Middle East terror on the streets of London
Rallying against terror
● With bombs once again exploding in the streets of Central London, the Jewish communal rally in Trafalgar Square on Sunday assumed a wider dimension. Convened by the Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation to protest against the unwanted presence here of representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the rally turned into a massive condemnation of terrorism in general. The links between the PLO, the IRA and other similar groups operating elsewhere were stressed by every speaker, Jewish and non-Jewish. Each made the point that international terrorism had become a threat not so much to the Jewish community or to Israel alone, but to the very fabric of democratic society.
A chain of events
● The case of the missing mayor is reported to have been solved — without the intervention of Hercule Poirot. The Hackney mayoral car has been rolling up mysteriously empty to official engagements, the gold chain of office lying on the back seat with no mayor in sight. Was this a mayoral variation of H G Wells’ invisible man, some officials are said to have asked? The solution has come from His Worship the Mayor, Councillor Arthur Super. He explained: “I am an Orthodox Jew and on Saturdays, I walk to my engagements. I send the chain of office ahead by car just in case I should be mugged.”
Is, isn’t, is, isn’t...
● The confrontation of the year — Greig v Chappell apart — was one to which no earthly umpire could be found. The Ashkenazi champion, Chief Rabbi Goren, met the Sephardi challenger, Chief Rabbi Yossef. C R Goren attacked in December allowing mothers who have bred a son and a daughter to take the Pill. C R Yossef, a leader of more catholic tastes perhaps, disagreed and countered in February by permitting grass growing out of the Western Wall to be removed. “The grass must stay” insisted C. R. Goren “and furthermore Israeli wine is not kosher for Pesach.” “Yes it is” declared C. R. Yossef.