Gabriel Webber, at The Blogs

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Jan 6, 2019, 1:20 PM

Golders Green mosque relentlessly persecuted by fanatics on both sides

Golders Green Hippodrome building, which is now an Islamic centre (Jewish News)

When I moved from south London, where I’d been the only Jewish person in my school, to Golders Green – land of the 24-hour bagel – to begin my rabbinic training, I was able to look out of my window and see, over the road,...

Sep 22, 2016, 4:15 PM

Zionist Federation v. Reverend of the Hinde Street Methodist Church

Charney (as a representative of all members of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain) v Reverend of the Hinde Street Methodist Church [2016] GWLR 1 Tension abounded today as judgment was handed down in this controversial case, presided over by Mr Justice Tungsten: The claimant,...

Aug 2, 2016, 10:01 PM

Wearing the Palestinian flag – what’s it to you?

According to the Daily Express, viewers were “left shocked” as former EastEnders actor John Altman appeared on Loose Women wearing a Palestinian flag lapel badge. Shocked. Astonished. Scandalised. Horrified. Unable to believe their eyes. Who would have thought it? What a twist. How awful. I...

Jun 9, 2016, 12:29 PM

Breaking news: Person says controversial thing at public speaking competition

In Jerusalem, right now, military chiefs are gathering in a bunker. Prime Minister Netanyahu is linked in by video. Sweating, shaking with fear, he calls the meeting to order. “Gentlemen. We are gathered here to discuss a new and serious threat to the very existence...

May 23, 2016, 10:45 AM

Breaking Breaking the Silence’s silence

Anonymity is actually a big theme in the Jewish tradition, although (perhaps ironically, perhaps appropriately) it is seldom given the recognition it deserves. Maimonides championed the virtues of giving to charity anonymously. In all the writings of the Vilna Gaon, he would never provide identifying...

Feb 26, 2016, 1:35 PM

Checkpoint your privilege: The latest Jewish Human Rights Watch battle against reality

The latest episode in the quest by Jewish Human Rights Watch to coerce the British state into banning all forms of expression it dislikes, is threatened legal action against Cambridge University for allowing Israel Apartheid Week campaigners to erect a mock checkpoint outside one of its...

Feb 22, 2016, 10:21 AM

#BDSfailfail: the paranoid schadenfreude of the keyboard warrior

The only thing more pathetic than taking systematic joy in others’ failures is taking systematic joy in others’ inevitable and inconsequential failures. This makes popular hashtag #BDSfail the pinnacle of pathetic. It was originally used to facilitate slightly smug, but ultimately inoffensive, tweets about the defeat...

Feb 15, 2016, 1:38 PM

Leicester, lawfare and BDS: what would Mr Pickwick say?

In The Pickwick Papers, Mr Pickwick accidentally becomes engaged to his landlady. When he realises the mix-up, he makes clear to Mrs Bardell that he will not be marrying her. She responds, in true Victorian comic fashion, by suing him for breach of promise, an...

Feb 11, 2016, 11:47 AM

The Corbyn is not for bashing

“Since our last meeting,” Jonathan Arkush told the Executive Committee of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, “I’ve met with President Putin, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. What order shall I tell you in?” “Economic power,” came a suggestion from...

Jan 28, 2016, 12:42 PM

Why would anyone pretend to oppose BDS?

I fairly frequently get accused of supporting (even ‘loving’) BDS. I am, apparently, an ardent devotee of the boycott, divestment and sanction movement which is so severely detrimental to the peace process. When these accusations arise, I typically point to the number of explicitly anti-BDS...

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About Me

Gabriel Webber is a rabbinic student at Leo Baeck College, London