by Breitbart London
A group of British Jews and Israelis visited the City of Bradford in defiance of Member of Parliament George Galloway's recent assertion that the city should be an "Israel free zone".
The group, led by Rabbi Shneur Odze who is also a UKIP
candidate, took the trip this weekend "to defend the British sense of
fair play and tolerance".
Last week Mr Galloway, who has represented Bradford since winning a by-election there in 2012 said Bradford should boycott Israeli goods, academics and even tourists.
In
his speech he said: “We have declared Bradford an Israel free zone. We
don’t want any Israeli goods. We don’t want any Israeli services. We
don’t want any Israeli academics, coming to the university or the
college.
“We
don’t even want any Israeli tourists to come to Bradford if any of them
had thought of doing so. We reject this illegal, barbarous, savage
state that calls itself Israel. And you have to do the same.”
Rabbi
Odze and his group visited the city to show Mr Galloway that British
Jews and Israelis living in Britain wouldn't be bullied by the
politician's hateful rhetoric. They visited the city centre and spoke
with locals about the issue. Some of the group hold duel citizenship
with Israel and brought their Israeli passports along.
Rabbi Odze said: “I was rather anxious as to what kind of
reaction we’d get. However I’m pleased to say that, a few shouts from
across the road aside, the reception was almost exclusively positive.
"A number of locals were welcoming and wished us well.
Almost everyone, unprompted, seemed to know why we were there. Britain
has always been a tolerant and open society which welcomes free speech
and deplores incitement. This time the court of public opinion may not
judge Galloway so favourably.”
A petition calling for Mr Galloway to be prosecuted for hate speech under the Public Order Act 1986 has been launched, and has so far received almost 4000 signatures.
Meanwhile, the local tourist office in Bradford has received a surge of requests for brochures from British Jews.
Breitbart London
Source: http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/08/11/British-Jews-Israelis-Defiant-Against-Galloway-in-Bradford
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