In what I have previously described as an increasingly anti-Semitic and anti-Israel Britain, it is important that the Jewish people and supporters of Israel have an MP that is a vocal supporter in Parliament. Therefore I believe it is vital that the next MP for the Hendon constituency - as well as other MPs - with a large Jewish community be a strong supporter of Jewish and Israeli causes.
In Hendon there are luckily three candidates that will support these causes. However, I feel the Liberal Democrat candidate has an uphill struggle given that Liberal Democrat policy is not to support Israel as a Jewish State. While, I am not a fan of the Labour MP Mr Dismore, he has been a good supporter, which under a Labour Government has been important given that most of the Labour Party seem now to be anti-Israel, especially under the leadership of Gordon Brown.
However, I would like to highlight my friend the Conservative candidate Matthew Offord, who since I have known him as proven that he is a strong supporter of both Jewish causes and of a strong and secure Israel. Both as the Deputy Leader of Barnet Council and as the Conservative Candidate to be an MP. Matthew has shown that he cares about Jewish and Israeli issues and would therefore make an excellent supporter for the Jewish community as an MP for Hendon. Below I highlight some of these issues.
Matthew Offord has visited Israel a number of times and supports a strong and secure Israel
Matthew Offord has called for the banning of the anti-semitic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, something Labour have refused
Matthew Offord has supported Benjamin Pearl's campaign for more Jewish schools in Hendon
Matthew Offord has led the fight against anti-semitism in Hendon
Matthew Offord has been a vocal supporter of the Holocaust Educational Trust and the need to remember the lessons of the Holocaust
Matthew Offord has supported JNet a local Jewish radio station
5 comments:
Your post is clear and transparent. I agree with most of it.
Keep blogging!!
This is Nancy from Israeli Uncensored News
Richard,
What is your view of the Tories forming an alliance in the European Parliament with far right groups, which contain holocaust deniers, anti semites. Some of them have even laid flowers at SS wargraves and memorials.
The decision to form this alliance was made by David Cameron. I am unaware of any opposition to this by Matthew Offord or any other Barnet Tories.
Roger
The Chief Rabbi of Poland has stated that the parties in the Conservative alliance are not anti-semitic.
Much more worrying is the Liberal Democrat parties support of terrorists. Do you agree with Nick Clegg that Israel should not be a Jewish state? The people of Mill Hill should know.
Richard,
Firstly, you've misquoted the Chief Rabbi of Poland rather badly. I don't want to indulge in a silly argument, so I urge any readers of this comment to read the following article in the JC.
http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/21411/chief-rabbi-poland-kaminskis-no-antisemite
I'll be quite happy to let your readers make up their own mind.
As to the voters of Mill Hill wanting to know my position on many things. Most of them know my position on most things already from my blog. I suspect it's fair to say they know more about my views than just about any council candidate in the UK - www.barneteye.blogspot.com - however as you asked my position on Israel (and I'm sure you know this already). I believe Israel to be a democratic country and the majority of the citizens of that country to have voted for parties committed to maintaining a Jewish state. As I support the concept of democracy, I support the continuation of Israel as a Jewish state.
I happen to believe that if a country is a genuine democracy, then it is an issue for the people who live there. I don't think that the makeup of the state is an issue for me, Nick Clegg or any other outsiders.
I must say I was rather disappointed with your analysis of why Matthew Offord would make a good MP. You don't make any mention of the fact he might actually be a good MP for the Jewish people who live in Hendon or that he has a track record of doing a good job. Do you think Matthew Harris (who is Jewish) or Andrew Dismore are any less supportive of Jewish issues? Can you actually provide any evidence of this bias?
I'm afraid that your analysis is rather biased towards Offord, without a sound intellectual argument as to why.
I would urge Jewish Voters in Hendon to support Lib Dem Matthew Harris for the following reasons :-
a) He's Jewish and so fully understands the issues and challenges the Jewish Community face. Furthermore he's on record as being a vociferous advocate of Jewish issues
b) Matthew Harris would be an excellent choice as a Lib Dem spokesman on Israel as he is intelligent, articulate and informed. Becoming MP would strengthen the Jewish lobby within the Lib Dems.
c) Matthew Harris would make an excellent constituency MP and work hard for Jewish voters.
d) As Matthew Harris is an excellent candidate, he would be a great example and a role model for aspiring Jewish politicians in the UK.
e) He is quite clearly up to the job.
I should have made the last comment in more detail - I was, and am, angry at your question: "Who should Jewish people vote for in Hendon?". You are saying that it is most important (beyond anything else) for the election of a representative of one sovereign nation (Britain) to be purely on the basis of support for another sovereign nation (Israel).
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