The London Guardian reports on a sad tale of Jewish exclusivity and wanting to maintain the ghetto:
The Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, issued a rallying cry for Jews today to defend their schools from English law after the court of appeal decided that admission on the basis of a parent’s Jewish status was discriminatory. Writing in this week’s Jewish Chronicle, he condemned the ruling, saying it branded Judaism “racist”.
His comments follow last month’s judgment by the court of appeal that a Jewish school that prioritised applications from children with Jewish mothers discriminated on grounds of race. Seen as a landmark decision on the admissions criteria used by faith schools, the case centred on a boy known as M, 12, who was refused admission to JFS, in Brent, London.
A letter, by journalist Jonathan Cook, takes Sacks to task:
Jonathan Sacks is wrong: the court of appeal has not branded Judaism “racist”. It has ruled that British taxpayers should not be footing the bill for Jewish faith schools that select pupils primarily using the criterion of race. Orthodox Jewish schools are free to continue doing so, but will have to pay for the privilege of maintaining an interpretation of Judaism that is largely racially exclusive.
Jonathan Cook
Nazareth, Israel