Jewish groups back stronger measures on Israel in letter to Andy Burnham
Imran Mulla reports in Middle East Eye on 4 September 2026:
Leading members of Jewish civil society groups have written to British Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging him to adopt stronger measures on Israel and “oppose any further attempts to muzzle the Palestine marches”.
This comes as the Burnham government prepares to announce a raft of new measures on the occupied West Bank, including a ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements.
Major British Jewish organisations, including the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, urged the government not to impose a ban on settlement goods earlier this week and met Burnham in Downing Street.
UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on Monday that he had met Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and warned sanctions on Israel would have a “negative impact” on British Jews.
But on Thursday, leading members of Holocaust Survivors and Descendants against Gaza Genocide (HSD), Jewish Voice for Liberation (formerly Jewish Voice for Labour) and Jews for Justice for Palestinians, sent a letter to the prime minister arguing the opposite. Signatories of the letter include Stephen Kapos and Agnes Kory, who are Holocaust survivors.
Seen by MEE, the letter says: “There are several Jewish ‘communities’ and a wide diversity of views on Israel among Jewish people in the UK and we trust that you will meet with us and other members of the Jewish Bloc in the near future.”
The letter also says: “We eagerly await your premiership in the light of your recent call for stronger action against Israel, along with your apology for the Labour Government’s slowness to call for a ceasefire.”
The signatories explain in the letter that they regularly march “along with the large Jewish Bloc on the Palestine Marches in support of Palestinians in Gaza, calling out what we firmly believe has become a clear case of genocide”.
They criticise the characterisation of pro-Palestine marches as antisemitic, saying hostility “has come not from our fellow pro-Palestinian protesters, from whom we have received only goodwill and support, but from the pro-Israel counter-demonstrators”.
‘Many Jews feel this anger and misery too’
The letter also refers to a previous letter signed by 44 Holocaust survivors and descendants of Holocaust survivors to Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, in May.