End the war in Gaza – the mainstream is finally turning!

JVL Introduction

Support for the war on Gaza is diminishing even among Israelis and Diaspora Jews.  We may well think this is too little, too late and that the focus is on this government only is too narrow.  However, as with the letter from the 36 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews we welcome any chink in the armour and we note the reliance on distortions and lies, the use of claims that what we are seeing with our own eyes is not the reality as Israeli spokespeople and the State’s uncritical supporters in order to try – desperately – to make out that there is no starvation in Gaza, that Israel is operating within international law and that “it is all the fault of Hamas”. Their protestations are having less and less impact and “mainstream” Jews are speaking out.  Joseph Finlay notes that “We radical Jews have written countless open letters over the years. It’s done little good. We need the people the mainstream finds impossible to write off, so they are forced to write tedious op-eds about communal unity rather than instantly dismissing their critics out of hand.”. His thoughtful piece is not uncritical of those who may be late to the table but he rightly notes “when people come over to your side, you don’t say ‘what took you so long?’, but rather ‘welcome, it’s good to have you.’ 

Joseph Finlay also shows clearly the ways in which the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Chief Rabbi have been hypocritical. Their attacks on those mainstream Jews who have dared to call out Israel for its current actions along with calls for communal unity can be seen as trying to tie Jews in Britain more closely to the genocide whereas more and more Jews are saying no – in the UK and throughout the world.

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This article was originally published by Torat Albion on Wed 7 May 2025. Read the original here.