For over many years, any discussion of Israel with others has blamed the Netanyahu government for all the ills. Apparently antisemitism is just because of him and his personality/ policies. ‘But Netanyahu, how can you support Netanyahu’ is a regular in any conversation. Regardless of the fact they could not name the current incumbent of many conflict- ridden countries. Regardless of the fact that every Chinese/ Russian/ Congolese/Nigerian etc is not blamed for their government actions. But we, Jews going about our business, are personally responsible for one PM and it is not even the one running this country.

Any prime minister has its supporters and detractors but the focus on this one man is ridiculous. And the idea that it is only him they disagree with is more so. Because let’s say someone else becomes Israel’s new PM, can anyone see the hate stopping.

Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Rabin,Begin,Sharon - all blamed for defending their country. All blamed for doing what the first job of the leader of the country is doing. All scapegoated because of Israel’s very existence.

And before that, before 1948, centuries of hate heaped on anyone in charge of the Jews, in how they lived or just used as a tool for discord.

So if or when the Prime Minister of Israel changes, will those who heap every blame on him quieten down and work with the new PM. Will the Palestinian bodies suddenly decide Israel can exist. Anyone who thinks this is truly delusional.

Netanyahu has been a word to fling just like any other misuse of words. It has no more real meaning than apartheid or genocide. It becomes an excuse, they don’t hate Jews just him.

Blaming people to excuse your thoughts and actions seems to be a thing. Guteras, as he prepares to leave his tenure with the UN, has said that some Middle East Rapporteurs are out of control on Israel. Presumably talking about the truly vile Jew hater Francesca Albanease.

So why was she and others not reigned in by him, the man in charge. Could it be that he is now using her name to excuse his Jew hate. It wasn’t me but her that heaped hate on Israel. Again, let’s use a name to cover up our Jew hate.

The simple bare fact is that many in this space hate the thought that Israel exists. Not because it is an ethnostate, whatever that is. Many states have a religion. It is not because it has vast resources because it doesn’t. It is not because it does not welcome others because it does. It is because it is a haven for Jews and has an army to stop itself from being destroyed. But, as millennia show us, if Israel did not exist, it would not stop you hating and persecuting Jews. If Netanyahu had never walked the face of this earth, you would still be persecuting Jews. It is not Israel or Zionism that is hated, it is Jews.

So if and when the Prime Minister changes in Israel, not one of those blaming the current incumbent will change their view. It has never been one man or one tiny country you really objected to. It really has been more about your infinite hate of a people, one that is carried for generations to allow you to blame something rather than take responsibility for whatever failing it was.

It is the dishonesty we hate. Mark Ruffalo, wearing a red round pin to celebrate the lynching of a Jew, tells us he is not antisemitic. It is every publisher that cannot publish a Jewish book in these times, or the film festival refusing to show a film about the cancelling of Jewish films. It is every single chorus or ‘ we are only antizionist, not antisemitic. It is Milligan’s and Burnham bowing to the voters.

Be honest- with yourself if not with us. Because without honesty we can never move towards understanding and peace. We can live with your hate, it is the lying that is the worst.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

We are in the month of Elul, a month of Rememberance, reflection and atonement. A time for quiet personal reflection.

I am thinking of how our attendance at synagogue on these days this year is different. Last year, on Yom Kippur, the worst happened. A shul attacked and 2 men killed. Because of the courage of others, it was not far worse, an entire congregation was not slaughtered.

You would think that this was it, this was the point our liberal country, our home for generations, this was the point this country stood up and said enough. Now we will act, we will stop this extremism attacking our people, we will be honest and deal with this.

Sadly, nearly one year on, things might be described as even worse. Jews are not feeling safer, shuls and schools have increased security and antisemitism continues to be out of control. Our children are growing up in a world that is not as it should be. Young Jewish people are hiding identities at uni, those not are spending time and energy fighting for their right to just be. Our children take the massive security at Jewish schools as normal - it is not and never should be normal.

Many fellow Brits have no idea of what goes on and how Jews feel. When Vanessa Feltz says ‘ everyone is having the conversation about where and when to go ‘ she is not wrong. Life in Britain for Jews is now a precarious thing. When is the question, we see history but many want to stay. We want the country,be it the government or the people , to want us to stay.

At this period of reflection, I feel sad at how things are panning out here. I think about the families of the two men who were murdered and how that horrific event barely pierced most people into any action. I think of the mainly silence that came after this attack from neighbours and colleagues. I think of the gaslighting after the arson and stabbings in Golders Green, the accusation of false flags and Mossad. I think of all the names I have been called this last year and how every event is blamed on Jews. How your stance on Palestine now defines if you are good or bad, at least to some people. How our expectations for real true support have diminished.

We will stand in shul this year and reflect but hopefully will also be sustained by the ancient prayers. Our favourite antisemite, Dr Rahweh Aldawan points out how ‘Zionist’ the Amidah prayer is. Rather than this be the condemnation she believes it to be, it shows us the history of our faith and the links to Israel for millennia. I will say it countless times with pride.

I am sure many of us will go warily into shul this year but be comforted to be there and to pray to Zion, amongst our people. Adrian Daulby and Melvyn Cravitz and their families will be in our thoughts.

This period of reflection would benefit all. Just where are we heading and are we willing to continue down this road. This road, that seemingly can only be black or white, right or wrong. When will we stop defining our politics in this way. When we will see that by staying quiet and let polarisation take over, we endanger us all.

This last 3 years have taken us to a different place, one I have documented. Last night, our resilience group met and reflected on this. We chose to focus on the support and the friendship we have taken from it but acknowledge that it has been needed greatly. The trauma that those first meetings saw pour out has dulled but only because we have become used to this new life. Despair is not more felt than anger, we expect less.

But, as we many Jewish people, it is that communal strength that we take from each other. The high holy days are when many go to shul. I hope this year we all take comfort and strength from these with no repeat of last year. We are changed but never broken. We will continue to hope for better times ahead for Israel and others and for all and that is how it should always be.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

The truly wonderful Dolly Parton lost her life yesterday. This woman is a complete heroine to me. She did not grandstand or take sides but worked for her success and then gave back in so many ways. Her royalties were used to provide for others and her love of education, something she lacked in her childhood, led to millions of books being sent to children worldwide. She inspired the PJ library that provides Jewish books to children. She delighted in her looks and talked out about it with fun and humour. She was loyal to friends and rarely nasty to all. She kept her private life private. She smiled and laughed a lot. I loved her, she was the role model I wanted for my girls.

And now, hours after her death, someone has made her Wikipedia page about one thing only. Being a Jew lover. And obviously being a Jew lover means you are a Nazi, posting that symbol of evil.

I know Wikipedia is overrun by the Jew haters and is used as a barrage of misinformation. Anyone who trusts it is as stupid as those who post. But this is Dolly. And this is what the owners allow.

Equating being a lover of Jews with being a Nazi is now a thing it seems. It was something that started quite quickly in this asymmetric war of words. That what the Jews are doing to Gazans was akin to what the Nazis did to Jews. An inversion of the finest order. Gazans were given the tools and the wherewithal to live well and thrive. They voted in those who stripped that away and made their lives about killing Jews. Only when Jews fought back did the world complain. To this day, the reaction on Oct 8th 2023 of a world to the massacre of Jews should be one of the most shameful in history. Those who taught ‘never again’ after the Holocaust cannot even raise a voice to see this through. And the false evil assertion that Jews are like Nazis because they defend their right to live comes right out of Goebbal’s playbook.

3 years on, we have seen the swastika overlaying the Jewish flag many many times. The revulsion we have for Nazis, rightly so, is now smeared on the flag of those they sought to destroy. Hamas came for Jews and others, young and old and killed Holocaust survivors. If that does not fill you with dread but instead you repeat this slander, shame on you. More than shame.

And now, anyone who does not hate Jews is called a Jew lover and smeared as a Nazi. Last night I dreamt I was attacked by masked thugs chanting ‘ Jew Jew Jew’ but then the police arrested me as people stood saying nothing but filming. I woke and this flag accusing Dolly of being a ‘ Jew lover’ and Nazi was the first thing I saw. Our nightmares bleed into reality and those who can, need to take action. Not waffling words but real action. Those who run Wikipedia need to act. Those who give this Zionism is Nazism need to be challenged robustly. We must not let this slur stand.

Dolly Parton was a good woman who overcame difficulties and gave back to many. She brought joy to our lives and a fierce wit. She slayed her critics with love and joy. She did not hate Jews or any others as far as I know. To slur her name is beyond the pale. When we say it starts with the Jews but does not end with us, just look at this.

Dolly, thank you for being in our lives and making them brighter. To those others, well I wish you were here to smile brightly and take them down with some barbed kindness. RIP

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

You have declared that you stand firmly with Ukraine and will keep the pressure up on Russia, who illegally attacked you, despite every threat to Britain. Well done you.

So why not the same with Israel? Why not declaring that you stand firmly with Israel and keep the pressure up on those who illegally attacked them, the Palestinians, despite whatever threats to Britain?

I say Palestinians when I normally say Hamas, but as you have declared a Palestinian state and they elected Hamas, it must be Palestinians. Surely?

You talked about how Ukraine is the frontline defending Europe against attack but never how Israel is defending itself against the swell of colonial islamism in the area. Defending itself against those who wish every Jew and Israeli dead.

So what is the difference here. The Ukrainians took back a country after the fall of the USSR, with some ethnic divisional arguments. They became a mandated state. Russia, under Putin, prefers that they become part of Russia, to gain access to the sea ports I presume. Nearly 5 years on, the fight goes on but we do not see marches against Russia or blaming every Russian descendent who lives here for any war crimes and atrocities.

Out of the many lies that seem to now become an incorrect ‘ truth’ the one about Israel being a ‘settler colonist’ state is the most ridiculous. (Actually that is not true, the one about the 0.2% of the world’s population running the world is the most ridiculous but I digress). One look at a map of the area will show you who is a coloniser and who is struggling to maintain their country.

Part of that, in fact a very large part, is not down to the strength of the armies. In fact, the IDF protect Israel against many who should be stronger, some put it down to tech, some put it down to the fact that if they don’t win, Israel disappears, some even put it down to god, whichever it is they do what they are mandated to do against massive odds.

But part of the success of the colonisation of those countries around it, the countries in the Levantine taken over by Islamists, such as Lebannon, Egypt, Syria,Iran etc, is because of the long line of western politicians who appease them for many reasons. The recent appeasing of the Iranian regime just shows you how far the west will not stand up to Islamists. As thousands were killed on January 2026 in Iran, the BBC barely reported it. As Iran hangs its dissidents, social media and protesters for human rights stay silent.

Burnham, supposedly a socialist, continues this. His first speech was to condemn Israel but never enough for those who cannot give Jews any hearing. The argument that it is only antizionism never antisemitism just cannot stack up. Because you never oppose any other nation state, and you applaud any other indigenous people who reclaim land. You don’t mind that there are Christian states and over 40 Muslim states, many of which forbid any other religion. You don’t even mind when they slaughter each other in millions. Real genocides happen right before your eyes but you don’t speak about them.

But Israel, this tiny country indigenous to Jews but open to all who do not wish to slaughter Jews, that country you have such a problem with that it becomes the first speech you make as PM.

You stand in Ukraine in your trendy black polo shirt, looking as if you are copying Zelenskyy for social media likes and you give it and him your utmost support but Israel, Israel you condemn for your voters. It won’t work.

The voters will want more, more until there is just years and years of fighting and death in the Middle East. Because ever speech castigating Israel puts peace backwards and causes misery not just for Israelis, but Gazans and Lebanese and Druze and so many who want to just live. Because Jews now have a government and an army and just want to survive in this slither of land. And those Palestinians, they just want us to not exist. They don’t hide it, they tell you that but you still blame it all on Israel. You still feel this tiny country is the problem, not the ones refusing to let it live.

You may not be as far down the line as the Islamic Green Party are, whose Zionism is Racism motion will be put to them at their conference soon. They have said they want Israel to not exist as a Jewish state. They are not equivocating, a Jewish state must not exist. It may hurt your ears to see it put as boldly Andy, seeing as you say you have sympathy for your Jewish community in Manchester but what you are doing is just as bad. For anyone to say this state, the only Jewish majority state, has no right to exist or defend itself, which amounts to the same thing, is racist and antisemitic.

You, despite what you think, have turned out to be both. Your visit to Ukraine cemented that because you cannot and will not give Israel any degree of the same support. You cannot say they must defend their people against those coming to kill them, instead you say the opposite, couched in what you feel are acceptable terms by today’s standards. You say what you must to survive temporarily in your political world. You have no moral courage or strength to stand up for right. So take the easier wins and ignore the real issues.

Zionism is the right in self determination on your ancestral homeland. It is not exclusive to Jews but it will not let itself be destroyed either form outside or from within. Ukraine is fighting that battle, one you support, so why not support Israel ????

We know that answer

Www. Voicefromtheheartbook.com

This should have been a wedding that made worldwide headlines. Eliya and Ziv were at Nova and hid in a shelter. As terrorists came for them, dead bodies piled up around Ziv and Eliya was pulled from the shelter and dragged into Gaza. He spent 505 in captivity and says as he was being taken into Gaza , terrorists sprayed gunfire into the shelter and he assumed Ziv was dead.

Ziv campaigned publicly for his releasing, sitting dressed for a date, at a table set for 2 on the Tel Aviv promenade, waiting for him. The wedding was attended by the hostages he was held alongside including Eli Sharabi and others and their wedding certificate, the Ketubbah, was drawn up and designed by Moahe Shapiro, the father of the soldier who deflected grenade after grenade being thrown into the shelter before being killed. The couple lost over 40 of their friends at Nova.

It is one of those stories that should have made the final segment on the news, the one that is a good-feel story. This couple, surviving against all odds and reunited. A woman waiting over 500 days and never losing hope that they would be reunited. A man who thought he had lost his love being freed into her arms.

But of course, it didn’t. Outside of Israeli and Jewish news, there was nothing. Because the idea of Jewish suffering at the hands of Palestinians, be it Hamas or others, is not allowed. Any attempt to try and show this side is met with silence or derision. Playing the victim is the cry when these stories are reported on.

But actually, these survivors and hostages do anything but play the victim. They live and try to go on with the world lives. Jews know the best way to fight their enemies is to survive, and not just survive but live and move forward with a good life.

At the wedding Ziv talked about the children they hope to have. Holocaust survivors greatest gift was the families they have gone on to have. To live and give further generations life. One of the greatest tragedies in Jewish life is the families, the generations, that never got to be. My own family lost 13 out of 14 siblings, only my great- grandfather survived. How many would this family have become and what would they have brought to our world?

We have looked with admiration at the courage and wisdom of the survivors and of those that lost their loved ones. Eli Sharabi, who gave the younger hostages he was held with the tools to survive, including Eliya. Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersch was held hostage and murdered, with her quiet dignity and so many others. The last thing they have done is play the victim.

So why was this wedding ignored. All part of the demonisation and dehumanisation of Israelis in particular. So today I wanted to tell their story and ask that all share this with as many as possible. I want to send love and wish this couple only joy and simcha in their life. Every day of happiness for them takes back what Hamas stole from them. Every day of joy and normality stares in the face of the haters.

We have to keep telling our stories. Not to play the victims but to keep reminding the world of our humanity in the face of the libels they sling at us. The haters will not listen but we should only concern ourselves with the truth. They want the truth erased. We must speak out and also we must celebrate our survivors. We and our suffering must not be erased from this. It is because they want us dead that we have to fight. We want to live in peace, to dance as the sun rises, to not be slaughtered.

And when we see joy come from tragedy we will always celebrate.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

We are so used to people spouting the normal rhetoric that I nearly crashed the car as I listened. He calmly talked about how the lack of integration was a real problem. He referenced the visible clothing being encouraged, how there is no such thing in Islam as Islamic clothing, only an instruction to dress modestly. He criticised men wearing clothing that was suitable for Pakistan or Afghanistan but nothing to do with religion. He also felt even a hijab was not a necessity and that all this clothing was being encouraged by the imans as a sign of division, not inclusion.

He talked about how lack of integration was being encouraged and this was stoking the hate .

I am currently reading a book about this called from fatwa to jihad, written by a Muslim . It starts with the fatwa on Salman Rushdie and how that simple pronouncement started to mobilise young people against the countries’ values. How the generations of refugees before then had worked hard to integrate, how they were less religious and more inclined to integrate. How being ‘ Muslim’ was not how they identified, it was more geographic or just as ‘Asian’ if they had to, how they embraced British and its freedom and customs . The demonstrations around this book’ The Satanic Verses’ became a rallying point.

Multiculturalism has changed from what we thought it was, and possibly what it was. All immigrants hold onto culture and tradition whilst learning and embracing new ones. I understand that you can be two things. You can love your food and still enjoy others, you can love Christmas and all its trappings but not celebrate it, you can have friends from many areas but still feel a comfort from your own. Being a British Jew was not a problem, it was 2 sides of a coin.

But somewhere, multiculturalism became something else. Not the right to be yourself whilst integrating, not the right to have equality because you were black, Asian, Jewish. But it became the right to be treated differently because you were black, Jewish, Asian. Your ethnic needs and wishes should be put above native culture and law.

There is assimilation and integration and they are different. Jews fear assimilation, the dissuading of our traditions and religion but embrace integration into community. Many immigrants are the same. This book points out that this was the same for the Muslim communities. Until an incident occurred to rally troops around a false cause, in that day the fatwa on Mr Rushdie and today around the false accusations of genocide and apartheid/ starvation/ ethnic cleansing of Palestinianism.

Not a real concern for people ruled by an oppressive terrorist group whose aim is to rid the world of Jews, but the false victimhood used by the terrorists to rally troops around their wider cause, to bring radical Islam to a western world, with a sidebar of Jew eradication.

The whole movement brings with it such blatant intent that the left wing has taken up with glee it would be laughable if it was not so dangerous.

So when I heard this man talk with clarity about the lack of integration and how this rise in hostility was brought about by this, I was gobsmacked. Even as the fierce Julia Hartley Brewer tried very hard to get him to blame others, he would not have it.

Sometimes, we are so used to being blamed for everything it is the smallest things that bring light to our days. My daughter, buying produce at a food festival from an Irish man was concerned as he came round the stall to hand her a package and grabbed her arm. But he then said that she should know all Irish do not hate Israel and many stand with them and her.

It was a new team mate at football, enquiring as to why we would leave, today but we don’t want you to go, we are not all like that. It is the new people I find on social media speaking out daily against this madness. And yesterday it was this Muslim man who refused to bow to islamism and said that lack of integration was leading to it and their leaders were to blame.

Not the whole story but something in this madness and it made my day

Www.voicefromtheheart.com

So let’s examine these a bit.

One state with equal rights for all. Everyone living together regardless of religion or gender or anything really. But this exists and is called Israel. From its first day as a modern day state, all were invited to stay and build. It is in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. And those that did, those that did not heed the call to flee whilst Israel, a small, much tinier than promised state, was destroyed, those that stayed live in a country with full rights. They have accessibility to education and freedom of religion and often rise to the highest echelons in medicine and law and military and government.

I do not deny there is prejudice but no one ever claimed Israel would be perfect. Why would it be? No other country is.

The one thing it does do is control its borders. It does not let in millions who vow to destroy it. It builds fences and walls and has checkpoints to keep out its enemies who want to see it changed in such a fundamental way that Jews will be unable to live within it. That Jews will be massacred if those enemies take over. These enemies do not hide what they want when they talk about a right to return.

So the one state solution already exists for those who want Jews and Arabs to co-exist. It has since 1948 despite the best efforts of many Arab states.

So what about a 2-state solution then? Live apart but side by side. Surely that will work better. Let’s try it and see. Let’s give land to Gazans, a thriving agricultural area with a coastline for tourism and a neighbour who wants to work together. Let’s pull out any Jew and let the Palestinians show us how it can work, this 2-state solution. Similarly on the West Bank, let’s split the area into ethnic divisions with autonomy for Palestinians, apart from those parts that might be hazardous for Israel such as border control. Well over the last quarter of a century, we have seen how every offer of land for peace has gone. Gaza handed itself over to terror and the world funded the fiction called Palestinianism. In the West Bank, visionaries wanting to build communities alongside their neighbours are thwarted by the PA and Fatah. True working together is targeted by them and the outside forces such as BDS. It is a hotbed for violence and terrorism.

In both cases, whilst many many Palestinians would love to just get on with life and thrive alongside Israel, those with power do not allow this. Because for those in power, this would be the worst outcome - peace with Jews, co-existence.

For those still using these expressions deny reality. To have peace you need both sides to want peace.

And nothing in their charters, in their demeanours or in the chants they export shows us that this is ever in any game plan. It was just reported that an unnamed Arab state wanted to make a false peace with Israel to allow it to attack later. Israel tried to work with Hamas to allow both sides to live alongside each other, to run along. We saw on Oct 7 how that went and how this illusion of quiet led to Israel making vital errors in their security.

We see it in the Gaza Board of Peace. One side saying we will withdraw when full disarmament of Hamas happens and Hamas saying yeah yeah we will but withdraw first. For this Board of Peace to work they have to see through the lies and work with the actual reality.

You only have to look at a map of the Middle East to see the small slither of Israel surrounded by Muslim states to see who wants peace and who does not. This map is the best way of demonstrating to useful idiots how stupid they are when they call Israel the coloniser, the evil one. At a quick glance, you could not see if Israel is there or not, you have to really look to see it.

That is the truth, if Israel does not fight to exist with its very existence, it will not. It will disappear whilst the world looks away and it will only be later, as the Jews are wiped out, that people will look back and say why did we let this happen. Israelis of all denominations do not want to send their children to war, they want peace but they know to not fight these enemies does not bring peace only destruction of their very being.

So the only way for any solution to be successful is to support Israel and its right to live in peace. Call out and fight those who deny this. Until Iran and its proxies, the Muslim Brotherhood and the antisemites who hate the Jews are confronted and stood up to, there will be no peace. I am not naive enough to think they can be defeated, but they have been enabled by this world and now, for the good of us all, we need to stand up to them. And we need to do it before it is too late.

Www. Voicefromtheheartbook.com

But the cacophony of noise from those on the left blaming the media is part of everything bad about this episode.

We live in a world where reporting truth is seen as bad, if it does fit in with the narrative you are wanting to spin. Teaching truth and facts in academia is becoming rarer as we continue down a path that prioritises box-ticking over due diligence.

This man was promoted well over his ability and academic prowess because he rocked the boxes of DEI.

When questioned by a student about his credentials, he told her she had white privilege and refused to speak to her.

Cambridge University , this bastion of eduction, failed in its duty when it appointed him, promoted him without proper academic process and due diligence and failed again when it did not take its share of responsibility for that. It failed every student too that was taught by him and any others promoted for who they are not what they can bring to others.

I have inhabited a world of academia for 3 years now, doing a degree in politics. To say I am dismayed by the lack of nuance, critical thinking and learning is an understatement. I have been fed a curated view of the world, one that fits in with the coloniser to blame for it all and one that exonerates any country that was colonised from any bad action forever. That is apart from Israel , Israel gets the rough end of the stick at all points, relevant to the subject or not. We are not allowed to use outside sources and basically, so far it is the equivalent of barely my A-levels back in 1982.

I hope for more challenge this year but have already had to not choose a module because studying the Israel-Palestine conflict under this academic time will not be full of nuance and discussion but a one-sided Israel-bashing fest.

It worries me how we are teaching our university students. Not to think and discuss but to churn out pap to suit this latest narrative. We have seen how antisemitism has spewed out from the white middle classes, how the younger people cannot even talk about Israel with any level of understanding. How it always descends into Jew hatred when they cannot cope with reality.

By promoting people who should never be in a job, because of colour or identity, to satisfy a DEI thought-process will and is backfiring when we use it to teach those responsible for all our futures. What are we doing?

Social science, Arday’s speciality, teaches about ‘equality of opportunity’- making sure everyone can start a race together, which is what we should all work with, but this episode is surely taking the ‘equality of outcome’, or making sure we finish together, far too far. It has led to a man killing himself because the falling out of the truth became too much. it has also led to us failing those he taught and failing his university. But it has also led to us being down a road to communism in its finest state. We must all believe in the same thing, have the same ability and we cannot stray from that. ‘The party told you to reject your eyes and ears. It was their final and most essential command’ Orwell says in’ 1984’

In this last 3 years with the Israel/ Gaza conflict, we are constantly being told to believe one thing and not question it. When pushing against this with fact and evidence, any debate or discussion disolves into shouting, abuse and blood libels. We see this evidenced in the hate marches, on social media and in the other supposedly great bastion of debate, the Oxford Union . When those speaking for the Palestinian cause ( not the Palestinians, they do not care much for them, only the wider cause), we see time and time again facts met by derision and abuse and blood libels.

We need to return our academic institutions to one of learning and thought and rigour over having only the best minds teach our children. Teach them to think and ask and listen. I saw a quote a few days ago that said we must ‘ listen as if we might be wrong’

Arday was a victim of a society that wanted him to succeed above his ability, because of his colour. They wanted to believe his fiction, once he spun because it suited them. We are also a victim of this society that wants to believe Israel and Jews are to blame for all their problems, regardless of facts.

We do not want to see more of this, we want the world to listen more. But seeing how many just chose to blame a media reporting truth, it is unlikely that will happen any time soon.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

Apart from what seems like a foolish decision, hastily done, leaving many stranded and in danger, what stands out and always has for me, is how quickly society changed back under the Taliban, particularly for women.

We have heard over the past 5 years of every right taken from the women there. Women that, over the previous 20 years, had become used to the normality of education and some freedoms. Immediately this was extinguished and now life in Afghanistan is one of erasure of women. Even their voices are being erased and they have to become invisible on any street, accompanied by men. Education is banned for girls.

We have seen this reported but somehow it goes unnoticed. Or not unnoticed but quietly accepted. This withdrawal made a mockery of everything the soldiers had fought for and of those who died in the 9/11 disasters. It was a case of putting internal politics before morals. Apparently there is now a crisis in moral within the US army due to anger over this.

Over the last 3 years, as we watch the world cave in to the same evil that exists now in Afghanistan, be it Isis, al-quaeda, the Taliban or in Israel’s case, Hamas,Hezbollah and Iran, I cannot believe that we cannot see where this goes if Israel is sacrificed or told to sacrifice itself.

Women in Israel, of every faith, are full citizens and hold power at many levels. You do not mess with an Israeli woman. Generally you do not see women with faces covered.

And here, in the UK, I grew up being told I could do anything, be anything. Feminism had fought for that and I reaped those benefits. Still a patriarchy but not one that was insurmountable.

In my religion, the bits I dislike is where women’s voices are erased. Any erasure of half a population can never be right.

But you have to be a fool to see how quick this can all change. When our society is changing and political expediency makes those with power look away, we will look back and see how foolish we were.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting the outcomes to change. I do not object in the slightest to immigration and those fleeing from persecution should always be given a haven- we were those people. But when we look away from what is happening, when there is immigration with no integration, in fact the opposite and we are being disingenuous as to where it will lead. When those preaching similar to what is happening in Afghanistan and wanting to replicate that here, why do we praise them or excuse them. Why are we being blind to what is brought to our shores.

I think often of the women in Afghanistan. I would join marches and demos for them in a heartbeat. I would support a foreign policy that stands with them. I would hope the feminists would be bringing their plight to the world on a daily basis. Even want Greta to speak out. But all we have in silence. Feminists look away.

Silence and support for those regimes. Only Palestine bothers them because it is only Jews they perceive as evil. Evil even as Israel supports equality across gender and faith. Evil as Israel wants a peace or at least a way of living with its neighbours. When they say it is only Israel they object to we see their hypocrisy when they are silent on Afghanistan’s women.

If it happened overnight in Afghanistan because we, the western world, put political expediency above right, it will happen here for the same reasons.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

Take the latest, the one about Gazan children starving. One that was wildly reported that 14000 children would die.

A new report shows that Gaza has very little malnutrition without countries coming above it. Syria- now that does have many children suffering from malnutrition.

Not that the world’s media or left wing luvvies will tell you that.

But we now do not expect this to be reported.

We knew that Boy George would get attacked on the press and online. We knew that him forgoing his role in Jesus Christ Superstar was because he would get attacked for just being there. We knew the song would be controversial just because it said it stood with Jews .

We know governments care more about their votes than they do about protecting their Jews. We know that antisemitism is spreading and institutions do their best to spread it.

And we know it on a more personal level too. We know those friends we haven’t heard from in nearly 3 years are not picking up a phone any time soon. We know work colleagues avoid us or neighbours pretend everything is done with us even when we tell them otherwise. We have very low expectations.

We know our lives have shrunk or that we rarely move out of our bubble unless we have to. We know that if we travel we will probably see graffiti and the like that makes us uncomfortable. We know there are places that would rather not have us there and they are getting more by the day. Crete, a lovely Greek island, seems to be hell bent on making Israelis unwelcome.

We expect little from the world and mainly, it does not fail to disappoint.

I remember writing one early morning in December 2023 by the beach as the sun rose in Scarborough and taking a few moments of quiet to enjoy the beach and the sea and gain strength from it. I did not know then that nearly 3 years later I would facing the tsunami of hate we have now or that our world perspective would have changed forever.

But again, I am sat by a beach at 6.30 but in Northumberland, enjoying the peace and the sound of the waves calming me. This part of the country is not only beautiful but abundant in friendliness. It is not an option to sit quietly enjoying your drink, everyone chats. On my walk, greeted with cheery good mornings, not the dip of the head you often get.

We are often angry, often upset and hurt, a little paranoid and emotional these days. We are resigned to a new life and sad to see real tolerance disappear and fake loyalty take its place. We seem to have lost our way and daily see a world that is unable to find its way back to the one we knew.

But just occasionally, when a celeb speaks out, when a rare media report is nuanced, when Boy George’s song is played loudly as marchers wanting to kill us pass by, or when you are sat on a beach in Northumberland, you can smile and take a little pleasure from it all again.

As I said, expectations are low but we can still have a wry smile, a deep breath and get on with life.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

Any parent knows that when you do not discipline your children and put them on the right path, they become emboldened to push you harder and further.

This letter says it all- we don’t want sympathy, we want to live in peace and when those that have the exact opposite as their entire modus operandi and they get appeased, we get Oct 7.

Brilliant letter!!

British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, warned Israel that if it sent troops into Gaza to confront Hamas, it risked loosing the sympathy of the international community.

A Jewish woman in Britain, Mindy Wiesenberger, sent the following letter to Mr. Hague, in response. The letter has been published in many newspapers, including the Times of Israel.

Dear Mr. Hague

You have stated that if Israel tries to defend its population through a ground offensive in Gaza 'it risks losing the sympathy of the international community.'

Let me tell you something about the sympathy of the international community Mr. Hague.

My father was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945, having lost his entire family but gaining the sympathy of the international community at the time.

After 6 million Jews had been annihilated at the hands of the Nazi regime, the international community had plenty of sympathy for the Jewish people. There is always plenty of sympathy for victims.

Israel doesn't need the sympathy of the international community. What it needs is to defend its citizens.

When as a tiny country it gained its independence in 1948 it had to absorb 800,000 Jews who were thrown out of Arab lands in the Middle East, and it did so without fuss and with dignity giving them shelter and a place of security in which their children could grow up to become productive citizens. When Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria tried to destroy Israel in 1948 and again in 1967 they took in hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs, but did they give them dignity or

shelter? No, they left them to rot in refugee camps in order to maintain

a symbol of grievance against Israel and use them as a political tool against the Jewish state.

What has arisen in those camps is a complicated situation, but it is what has led to Gaza today.

So don't lecture Israel on international sympathy Mr. Hague. Not when Israel has just sent in 120 trucks loaded with food into Gaza to feed the Palestinian people there, because their own leadership is more interested in using its population as human shields, launching rockets against Israel from within major civilian centers.

Don't lecture Israel on international sympathy Mr. Hague. Not when Israel targets, with as much military precision as it can, only terrorists and their bases, trying its utmost to prevent civilian casualties.

Don't lecture Israel on international sympathy Mr. Hague. Not when the Palestinian media deliberately uses images of victims of the Syrian civil war and presents them as casualties in Gaza to gain international sympathy.

Go read your history books Mr. Hague, go see that since the beginning of the twentieth century all the Arabs wanted to do was destroy Israel.

Go look at the country of Israel now since the Jews have established a state there.

Go read what advances in science, medicine, biotechnology,

agriculture and high tech Israel has developed, and dedicated that

knowledge to making the world a better place for humanity. Can you

imagine any other country that after 60 years of continuously being under attack could have achieved so much.

So Mr. Hague don't lecture Israel on international sympathy. Israel will do whatever it takes to defend itself from outright attack on its citizens, whether it be from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran or any other country or terrorist group that attacks it.

And if it loses the sympathy of the international community so be it.

We don't need the international community's sympathy. We don't need another 6 million victims.

This exemplifies where we are at. To use their common parlance this is ‘genocide -washing’. They visit a place where genocide happened against a race, part of a plan to destroy a whole race and still they accuse Israel of the same. It is an absolute failure of those who took them there to not drill into what a genocide really means. It seems inconceivable that if the students wanted to discuss Gaza in this context, it would be to look at why Gaza is very far away from being actually genocide, at least on Israel’s part.

To allow a student to bring this conflict and these accusations onto this site, to allow them to spout these accusations is akin to them walking around with swastikas on.

Is this where we are at now? Allowing historical sites of genocide to be used by these idiots to virtue- signal their hatred of Jews. There is and never has been any genocidal intent or action by Israel on Gaza. The nearest there is was on the Hamas charter and then actions of Oct 7, aimed at wiping out a nation of over 50% of a race. A war ensued where people get killed but a genocide, no, not even close.

The Holocaust was an act of such epic proportions in its intent to rid the world of Jews that they should never have allowed the words created to describe these horrors to be used in wars. Genocides have been committed since and are rightly described as such- Rwanda, Sebrenica and currently Darfur or Sudan. But these are still not The Holocaust in its unique attempt to kill every Jew , every Jew. A plan only thwarted by fighting a war on many fronts simultaneously

Concentration camps and trips to them need to stress the uniqueness of this evil. It is unbelievable, or at least it should be, that educators allowed this type of rhetoric to be part of this trip. We have seen the false equivalence of Nazism being used by the haters on Jews everywhere. Zio Nazi bitch is a name I am called frequently by them. I am a Zionist, I can be a bitch but I am never anywhere near the evil of the Nazis. The same with Israel. A fight for peaceful existence which would succeed if those fighting it laid down arms. A successful country would be a successful region if that happened. A call in 1948 to do just that , rejected by Arabs then, rejected now. Those who have peace with Israel gain from it.

When we tell history, it is meant to be to learn from it. Learn lessons so that never again will these events happen. Nearly 3 years ago we found out how hollow those words were. We learnt that a word created for evil has been devalued to the point that they stand on the ground where it was committed and use it to call for the same. We have not seen those who teach Holocaust stand up to explain why using the word genocide for Israel’s war with Gaza is wholly wrong and inappropriate, why it devalues what they teach. Those in charge of this evil have been too quiet on the shameful misuse of this word.

We see so much over the past years and everyday new ways to defame us and our history pop up. This surely has to be one of the most shameful.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

This story has highlighted how this whole ‘boycott Israel’ thing is a joke. The BDS ( boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement has long roots leading back to the Muslim Brotherhood and is not some benign grassroots organisation to stop us buying Israeli avocados. It is far more dangerous than that and does absolutely nothing to help Palestinians.

Of course, it has been taken up by the lefties and now they can be found on supermarkets shouting through megaphones against Israel, stickering hummus as genocidal, and giving us quite handy lists of Israeli foods. Or actually, as we all know they hate Jews not Israel, theynow they include any company that may or even may not have any tenuous link to Jews. See how they targeted Gail’s Bakery.

It has tipped over, not just into Jew hate but also illegality. As they deface Barclays branches and break into defence companies, they tell us it is all about freeing Palestine. As they break the back of a police officer it is all about freeing Palestine. As they muster an army of older folk, some disabled, to stand supporting Palestine Action with the goal of being arrested, it is all about freeing Palestine. And even as a KC is now being investigated for going against the judge’s ruling in his defence, promoting jury equity and generally going against his profession, it is all about freeing Palestine.

But it isn’t. It is virtue signalling that has one aim- Jew hate. It promotes othering Jews and anyone associated with them, using big bad Israel as a level but moving far away from that to full on Jew hate on a daily basis.

And when the hatred of Jews/israel for just existing becomes such that you do not optimise the safety of your customers, it seems fairly deranged. Usually, these people pick and choose which bits of tech they want to boycott. They tell us to boycott Israel through their tech full of Israeli parts, they still drink the coffee they want or wear the brands they want even as they tell us to stop. But, as this life and people get more and more deranged, they are now putting lives in danger. All because they hate Jews via Israel.

Let us not forget that Ireland has long supped from this cup, supporting Hitler every step of the way. But this seems complete madness in the name of freeing Palestine.

It doesn’t, by the way. It does nothing to free Palestine or help Palestinians. In fact, when they target the West Bank companies, they do the opposite because many, such as Sofa Stream, promote Jews and Arabs working together and building lives alongside each other. It is not oppression but economy in the areas that need it most that they target, because the aim is just spreading Jew hate. The fact so many take it up just show how many idiots there are.

And the largest idiots today are those who will put a plane on the sky without the tech that makes it safer. All because of hate.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

I purposely make my posts public in order to try and reach a wider audience to try and get across a view of what it is like to be Jewish these days in the UK. Unfortunately many avenues I have tried to reach wider audiences , especially with Muslim communities have failed.

Some posts attract more attention than others and this seems to have got a spot with the haters. I even posted Friday’s post on a Boy George fan page.

It is very easy to get sucked in to an argument with the rabid haters. Often many of my readers get stuck in before I do(thanks to all) and by the time I looked this morning there were several long trails going. The hater just gets more and more rabid as fact soon fact is presented to them, and responds with libel after libel.

I often check out their profile and you normally see a long pattern of Jew hate.

My response at this point is to wish them shalom, await a few seconds for that to come onto their page and them block.

Ones who post cartoons or slogans of hateful natures get blocked without comment, often these are bots.

And it is easy to focus on this hate. It has been particularly upsetting to see a far larger version of this happen to Boy George, with him being pulled out of his play and his past misdemeanours called out again and again.

But across many posts and pages, there has been far larger messages of love and appreciation that someone had courage to stand up. It is easy to focus on the hate but there is lots of people waking up to this hate and seeing this for what it is.

Boy George himself talked about the motivation for the song being a visit to the Nova Exhibition and hearing from May, a survivor we too met along with Lisa and Michael Marlowe, whose son, Jake was murdered at Nova. This was his motivation for writing the song. Lisa and Michael are amazing people, determined to educate people and do good things in Jake’s name. This song is a further testimony to Jake and their love for him.

I ask the haters if they had visited this exhibition. Of course we know they will not have done, just like the Green Party of Hackney haven’t, the PM didn’t, nor any of the many celebs who take up the Palestinian cause. Roger Waters,Paul Weller and Duo Lipa were not queuing up.

We live in a world of denial of fact if it does not suit a narrative. Friday we watched nearly 60000 young men swarm a Spanish colony in Morocco and our government denied it was an ‘invasion’. Borders were irrelevant and this incident has wide repercussions for all in Europe but our government could not call it what it blatantly was. Whilst listening to the young men interviewed in Cueta, who wish for a better life, you felt for them but this is not the way. To add insult to injury, as 700+ people arrived on small boats in one day, our PM told us that crisis was over. We see with our eyes but our government tells us otherwise. How very 1984.

Words only mean things when you understand meanings. The word salads of anti Israel anti Jew spouting folk actually mean nothing because the meanings do not mean what they want them to mean. When the meaning of genocide has to be altered to fit what you want, it is not genocide. How very 1984.

To go to an exhibition and see and hear facts and lived experience changes you. That is the point. But in this world, it is only the brave that do this and listen. Compare Boy George’s outpouring to Sadiq Khan’s uncomfortable bland words and emotionless face after his visit.

Boy George has put out further statements regarding the hate, with moral clarity to the haters. He has pointed out that supporting Jews does not mean he has no feelings for the Palestinians and their troubles, just like many. This will rumble on but he has now released the song to buy on Bandcamp so let’s show our gratitude to him, one who went, saw and listened.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

But the arts world could not let that be. It was announced last night that his manager had ‘ pulled’ him out of appearing in Jesus Christ Superstar for personal reasons. Now we can only speculate whether he was forced or hounded out or whether it was his decision and why.

How ironic that this play was the story of Jesus, the Jew from Bethlehem, who was murdered by those who objected to him. Jesus, in whose name much of the world preaches forgiveness and tolerance.

I have seen thoughts that he walked away to avoid the play being targeted by those who hate, spoiling it for those coming to the theatre. I have seen thoughts that it was to spare the sensitivities of the other actors who do not share his views and only see Jews as demons and Israel as the only evil. Either way, one man who dares to speak out is then suddenly not in a job.

It is even more ironic that this happens on the day that Diane Abbot is remitted to the Labour Party after being suspended for antisemitism. So a pop star loses their job for speaking out about terrorism as a politician regains her acceptance by the Labour Party for not speaking against terror, only against Jews.

As all this unfolds, we watch a PM telling us there is no problem with ‘ small boat immigration,Labour has solved it’ as 2000 people arrive in a week and we watch thousands swarm a small Spanish town in Africa. None of these are actual refugees but economic migrants but the UK refuses to deal with this threat.

We truly are in a different world. As immigrants ourselves, Jews have always helped and reached out to those in need. But, as immigrants, we also built and worked and became part of the infrastructure of our new countries. We have found out, our generation, what so many have before us, that it does not matter. We will never not be othered when it suits those with power.

A man stood with Jews and lost his job

A politician is readmitted whilst still affirming her antisemitism on her social media

A PM, not two weeks in, has set his cards out for votes- Israel and Jews are expendable. And so it seems anyone who stands with them is expendable too.

But tough, we are here. Jews exist. Israel exists and has a right to defend itself. Jews too. If you don’t like it, that’s on you. So let’s all send Boy George some love, he sent us some.

And, as we know G-d works in mysterious ways, who knows what will happen. Maybe Boy George’s next job will be the one he is waiting for. He certainly will not be short of Jewish hospitality whilst he waits.

Shabbat shalom to Boy George and you all

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

The first is the move to de-twin Haifa from Hackney, a move led by the Green majority council. Haifa, as they should know, is a city of diversity and celebrates all. It is the home of the B’hai religion and over the winter, is lit up with symbols of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It should be a DEI gift to this council.

But because it is in Israel, it cannot be that and has to be denounced as a symbol of hate. A Jewish conservative councillor gave a speech where he said the only winner in this is Haifa, who have gained nothing from this twinning. A hospital in Hackney has received much support and help from a far more advanced hospital in Haifa but no more. He was not a lone voice but in this sanctimonious majority of Greens, hell bent on pushing through their own agenda regardless of fact or benefit to their area, it was practically pointless.

And let us not forget that Hackney council is responsible for a large area of orthodox Jewry within Stamford Hill. The demonising of Haifa, of any contact with Israel does not bode well for those Jews.

But then we had a song released by Boy George- Od Nicrod- we will dance again. A reggae based tune with lyrics setting out his stance. ‘ you say genocide, I say war’ ‘ when you are attacked that is what an army is for’.

It calls out every person for supporting evil and not standing with Israel . Obviously, it filled our hearts with joy, especially the reggae nod to Bob Marley who understood Zion.

But I was fearful of seeing the comments on the various media websites. Surprisingly, whilst not wall to wall praise and inevitably some of the normal libels, these were surpassed by positivity and praise. In fact the Jewish sites had far worse, targeted by the haters or bots.

Generally the feel was he was doing what so many musicians should have done.

Interestingly I also see from the headlines that Dawn French has been complaining about people body shaming women. I cannot bear to actually listen to her speak but gather she did not like being talked down to about her appearance. Funny that, because wasn’t it only a few months ago she was talking down to Jews about complaining about a massacre.

Boy George has always been someone I have revered since he burst onto Top of the Pops wearing a shirt with Hebrew on it. He may have had a checkered past but he has done what all those other musicians have failed to do- stand up. The councillor speaking against the motion to de-twin Haifa stood up.

It doesn’t stop the torrent of hate. It doesn’t stop the useful idiots. In fact, they were out in force praying that it was a white man that had attacked Pride in Berlin because it disturbs their very soul that it was an Islamist. When they cannot square that circle, that those they support do not support them, they might just combust.

But it gladdens our hearts when idiocy is called out and truth is spoken. Hackney, you will be poorer when you walk away from Haifa. Our hearts however, are warmer because Boy George has proudly sing that ‘we will dance again’

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

Did you really think that you would be exempt from Islamist extremism because you march with a banner supporting a terrorist regime.

Did you really think we were lying when we told you that gay people are thrown off buildings by Hamas.

When the gay cruise ship was turned away from 2 Muslim countries recently did you really think that was an accident and that you would be welcomed with open arms.

Did any of you really honestly think that by supporting this terrorist group they would love you and everything you stood for

And possibly the most important, when you called to ‘ globalise the intifada’ did you think that you would be exempt from that globalisation.

Sadly this weekend you saw what intifada looks like, innocent people killed and injured for just existing.

So why so quiet now. Where is the condemnation from all the LGBGT+ groups that scream so loudly against Israel. Scream so loudly against the only place on the Middle East they could visit.

A house of cards? Maybe when your eyes are forced open, your whole reason for existing falls apart if you acknowledge it. Maybe if you admit you were wrong life becomes unbearable. Maybe you are so consumed with palestinianism you cannot even admit what has happened.

So what have you achieved apart from support for the wrong side. A side that tells you that it hates you, that it will murder you but a side that you have to take because it is tied up in the narrative you were too lazy to really inspect. Maybe you are so caught up on being ‘queer’ that you forgot your humanity or your brain. Maybe you have been sold a total lie and have lost any ability to think.

What happens now. Will you now realise what you have allowed and rethink or will you just keep walking towards the very evil that will destroy you and others like you.

And you don’t have to be part of the queer community, a Labour MP today has said it is the fault of the right and GB news for stoking hate towards gays that caused this attack. Even though the perpetrator was known to have extremist Islamic involvement, Kim Osbourne MP says it was the fault of a right-wing tv channel .

Brendan O’Neill has written about how we seem unable to calm out these attack for what they are, targeted,planned, anti west strategy. There are always excuses and denial of the reality. For 25 years, every attack is treated as a shock and a lone incident. We are all in denial and need to stop it.

And in case none of this is mad enough, a group have claimed that some Care Bears, the sweet teddies so beloved by my children, are trans.

Wonder what the Islamists think of that ?

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

Andy Burnham, Sadiq Khan, Bob Geldorf, Zarah Sultana, the man in the street, the idiots on a march, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all.

But they don’t say anything else. They don’t tell us why it is a genocide, or how it fits the definition.

They don’t mention it is a war Hamas started and want to end by killing every Jew.

They don’t mention the IDF not bombing the hell out of Gaza on Oct 8 but fighting door to door and warning citizens to move away from the fighting

They don’t mention a growing population and that out of 70,000 dead, Hamas have claimed 70% plus.

They don’t mention that if it was truly a genocide the leaders could surrender to stop it.

They don’t mention that most killed since the ceasefire have been by Hamas on its own civilians, civilians who are desperate rid themselves of Hamas.

They don’t mention any of this because any of this shows it is not a genocide. When they cannot define why it is a genocide, it shows us that they are just repeating a further blood libel.

And when they equate in with the words, zio and Nazi and Netanyahu and baby killer, they just are spouting a word salad of Jew hate. They can appear as righteous as they want to appease others but anyone with a brain can see through them. Sadly, using said brain seems to be a quality many these days don’t bother with.

Mamdani this week wished Jews well over Tisha B’av - the commemoration of the destruction of two temples in Jerusalem and various many exiles from Israel. But then rejects a Jewish state and its right to defend itself in a war it did not start with a people who want it to be eradicated. Make it make any sense whatsoever.

It is a fact that if you repeat anything loud enough and long enough many accept it as fact. But what happened during the war in Gaza was not a genocide. There was no intent to exterminate a people. At least not by Israel. And when Amnesty have to try and change a definition of genocide because what happened in Gaza did not fit the actual definition, it tells you everything.

Defining as a genocide does absolutely nothing to help Gazans. Not one country opened their arms to Palestinians at the time, although the UK seems to be doing just that now without vetting who they are letting in. Not one march to globalise the intifada from the river to the sea did anything but embolden those who really hold Gazans hostage, and have done so since 2006-Hamas and Iran. Not one life in Gaza was helped by someone with coloured hair telling us to ‘free Palestine’.

Because what ‘Palestine’ needs freeing from is Hamas and Hamas, even today, say it is their right to govern and rearm Gaza with the aim of eradicating all Israel.

The shouts of genocide are right, every accusation is correct, there are genocidal forces in Gaza. They just happen to be the ones that those shouting genocide are actually supporting.

It’s a mad mad world and getting worse as the actual facts are inverted and Free Palestine becomes a genocidal war cry- to kill Jews.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

His pre - PM major announcement took the demonisation of Israel further with his apology on how Labour had approached the massacre by supporting Hamas and a promise to constrict Israel further. He then followed it up by giving his first interview to Gary Lineker, the same one that compared Jews to rats.

His appointment of Ed Miliband as foreign secretary won’t inspire confidence as his rejection of his Jewishness is total, even as his mother was saved from the Nazis. If anyone should understand who Israel needs to defend itself it should be him but he rejects reality.

In other news, the influential youth part of the Green Party has just elected 2 vehemently anti-Zionists as co-chairs. Zionism is under attack and they have ditched the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Already run by the Israel hating Jew the Greens are only heading in one direction.

Farage is now standing against 33 other candidates, further making a mockery of our election process.

Back to Burnham and his statements, we should go back to the 1970s and ditch neo-liberalism. What I remember from the 70s was shivering in one room of the house as there were power cuts and 3 day weeks. Neo seems to just mean a modern version of something and last time I looked liberalism had worked quite a lot better than the periods of socialism we were under. The most successful Labour government since the 70s was Blair and his neo- liberalism.

So generally my confidence in British politics is not great. But of course all this is just a continuation of what we are seeing. Burnham, swanning in legally but fairly unethically as PM, not addressing the real issues and caving in to factions on the left.

We will see just more divisiveness as norm, anything to do with Israel being one-sided and support for terrorism increasing. However much money you wish to throw at ‘ protecting’ Jews is worthless if the narrative stays the same . Deal with the issues that mean we need protecting.

But that seems a forlorn hope. Common sense has gone out the window a long time ago and good has become evil and vice versa. It is a very strange time watching us change, those around us change and society fall apart.

Maybe things can right themselves at some point- who knows. Maybe the world is changed forever and Jews will have to adapt. I hope we keep our eyes open and our wits about us. There are no easy decisions and everyone has to make their own path through this.

But we are increasingly aware of this change and alert even. I understand not wanting to change or move because of this threat, it is natural to stay and fight. It is hard to move away and it breaks my heart that families are increasingly having a modern day Anatevka conversation- where might you go, should you go, will you go.

As we try to explain to people why we are going we are met with incomprehension. Maybe this is the privilege of not being a race that has been expelled so many times. They do not have it in them to understand it. Most are upset but it is still unfathomable to them why we feel like we do. But we know our reality and history.

We will see in the next few weeks and months how this pans out, how much worse it may get. Maybe I am wrong but I will be keeping a wary eye open even as I pack up. Because Britain is the place of my birth, it is where my family is and it is a country I want to see stand up to evil. An eternal optimist but sadly these days also a realist.

Www.voicefromtheheartbook.com

I have been thinking about this and how it is totally wrong. When myself and so many others write pieces supporting Jews or Israel it does not mean we want harm to others or do not sympathise with their suffering.

Certainly many Palestinians are struggling. Whilst we see many areas in Gaza full of restaurants and comfortable lives, that certainly is not true of all. Many areas are destroyed and many are living difficult lives . Much of this is caused by the devastation of war but encouraged and exacerbated by Hamas.

Similarly in Lebanon, people are struggling again caused by the invading force, Hezbollah, using the south of the country as a place to attack Israel. It is often the innocent citizens who bear the brunt of suffering.

For these people I feel for them. But when I write, it often has to be to put forward my support for Israel. Because on this point, most others are silent. Those that should be standing up for those suffering in Israel, those attacked time and time again on the North, the kibbutzim in the south struggling to rebuild with so much loss to cope with, the trauma of those that survived the massacre and the soldiers that fight so tirelessly, are silent. The Red Cross,UN.Amnesty et al are so busy demonizing Israel that I need to use my small voice to give the counter argument or point.

That does not mean I wish harm on any innocents on any of this conflict. It does not mean I do not care about their suffering. I do and always have. But, I have to care about my own in a world that seems to look away. I have to be part of the small minority that gives the view from our perspective, that corrects facts and narratives. But 2 things can exist at once. And it is the fact that this type of assumption is made about anyone that supports Israel is part of why we are where we are.

Because this world cannot cope with nuance and sympathy for more than one stance. It cannot cope with agreeing to disagree but still caring. It cannot cope with the fact that many Israelis want peace more that some Palestinians. It cannot cope with Israeli Arabs and anti gay Palestinians. Even as Palestinians call out Hamas and Lebanese want to get rid of Hezbollah, those controlling the narrative look away as they cannot cope with truth. So how on earth would they cope with my sympathy for all suffering but still defending the country they only see as the enemy.

The worst part of the world today is this cancel culture. You say one thing and if it is decided by the woke lefties to be offensive that is it. It does not matter what is said or meant. Look at the furore around JK Rowling support for women. It does not mean she is against trans rights but is equally for women’s rights, something so many fought long and hard for.

And those Jews who decide to stand against Israel and publicly support terrorists do an even greater disservice to their race. Because they are amplified by all our haters and used exponentially to further the hate against themselves.

I am not against freedoms for all Palestinians as long as they are not against freedom for Jews and Israelis. I have immense sympathy for those suffering but when I tried to encourage a local coffee shop to raise money for both Gazan and Israeli children suffering torment, I was treated as if I was the devil and verbally abused badly. They literally could not understand that all sides suffer in war.

Treat others as you wish to be treated, a basic tenant of Torah study. In fact, Hillel said everything else is just commentary.

But in these times, that does not seem to be possible and that is why I have to write about my support for Israel first and foremost.

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