The Board of Deputies of British Jews has branded as forgeries a series of letters purportedly from Jewish organizations and groups threatening violence against members of Parliament and others alleged to be enemies of Israel and the Jewish people.
One letter, under the letterhead of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women, a London-based organization, was mailed from Frankfurt, West Germany, to members of Parliament. It named 10 MPs accused of having “dangerous tendencies” who”harm the interests of Jewry (sic) and of Israel.” The letter warned that the Association was “campaigning for purification of Parliament and of other political and cultural activities in Great Britain.”
A second letter, mailed from Vienna, bore a crude letterhead, “Jewish Action–Terror Against Terror,” alongside a representation of the Israeli flag. It was mailed to, among others, members of the Conservative Friends of Israel. It warned representatives of the Association of Cinematographers, Television and Allied Technicians against “giving way to their anti-Jewish and anti-Israel provocations at their next conference.”
Dr. Jacob Gewirtz, executive director of the Board of Deputies, said there was no question that both letter are a crude hoax, apparently intended to alienate friends of Israel in both the Conservative and Labor parties, and come from the same source. “It is absolutely certain that the perpetrators of the ‘Terror Against Terror’ hoax are the same as those responsible for the bogus (ex-Servicemen’s) letter.”
Gewirtz pointed out the same errors of grammar and construction in both the Frankfurt and Vienna letters which were obviously inexpert translations from German.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
