hamas!
Let the tens of thousands who have demonstrated in the European capitals put their money where their mouth is. That should provide adequate “humanitarian support” for the citizens of Gaza. Rabbi Dr Jeffrey M Cohen jeffrey@jeffreymichaelcohen.co.uk
Let Euro protesters make donations to Gaza
I really cannot get my brain around why you published an advert on behalf of DEC. I do hope that you will make a donation equivalent to the retail value of the advert. If you do not, to say words fail me would be a gross understatement. Cumberland Gardens London NW4
I found your advertisement for the Gaza cause deeply offensive. It seriously undermines the position of the Israeli army and overlooks the suffering of their families who have been bereaved.
I doubt very much that any British newspaper with an iota of editorial reasoning would have taken an advert during the 1939-1945 war sponsored by the Nazis and assorted henchmen.
anna@wiseman1.co.uk
What possessed the JC to carry an ad to raise funds for a self-inflicted war?
I have no doubt that money raised for Gaza will end up in the hands of Hamas only to be used to fund more terrorism against Israel.
I did wonder if you had taken the advert and were going to donate the fee to Israelis injured in the war. But no, you gave the space for free.
I wonder how many Islamic weekly newspapers will be providing their readers with the opportunity to donate money for Israelis injured by Hamas in the war.
I’d guess none.
Whitchurch Lane Edgware HA8
Compassion is a core part of our Jewish identity. It stops at no border. In this spirit, we were heartened to see the JC give prominence to the Disasters Emergency Committee Gaza appeal.
We are dismayed that the paper felt compelled to apologise for having offended some of its readership when we believe there is nothing to apologise for.
Regardless of who one may think is to blame for the current round of violence between Israel and Gaza, innocent civilians caught up in fighting deserve our compassion as Jews.
We urge you to continue to use the JC to reach across divides, and to not let a small but vocal minority influence you otherwise. Lord Jeremy Beecham Alex Goldberg Rabbi Jeremy Gordon Cantor Zoe Jacobs Jeremy Newmark Nicholas Saphir Raymond Simonson Hannah Weisfeld Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg and 534 others
As a Manchester Jewish citizen, I am appalled at the advert for Gaza. How dare you put that in a Jewish paper. What is that saying? It is saying that Israel is killing the civilians of Palestine.
You have really upset the Jewish community and I for one will not be buying your paper ever again and hopefully all the Jewish community will do the same.
We are demonstrating every day in Manchester’s King Street and the abuse and remarks we get from the pro-Palestinian people is beyond belief. People who shout obscenities at us are beyond belief; the man who did a Nazi salute at us is beyond belief. The hatred against us is unbelievable .
And for you, a Jewish paper, to put an advert in like that is also unbelievable.
Shame on you. Carole Sewelson carole.sewelson@outlook.com
How dare you put that in the paper
Having been numbed by the sheer volume of full-page appeals for Gaza in the national press, I was aghast and appalled to see such an insertion in your newspaper.
Surely you must be aware that many of the organisations forming the DEC have done their best to undermine Israel.
It is well documented that much foreign aid ends up lining the pockets of Hamas and being used to acquire weapons.
Equally important is the fact that this appeal acts as a propaganda tool to lay the blame solely on Israel.
You will no doubt claim that your action is merely a humanitarian gesture, yet I can recall no such appeals for the innocent men women and children in Israel who