A Church in Bath has cancelled an event hosted by Bath Friends of Palestine, featuring a Palestinian singer who had posted offensive and inflammatory social media posts, following UKLFI’s intervention.
The singer, Reem Kelani, was due to appear at St Luke’s Church in Bath on 18 May 2024. However, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) had received several approaches from concerned members of the public regarding the event. Both Ms Kelani and Bath Friends of Palestine had posted divisive, inflammatory, misleading and offensive comments on social media regarding the war in Gaza.
UKLFI wrote to the Archdeacon and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, as well as to the administrators of St Lukes Church, pointing out that if such statements were repeated at the event, they would potentially commit offences contrary to the Public Order Act 1986. Furthermore, by hosting them, St Luke’s could be seen as endorsing their inflammatory and divisive beliefs even if these are not repeated at the event. UKLFI requested that St Luke’s cancel the event.
UKLFI’s letter said: “Bath is home to a rich and culturally diverse community, including members of the Jewish faith. By hosting an event by an individual and organisation which falsely accuse Israel of genocide and makes antisemitic comments in a space intended for the promotion of religion and peace, St Luke’s could be seen as creating and/or fostering community division at this sensitive time and where levels of antisemitism are at an all-time high.”
Ms Kelani and Bath Friends of Palestine both allege that Israel is a genocidal state. In social media posts on X (formerly Twitter) on 18 and 19 March 2024, Ms Kelani falsely accused Israel of committing genocide.
On 19 March 2024, she compared Israel with “Josef Mengele II”; the Nazi who conducted cruel and degrading experiments on Jews and sent hundreds of thousands of Jews to their death during the Holocaust.
Bath Friends of Palestine also falsely accuse Israel of committing genocide, and re-posted a message on X suggesting that Germany is happy that it no longer has many Jews and wants the remaining Jews to go to Israel.
Comparing Israel to the Nazis and falsely accusing it of committing genocide is a clear case of Holocaust inversion seeking to portray Israelis as “the new Nazis”. It deliberately appropriates the extreme suffering of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis is antisemitic.
UKLFI pointed out that equating Israelis and Jews with the Nazis who attempted to wipe them out and suggesting Germany is happy it did so and wants to get rid of its remaining Jews is grossly offensive and would cause harassment and distress to Jews. It is a manifestation of contemporary antisemitism which is clearly insulting and is likely to incite or stir up unlawful hatred against Jews
UKLFI had asked the Bishop of Bath and Wells to have due regard to the need to foster good community relations and his legal obligations and ensure that the event due to take place on 18 May is cancelled.
Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “We are pleased that St Luke’s Church decided not to host this event, since a church is a space where religion and peace should be promoted, not hatred and divisiveness.”