Board accused of ‘silence’ over Israel migrant plan
THE BOARD of Deputies leadership has been criticised over its failure to condemn Israel’s plan to deport tens of thousands of African migrants to Rwanda amid claims the proposal is “ethnic cleansing” and a form of slavery.
Deputies voiced their concerns at a Board plenary meeting on Sunday and implored Jonathan Arkush, Board president, to speak out on the matter.
Laurence Brass, Bushey United Synagogue deputy and a former treasurer of the Board, said: “It is with deep shame that I see Israel has adopted an inhumane policy of seeking to deport its 38,000 African asylum seekers to Rwanda.”
Mr Brass is a former asylum judge and a trustee of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (Jcore).
He said he knew “of pitiful refugees who are being hidden under the floorboards of Jewish homes to avoid being part of this mass deportation. Such stories have an all too familiar ring to European Jews.
“But whereas mainstream Jewish organisations in the US
Laurence Brass (left) and Amos Schonfeld (right) have voiced their opposition to the Knesset ruling, there has been a deafening silence from their UK counterparts. How can we call ourselves Jews and do nothing whilst this appalling ethnic cleansing operation gathers pace?”
In a written response on the issue Mr Arkush had earlier said “every country has the right to determine its policy on accepting migrants and Israel is no different. I have not seen any strong case for making representations on this subject”.
Joe Millis, Bromley Reform Synagogue deputy, said the plan was akin to “selling people” because of Israel’s proposal to pay Rwanda and Uganda around £6,500 for each person the countries accept.
Amos Schonfeld, deputy for Yachad, said there was strong support from within the Jewish community for a public statement on the
issue. “There have been 45 rabbis who have penned a letter to the [Israeli] ambassador, and you should be standing with them,” he told Mr Arkush. Josh Holt, Union of Jewish Students (UJS) president, said the planned deportations were “against Jewish values, irrefutably. The silence from the leadership of this community is saddening”. Mr Arkush responded to the criticism by saying the Board would write to the Israeli embassy and any subsequent response would then be considered by the Board’s international division. He said: “What I’m not going to do is shoot off the Board’s mouth, as it were, without feeling that we have some evidence and full information.
“We have to have compassion for people who are searching for a better life. With the best will in the world, I don’t think anyone in this Board would consider that Israel should have an open door to everyone who wanted to enter from subSaharan Africa.
“Because it’s not practical. There’s a limit to what you can absorb.”
How can we call ourselves Jews and do nothing?’