On Sunday the 22nd September 2019 the Jewish rep council and MAV-UK representatives gathered at MAV UK - Community -Hulme Hall for an afternoon event called "Diversity in the Community". The event brought communities with different cultures, Ethnic backgrounds and religions together to eradicate ant-Semitism and Racial prejudice. To set the atmosphere Jewish folk songs were played and people were offered soft drinks and Jewish snacks which included bread and cakes.
The afternoon was started by Jeremy Michelson who spoke passionate about the Jewish history, Talmud, and how we are expected to run our lives in the service. The talk lasted for over 45 minutes and was well received by the many non-Jews who attended. The session finished with a question and answer session.
Following Jeremy was Michael Sharpe from the new Holocaust museum. He talked about his connection to the holocaust and the North Western holocaust museum which is located at the University of Huddersfield where the Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre is based. He explained that although Britain's had access to reliable information about the Nazi regime’s persecution of Jews, most people could not imagine that a mass murder campaign was possible. Many Britain's sympathized with the plight of European Jews, assisting refugees and rescuing the victims of Nazism never became a national priority.
At the public exhibition at the University of Huddersfield there is a powerful warning note about the perils of anti-Semitism, and forms of racial prejudice. There are also illustrations of the Nazi persecution of the Jews which culminated in the Holocaust. The exhibition is based around the stories of survivors who made new lives in the North of England and includes evocative artefacts from the camps.
Moving on, the next speaker was Joy Wolfe who patiently touched on modern Israel, Today's wrongful views from the BBC and United Nations. Joy told us of all the wonderful things that Israel has given the world. This included many information and technologies and breakthrough in medical sciences for many major illnesses, which includes cancer research.
After refreshments we were privileged to have a professional Israeli group entertain. They were joined by a local children's dance group who shared in the Israeli dancing. To finish off this wonderful afternoon of the integration of communities, Jet-Black Dance Academy took to the floor and entertained us with hip hop dance. Pauline Sergeant chairperson of Mothers Against Violence and Jay Charara from the rep council closed the proceeding.
In September 2020 MAV UK met with Jewish leaders which include Jeremy Michelson in an online meeting to explore how we build on the first event. We will update you in April 2021 with some of the ideas and projects we intend to develop.
We extend a special thank you to Carl Montlake for highlighting issues and barriers to the MAV UK and the Jewish leaders. Carl has been a valued member of the MAV UK management committee for the past 8 years. He coordinated the Diversity in the Community Event and will continue to lead on project development.