UK’s most senior progressive rabbis told to leave stage at rally for hostages
Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy were met with a chorus of boos after saying that the Palestinians, like Israelis, had a right to self-determination
The co-CEOs of Progressive Judaism were shouted off stage during their speeches at today’s rally for the hostages – in unprecedented scenes branded as “deplorable” by the Board of Deputies.
Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy were one of the last to address the crowds in Whitehall at the end a rally in support of the hostages, organised by Stop the Hate and the Hostage and Missing Families Forum UK.
Almost total silence greeted the pair as they came on to the stage and began by condemning Hamas in no uncertain terms, saying: “The responsibility for this war, and for the agony it has brought, lies with them.” There is “no higher priority” than bringing them home, they told the crowd.
Reflecting on the demonstrations by 60,000 Israelis last night, they went on to say: “They protested both against Hamas and against the policies and rhetoric of this Israeli Government. We must be brave and honest enough to do so too.” It was at that moment that moment that the crowd led by a few vocal protesters at the front began to heckle and call for the rabbis to be removed from the stage.
The protest from the crowd grew louder as the rabbis went on to say the Palestinians have a right to self-determination at the right time – reflecting the long-held position of every major communal organisation. “What we reject is a methodology that tries to force this future through violence, terror, and the suffering of civilians. Statehood cannot be built on the blood of innocents, and peace will never grow from the soil of fear.” Some members of the crowd could be heard loudly rejecting any idea of a Palestinian state.
By the time the pair added that their position was sincerely held because they mourn for every innocent Israeli and Palestinian lost, their words were barely audible above the heckles and organisers from Stop the Hate asked them to leave the stage.
The Board of Deputies were quick to respond in a statement, saying: “Confronting the challenges we face as a community will only be done successfully if we can do it in a united and cross-communal way.
“We deplore the way a section of the crowd treated the Co-Chief Executive Rabbis of Progressive Judaism Judaism’s today, and that they were asked to leave the stage. It was disrespectful and self-defeating and should have no place in our communal life. Those indulging in this disgraceful behaviour should reflect that if we cannot even hear and speak to other Jews with respect then they have no chance of convincing wider society.”
Supporters of the two rabbis pointed out that the remarks made from the stage had in fact not been as strong as some statements by other UK communal leaders in recent weeks. It’s understood the rabbis had agreed to talk on the proviso they could condemn Israeli government policy in line with the position of their colleagues in Israel.
Conservative Lord Stuart Polak followed the rabbis on to the stage, starting his remarks by saying: “That was interesting.” He said he wanted to see “dignity extended to all the people of the region”. Hamas denies rights to its own people and starves them, he said.
He added that western governments “other the honourable exception of the US” spend more time condemning Israel then demanding Hamas sets the hostages free. He was followed by human rights lawyer Natasha Hausdorff, who received a huge ovation for her address and applauded the audience for making its views known to the progressive rabbis.
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