Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Come and meet your Jewish neighbours
Keir Starmer has said he wants rebuild trust and speak with the Jewish community. The problem is that the Jews he means are only those who support his underhand campaign against staunch anti-racist Jeremy Corbyn — and all he represents, writes DAVID ROSENBERG
Jeremy Corbyn meets with Rabbi Pinter (right) after delivering a speech on Labour's anti-Semitism inquiry findings at Savoy Place, in 2016. Former Hackney Labour Councillor Rabbi Pinter died of Covid-19 earlier this year.
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
I DON’T watch much television. It’s bad for my blood pressure. Especially since events last Thursday when my local MP, Jeremy Corbyn, a Labour Party member for 55 years, MP for 37 of them, was summarily suspended after he issued a careful, measured and honest response to the EHRC Report. Corbyn reiterated his abhorrence of anti-Semitism, urged the party swiftly to implement the EHRC’s recommendations, but questioned some of its findings.
Since then, every time I turn on the television, I hear a different non-Jewish commentator telling me — a Jewish Labour Party member — how I feel, and how much hurt the Jewish community has felt, and how unsafe the Labour Party has been for Jews during the period when Corbyn led the party. One of those commentators was Starmer, who apologised to the Jewish community on behalf of the party.
But here’s a novel idea: don’t tell me how I feel, ask me instead. Or indeed, ask us — Jewish members in Islington North CLP. We are the Jews with whom Corbyn has had the most frequent contact over the last five years, who discuss, canvass and campaign with him week in, week out.
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