Thread by @shaunjlawson

Hello @BoardofDeputies @BoDPres

I'm a British Jew and grandson of a Holocaust survivor. As you say you represent the Jewish community, you also represent me. And I have some questions for you.

https://twitter.com/BoardofDeputies/status/1218607927440953347

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres 1. You say that 'no other minority would be treated in such a way'. You've just treated Dawn Butler, a black woman, in a far worse way. How do you account for that? Do you think black women know nothing about racism?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres 2. You say: "No minority group should ever be treated like this, in any circumstances. We will continue to call out racism however and wherever it manifests".

Two thirds of the Tory Party are racist and provably so. With regard to which, you say nothing. businessinsider.com/poll-muslim-is…

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres As editor of The Spectator, the Prime Minister himself personally benefited from the grotesque antisemitism of one of his columnists, who he refused to dismiss. He also wrote a racist book featuring disgustingly racist caricatures of Jews and Muslims. You say... nothing.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres The same Prime Minister has made not one, not two, but MANY racist comments over the years... yet you welcomed him becoming PM. The same Prime Minister's party aligns itself with the far right in the European Parliament and cozies up to the antisemite par excellence, Viktor Orban

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres In the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg employs appalling antisemitic tropes against George Soros, Oliver Letwin and John Bercow, referring to the latter two as 'illuminati'. And you say... nothing.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres Meanwhile, having promised an inquiry into institutionalied Islamophobia, the Conservative Party reneged on it. The Muslim Council of Britain have been demanding such an inquiry for years; the governing party has systematically ignored it.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres So how dare you say "no other minority would be treated in such a way" when Muslims ARE treated far, far, far worse, by Britain's own governing party? Don't you even care about facts?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres 3. Can you explain your claim to 'represent the Jewish community' (rather than merely part of it) when:

a) Yachad don't believe you do: jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-of-br…

b) In 2012, it was noted that almost two thirds of your deputies were over 60 years old?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres That was noted by this article here:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

It contains some rather awkward, inconvenient truths which you don't want to acknowledge: instead dismissing any Jews who disagree with you as 'fringe groups'.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres So can you explain what you've done to redress that balance in both age and attitudes, to ensure that you actually DO represent the British Jewish community? By which I mean, all of it?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres 4. Over recent times, a number of UK Jews either on the left or supporting the Labour Party have been subjected to vicious, vile antisemitic abuse. Can you explain why you've never said a single word about that and never sought to protect them? Don't you even care?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres 5. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism has been criticised by... its own author.

Here: docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU…

And here: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres Can you explain why a working definition would be strongly critiqued by its own author if there weren't serious problems with that working definition?

Can you explain why groups concerned with freedom of speech, such as Liberty, have rejected it?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres Can you explain how a non-legally binding working definition is expected by you to be applicable within a political party?

Can you explain why within the Tory Party, it doesn't apply to their members, only their elected representatives, and you say nothing?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres And maybe above all, can you explain why and how:

a) If a Palestinian who loses their home and/or land to Israeli policies, they are considered an 'anti-Semite' by the IHRA and by you if they call this 'racist'?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres b) How the IHRA example of 'denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination' can in any way be remotely compatible with any political party or government recognising the State of Palestine?

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres The evidence is abundantly clear. You're not interested in antisemitism on the right (5000 Britain First members have joined the Tory Party, and you say nothing); you're not interested in antisemitism towards anyone on the left; you're not interested in racism in general either.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres And further: you're very plainly intent on silencing the views of any British Jews or organisations who differ from you, in your grand quest to anoint yourselves as, by some miracle, the sole representative of British Jews.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres You don't represent all British Jews. You represent *some* of us. That's it. And every time you sensationalise and come out with offensive nonsense like this statement, you only draw attention to the weakness of your case.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres Every single one of us - left and right, young and old, black and white - need to stand together against the evil cancer of antisemitism: which killed 40 members of my grandmother's family, including her father.

But your actions show you're just not interested in doing so.

@BoardofDeputies @BoDPres And in your actions, you don't protect all of us British Jews you claim to represent. You betray us and you let us down: again and again and again.