I am very concerned by the often repeated phrase “causing offence to Jewish people”.
Because it implies that Jewish people should be accorded a special level of protection not available to other people.
For example if I start a campaign to ban ritual slaughter should I be banned from doing so because I would undoubtedly “cause offence to Jewish people” ? Nobody would doubt I had the perfect right to cause offence to fox hunters. Does a religious motivated belief offer special protection ? And what if we get a Third Temple ? Would I have the right to object to the slaying of goats and doves ? There are certainly some Jews who would be offended by my objection, they might even claim it was motivated by anti Semitism.
Of course I have deep respect for the rich religious and cultural heritage of Judaism but that doesn’t imply I think Jews are a different race or a nation or The Other. While recognising that Jews have a special place in the religious and cultural tapestry of the British Isles surely the well being of us all is fostered by an emphasis on our similarly as human beings and citizens of Britain ?
Taking professional offence at every criticism of Israel is going to be very negative because we can all see the daily brutality, house demolitions and land theft. Clever legal moves by the BoD may be effective in the short term but in the long term it will be a disaster for good community relationships.

The Church of England, of which I am a member, whose life is an attempt to follow Christ’s commandments, will someday have to decide whether it is a religious organisation, or a tool of the British Establishment.

This report pussyfoots around whether Stephen Sizer is guilty of something or other, whereas underlying it all, is the ongoing attempt by the State of Israel to exclude any criticism of its treatment of the people of Palestine. Treatment which is totally unChristian and approaching genocidal (it is a slow-motion genocide, which is the best the perpetrators think they can get away with).

Before the 2019 election, Archbishop Welby took the Estabishment line and was persuaded by the Chief Rabbi that the then Labour Party was seriously antisemitic. The Forde Report and Al Jazeera countered that, but, if people stuck to the Law of the Land, rather than allegations of “causing offence”, we might have more sensible discussions.

As a young boy, I was told “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Remember that, Board of Deputies.

Back in the 1970s there was a very good radical priest near where I lived in Bethnal Green . He held an exhibition in his church about the treatment of Palestinians. Of course I was glad to meet him as the surrounding visible culture of the area in those days was National Front. But I was disappointed that his exhibition made no reference to the centuries of Christian antisemitism. When we talked about this he did not seem to get the point. I think the Council of Christians and Jews have rebalanced things, but too far over the other way. When I went to one of their meetings the form of Judaism that they were allying with was very conservative. This de facto support for Israel is also an issue in the Church-led Citizens UK movement which has done such good work with refugees and underpaid workers. Citizens UK follows the Alinsky rulebook and allies itself to pre-existing ‘community’ structures. So when it came to North London it wanted only to link with synagogues and froze out JfJfP members.