An opportunity missed

The day after  Israel yet again achieved worldwide condemnation for the behaviour of its neo-nazi security minister, Itamar Ben-Givr, who posted a video of himself taunting Palestinian relief activists who were illegally detained in international waters. The BBC’s Today programme’s ‘Thought for the Day’ slot had Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis talking merrily about a new initiative by The Jewish Board of Deputies to celebrate Jewish culture. Such a celebration is certainly welcome in itself, but his talk might also have sought to show how such a celebration is distinct from the culture of violence and illegality evidenced by the government of Israel. Ben-Givr told the activists, who were bound with their hands behind their backs and some say physically assaulted, “Welcome to Israel. We are the masters.” The latter phrase is redolent of a very dark history commemorated in Israel’s holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. You’d think Israel’s security minister might have learnt something there. However, even as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and the US ambassador to Israel joined the global condemnation of this latest example of arrogant behaviour, nobody on the Today programme thought to ask the Chief Rabbi whether he agreed. He himself to my knowledge has always been reluctant to acknowledge the egregious harm the Israeli government is doing to the Jewish Diaspora. Thankfully, the excellent organisation Jewish Voice for Liberation (JVL) reminds us that there are many in this Diaspora who are not represented by Mirvis and are willing to say so, even if the media habitually avoids reporting their views.