15 June 2017 Jewish News
www.jewishnews.co.uk
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Support for fire victims / Hero dog / Court case / World News
Community rallies to help victims of tower block fire Jewish communities across London reached out to help the dozens of families affected by the fire that engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in west London in the early hours of Wednesday. Holland Park Synagogue, part of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community, issued an urgent appeal to members to donate items for victims of the nearby disaster, which was known to have claimed 12 lives by 6pm yesterday. A shul spokesman expressed “our horror at the tragic event,” telling members that those who lived in the tower had “lost everything… anything you can do to help will be much appreciated”. They said the shul “will be collecting clothes and toiletries on Sunday morning” and encouraged members to donate to a Just Giving crowdfunding page. Elsewhere, New West End Synagogue in Bayswater has organised a collection on Sunday. Synagogues as far away as Hertfordshire joined in the relief effort, with Borehamwood shul starting a communal collection yesterday evening. The inferno ripped through the block housing 120 families in north Kensington,
The blaze at west London’s Grenfell Tower
leaving people trapped on upper floors. As flames licked up the building, some desperately held their babies from windows, while others jumped. Several eyewitnesses broke down as they recalled what they saw.
Hundreds of firefighters battled to control the blaze, which was still ongoing 12 hours after it started, with five hospitals treating 50 injured people. London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton said: “This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale.” Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: “The pictures of the fire at Grenfell Tower are truly harrowing. My thoughts and prayers today are with all of those affected and with the heroes running towards danger to help save lives. May God be with them all.” The building had only recently been refurbished, with new aluminium cladding covering the exterior. Eyewitnesses say the cladding appeared to spread the fire more rapidly. London politicians, including Mayor Sadiq Khan said that “questions need answering”. A statement from World Jewish Relief said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and all those suffering. The outpouring of love and support from the Jewish and wider community today has been remarkable.”
Dog dies after saving owners from deli fire A dog that woke its owners to warn them of a fire has died in the devastating blaze at a kosher supermarket in Golders Green on Sunday. Three-year old cockapoo Daisy alerted Alex Gibson and his pregnant girlfriend Charlotte Perren, both in their early 20s, as fire spread at Kay’s, in Princes Parade, Golders Green Road, triggering an emergency response. The couple, who managed to escape, lost all their possessions as well as their beloved dog, hailed a “hero” for raising the alarm. This week, the local Jewish community organised a fundraising effort through Facebook, with co-ordinator Sara Benbasset praising the response. “It’s really warming to the heart,” she said. “People as a community pull together. People have just wanted to give without limit.” Speaking to Jewish News, she said Perren “had pretty much everything she needs to start again... it has been a real
Hero: Daisy warned owners
show of unity from the Jewish community”. London Fire Brigade station manager Paul Fitzgerald said: “Crews used specialist cutting equipment to break in through the shop’s roller shutters at the front of the building and worked quickly in very difficult and smoky conditions to rescue three people via ladder and lead two to safety.” Barnet’s borough commander, Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Rose, said: “At this time there is nothing to suggest it is suspicious, but we are keeping an open mind.”
William and Kate to visit Stutthof PALESTINIAN ACTIVISTS TAKE LOCAL The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to visit the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland during their upcoming European tour in July. A Kensington Palace spokesman confirmed that there would be “a specific Jewish memorial element” to the visit by the Royal couple, as part of five days of activities. Located near Gdansk, Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp to be built outside Germany’s borders, and the last to be liberated by the
COUNCIL BOYCOTT BAN TO COURT
Allies. Researchers believe 85,000 people died there, and it remains largely intact. William and Kate will begin their trip on 17 July in the Polish capital of Warsaw, ending in the German city of Hamburg before returning home on 21 July. Their visit to Stuffhof is the second high-profile Royal visit to a concentration camp in recent years, after the Queen and Prince Philip journeyed to BergenBelsen in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation.
Palestinian supporters this week asked a High Court judge to consider the legality of the government’s ban on local councils boycotting countries such as Israel. The judicial review, being heard in the Administrative Court on Wednesday, was initiated by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and challenges rules introduced last September by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid. His guidance prevents local government pension funds from engaging in boycotts and the “ethical divestment” of companies accused of being complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. Last year, the Jewish community welcomed news of the ban, after ministers said local coun-
cils should not be adopting their own foreign policy. Board of Deputies vice president Marie van der Zyl said: “We welcomed the original government announcement that legislative steps were to be taken against boycotts of Israel. Boycotts are objectionable, counterproductive and divisive on every level.” PSC chair Hugh Lanning said: “Everyone has a right to peacefully protest Israel’s violation of Palestinian human rights. It is reprehensible to forbid people from making decisions about where their own money goes, and forcing them to profit from human rights abuses.” The Court will consider EU law and pensions legislation among other things.
Anger over axing of film on anti-Semitism Film-makers have hit out at TV editors in France and Germany after they refused to screen their documentary on anti-Semitism among Europe’s Muslims. Joachim Schroeder, co-director of Chosen and Excluded – The Hate for Jews in Europe, condemned studio bosses at Arte and WDR, who commissioned the film on anti-Semitism in the UK, Hungary, Sweden, Norway and Greece. Schroeder’s comments echo
the head of Germany’s Jewish community, who wrote to the studios lobbying for the film to be aired, as it was “highly relevant”. Late last year, Arte bosses sent the film back to the drawing board, saying it did not offer a “balanced approach” and did not focus on the five countries “in any way,” instead showing anti-Semitism in France and Israel. They asked for changes to be made. This week the broadcaster said the film-makers’ decision
not to alter the documentary at all “raised issues of principle and even trust”. Yet Schroeder, who filmed young French Jews being beaten up in predominantly Muslim areas of France, stuck by his film and approach, and said the Franco-German studios had pulled it for other reasons. “You can’t make a film on anti-Semitism without saying every three minutes that the Palestinians are the victims of Israelis,” he said.
CHIEF RABBI HONOURED TO JOIN INTERFAITH IFTAR
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said it was “an honour” to participate in an historic interfaith iftar, the meal to break the fast during Ramadan. He attended the Tuesday night event with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Cardinal Vincent Nichols of the Diocese of Westminster, whose home provided the setting.