This blog has written before about the troubling Left-wing community group Citizens UK and it’s activities. This blog, and others such as Harry’s Place, have written about some of the more dubious associates that Citizens UK has, such as the extremist linked East London Mosque.
Citizens UK is a national organisation that likes to present itself as being reasonable, representing different groups of people with a common interest and paints itself as being solely concerned with helping people and helping communities take action to deal with their problems. So far so ‘reasonable’ sounding. But that’s not the whole story. Citizens UK would probably decry and deny the label ‘Left-wing’, but when you look at their actions, their campaigns and their methods, you may find that a label of ‘Left-wing’ or even something worse, is applicable to it.
Citizens UK likes to paint itself as a ‘community’ group with both wide and deep support. However this article on their own website, condemns their North London Branch by their own words, as yet another naïve pro-immigration group. Not only that it is shown to be an organisation that is prepared to ignore horrendous problems of need among Britons of all races, but instead has been acting as a sort of behind the scenes facilitator for the entry of alleged ‘Syrians’.
Before the article, first a little bit about the participants and supporters of CitizensUK. A quick scan through the names throws up the usual suspects. They include naïve Left wing religious types, Christian and Jew, (who don’t seem to realise that they would be the first to meet the Muslim headchoppers should Islam gain any sort of power where they are), a mosque that burned down in mysterious ‘Insurance Job’ circumstances and those from the ‘interfaith establishment’ who still inexplicably, and in the face of damning evidence to the contrary, describe Islam as ‘a religion of peace’.
Here’s the article from the Citizens UK website. As is the usual policy for this blog, the original text is in italics whilst this bloggers comments are in plain text.
Barnet Citizens, part of national community organising charity, Citizens UK, organised a ‘Sanctuary Succot in Barnet’ on 27th September – St Vincent de Paul’s feast day – as part of its campaign to persuade Barnet Council to welcome 50 Syrian refugees into the community –
Yes, of course the Jewish festival of Succot is a time when Jews are not only supposed to think of the the Israelites wandering in the Biblical wilderness, and one of Judaism’s harvest festivals, but are also supposed to think of the homeless, and many Jews do donate to homelessness charities at this time. However in this case, I must ask whether or not there were not more deserving causes that could be backed by Citizens UK and their Jewish and Christian supporters, other than these ‘alleged Syrians’. Were there not local children residing in insecure or unsafe accommodation or homeless ex-servicepeople in North London, who needed help? Or were they not ‘glamourous’ enough or tick the correct Left wing boxes for Citizens UK?
resulting in the Leader of the Council, Richard Cornelius responding “Rabbi, the answer is yes” to Barnet signing up to the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.
I wonder if Councillor Cornelius’s magnanimous gesture, presumably accompanied by a large dose of taxpayer cash, will result in him having to live cheek by jowl with the ‘Syrians’ that he wishes to import? I would assume not. There are far too many middle class Lefties who santimoniously preach that Britons must accept these unwanted alleged ‘refugees’, but who never ever have to live with the consequences of their decisions.
The event, held at Finchley Progressive Synagogue alongside partner organisations including the Somali Bravanese Welfare Union, Vincentians in Partnership and Middlesex University Student Union, was co-chaired by Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk and Sayed Alkadiri, Vice President of Middlesex University Students Union. With 200 attendees from Barnet member communities, the packed hall also included VIPs such as Tim Blackman, Vice Chancellor of Middlesex University, Rabbi Danny Rich, Rabbi Danny Freelander Head of World Union of Progressive Judaism and Richard Cornelius, Leader of Barnet Council. The Church of England based Near Neighbours funded the project, and Abahuzamigambi Rwandan dance troupe performed at it.
This looks like a role call of the ‘worst of the worst’ when it comes to Lefty religious types. You have the Somali Bravanese Welfare Union whose mosque burned down in mysterious circumstances but who shortly afterwards were awarded public funds to rebuild. There is strong suspicion that the SBWU had great ambitions for their mosque but no money with which to do it with. Luckily for the SBWU the mysterious fire, along with an outpouring of grief from the middle class left (some of whom are represented in the list above) convinced the local council, Barnet, to fund the rebuilding of the mosque. As to the other groups and individuals, we see the naïve ‘open borders’ and ‘we are all the same really’ types such as the C of E’s ‘Near Neighbour’ project and the often completely off the wall student politicos and well paid academics who will be well insulated from the problems these ‘Syrians’ will bring,
There are also one Rabbinicial name on there that screams ‘Leftie!!’ to me and that is that of Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk. Rabbi Birk seems to like far Left campaigns like this one, but is not a Rabbi blessed with a lot of common sense or judgment. She was one of those who immediately believed the ‘Bravanese’ group when they claimed their building had been ‘bombed’ by ‘racists’, as can be seen from this excerpt from a Facebook post by Liberal Judaism, Rabbi Birk’s religious denomination.
Liberal Judaism
Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk has just returned from a meeting with the Al-Rahma Islamic Centre community, whose building in Muswell Hill was destroyed by a bomb yesterday. Rabbis Jonathan Wittenberg and David Mason also attended and the three rabbis offered practical help and solidarity to their stricken neighbours.
Rabbi Birk said: “We are horrified and deeply saddened by the devastating attack on the Al-Rahma Islamic Centre in Muswell hill. It was a despicable act of hatred and we the local Jewish community and Barnet residents stand with the Coppetts Road Muslim community in our sympathy, support and offers of practical help.”
Link to original source: https://www.facebook.com/liberaljudaism/posts/611610712196748
In the light of evidence that came out later about the Bravanese centre, that looks very much like an error of judgement. Rabbi Birk has swallowed the multiculti pill big time and is yet another of those foolish Rabbonim who continue to say ‘Islam is a religion of peace’, even as Muslims are murdering and threatening to murder Jews throughout the world. The other Rabbonim listed there are also very much of a worryingly Left wing persuasion.
It’s important to remember that although there are Rabbonim listed there in the article, their outrageous and counter-productive Left wing views and attitudes, such as they express, are not representative of the politics of British Jewish communities as a whole. The voting patterns of British Jews roughly follows that of the general population which is a Labour/Lib Dem/Conservative split. These Rabbonim represent nobody and nothing but themselves and their own small coterie of Left wingers and deluded hangers-on.
Sometimes, the political views of the ‘Jews in the Pews’ in a synagogue are very much at odds with the political views of a community’s Rabbi. That shouldn’t be an issue as someone once said that a ‘Rabbi who everyone agrees or disagrees with all the time is not doing his or her job properly’. The sad thing about this article is that many people who know nothing about Judaism will see some Jews supporting the entry of unwanted ‘Syrians’ and come to the wrong conclusion, which is that all Jews think the same, left-wing way, which is not the case. They will not realise that a few political extremists in religious garb who seem to follow Marx rather than Moses, do not paint a fair picture of the British Jewish community as a whole.
As to the Christians represented in this article then I’ll say to them that they are fools. They are protecting and assisting the entry into the UK of those whose culture and ideology hates Christians. If these Christian do-gooders really cared about doing good, then they would campaign for specific support to the tens of thousands of Christians who are at risk of death or enslavement by Muslims in various Islamic hell-holes throughout the world. I’m not a cruel or unwelcoming person and I can see that a moral and ethical case can be made for helping, including giving asylum, to Christians from the ME region. I see no ethical or moral case for assisting or facilitating the entry into the UK of members of an oppressor culture, which in this case is Islam. Christians assisting Muslims in this way, even though Muslims and Islam are a threat to Christianity, is suicidal. It really is a case of ‘they know not what they do.’
Barnet Citizens organised 5 doctor’s practices, 2 schools, 3 landlords and work experience and training for the refugees.
Well that’s five doctors practises that will have longer waiting lists for Britons who’ve paid into the NHS system. Likewise that’s a few local people whose children will be deprived of places at their schools and also homes that could have gone to Britons.
Father Mark Connolly highlighted the relevance of St Vincent de Paul when he pointed that “he himself made a perilous journey across the Mediterranean”. All Saints and St Mary’s schools also offered their support and welcome and were thanked by the communities.
Yeah but St Vincent didn’t journey in search of the best welfare deal or, as we’ve seen in Germany, girls to rape.
Razan Alakraa from Ayesha Community School shared her story:
“My fiancée was detained and tortured last year for his work as a doctor helping in field hospitals and getting aid to besieged areas of women and children. He has been a refugee in Lebanon for a year and a half unable to leave and waiting for a new life from the UN resettlement team.”
Can we believe this person? The more I read this paragraph the more questions I crop up. Whose hospitals was this person working in? Were they working for Jihadi groups? The reference to ‘women and children’ is also suspicious. The phrase ‘women and children’ is often used to hide what has really gone on. If I was in the position of saying yes or no to Razan Alakraa’s entry into the UK, I would say ‘no’. There is an element of murkiness about this story that would make me think ‘safety first’ and say ‘no, you can’t come into the UK’.
Councillor Cornelius said: “London Citizens has a way of pricking my conscience and making me think,” before answering he will propose signing up Barnet to the government’s Syrian Vulnerable People’s Resettlement Scheme at the next Council meeting. Barnet Citizens members have pledged to go along and support him in doing so.
In other words Cllr Cornelius submitted to the emotionalist bollocks that followed the distribution of pictures of the dead child who would have been quite safe had they remained in Turkey. Who are you supposed to be representing Cllr Cornelius, those who voted for you, or is it the legions of ponces, criminals and jihadists who so often pose as ‘refugees’?
Gillian Stern, a Barnet resident and member of FPS said:
“As a community we feel it is our duty to help. We found local landlords and property owners to commit to allowing their properties to be used to house refugees, and we’re also organised a warm community welcome with GP and school places and everything from English classes to mum and baby meet ups being offered and arranged.
So, houses are taken out of circulation, schools places are removed from locals and they will wait longer to see a GP, purely so Ms Stern and those of a similar point of view could feel good about helping out. Nice one – not. Ms Stern are you absolutely and positively sure that you and your Shul (synagogue) could not find some other worthy cause apart from that of these alleged ‘refugees’? It’s not as if North London is a place bereft of problems of all kinds that need attending to, is it?
“This isn’t about an open door immigration policy: these are the most vulnerable people that the UN identifies, sick children, victims of torture and abuse; a refugee camp simply isn’t the right place for these families.”
It may not be about an open door immigration policy but you must have noticed Ms Stern that a growing number of people are unhappy, and with good reasons, with the idea of allowing in yet more followers of the Islamic ideology of death, rape and destruction. I don’t know about anybody else out there but I no longer trust the UN in many areas. I certainly don’t trust the UN to decide whether someone is a worthy and ultimately deserving refugee, or whether they are are the sort of person who believes they have the right to chop off someones head for Allah in the middle of the Charlie Brown Roundabout on the A406 North Circular Road. Only the British government and the British people should decide who comes in, not the corrupt and increasingly untrustworthy United Nations.
Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk (Finchley Progressive Synagogue) continued:
“We know it’s not easy for a council to say yes, that’s why we needed local people to show their support, find homes and offer a warm welcome. There’s EU funding available to the council. Together we must act now and revive the great British tradition of helping those most in need.”
Barnet Council seem to have found it quite easy to say ‘Yes’ to more imported savages posing as ‘refugees’. Mind you it seems like the Britain hating EU will be footing some of the bill, but that doesn’t change the fact that many Britons want nothing to do with the ida of importing yet more troubling and troublesome Muslims, no matter what sob-stories the tell to the naïve.
Over the past year Citizens UK, working in partnership with Avaaz, has already secured commitments from twenty-two councils – including Birmingham, Islington, Kingston, Malvern Hills, Newcastle and Edinburgh – to support 50 refugees, and Glasgow has agreed to support 100 Syrians. Now groups across the country, including Barnet, are calling upon their local authorities to follow their lead and commit to accepting refugees.
This is terrible news. It seems that Citizens UK has been working for a year to dump these alleged Syrians on various communities. I would guess that Citzens UK and members of the local ‘interfaith’ establishment’ in these areas have not asked the views of the growing number of people across the nation who have seen unexpurgated footage on the internet of the violent Muslim hordes making their way across Europe and have, quite rightly in my view, decided that we really don’t want them here. The article from Citizens UK mentions the Malvern Hills area and I would not be surprised to find that somewhere along the line that those friends of Jihadis and far-leftists, Citizens UK, have been involved in this laughable and naïve group ‘Malvern Welcomes Syrian Refugees’, whose Facebook page address can be found below.
https://www.facebook.com/SyrianRefugeeCampaignmalvernandworcestershire
Citizens UK has seen an incredible surge in the public appetite to help refugees in response to the recent tragic photos of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian refugee washed ashore in Turkey.
The Left lie, it’s what they do. Even when the truth is something quite different from the Leftist narrative, the Left, in this case Citizens UK lie. The true story is that this child was not fleeing with his family direct from a warzone as dishonest Lefty groups like Citizens UK claim, but had lived for over a year in a safe country, Turkey. His family were not fleeing war or persecution, as many Jews had to do in the 1930’s and ’40s, they were like as not travelling in search of the best welfare poncing opportunities.
It disgusts me no end to see the history of the Jewish emigration and immigration experience, which was mostly made up of people fleeing persecution, and violent and often murderous anti-Semitism, being co-opted by the Left (religious Left and otherwise) like this. The Left is doing this in order to dishonestly convince people that Britain should roll out the red carpet for those who many of us can see, are going to cause trouble and put our citizens at risk.
Jews emigrated to various nations under the pressure of oppression and did the very best to become ordinary loyal citizens of whatever nation was their sanctuary. Can you imagine Muslims doing that? I can’t because I can see a growing number of Muslims who are in favour of Shariah Law and Jihad, which is the very opposite of peaceful integration. That is why there is a world of difference between the Jewish emigration experience and the Islamic emigration experience. Jews have sometimes moved across borders in order to be more free or more equal or more respected, Muslims too often have come with an attitude of conquest and a sense of outrageous self entitlement, and will not compromise beliefs or cultural attitudes in any way. As I said, we cannot and must not view the Jewish experience of crossing borders and encountering different nations and cultures and the Islamic experience of doing the same as equal narratives. To do so would be viewing the oppressor as being the same as the oppressed, which in my view is not justice.
In response, Citizens UK has launched a major national resettlement drive with communities pledging to find 5,000 homes for people seeking sanctuary and to challenge local and national government to step up.
This paragraph tells me that people across the country should become more aware of Citizens UK and what they are up to. Citizens UK may be operating in your town or city, buttering up and soft-soaping various local councillors and members of the naïve interfaith establishment, with the intention of getting them to back the idea of dumping alleged ‘Syrians’ near where you may be. Citizens UK are not a ‘clean hands’ organisation, they really are not. They are shifty, so incredibly shifty. I’ve encountered them and their members and supporters and I wouldn’t trust them to tell me if it was raining outside.
Citizens UK are very skilled in worming their way into religious communities and geographical areas and building networks that comprise of the politically motivated, the stupid, the naïve do-gooders and local worthies, in order to push their own political view of how things should be. They could be turning up at your parish church or your synagogue or temple or your Women’s Institute meeting spinning their yarns about their great achievements and their commitment to fluffy multiculturalism. Don’t believe them if they do, Citizens UK pose as a ‘community organisation’, but they are considerably more radically Left wing and more dangerous than the description ‘community organisation’ may make people think they are.
The only proper response to Citizens UK trying to operate in your area is to oppose them and where possible call out and publicly shame those in the local area or in your church or temple or synagogue who support them. Citizens UK are a form of ‘fifth column’ Leftist group because what they say they are, is often radically different from how they behave and the campaigns that they support and facilitate.
Links
Citizens UK in North London assisting the entry of ‘Syrian’ ‘refugees’
http://www.citizensuk.org/barnet_council_agrees_to_resettle_50_syrian_refugees
From Harry’s Place. London Citizens stand by their Hamas supporting man
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/07/21/london-citizens-stand-by-their-man/
From F211. What will it take for Britain’s Progressive Jews to drop their association with the East London Mosque?
Citizens UK main website
About the Jewish festival of Succot (for those who may be perplexed about what it is)
http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday5.htm
Taxpayer to fund the rebuilding of mosque
Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk being very quick, too quick in fact, to claim that a fire in a mosque was the result of a bomb
https://www.facebook.com/liberaljudaism/posts/611610712196748
Rabbi Birk’s biography from the Liberal Judaism website
http://www.liberaljudaism.org/communities-rabbis/rabbis/183-rabbi-rebecca-qassim-birk.html
The 50 for 15 website that provided information on marginal seats prior to the 2015 general election which has a poll of some British Jews showing their voting intention (Cons ahead of Labour) . Therefore it’s quite noticeable that the far left fraggles in some Jewish religious movements are not by any stretch of the imagination representative of the Jewish community as a whole.
http://50for15.com/2015/01/15/exploring-the-jewish-vote/
The naïve fools of the ‘Malvern Welcomes Syrian Refugees’ group. Here’s there Facebook page, maybe they could do with some polite but legal and unthreatening, education about this subject.
https://www.facebook.com/SyrianRefugeeCampaignmalvernandworcestershire
