Virtual Meetings 2024

Jonathan Spyer: “The Middle East After October 7: Strategies , challenges and Opportunities ” (Bureau of International Affairs – 14/08/2024)

Jonathan Spyer is a journalist and Middle East analyst living in Jerusalem. He has reported extensively from the field in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, the West Bank/Gaza, Turkey and Jordan. He is the author of The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict and Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars

Michael Haas: ” When I compose, I return to Vienna” (BBUK – 17/07/2024)

 Michael Haas is Founding Director of the Exilarte Research Centre and Archive at Vienna’s Performing Arts  University.

Music was a cultural good stolen by the Nazis: audiences lost Jewish composers. These composers sought a cultural lifeline once they found themselves in new countries, with many returning to identities that had previously meant little to them. Some became very aware of what it meant to be Jewish, even if secular and non-religious. Others became more militantly Austro-German, attempting to save their culture from hijacking by the Nazis. This gave us an alternative  approach in the music of the twentieth century.

Major Andrew Fox ” A Soldier’s Perspective on Israel and the Gaza War: a discussion on Israel’s strategy, future options for Gaza and the regional dynamics” (BBUK  Bureau of International Affairs- 18/06/2024)

Nathan Abrams: “Mapping North Wales’ Jewish History ” (BBUK – 15/05/2024)

Nathan Abrams is a Professor in Film at Bangor University. He is a well-known writer and broadcaster who has researched Jews and Judaism in popular culture and has expert knowledge of diasporic communities in Europe, especially in the UK

Noru Tsalic: “What Now? – Making Sense of The World Post 7/10 ” (Bureau of International Affairs – 16/04/2024)

Noru Tsalic, former IDF soldier and current management consultant, has spent many years engaging in pro-Israel advocacy. He writes regularly for ‘Times of Israel’ and is editor in chief of ‘Politically Incorrect Politics’

Jake Wallis Simons: “Israelophobia ” (Bureau of International Affairs – 21/03/2024)

Jake Wallis Simons is an award-winning British journalist and novelist and Editor of the Jewish Chronicle. He discusses his book which analyses the often-prejudiced coverage and intense scrutiny of Israel that so often veers into obsession and outright demonisation; and traces its origins from Medieval European and Stalinist anti-semitism to the present day.

Prof. Joe Goldblatt: “Finding the Lost Tribe of Israel (at the Edinburgh Festival)” (BBUK Virtual Meeting – 16/03/2024)

During his fifty-year career in live event production and higher education Emeritus Professor Joe Goldblatt seamlessly transitioned from performer (with First Lady Betty Ford) to producer (Trump’s first casino opening and Oprah Winfrey’s first major fundraiser) to Professor at four universities.

In 2007 he immigrated to Scotland. Along the way he has served as a communal Jewish leader. In this whirl-wind tour of his life and career you shall learn how his Jewish values provided the satnav for his joyous adventures in 64 countries and three continents and some behind the scenes secrets of the world-famous Edinburgh festivals!

Steven Jaffe: “A Protestant Jew or a Catholic Jew ?: the untold story of Norther Ireland’s Jewish Community” (BBUK Virtual Meeting – 10/01/2024)

Steven Jaffe  is a history graduate from Cambridge University and a former lawyer.  He lives in London where he works as a consultant to Magen David Adom UK.  Steven is Director of the Belfast Jewish Heritage Project and has conducted walking tours of Jewish heritage in his native city.  Steven c0-chairs Northern Ireland Friends of Israel