British Jews meet U.K. foreign secretary

Representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews met with the country’s foreign secretary. The delegation at last week’s meeting broached concerns with Margaret Beckett about the threat posed by Iran to the West, as well as to Israel, and its destabilizing influence throughout the Middle East.Members also brought up the recent publication of the booklet “Darfur: A Jewish Response” by the Pears Foundation in cooperation with the Board of Deputies, and the particular resonance of the Darfur crisis with the Jewish community in light of the Holocaust. They expressed their hope that the British government would continue to urge the international community to intervene in Darfur and support sanctions against Sudan.Beckett confirmed that she had raised these concerns during discussions on Darfur at a recent U.N. Security Council meeting.The delegation also expressed concern about the amount of anti-Semitic material, including Holocaust denial and blood libels, appearing in mainstream media in Ukraine and Arab countries, much of which is available in Europe via satellite broadcasts.