Oxfam to retrain fundraisers in response to Mill Hill mezuzah claims
Charity responds to footage of staff allegedly raising Gaza deaths with Jewish households
Oxfam has pledged to retrain its fundraisers after video footage emerged showing charity workers allegedly knocking on the doors of Jewish residents and raising the subject of deaths in Gaza. The organisation said it would ensure staff understand the impact the conflict is having on the UK’s Jewish community.
Members of north west London Facebook community group ‘Inside Mill Hill and Edgware’ last week claim that a man and a woman representing the organisation had gone door-to-door questioning the significance of mezuzahs on Jewish homes.
Some members of the group claimed houses without the religious symbols were not targeted in the fundraising activity.
Jewish News has seen a letter from Oxfam responding to one concerned resident who complained. It denies the duo were only approaching Jewish homes.
It says the organisation, having investigated the matter, knows “the appalling rise of hate and discrimination in the UK has impacted communities like yours and we utterly condemn this. Hate, discrimination and prejudice are against everything that Oxfam stands for and not something we tolerate.”
It adds: “The fact that your neighbourhood is a highly Jewish populated area was not a factor in choosing to fundraise there” and Oxfam acknowledges “the feeling of being targeted that this activity generated. For that we are very sorry.”
The charity says the fundraisers “spoke about Oxfam’s work in Gaza, whilst also speaking about other humanitarian emergencies in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The gifts would fund the whole of Oxfam’s work.
“We acknowledge that this could be seen as insensitive, and will be retraining all Oxfam fundraisers to ensure that they do not refer to any religious symbolism unless first mentioned by the householder.”
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