Nick Henderson-Mayo, at The Blogs

Jun 14, 2021, 4:16 PM

Israel’s progressive new government is a triumph of democracy

The new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (L), Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (C) , and Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid (R), during a joint photo with the new government ministers at the President's residence in Jerusalem, Israel, 14 June 2021. The Knesset members on 13 June 2021 voted for the eight-party alliance led by Bennett from the far-right Jamina and Jair Lapid from the Future Party, the Knesset vote ends the historic 12-year rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo by: JINIPIX via Jewish News

International reaction to the new Israeli government predictably coalesced into outrage that ‘far-right’ Naftali Bennett will be the titular head of the latest solution to Israel’s political paralysis. ‘Nafali Bennett does not believe in a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis’ claimed the Guardian. Calling him...

Jun 9, 2021, 6:27 PM

Anti-trans rhetoric is not so different from antisemitism

Trans flag (Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash)

Sweeping generalities, unfair comparisons, preposterous falsehoods repeated enough to make them feel true to those who don’t know any better? We Jews are superb at spotting outright antisemitism dressed up as mere ‘legitimate criticism of Israel.’ But the insidious claims trumpeted in the anti-Israel press...

Jun 1, 2021, 1:57 PM

How Israel could save the British summer

Tel Aviv Beach (Credit: Dana Friedlander for the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.) via Jewish News

Corona, as it’s called in Israel, has fast become a thing of the past here. From Tuesday, 1 June, all remaining internal coronavirus restrictions in Israel will be lifted, save from rules on international travel and, for the time being, indoor mask wearing. Even the...

May 24, 2021, 1:54 PM

Political antisemitism in Ireland has sunk to ever greater depths

Ambassador Kariv is greeted by a guard of honour on his arrival in Ireland (via Jewish News)

As British Jews rallied against terrorism in London this weekend, standing up against the frightening increase in antisemitic attacks, it was a very different scene just across the Irish Sea. Dozens of major demonstrations were held in the Republic demanding an end to the Jewish...

May 19, 2021, 1:28 PM

The social media war is raging, so where is our Wonder Woman?

Just days after Hamas began their rocket-fuelled terror campaign against Israeli civilians, Gal Gadot, the Hollywood-based Israeli movie star, posted that her “heart breaks” given the outpouring of senseless violence which has gripped Israel since last week. She ended her post with a call for...

May 11, 2021, 2:12 PM

An independent Scotland is coming, and Jews have much to fear

Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon (PA Wire/PA Images / Andrew Milligan) via Jewish News

Only days after the SNP’s fourth consecutive victory in the Scottish parliamentary elections, the current crisis in Israel popped up in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s news feed. Predictably, the Scottish Nationalist leader was quick to conflate the complex real estate ownership issues in Sheikh Jarrah...

Sep 13, 2015, 2:31 PM

Corbyn’s Britain could be a nightmare for Jews

If one judges a man by the company he keeps, then the new leader of Britain’s Labour Party is a cause for concern for Jews and supporters of Israel. During the just finished Labour leadership election, the Jewish Chronicle published a list of key questions...

Feb 15, 2015, 6:24 PM

Why I left Western Europe

How one British Jew came out Zionist. Last week The Guardian newspaper asked ‘Is there really a Jewish Exodus from Western Europe?’ As anti-Semitic attacks hit a horrifying high in the UK, there are now almost weekly incidents of violent anti-Semitism occurring across the continent,...

Sep 3, 2014, 8:52 PM

Boycotts and Ice Buckets

Everyone has been throwing buckets of ice cold water over themselves this summer. My Facebook newsfeed is saturated with videos of friends dousing themselves in water. Overall there’s been at least 2.5 million #IceBucketChallenge videos posted to Facebook, and over 28 million people have commented, liked…...

About Me

Nick Henderson-Mayo is a former Scottish political activist who left Labour under Corbyn, and then the UK because of antisemitism. He now lives in Jerusalem with his husband.

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