YOUR COMMUNAL CONTRIBUTION

RECENTLY WE HAVE...Combatted antisemitism

– Met with the Leader of the Opposition, submitted a robust response to the Chakrabarti inquiry and given evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

– Secured Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s signing of the ‘European Mayors United Against Antisemitism’ declaration.

Expressed the community’s bond with Israel

– Engaged with BBC News and Sky News on the quality of their reporting of the Middle East.

– Promoted the Shalom declaration, enabling over 130 churches and ministries to declare their support for Israel.

Defended Jewish education, educated about Judaism

– Successfully defended Hebrew study at GCSE and A Level when it was under threat.

– Published the first ever balanced resource for educators teaching Judaism as part of the new GCSE Religious Studies syllabus.

– Continued to educate about and defend religious freedoms including Shechita and Brit Milah.

Advocated for Jews beyond our borders

– Raised numerous issues at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office including the Iran deal, antisemitism in central Europe and post-Holocaust restitution in the Balkans.

– Engaged with dozens of embassies, making us the foremost point of contact in the Jewish community for the diplomatic community in London.

Built bridges through interfaith relations

– Launched and developed Nisa-Nashim: The Jewish Muslim Women’s Network which has already hosted dozens of events bringing people together and changing perceptions.

– Initiated a coding project at Twitter UK for Catholic, Jewish and Muslim schoolchildren with partner organisations.

YOUR VOICE

Our advocacy delivers tangible results. Our elected leadership is supported by a professional team without parallel in our community. The work of the Board of Deputies reaches those in positions of influence in towns and cities across the UK including those who have little exposure to the Jewish community. It is through tools such as the innovative ‘Jewish Manifesto’ series that we have been able to extend our reach further than ever across the whole of the UK.

The communal contribution appears on your synagogue bill as an annual charge of just £30 and despite financial pressures, we have been able to safeguard our work as your democratically elected cross-communal representative voice. Now, more than ever, we need that strong voice.

2015 GENERAL ELECTION:A JEWISH MANIFESTO

WHAT YOU CAN DO...

THE CONTEXT: The 2015 General Election is going to be one of the closest fought in history.

Following an extensive consultation across our community, the Board of Deputies has produced a 40-page Jewish Manifesto for the General Election addressing the issues of greatest concern to our community. The detailed policy document covers a huge range of issues, but is summarised in the ‘Ten Commitments’ overleaf.

Now we need you to help to communicate our concerns to politicians. Below is a basic guide to enable you to get the attention of your local candidates.

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE: 1. When candidates knock on your door, please raise

the ‘Ten Commitments’ with them.

2. Use the handy new online tool, produced in partnership with We Believe in Israel. Log on to www.bod.org.uk go to the Jewish Manifesto and in just a few clicks you will be able to write to all your local candidates.

3. Organise a hustings (Q & A) event with your local candidates in your synagogue or communal organisation.

4. Seek a face-to-face meeting with your local candidates, maybe a catch-up over a coffee with a candidate you know personally or something more formal.

ORGANISING A MEETING WITH CANDIDATES:

If you decide you want to arrange something more formal, here are some principles to bear in mind:

1. A letter from a senior member of your synagogue or organisation is harder for candidates to turn down.

2. Make it clear to the candidates why the meeting would be helpful for them. Would they find out about the issues affecting people in their constituency or could they learn something about how the Jewish community works?

3. Follow-up the request. Candidates get lots of requests so there’s no harm in calling a week or so after you send your letter or email to check they’ve received it and to ask directly whether the meeting or visit would be possible.

4. You’ll want to think about what ‘experience’ you want them to have at the meeting or visit, and the order of priority of the issues that you wish to raise. The most important items should be raised first, in case you run out of time.

5. It’s a good idea to send an agenda across to the candidate with any other logistical information about a week in advance of the meeting so that they can prepare.

ACTIONS THAT CANDIDATES CAN TAKE TO SHOW SUPPORT: To make the most of the meeting or visit you will want to think in advance about what you want the candidate to do afterwards. Here are five things you could ask:

1. Take a picture of themselves holding up a copy of the Board’s Manifesto and share it on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #TenCommitments.

2. Put a press release on their website. You can give them a helping hand by drafting it for them, which the Board staff can help you do.

3. If elected, speak up in Parliament. You could ask them to table a parliamentary question about one of the policy asks within the Manifesto.

4. After the meeting or visit, a thank you email or letter is a good idea, not only as a courtesy but also as another chance to mention the policy areas to which they may have committed.

5. Once they have been elected or re-elected to Parliament, they could join the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Jews to get updates and information on the latest Jewish concerns. They might also be interested in joining the APPG Against Antisemitism or one of the Friends of Israel groups.

To download an electronic version of the Board’s full election manifesto please go to http://bit.ly/1AOpJv8

For further advice on lobbying Parliamentary candidates in your area and for a hard copy of the manifesto, contact the Board’s Parliamentary and Public Affairs Officer, Sophie Dunoff at sophie.dunoff@bod.org.uk or call 020 7543 5408

GET THE MANIFESTO NOW!

A JEWISH MANIFESTO FOR THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

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The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities

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The Ten Commitments

The Northern Ireland Assembly election is scheduled to take place on 5 May 2016. The Belfast Jewish Community, supported by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, has summarised the Jewish community’s aspirations into ‘Ten Commitments’, and we call on candidates to show their support for them. The Belfast Jewish Community is the centre of Jewish religious and cultural life in Northern Ireland. The Board is the voice of the Jewish community in the UK.

Please share your support for these Ten Commitments on social media with the hashtag #TenCommitments @BoardofDeputies.

We call on candidates to:

1. Promote good relations, cooperation and understanding between all of Northern Ireland’s communities. 2. Fight all forms of racism and sectarianism in Northern Ireland – including antisemitism.

3. Support existing efforts to remember and understand the Holocaust and strive to prevent any other genocide, including by participating in the annual Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.

4. Re-introduce the Holocaust Educational Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz Project’, which includes a one day visit to Auschwitz, in schools and colleges. Lessons about the Holocaust are pertinent in challenging wider sectarianism, racism and antisemitism, and ensure that students understand where hate can lead.

5. Commit to acting responsibly in making statements concerning conflict in the Middle East, including the Arab-Israeli conflict. Politicians should recognise extreme comments can lead to racist attacks against Jewish or Muslim communities at home, and damage community relations generally.

6. Draw upon the experience of peace-building in Northern Ireland to engage positively and constructively with all those in the Middle East working towards comprehensive peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.

7. Protect religious freedoms, including the right to a Jewish way of life. This would include provision of kosher meat, protection of circumcision and flexible working to accommodate Sabbath and festival observance.

8. Celebrate contemporary Jewish culture in appropriate ways – including the Belfast community’s Jews Schmooze cultural programme – as part of promoting a diverse and inclusive Northern Ireland.

9. Preserve the community’s heritage by maintaining the former Annesley Street synagogue and disused Falls Road Jewish cemetery, and ensuring appropriate commemoration in Belfast for the birthplace of past Israeli president, Chaim Herzog.

10. Tackle wider challenges like poverty, climate change and human rights abuses.

A JEWISH MANIFESTO FOR THE NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY

Com m unity

Belfast Jewish

Our innovative ‘Jewish Manifesto’ series which sets out policy positions and ‘asks’ of elected representatives across the United Kingdom.

THE BOARD OF DEPUTIES OF BRITISH JEWS IS

THE VOICE OF THE BRITISH JEWISH

COMMUNITY, THE FIRST PORT OF CALL FOR

GOVERNMENT, THE MEDIA AND OTHERS

SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND JEWISH COMMUNITY

INTERESTS AND CONCERNS.

FIND OUT MORE

– Discuss our work with your Deputy– Sign up to our weekly community briefing through our website to be kept up to date

with our latest activities– Join our online community on Facebook and Twitter– Follow our meetings live on YouTube– Get in touch

CONTACT

The Board of Deputies of British JewsA: 1 Torriano Mews, London NW5 2RZE: info@bod.org.uk T: +44 (0) 20 7543 5400

@BoardofDeputies facebook.com/boardofdeputies