Category Archives: Judaism

Scottish Facial Recognition Technology

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I am just back from a trip to the UK — Glasgow and London — featuring the usual mandatory visits to Glenduffhill Cemetery and Foyles bookshop and on this occasion some common-or-garden sightseeing.

I went to Hampton Court, Bletchley Park, and Cambridge. The first two were impressive. The last was a bit of a disappointment because it reeked of ‘tourist trap’: the admission prices for some of the university locations were far too high. (Given the university gets wads of public cash, why should the public — especially British taxpayers — be charged anything?)

In Glasgow I encountered the latest in facial recognition technology. On Shabbat morning, I was stopped at the shul entrance by a security guard who said ‘Sorry sir, but I don’t recognize your face’ and he then politely barred my entry. I explained I was a visitor — yes, it does still feel strange, even after all these years, being a visitor to Glasgow — but that didn’t move him and correctly so. Fortunately, one of the regular congregation arrived just then and vouched for me. Phew! Of course, it’s a sad comment on the state of affairs that the shul needs security, but it’s also a common feature that is unlikely to go away soon.

On Shabbat, I skipped off early from the services and walked into the city center to meet up with the amazing Glasgow Friends of Israel. For more than ten years they have been presenting their pro-peace platform on Buchanan Street and making a real difference. If you don’t already know about them, I encourage you to search for them on Facebook and check out their weekly reports. They are amazing. They are solid evidence that the silent majority support Israel and that social media is not the real world. It was an eventful day but I won’t say any more until certain legal matters have been resolved. I was glad I went and the volunteers thanked me for my support such as it was.

Glasgow was the first stop on the holiday. As I drove south to London, I couldn’t help thinking about the Jewish community I was leaving behind and hoping for their future safety and survival.

Coming Home Anniversary

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This week marks my umpteenth aliyahversary — my arrival in Israel as a new immigrant and my return to the homeland of the Jews. Although I reap the benefits every day I am here, it’s good to take time out to consciously mark the occasion and say thanks.

I love living life to a Jewish beat, to a Jewish rhythm.

Instead of going from New Year to Easter to Christmas, I go from Rosh Hashanah, via Yom Kippur, to Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, and Pesach — with a few fast days thrown in.

I love seeing the various Jewish festivals being marked in the shops, on buses, on the streets, and in the media.

I love that I live my life as a Jew, free from worries about the temperamental hostility of my fellow citizens. I can wear a kippah, should I choose to do so, and it’s not like putting a target on my back unlike in the rest of the world. (Isn’t that shocking and sad?)

Instead of going from Monday to Sunday, I go from Sunday to Shabbat.

I love the growing calm, peace, and quiet that Friday afternoon brings as people get ready for Shabbat, however they may mark it.

And Friday night dinner is a major family occasion here, regardless of religious belief or observance. It’s wonderful and life affirming to experience and see it. Sometimes, on my way to shul on a Friday night, I see visitors coming to our apartment block, typically loaded with one or more trays of food, joining family or friends or both to enjoy a Shabbat evening meal.

I love the regular surprises that the Israeli people bring to the world. For the avoidance of doubt, I’m not arguing any superiority, just celebrating our successes. And, yes, we have our failures to mourn, mainly our political leaders. Our current Prime Minister and government are an embarrassment. Hopefully the next election will sort that out. If not, next year’s aliyahversary post may be more somber!

So, another glorious year of living in Israel has gone by. Here’s to the next one, and many more.

(Let’s not forget this benefit.)

Duality of Antisemitism

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Much of the hateful discourse in the media (mainstream and social) during the hot war with Iran has been about the relationship between Trump/USA and Netanyahu/Israel.

The general thrust of the poison was (and is) to the effect that Trump does what Netanyahu wants, that the war was Israel’s, and that the USA had no option but do what its Zionist overlords ordered. In other words, The Jews controlled America.

This, of course, is hateful nonsense.

As Sartre said:

Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies.  They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge.  But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words…

The anti-Semites…like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors.  They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert.  If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.

Source: Anti-Semite and Jew by Jean-Paul Sartre, 1944

With that in mind, let’s turn to an article in today’s Times of Israel:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warns that the US-Iran memorandum of understanding obligates US President Donald Trump to “muzzle” Israel and prevent it from militarily threatening Iran, in response to remarks by Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“The terms of the Islamabad MoU are crystal clear and public for all to see. POTUS has committed the US to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv. If they ignore their master, Iran will school them. Any threat against our People and Leadership will receive Immediate Powerful Response,” Araghchi warns in a post on X.

Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently, the story has changed: now it’s America that controls Israel.

Truly, to be an antisemite is to be especially blessed: you have the capacity, if not the requirement, to hold two conflicting racist tropes in your mind at the same time. Such is the duality of antisemitism.

The Antisemitism of Amnesty

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I previously referred to the Perfidy of Amnesty. Their continuing bigotry has been brought to my attention by the indomitable Elder of Ziyon in a post entitled Amnesty proves it is antisemitic, again.

I encourage you to follow the last link and read the post on the Elder’s site. For those who want a summary, here goes:

Amnesty tweeted about a Holocaust survivor:

Right now, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos is at the Nakba Day demonstration in London. The 88-year-old has attended almost every demonstration in the last two year’s protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Stephen stands and sits with family and members of his group the ‘Holocaust Survivors & Descendants Against the Genocide in Gaza’.

The Elder pointed out:

Amnesty-UK is publicizing a child Holocaust survivor who marches in anti-Israel demonstrations, calling the Gaza War a “genocide.” The only reason they want to promote him is to make the point that as a Holocaust survivor, Kapos knows what genocide is and has a particular moral authority to be able to describe Israel’s actions as the most heinous war crimes.

But if Holocaust survivors have a unique perspective on genocide – and they do, having survived the paradigm of all genocides – then what about the 99.9% of living Holocaust survivors who support Israel, and who recognize Hamas and October 7 as being the closest modern equivalent to Nazis? If Holocaust survivors have an important perspective on the matter, why is Amnesty ignoring the feelings of nearly all of them and promoting a fringe figure among them?

From this, the Elder (rightly) concludes that Amnesty doesn’t think most Holocaust survivors’ opinions are important. I agree. How arrogant is their attitude? How bigoted is it?

The Elder makes two particular points following this.

First, Amnesty means that the other Holocaust survivors who support Israel are — by Amnesty’s logic — supporting genocide.

Second, by promoting Kapos above the majority of other Holocaust survivors, they are clearly using him as a prop. If they cared for Holocaust survivors, they would instead quote the others who would tell Amnesty about Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and the Houthis who want to finish Hitler’s job.

And, as I don’t want to lessen the impact of the Elder’s closing words (with which I wholeheratedly agree) I set them out in full here:

To Amnesty, the Holocaust is not a lesson for them to learn from. It is only a lesson for its victims and their descendants. It wasn’t a genocide, exactly, but a giant classroom for Jews to learn to behave themselves and not act like Nazis. The rest of the world, the world that let the Holocaust happen, are now the judges that determine whether Jews fighting for their lives are crossing the line or need to be taught Remedial Holocaust 102. To Amnesty, the Holocaust is a prop meant to be trotted out when it is convenient for them to hurl the most hateful accusations against Jews and then use fringe, mentally ill Jews as a cover to protect themselves from being accused of antisemitism.

No one else can be compared to the Nazis but Jews, in Amnesty’s universe.

This tweet, alone, exposes the cynicism and hypocrisy of this supposedly “human rights” organization. And, yes, the implications of this tweet are pure Jew-hatred.

This is not imaginary. This is real. This is a once worthy human-rights organization that is clearly engaged in naked antisemitism — repeatedly. Their brand is poison and should be shunned forever.

Return of the Whisky

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One of my favorite post-Pesach moments is retrieving my whisky. This year, because I’d removed the whisky from our home instead of just hiding it, it was a bigger job to put it back, so I left it until after Shabbat. Now I have the rest of the week to decide what the first taste of whisky will be in the new season. Given that the headline image shows only a sample of my collection, it’s a tough choice.

The Perfidy of Amnesty

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Once upon a time, Amnesty was a real human-rights organization. Not any more. For many years, perhaps decades, it has been a front for bigotry directed at Israel, Israelis, and Jews. For those outside the battlefield, Amnesty still retains its reputation. That’s one reason why its particular bigotry is so venomous and effective. Those of us who know the true situation tend to largely ignore all of Amnesty’s activity. Once you know it’s been repurposed as an antizionist, antisemitic outlet, you start to realize that you cannot trust anything it says. And I mean anything.

I was reminded of the perfidy of Amnesty by this recent post on X (formerly Twitter).

Amnesty post on X, starting with "Our thoughts are with the Jewish community following the horrifying arson attack in Golders Green..."

On the face of it, you couldn’t ask for more. However, it’s a sham.

Cast your mind back to 2015. At the Amnesty International UK’s Annual General Meeting that year, there were 17 resolutions up for adoption.

The 16 that were passed covered a range of international human rights issues and internal organizational matters.

The single resolution that was rejected was the one to “Campaign against anti-Semitism in the UK” and lobby the UK Government on this issue.

As reported by NGO Monitor here:

According to the motion, neither AIUK nor the [Amnesty] International Secretariat have undertaken research or campaigning work specifically on anti-Semitism in the UK.”

And

Nevertheless, an Amnesty-UK official offered a misleading technical justification, claiming that “our membership decided not to pass this resolution calling for a campaign with a single focus.” In fact, AIUK has initiated “single focus” campaigns frequently in the past, for instance, approving “overwhelmingly” a  2010 resolution on Sinti and Roma Communities, and stating: “Within the last year widespread discrimination and violence against Sinti and Roma communities has intensified in a number of European countries, which Amnesty International has published within respective country reports.” AIUK’s silence on antisemitism stands in sharp contrast.

There was an attempt on X to explain their stance:

We condemn all forms of hate crime and discrimination. Unfortunately we can’t campaign on everything.

They do campaign about lots of issues, but not about antisemitism.

Even Wikipedia, no friend to the Jews, has material about Amnesty’s bigotry.

WikiPedia content about Amnesty and antisemitism. (27 March 2026)

Agnes Callamard has been the Secretary General of Amnesty International since 2021. Wikipedia – perhaps unsurprisingly – doesn’t find space for mention of her blind spot towards the Jews. For example, when British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah was released, this was her post on X and a sample of the unanswered criticism it triggered.

Post by Agnes Callamard on X. It says "Alaa is in the UK, reunited with his son and family. I am so so happy for them all." User @HarryJonesOz posted "Once many years ago Amnesty would not engage with a person who advocated or engaged in violence. Now here you are pouring out your love for a person who advocates openly on record for killing Jews. Did you ever stop to think?"

In other words, she celebrated the release of a man who called for Jews to be killed. For the complete extent of Alaa’s bigotry, he also called for the death of homosexuals and “whites”.

There are plenty more examples of Callamard’s bigotry and bias. Grokipedia has some material here. But these are truly the tip of the iceberg. Given her position, there’s little likelihood of Amnesty’s stance changing.

In short, for Amnesty, Jews don’t count. That new post about the incident in Golders Green is a sham. Don’t trust Amnesty.

Bloody Bondi

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I wanted to post something about the dreadful Chanukah attack in Bondi Beach, Australia. But as the Elder of Ziyon‘s post exactly matches my thoughts and perspective (and since reading through the reports and some of the social media responses has been so exhausting) I will take the easy option and simply direct you there.

I also want to repeat his concluding words.

The calls to “Globalize the Intifada” and “By Any Means Necessary” are exactly as offensive, exactly as disgusting and exactly as inciteful as “Gas the Jews.” There is no difference. Yet the tolerance of the “pro-Palestinian” phrases is exactly what leads to the horrific events of today in Bondi Beach. 

It is long past time for the media and political class to confront reality: these protests are not about peace, human rights, or justice. They function as permission structures, inciting people to attack Jews while cloaking themselves in moral language. 

Simchat Torah 5786 (2025)

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The worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust took place on October 7, 2023 corresponding with 22 Tishrei 5784 in the Jewish calendar and the festival of Simchat Torah.

The aftermath of that festival was immense grieving, sadness, and a relentless two-year war that saw Israel attacked again from all sides; militarily and politically. Against all the odds, we won. And today, with the return of the last of the living hostages, we have much to rejoice.

Our joy is tempered by the price our people paid, particularly by our soldiers. It’s also under a slight cloud as we await fulfillment of the promise to return the bodies of the remaining hostages. We hope and pray for their return soon.

This evening is the start of Simchat Torah 5786, so almost exactly two years by our calendar since the dreadful day of atrocities. The usual festival celebrations – dancing and singing as we end the yearly cycle of Torah reading and start afresh – will be infused with added energy and significance.