Deputies overwhelmingly back MCB Gaza statement

Members of the Board of Deputies have overwhelmingly backed a joint statement issued with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) following the Gaza conflict.

The statemnt condemned anti-Semitism and Islamophobia but some rounded on the Board for engaging in such an initiative with an organisation from which it previously severed relations over its boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day.

Others focused their criticism on the inclusion of a line describing the targeting of civilians as “completely unacceptable and against our religious traditions”. While many would have seen this as thinly-veiled condemnation of Hamas, the MCB insisted it took the line to refer to both sides in the conflict.

But, following weeks of public debate, deputies this morning backed a motion proposed by the executive in support of the joint statement by 140 votes to 40.

It comes after another motion, initiated by former Board vice-president Jerry Lewis, was ruled out of order by the organisation’s constitional committee. It’s believed they deemed it to effectively be a motion of no confidence in President Vivian Wineman, but it was not submitted as such.