Merger She Wrote

Towards a Non-Statist British-Jewish Denomination

I’m back to this. A topic which I previously and mischievously claimed was of interest only to about seven people, which turned out to interest quite a few more. A topic that is utterly specific to the British Jewish community. I refer of course to the proposed merger of Liberal and Reform Judaism to form a new ‘Progressive Judaism’ body, which is due to be voted on by synagogues in May. Below I try to transcend managerial debates and the binary of acceptance/rejection of the proposal, and to look at underlying questions of how Judaism relates to the state.

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Erasing Gaza

Two Recent Film Controversies and the Denial of Palestine

In the world of pro-Israel discourse, both Jewish and Western, Gaza barely exists. On the face of it this is a ridiculous statement. Surely Gaza is frequently discussed, especially in relation to Hamas rule and the Israeli hostages who remain in captivity there? A closer examination, however, reveals that popular engagement with Gaza, and with Palestine more generally, is so skin-deep as to be practically irrelevant.

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