{"id":115622,"date":"2017-07-04T10:47:01","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T18:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=115622"},"modified":"2017-07-04T10:47:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-04T18:47:01","slug":"former-edl-leader-tommy-robinson-holds-secret-meeting-with-manchester-jews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=115622","title":{"rendered":"Former EDL leader Tommy Robinson holds secret meeting with Manchester Jews"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Jewish Chronicle in London<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Members of Manchester\u2019s Jewish community held a secret meeting with Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the far-right English Defence League.<\/p>\n

The controversial meeting, which took place in Prestwich last week, was billed as a charity fundraiser, but also saw Mr Robinson deliver a speech outlining his extreme views on Islam…<\/p>\n

Jeremy Newmark, Jewish Labour Movement chairman, confirmed local activists from his organisation had been left \u201coutraged\u201d after learning of the event.<\/p>\n

Mr Newmark told the JC: “No ifs, no buts, Tommy Robinson is an enemy of our community. He is part of the same political tradition as the National Front and the BNP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson has long attempted to court British Jews and has travelled to Israel, proclaiming himself to be a \u201cZionist\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the Board of Deputies condemned last week\u2019s meeting saying: \u201cTommy Robinson\u2019s record of anti-Muslim provocation means that he could never be a partner of a respectable or mainstream Jewish organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

…A spokesman for the left-wing Jewish Voice group said: \u201cTommy Robinson has been attempting to co-opt the Jewish community, trying to play on antisemitism among the Muslim community to cause tension between the two communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson confirmed on Twitter that the meeting took place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was from the talk I gave to Manchester Jewish community. Thank you guys for the donations,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

In a further post today, Mr Robinson added: “People actually think I’m a Jew. I’ve gone full 360 over last 8 yrs. From people thinking I hate Jews to people thinking I am a Jew.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Jewish Chronicle in London: Members of Manchester\u2019s Jewish community held a secret meeting with Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the far-right English Defence League. The controversial meeting, which took place in Prestwich last week, was billed as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42720,609,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alt-right","category-england","category-jews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t