Anger as Board leader’s urges Muslims to denounce terrorism

THE PRESIDENT of the Board of Deputies has been criticised for “fanning the flames of inter-community hatred” in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack.

In a comment piece published on the JC website (and also on this page) Jonathan Arkush called on Britain’s Muslim community to “stand up and be counted — to go beyond mere condemnation” of the attack.

He asked the Muslim community “to stage a huge rally of their own in a prominent location such as Trafalgar Square”. He also suggested every British mosque should hold its own protest against terrorism.

Muslim leaders must declare “loudly and publicly that the attacks are a perversion of Islam, he said.

The comments angered some UK Jews, with more than 80 people from synagogues and organisations across the community, as well as many nonafiliated individuals, signing an open letter in protest.

They accused Mr Arkush of contributing “to the atmosphere of anti-Muslim sentiment in the UK.

“It is not the time to be fanning the flames of inter-community hatred, as Donald Trump has in attacking Sadiq Khan based on his ethnicity. We reject your using our names to do so.

“It is deeply troubling to see a leader of the British Jewish community calling for the universal scrutiny of a reli- Muslims display “Turn to love” anti-terror messages this week

gious group based on the actions of a tiny minority.”

The signatories, who included members of Reform and Liberal synagogues, said they rejected “the assertion that members of a religious or ethnic group must quickly and publicly denounce any members of that group who act repugnantly.

It was not for Jews “to dictate how people in grieving communities should respond”, they wrote.

Commenting on the dispute, Reform Judaism’s Rabbi Laura JannerKlausner, who attended a Muslimorganised vigil at London Bridge this week, said Muslim leaders had publicly condemned the terror attack. “Our role as Jews and allies is to ask our Muslim friends, our Muslim colleagues, and Imams ‘how can we help’,” she said.

Rabbi David Mason, of Muswell Hill Unted Synagogue in north London, said there was a role for Jews in working and we walked towards where the car was parked in Tooley Street. All of a sudden though, police and ambulance services came rushing through. One policeman screamed at us “Run, run run! It seemed as though there was real concern that there were more attackers out there — or that a suicide bomb was about to explode.

“There were people crying, running, screaming. Two helicopters circled at an amazingly low level.

“It’s a night that I will never forget.

“But ultimately we were the lucky ones because we were safe — my thoughts just go out to all the families of those killed or injured.”

Israeli-born Tamir Oren, UK director of advocacy group Stand With Us, told the JC how he had “never expected, as an Israeli, to be minutes from terror on the streets of London.”

He said: “We must not change our values or limit or freedom. We must not let them win. However many times terror strikes, whether in the UK, or Paris, Brussels, New York or Jerusalem, let us never get used to this.”

A group of 10 Jewish female pensioners were among those held inside the Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark Street, south London, as the atrocity unfolded.

One of the group described how after around 20 minutes the audience were given strict and stern orders by another staff member who said: Scott and Stacey in the Shard before the attack