Showing posts with label Board of Deputies of British Jews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Board of Deputies of British Jews. Show all posts

5 February 2016

Israel’s Ambassador Daniel Taub is Recalled Because of Child Sex Scandal

'I prefer pigs myself'
First it was Grovel Janner, notorious serial paedophile and former President of the  Board of Deputies of British Jews and mainstay of Labour Friends of Israel and now Daniel Taub, Israel’s former Ambassador to the UK and a religious Zionist.  How many more skeletons are there in the Zionist cupboard?  What is it that leading Zionists find so attractive about paedophillia? 

When one adds this to the those, like Manis Friedman, a senior rabbi with Lubavitch, who acts as an apologist for paedophiles comparing paedophillia to having diarrohea and on record as saying it taught victims a useful lesson one wonders what it is  about paedophillia that is so attractive to Zionist big whigs.  
'Don't worry Daniel, I have problems with my son, Andrew too'
I would suggest that one of the reasons why many Zionists are attracted to having sexual relations with children is that it is a consequence of basing your life on the domination and exploitation of others.  Either way Taub must have found himself at home in London given the widespread tolerance of the practice in ruling class circles.

Needless to say it was only after Richard Silverstein broke the story that other papers such as the Guardian and Ha’aretz broke the story (though both papers refused to credit Silverstein).  See 

Taub was refused his request for an extension to his term as Ambassador because of the scandal and was recalled to Israel.   This explains the hurried nature of the appointment of Israel’s Goebbels, Mark Regev, as Ambassador to St. James.

Tony Greenstein


February 3, 2016 By Richard Silverstein

Tonight, Tikun Olam breaks the story of the Israeli ambassador who cheated on his wife with men and boys–inside the ambassador’s residence!

Israel’s former ambassador to the UK has been accused of inviting men and boys for trysts late at night when his wife was not home.  A British policeman filed a complaint with Israeli authorities about the incidents.  A further investigation by the foreign ministry’s inspector general found that UK-born Ambassador Daniel Taub, who was ambassador from 2011-2015, violated security protocol by not notifying his chief of security of the identity of the visitors.  The purpose of recording visitors is in order to prevent Israeli diplomatic personnel from being blackmailed or compromised.  Since MI5 knew of Taub’s activities, the Israeli foreign ministry was concerned that he might be compromised by them or that one of his paramours might attempt to extort payments from him.

Diplomatic security is provided by the Shabak, which would be aware of the incident.  But my attempts to elicit comment from an Israeli security source were met with silence.  Though the story has been reported in the Israeli media, no one has yet identified Taub by name.  This is peculiar because there is no judicial gag order against reporting his name.  This is one hot potato!

When questioned about the matter, Taub claimed he had never invited a minor into the residence.  He added that the visitors were all adults and that their purpose was “therapeutic” (!) in nature.  Though none of the Israeli reports have spoken outright of sexual activity, how could there not be?

When asked to explain why the police officer would claim minors entered his residence if that wasn’t the case, Taub claimed that he and the policeman had exchanged words and the officer had been offended by something the ambassador had said to him.

For some odd reason, Taub’s explanation satisfied the Inspector General and the investigation was suspended.  But when Taub requested that his posting be extended, the foreign ministry refused and he was summoned back to Israel.  That’s why Mark Regev, Bibi Netanyahu’s foreign media spokesperson was recently appointed to take up this post.

Officials in the government see Taub’s behavior as a grave violation of “ethical-moral norms” (!).  As a result, a report of the incident was noted in Taub’s personnel file.  The former ambassador was slated for promotion but his candidacy for any of these positions had been delayed while a deeper investigation is undertaken.

It’s a good thing the Queen knew nothing of Taub’s proclivities when she had this conversation with him when he presented his credentials to her on taking up his new post:

…The Queen asked him how it felt to be serving as ambassador in the land of his birth. He replied: 

I said that I felt tremendously privileged that it fell to me to raise my children in their historic homeland after two millennia of exile, but I am also aware that in that arc of 2,000 years the greatest period of opportunity for my family was found here in Britain, and I hope to express my appreciation for that by deepening ties of cooperation between our countries."

Who knew what sorts of “opportunities” he had in mind?

Back in 2011, when then foreign minister appointed Taub, there was a furor among the ranks of the diplomatic corps, since he was a junior official who’d never served overseas in any capacity nor supervised a diplomatic staff.  Critics of the appointment said that Lieberman ran his ministry as a local branch of Yisrael Beitenu, rewarding his cronies and pals.  The appointment seems to have been blessed by Lieberman’s then number-two, Danny Ayalon.  If only the complaints had been heeded, so much scandal and embarrassment could’ve been avoided.

According to Haaretz’s Amir Oren, Bibi Netanyahu, who is the acting foreign minister, knew of the Taub scandal last summer.  The prime minister was more concerned with closing the lid on the incident rather than getting to the bottom of it.  He feared it would tarnish both the foreign ministry’s and his own reputation.

In fact, Oren says after Taub returned home, Bibi nominated Taub to take up a highly sensitive, senior foreign ministry position.  Though Yediot’s report said that any promotions have been put on hold.  The Haaretz reporter also says that Netanyahu’s legal advisor has not objected nor has the Shabak raised its voice regarding the matter.  Apparently, it’s par for the course in this corrupt, lawless government.

What’s all the more startling is that Taub is an Orthodox Jew, married and has six children.  He appears to be gifted intellectually and attended Oxford, wrote a well-regarding TV show about relations between secular and Orthodox Jews.  Before his appointment, he was a junior advisor in the legal affairs unit of the ministry.  Though I’m not privy to information about his personal life, it appears this is an example of the repression of such sexual impulses which is almost guaranteed by an Orthodox upbringing, as homosexuality is a grave sin among traditional Jews.

Unfortunately, the Israeli diplomatic corps has been prone to many similar scandals over the past few years.  I reported here that Israel’s ambassador to Norway, the late Druze poet Naim Araidi, had made improper sexual advances to one of his Norwegian house staff.  She reported this to Israeli authorities, who recalled Araidi from his post.  In that case, the Norwegian press took up my reporting and published the story in the local press.  I am seeking British journalists who will do the same in this case.  Araidi, who was in his 50s, died three months ago after a short bout with cancer.
Israeli consul general Aryeh Scher (l.) and George Schteinberg, suspects in child sex ring
A few years ago, Israeli consul general, Aryeh Scher, was found to be part of a pedophile ring operated by an Israeli expatriate, George Schteinberg.  The latter was arrested.  But the Israeli managed to spirit himself out of the country in order to avoid a serious embarrassment to Israel.  The foreign ministry permitted him to return to diplomatic service, shipping him off to Australia, where presumably he’d move to molesting Australian children.  Australians weren’t too keen on the idea and raised a stink, causing Scher to withdraw from consideration.
George Shteinberg, Israeli arrested by Brazilian police for leading child sex ring.
I only learned about all this after Schteinberg tweeted to me that my mother was a “whore” and that he would like to “piss” on my grave.  Though Twitter has made a big show of banning hate speech and abuse in its Twitter feeds, it refused to take any action regarding Schteinberg’s tweets.  Perhaps it bans hate speech when the media takes notice and embarrasses them.  Otherwise, this policy appears not to be enforced.  Schteinberg’s Twitter profile features a picture of him with little children on his knee holding candy and various presents he appears to have offered them.  Twitter appears to have no problem with accused pedophile flaunting their proclivities in their Twitter profiles.

20 February 2015

Board of Deputies Treasurer Laurence Brass Resigns to Speak Out on Israel

Shocked by What he Saw on the West Bank

Laurence Brass (left) next to war criminal Blair, Rabbi Sacks and Israel's far right ambassador Ron Prossor
 The Board of Deputies of British Jews has an appalling record on most issues.  In the 1930’s it told Jews to keep their heads down and stay indoors as Sir Oswald Moseley and his British Union of Fascists strutted through the East End.  At the Battle of Cable Street, when Moseley and the BUF were prevented from marching, the Jewish population, in alliance with ordinary trade unionists, Catholic dockers and the unemployed, ignored them as 100,000 people defied the Metropolitan Police’s defence of the anti-Semitic BUF.  Today the Met opposes ‘anti-Semitism’ as part of its attacks on Muslims.

Brass
The Board of Deputies also has an appalling record when it comes to Israel.  It sees, hears and speaks no evil.  It defends Israel right or wrong and attacks all critics as ‘anti-Semites’.  It is therefore doubly surprising that a senior officer of the Board, Laurence Brass, has spoken out against human rights abuses on the West Bank and settler attacks and now resigned.  According to reports in Ha’aretz he received a standing ovation.

Naturally he has been criticised by people like Gerald Steinberg of the McCarthyist organisation NGO Monitor, which is dedicated to supporting all attacks on Palestinian civilians.  Steinberg, a fascist Professor, would have made an excellent PR advisor to a certain Adolf Hitler.  Eric Moonman, who was a failed right-wing Labour MP, was another to criticise Brass for having the temerity to  object to settler attacks on Palestinians.

Laurence Brass is an asylum judge and certainly no anti-Zionist.  He is a supporter of Yachad, which is the equivalent of J-Street in the US, which describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-Peace, i.e. a 2 State organisation which sees Israel as losing the propaganda war.  Nonetheless Brass’s resignation is a significant step, not least in his criticism of the Board of Deputies’s silencing of all criticism of Israel.

The Board of Deputies today opposes what it terms 'anti-Semitism' i.e. criticism of Israel, and loses no opportunity to identify British Jews with Israeli attacks on Palestinians, which is the main motor for anti-Semitic attacks such as we have seen in France and Denmark. 

Tony Greenstein

The Board of Deputies Attitude to Israeli Attacks on Palestinians

Laurence Brass says he had been 'bursting to criticize the Israeli administration' for six years and took the board to task for preventing honorary officers from expressing personal opinions.

BOD Does Its Best to Associate British Jews with Israeli Crimes
The treasurer of the United Kingdom Jewish Board of Deputies, the representative body of British Jewry, has stepped down saying he “could not contemplate another three years of not being able to speak freely,” the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Laurence Brass, an asylum judge, had been tipped to run for board president in the May election after being twice elected as treasurer. But he told a plenary meeting of the executive on Sunday that “I decided that to be true to my principles and beliefs was more important than seeking office.”
Brass said he had been “bursting to criticize the Israeli administration” for six years and took the board to task for preventing honorary officers from expressing personal opinions.
Laurence Brass“I felt constrained not to have been able to speak out on subjects that are close to my heart, such as the treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories and the discrimination still being suffered by Arab citizens of Israel,” Brass said.

“There have been countless occasions over the last six years when I’ve been bursting to criticize the Israeli administration, but I’ve restrained myself.

“I want to be released from the chains of office to contribute to the wider debate on the Middle East, as well as on the critical political issues that I consider to be important here at home.”

Saying that he had encountered “very harsh and often quite abusive personal criticism” when speaking out, Brass called for his replacement to be free to speak out.

Brass received a standing ovation after his speech, the Chronicle reported, but board president Vivian Wineman cautioned other executive members to maintain their silence.

“People aren’t interested in our private opinions; they’re interested in what the Board thinks and what the Jewish community thinks,” Wineman said. “When we express ourselves, we always have to bear that in mind.”

See Envoys support Laurence Brass in Israel criticism row

26 June 2014

Board of Deputies treasurer ‘shocked’ by visit to West Bank

By Simon Rocker, May 2, 2014

Board of Deputies treasurer Laurence Brass has said he was horrified at what he witnessed during a visit to a West Bank village, describing it as an “eye-opener”.

Mr Brass, who was spending Pesach in Israel, took part in a private capacity in a one-day trip organised by Yachad UK and led by a guide from the anti-occupation Israeli army veterans’ group, Breaking the Silence.

His experience, as one of around a dozen Anglo-Jewish participants taken to the Palestinian village of Susiya, was shocking, he said.

“The village spokesman told us that he was very worried at the prospect of local Palestinian children being attacked by settlers on their way to school.

"Just 48 hours after we left, a six-year-old girl from the neighbouring village of Atuwani was admitted to hospital with head wounds after being stoned on her way to school, just as we had been warned might occur.

“I was shocked that this type of behaviour goes unchecked by the IDF.”

Mr Brass added that the abiding memory of his visit would be “the sight of an old rusty car being
dumped down the village well, thus preventing the locals from having fresh water."

“I had also not known previously that, on the majority of the road signs in the area, the Arabic words have been deliberately obliterated. I had also not previously appreciated the ever increasing number of settler outposts which have sprung up all over Area C, which, although illegal, no one appears willing to prevent.”

“Area C” represents West Bank zones under the control of Israel.

Mr Brass said: “The miserable existence of the Palestinian villagers we met will stay with me for a long time. It was difficult to reconcile that we were celebrating the festival of freedom, while these villagers were surviving in such squalid surroundings. I returned very depressed.”

Yachad, which campaigns for a two-state solution, ran 17 trips to East Jerusalem or the West Bank in 2013, for over 400 members of Zionist youth movements.

Is an anti-occupation revolt brewing in the British Jewishestablishment?

By Larry Derfner

|Published February 22, 2015

Leader in top communal organization announces he is leaving post to speak out freely against Israeli policies — and gets standing ovation from membership.

For many years I have felt that the only way to end the occupation is through outside pressure because Israel is just scorched earth politically, and will never do it on its own. On that basis, the announcement last week by a prominent figure in the British Jewish establishment, and the reaction to it by his colleagues, was a more hopeful sign than anything that’s happened in the current Israeli campaign or is about to happen on Election Day on March 17.

What happened was that Laurence Brass, treasurer of the leading British Jewish organization, the Board of Deputies, told a meeting of the board’s plenary that he was quitting the leadership ranks after the board’s May election, The Jewish Chronicle reported. The reason, he told the plenary, was:
I felt constrained not to have been able to speak out on subjects that are close to my heart, such as the treatment of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and the discrimination still being suffered by Arab citizens of Israel.

When he had tried to voice his opinions in the past, he said he faced “very harsh and often quite abusive personal criticism …”

What’s even more encouraging is that Brass, according to The Jewish Chronicle, “received a standing ovation after his speech.”

Is something happening in the British Jewish establishment? It sure seems that way. It sounds like there’s a potential revolt against Israeli policies simmering in the ranks of the most pro-Israel – or supposedly most pro-Israel – citizens in all of Great Britain.

When I look at how far the international movement against the occupation has to go before it will be strong enough to force Israel’s hand, I tend to despair. But then I see how mortally frightened the Israeli and pro-Israeli establishment is of this movement, and I say – maybe something is brewing here.

The attempt to muzzle Brass when he first began speaking out, following his visit to the West Bank last spring, was remarkable for the fear it revealed on the part of Israel’s mouthpieces. A lone individual, the treasurer of the British Board of Deputies, starts criticizing the occupation – and NGO Monitor’s hit man-in-chief Gerald Steinberg, as well as Netanyahu’s former head of hasbara and current head of the blue-chip Institute for Zionist Strategies, Yoaz Hendel, pile on him.

A Ta’ayush activist argues with an Israeli soldier in the South Hebron hills, August 11, 2012. (Photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Brass, after going on a Passover tour led by Breaking the Silence to see how Palestinians in the south Hebron hills are persecuted by settlers and the army, said:

The miserable existence of the Palestinian villagers we met will stay with me for a long time.
Shock and dismay beset the communal leadership. Former Board of Deputies vice president Eric Moonman said Brass should apologize for his remarks or resign as treasurer.

But then a line-up of elder statesmen of Israel’s peace movement – ex-Meretz leader Yossi Sarid, ex-New Israel Fund president Naomi Chazan, ex-attorney general Michael Ben-Yair, and ex-ambassadors to South Africa Alon Liel and Ilan Baruch – wrote a letter in support of Brass. Lauding his “willingness to see the grim reality on the ground in the West Bank,” they added, “What a shame that there are not more leaders of the Anglo-Jewish community willing to tackle these troubling issues.”

More shock and dismay. Steinberg, who said Liel, Chazan and the Israeli combat veterans of Breaking the Silence “are not the people to provide ethical grades to diaspora Jewish leaders,” accused Brass of taking a “radical position based on what he is told and sees through the lens of a very narrow Israeli constituency.”

Hendel, however, went further, joining Moonman in saying such talk as Brass’ cannot be tolerated from British Jewish leaders:

If someone comes to Israel and hears the point of view of only one side, and is not aware of the efforts made by the state of Israel and the IDF on behalf of Palestinian citizens in the area, or of the challenges, obstacles and limitations we face but encounters only a point of view that is used to delegitimize Israel, he should ask himself about his continued service as a leader of the Jewish community.

My favorite line of attack here is that Brass expressed his opinions after hearing “only one side.” As a 40-year veteran of the British Board of Deputies, Brass has been swimming his entire adult life in “only one side,” the official Israeli side, he can recite this side backwards and forwards, and for once he dares to hear the real other side, the side Steinberg, Hendel, the British Board of Deputies and pro-Israel forces everywhere have always muzzled, and suddenly he’s being “one-sided.”

Brass, a judge, has been elected twice as Board of Deputies treasurer and was considered a contender for the presidency before he went rogue. He told The Jewish Chronicle:

There have been countless times over the last six years when I’ve been bursting to criticize the Israeli administration, but I’ve restrained myself. I want to be released from the chains of office to contribute to the wider debate on the Middle East …

How many Board of Deputies members who gave Brass that standing ovation were thinking the same thing? Here’s what I’m thinking: It’s premature for despair. And thank you, Judge Brass; you’ve struck a nerve.