January 02, 2006

Chief Rabbi: Union of Jewish Students is not zionist

The Chief Rabbi is still getting lots of publicity for his likening of what he calls a rise in anti-semitism to the Indian Ocean tsunami. Today he's in the Guardian:
"People are attempting to silence and even ban Jewish societies on campuses on the grounds that Jews must support the state of Israel, therefore they should be banned, which is quite extraordinary because ... British Jews see themselves as British citizens. So it's that kind of feeling that you don't know what's going to happen next that's making ... some European Jewish communities uncomfortable."
It's "quite extraordinary" to assume that Jewish Societies should be identified as supporting Israel? I don't know of any Jewish Societies that have been threatened or considered for an actual ban on campus here but I do know that the World Union of Jewish Students is an affiliate of the World Zionist Organisation and I have read in the Jewish Chronicle that the Union of Jewish Students has two seats on the World Zionist Congress, the policy making body of the World Zionist Organisation. Is it now the case that it's anti-semitic to assume that zionists support the State of Israel? And if so, what is a zionist?

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