Chas Newkey-Burden's Blog, page 12

What I learned from Winston Silcott

Posted in Uncategorized

I was a little taken aback when I heard today that the Metropolitan Police have charged a man with the murder of PC Keith Blakelock, who was killed during riots in north London in 1985.

Alison Saunders of the CPS said the new charge came “following a thorough investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service”.

Well, a ”thorough investigation” is more than the police managed in 1985. Pretty much the sole purpose of the first investigation was to pin it on Winston Silcott come what may. He ended up being wrongly convicted of the murder on the flimsiest (fabricated) evidence.

I got to know Winston Silcott and his family very well in the 1990s. I used to visit him in prison. His wonderful mum Mary would make us the most tasty swordfish cakes to eat on the train journey up to Leicestershire. Winston was no angel and neither did he pretend to be one, but he was a million miles from the beast portrayed in the tabloid press.

And no one deserves to be framed for murder. The injustice of that sucked for Winston but it ultimately sucked for the family of Keith Blakelock, too. They deserved the right people to go to prison. And then there’s Cynthia Jarrett, whose death during a police raid sparked the riot in which Blakelock was killed.

Just the widespread heartache of it all.

I was a student at the time. Getting to know Winston and learning about his case taught me many things. Firstly, it showed me what strength and dignity are. I witnessed heaps of both in Winston and his family. Talk about a wake-up call for me and my teenage woes.

It also taught me that, once people begin lying about someone, very quickly things get out of control and lots of people get hurt. Crucially, I realised when someone is widely despised and vilified, those emotions can be based on fundamental misunderstandings, and therefore misplaced and unhelpful.

Winston was released from prison 10 years ago. We all moved on. But what an eye-opener it had been.

Follow me on Twitter. Sponsor me to run the Windsor Half Marathon for Colel Chabad.

The thinning line

Posted in Uncategorized

I was just reading Brendan O’Neill’s fascinating blogpost about the differences and similarities between anti-Zionists and antisemites, in which he argues: ‘I think the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is getting thinner all the time.’

Then I was reading the blog of Ken O’Keefe, the self-styled tough guy of the anti-Zionist movement.

O’Keefe writes:

‘We need to acknowledge 100% that the American government is bought and paid for by the Zionist, Jewish supremacists, Israeli “dual citizens”, which in truth is a pyramid with the Rothschild’s [sic] and their bankster kin at the top.’

He also quotes a man called Rich Siegel, who he describes as ‘an honest, intelligent and compassionate Jew’, a ‘respected brother with a hugely important message that should be heeded by every single Jew on this planet’.

Siegel’s message: ‘Please, Jews, my people, you are desperately sick.’

Oh dear.

Remembering our songbird

Posted in Uncategorized

It was two years ago this Tuesday that our songbird Amy Winehouse flew to heaven.

I’ll be remembering her wit, and some of my favourite Amy lyrics:

What kind of fuckery are you? ‘Side from Sammy you’re my best black Jew. (Me & Mr Jones.)

Don’t make no difference if I end up alone. I’d rather have myself a-smoke my homegrown. It’s got me addicted, does more than any dick did. (Addicted.)

‘Cause I’ve forgotten all of young love’s joy, Feel like a lady, and you my lady boy. (Stronger Than Me.)

What a talent. Rest in peace, Amy.

 

Read my Jewish Chronicle tribute to Amy. Find out more about my biography of Amy. Support the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Follow me on Twitter.

Scrap summer!

Posted in Uncategorized

I’ve decided British summer sucks. I’ve actually long suspected this, but over the last two years I’ve realised it’s true. British summers are either woeful washouts or satanic sizzlers which just irritate and embarrass the nation.

The current heatwave is typical: the second the sun came out Britain went into frenzy mode, with overexcited people deciding it’s sunny and so we must get out there and do something – now!

The trouble is that few people know what that something should be, so it frequently proves to be an ill-judged something such as developing savage sunburn, drinking insufficiently-chilled rosé wine, starting fights or, worst of all, having picnics and barbecues. The horror!

Many countries know how to thrive in hot weather. I think us Brits are just puzzled by it, however hard some of us pretend otherwise as we sit in our ridiculous shorts, pretending we’re enjoying these conditions which make us feel ill.

We can’t even forecast it correctly anymore. Three weeks ago they were telling us there would be ‘no summer for 10 years’. Now they’re telling us this heatwave won’t end until August. Everyone who made the former prediction should be made to sit fully-clothed in the midday sun listening to Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday on loop until this heatwave ends.

Summer is, for me, the annoying little shit that sits between the two loveliest seasons of the year: spring and autumn. Meteorologically, I adore the moderates. If I had my way we would increase spring and autumn by 50% each and abolish the British summer altogether.

Let people who enjoy this sort of weather visit other countries, where the people, culture and infrastructure are attuned to it. Meanwhile, let’s abolish the British summer immediately. Bring on autumn!

Follow me on Twitter. Sponsor me to run the Windsor Half Marathon for Colel Chabad.

Remembering Amy Winehouse

Posted in Uncategorized

I was a bit puzzled as I read Anshel Pfeffer’s article in Haaretz about the Jewish Museum’s new exhibition celebrating the life of Amy Winehouse. I often enjoy Pfeffer’s writing, but this was just bizarre.

Headlined Remembering Amy Winehouse as the Jew she was not, his article takes issue with the exhibition’s description of her as “simply a little Jewish kid from North London with a big talent who, more than anything, just wanted to be true to her heritage”.

Yet that description comes from the mouth of Amy’s brother, Alex. It takes some chutzpah to try and contradict a presumably still-grieving man’s description of his own sister. Particularly when, as far as the reader can tell from his article, Pfeffer did not know Amy at all during her life.

He argues that the exhibition’s presentation of Amy’s Jewish side is “contrived”. Yet it is his article which seems just that: it is as if a stranger has shown up to a wake and begun to loftily heckle those who knew the deceased.

I researched Amy’s relationship with her Jewish identity when I was writing my biography of her. When she passed away, I wrote a short article for the Jewish Chronicle on just that aspect of her life. It is true, she was no Talmud-toting Stamford Hill frummer – but how many Haaretz writers and readers can say they are? Like several aspects of Amy’s life her relationship with her Jewish identity was complex, but she was Jewish and was proud to be Jewish.

Pfeffer’s piece would grate less if it was not riddled with mistakes. In paragraph one he writes, correctly, that she died at 27 years of age. Yet later in the article he says that she died at 30. Similarly, he claims that she died on June 23, 2011, but she actually passed away on July 23.

The online version of the article closes with a video of Amy at her worst: intoxicated, confused and deeply unhappy on-stage in Belgrade, in one of her final concerts. There are so many ways to remember Amy, I find it a shame when people – and there are many such people, Pfeffer is far from alone – choose the most tragic and salacious moments to illustrate a talent that was so immense and a character who was so gentle.

If you want to remember Amy the way those who knew and loved her best remember her, why not pop along to the exhibition, which runs until September 15. Find out more about the Amy Winehouse Foundation here.

Follow me on Twitter. Sponsor me to run the Windsor Half Marathon for Colel Chabad.

Commitment to Israel

Posted in Uncategorized

I’m thrilled to say I have been nominated in the ‘Commitment to Israel’ category of the WIZO Commitment Awards.

Here I am with the other finalists at the home of the Ambassador of Israel on Monday evening, where he gave an inspiring speech about how the finalists can spread love and light one person at a time. The sandwiches were also delicious.

The winners are announced in October.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Follow me on Twitter. Sponsor me to run the Windsor Half Marathon for Colel Chabad.

The tragicomic story of the one-state movement

Posted in Uncategorized

There has been renewed talk this week about the possibility of a one-state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Did you know that Noam Chomsky began advocating for a one-state solution in the early 1970s? As proof it would work he pointed to two models of complicated populations living in harmonious co-existence: Lebanon and Yugoslavia.

Then, of course, protracted civil war and ethnic conflicts tore both countries to pieces, with Yugoslavia exploding into five nation states. It was as if Chomsky had put forward Fred and Rose West as models of parenting shortly before the bodies of 11 tortured kids were found in their garden.

For a while, most proponents of the one-state solution fell into embarrassed silence.

Then, about seven years ago, the anti-Israel movement suddenly said to themselves: “Hey, whatever happened to that obviously ridiculous idea we had? Shall we resurrect it?”

And they did. Lunacy can be a tenacious beast.

Follow me on Twitter. Sponsor me to run the Windsor Half Marathon for Colel Chabad.

Happy birthday to me!

I turn 40 today.

What to think at such a moment in my life?

The Chabad Rebbe said:

‘Why do you celebrate your birthday?

‘In your mother’s womb, you were comfortable, warm and cared for.

‘Then, you left. It was an ordeal, a trauma. The world you entered was cold and harsh. The mere act of living became a struggle. You cried.

‘Yet, every year you celebrate that day.

‘Because the day you were born was the day you became your own entity. No longer an extension of someone else. A proactive force in the world.

‘So, celebrate your birthday. And take time to think: what have I given the world that was not given to me? Was I really born?’

Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye said:

‘Listen, 40 is the new 13 as far as I’m concerned.’

Both statements work for me! It would make it an even more special birthday for me if you would share my Windsor Half Marathon fundraising page with your friends today.

Thanks!

 

Music Monday

After last week’s motivational song from Matisyahu, this week’s Music Monday features a song that is of a more gentle, comforting tone.

I actually knew Ralph McTell for a while when I was a kid. He lived round the corner from the house I grew up in. He taught me to play one of his songs on guitar (not this one) and introduced me to a wondrous Guinness and port cocktail. He is the most Irish Englishman I’ve ever met.

This song, Grande Affair, is one that I find very consoling when I’m feeling anxious or down. It’s not the lyrics, which recall the romantic travels of his younger years, that comfort me, but the soothing melody, particularly as he eases into the chorus.

Sometimes you don’t want an upbeat song hectoring you into believing that everything’s gonna be all right. Sometimes you just want a song that delicately makes you feel a little better.

Hassan Rouhani and Nuclear Iran

With the election of Hassan Rouhani in Iran, people want to know what this development means for the nuclear programme and Iran’s relationship with the West. Plenty of armchair commentators are lining up to offer answers. Yet as I wrote on Ynet last year, how many of those who pronounce on this issue can say [...]