How Chelsea’s boss made rabbis fume 28/09/2007 By Candice Krieger Chelsea football club’s new Israeli manager Avram Grant was criticised by some of the UK’s communal leaders this week — and labelled “a sucker” — over his links with the controversial Kabbalah Centre organisation. The JC can reveal that 52-year-old Mr Grant, who replaced Jose Mourinho at the helm last Wednesday, was a guest, alongside Ma...

You’re IJV? Then I’m out 28/09/2007 By Simon Rocker A former supporter of Independent Jewish Voices has said that he had to cancel a Jewish conference in summer because of his association with the controversial new group. Dr Keith Kahn-Harris was planning a one-day conference on Jewish music at London’s City University in June to help launch another group, New Jewish Thought. But when a key p...

The Jewish press 28/09/2007 Holiness or hedonism? The Jewish News covers Israel’s London Government Tourist Office welcoming a new viral video advertisement. The ad claims that Israel’s disastrous football performance against England a couple of weeks ago was down to Israeli women in bikinis distracting the players. But in backing the ad, director Uzi Gafni warns: “Peo...

Jobcentre ‘made me break Yomtov’ 28/09/2007 By Dana Gloger AN UNEMPLOYED man was told he must attend his local Jobcentre on the second day of Rosh Hashanah or risk losing his Jobseeker’s Allowance. But when, reluctantly, he kept the appointment, he arrived to find the clerk he was supposed to see had taken the day off. Lee Norman, 57, who was made redundant in 1996 and has not worked since, attends f...

Doctors in race to find Ashkenazi cancer gene 28/09/2007 By Simon Rocker A major research project is under way to try to identify the genes that make Ashkenazi Jews disproportionately susceptible to bowel cancer. “It is said that the risk of bowel cancer for Ashkenazi Jews is two or three times that of the general white Western population,” said Professor Ian Tomlinson, of Cancer Research UK, which is co-sponsoring...

Ken refuses to host OneVoice 28/09/2007 By Simon Rocker Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has said he is unable to host a rally in support of OneVoice, the Israeli-Palestinian group that campaigns for a non-violent solution to the Middle East. Rabbi Tony Bayfield, the head of the Reform movement, had invited mr Livingstone to organise an event in support of the group. But in a letter, the Mayor wro...

What we were saying on... September 29, 1967 28/09/2007 By Simon Rocker While elsewhere the JC reported the Israeli government’s approval of the first West Bank settlement, on the Youth page a more pressing problem was weighing on the mind of correspondent Rima Roland — the mini-skirt. She wrote: “Many of us had hoped that by this year, mini-skirts would be ‘out’, but unfortunately this is not so. Obviously we a...

Board praises CRE for making racism ‘taboo’ 28/09/2007 By Bernard Josephs Jewish leaders praised the outgoing Commission for Racial Equality this week as the organisation published a hard-hitting final report on racism in Britain. The CRE — which is to be replaced by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights — had helped to ensure that racism had become a social taboo, said Alexander Goldberg, the Board of Deputie...

Birmingham shul set for £2.5 million rebuild 28/09/2007 By Leon Symons Birmingham’s Central Synagogue is set to undergo a £2.5 million redevelopment that will turn it into a state-of-the-art shul and community centre. The synagogue, which will be celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, plans to finance the project by selling half of its current site to property developers. The new synagogue will be smaller...

Police seek crash witnesses 28/09/2007 By Dana Gloger POLICE have appealed for witnesses to a car crash which left a nine-year-old and her grandmother in hospital with serious injuries. Natasha Jacobs from Manchester was with Sandra Chester, 64, when their Peugeot 207 collided with another car on Bury Old Road, Prestwich, two weeks ago. It is believed that the driver of a Hyundai Coupe, travell...

Minister says colleges must do more to fight race attacks 28/09/2007 By Bernard Josephs Britain’s Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell told the JC this week that not enough was being done by university authorities to protect Jewish students on campus. He called on the university leadership to use race-relations legislation to protect Jewish students facing antisemitic attacks. The minister, at this week’s Labour Party con...

Blooms ‘plans to eat Reubens’ 28/09/2007 By Dana Gloger SPECULATION was growing this week that the owners of iconic kosher restaurant Blooms are planning to buy its longtime London rival Reubens. At Blooms, which has branches in Golders Green and Edgware, both in North West London, manager Jonathan Tapper told the JC that “there is something in it [the rumour] but I can’t say anything else at...

Blaze guts leading kosher restaurant 26/09/2007 By Simon Rocker and Dana Gloger One of London’s most popular kosher restaurants was ravaged by fire early on Monday evening. Thirty-five fire-fighters in seven fire engines went to tackle the blaze which started at about 5.50pm at the Israeli-style restaurant Solly’s, after receiving 21 emergency calls. Half of the roof of the restaurant in Golders Green, North-West London,...

Yad Vashem boss denies war crimes 28/09/2007 By JC Reporter Israel has rejected a request from Lithuania’s chief prosecutor to question Yitzhak Arad, the former director of the Israeli Holocaust Museum. The prosecutor alleges that Dr Arad was involved in the killing of Lithuanian civilians as a partisan during the Second World War. Dr Arad, who became a brigadier-general in the Israeli army and was t...

Why the expert witness will not face scrutiny 28/09/2007 By Efraim Zuroff Several weeks ago, Israel received a request from Lithuania for judicial assistance which aroused the ire of the Israeli Justice Ministry. A Jewish Israeli citizen was suspected of committing war crimes and/or crimes against humanity during World War Two. This was not the first request of its kind from the Lithuanians, who had previously accuse...

Tobacco men charged 28/09/2007 By Rachel Fletcher Four Israelis, thought to be strictly Orthodox Jews, spent a Yom Kippur with a difference this weekend — in custody at Manchester Airport. Yehuda Cohen, 23, Yehonadav Ades, 18, Hananel Eliyahu, 19, and Avraham Wales, 19, were arrested on Kol Nidre night (Friday) for allegedly trying to smuggle 65,000 cigarettes into Britain. The four men arrive...