Chas Newkey-Burden's Blog, page 32

Oh Bibi it's cold outside

After mild weather for several weeks it seems that winter is arriving in Britain. Fine by me, I don't mind winter at all. Meanwhile, I have a column about Bibi in this week's Jewish Chronicle. You can read it online here.

Rabbi Harvey Belovski on the BBC

I enjoyed watching a short documentary about the inspirational work of Rabbi Harvey Belovski, the rabbi of Golders Green Synagogue, on the BBC this morning. It was called On The Road With An Orthodox Rabbi. These 'mainstream media meets Orthodox Jews' documentaries are sometimes a little uncomfortable, but I found this a basically sensible and [...]

We need to talk about shawarma

An epochal development: kosher food manufacturer Yarden has produced a cook-at-home shawarma product. I first heard of this momentous news when Yarden's new product won a 'Shawarma Showdown' organised by Israel Connect. The blind-tasters preferred it to that of leading joints Solly's and White House Express. I bought some Yarden shawarma while I was in [...]

Shawarma and Chabad: the classic combo

Back in June I wrote in the Jewish Chronicle about 'the magnificent Rabbi Yisroel Lew' of Chabad Bloomsbury, the man who nicknames me 'Hasidic Goy'. It was wonderful to bump into his magnificence whilst dining on shawarma at White House Express last night. Actually, speaking of the Jewish Chronicle, I have a column about Benjamin [...]

The future of Jerusalem: your predictions please

What's the most boring talk you've ever been to? The dullest one I've been to was in Jerusalem last summer. I'm not going to identify the speaker, it wouldn't seem fair or kind to. What I will say is that, given that he is a passionate expert on life in Jerusalem, which was the subject [...]

Amy Winehouse: Our Day Will Come

An emotional compilation of footage of Amy Winehouse has been selected as the promotional video for Our Day Will Come, the lead single from Amy's forthcoming posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures. The song is light and inspiring; the video (below) is a real weepie which reminds us what a talent we have lost. Visit the [...]

Noel, Amy, Gilad and the anchoring of music

Back in March I wrote about how much I loved Oasis and how, even though Noel was always my favourite of the two Gallagher brothers, I was enjoying Liam's post-Oasis band Beady Eye's debut album. Now, Noel has released his first solo album, under the banner of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. As I expected, [...]

If I were a goy

In 1999, Ehud Barak was asked by a journalist what he would do if he were a Palestinian. "I would join a terror organization," he replied. This week, he was asked by American TV journalist Charlie Rose whether, if he were Iranian, he would seek to build nuclear weapons. "Probably," he answered. Him and his [...]

Bibi and Iran: an onerous responsibility

Benjamin Netanyahu is an oft-misunderstood leader of a much misunderstood country. 'Bibi' is routinely described as a hardliner, a man utterly opposed to conciliation, and a warmonger. These accusations do not fit the facts. Let's have a look at the warmonger allegation first. Netanyahu, who is in his second term as Prime Minister, is one [...]

That tête-à-tête about Bibi

It is almost another 'Yo Blair' moment. Journalists at the G20 summit heard what was meant to be a private conversation between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama. The topic? Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu. "I can't stand him anymore, he's a liar," moaned Sarkozy. Obama replied: "You may be sick of him, [...]