Gerald Kaufman is passionate about Palestine

The Right Honourable Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman (born June 21, 1930) is a British Labour Member of Parliament who was a government minister during the 1970s. He is now Chairman of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee. He is known as a moderate, and a supporter of Tony Blair's reforms. He infamously called the Labour Party's left-wing 1983 election manifesto [1] "the longest suicide note in history". Image File history File links Download high resolution version (576x768, 49 KB)http://homepage. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (576x768, 49 KB)http://homepage. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Labour Party is a centre-left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... United Kingdom general election, 1983 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Born in Leeds and educated at Leeds Grammar School and the University of Oxford (Queen's College), he became a Fabian Society staffer and a political journalist on the Daily Mirror and the New Statesman. He was a member of Prime Minister Harold Wilson's informal "kitchen cabinet". In 1965 he became a Labour Party press officer. He was elected MP for Ardwick in Manchester in 1970 and has represented the Manchester Gorton constituency since 1983. Leeds is a city in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire in the north of England. ... Leeds Grammar School (LGS) was founded in 1552 by Sir William Sheafield to provide free, subsidised or fee-paying education, according to need. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... College name The Queens College Named after Queen Philippa of Hainault Established 1341 Sister College Pembroke College Provost Sir Alan Budd JCR President Sushrut Yalamanchili Undergraduates 304 Graduates 133 Homepage Boatclub The Queens College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United... The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by social democratic, rather than revolutionary, means. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... The Right Honourable Sir James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was one of the longest serving Labour Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. ... Ardwick is an inner-city district of Manchester, about one mile south east of the city centre. ... Manchester is a city in the North West of England. ... Manchester Gorton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

He was a minister throughout Labour's time in power in the 1970s, first in the Department of the Environment, then in the Department of Industry. In opposition he became Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary. In 1992 he went to the back benches and became Chair of what was then the National Heritage committee.

As Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee Kaufman's style of strong cross examination and withering remarks to witnesses has provided some highlights inparticular when he suspect cultural elitism. In 1997 in committee Kaufman criticised the then Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House Mary Allen over her inability to account for cost over runs of a costly lottery funded refurbishment of the venue that would result in fewer seats and the costly cancellation of scheduled performances and condemed her low public standards - an event that contributed to her tendering her resignation. The Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House is a performing arts venue in London. ...

He is the writer of several books, of which the best known is How to be a Minister (1980), an irreverent look at the difficulties faced by ministers trying to control the civil service, in much the same vein as the television series Yes, Minister. He also wrote scripts for the 1960s television satire That Was The Week That Was. Yes, Minister and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister are British sitcoms that were transmitted by the BBC between 1980 and 1988. ... That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, was a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. ...

Kaufman is an outspoken opponent of hunting with hounds. He is also a leading member of Poale Zion an international Zionist-socialist Jewish group affiliated to the Labour party in Britain. Nonetheless, he has become one of the leading Jewish critics of Israel. He has often accused Sharon's government of having a poor human rights record, and of failing to solve the security problems faced by both Israelis and Palestinians. Kaufman has called for economic sanctions and an arms ban against Israel, citing the success of such measures against apartheid South Africa[2]. A fox hunt Fox hunting is a form of hunting for foxes using a pack of scent hounds. ... Labour Friends of Israel is a Westminister based pro-Israel lobby group working within the UK Labour Party. ... For other meanings, please see Zionism (disambiguation) Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s: Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian) 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ... // The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי transliterated: Yehudi) is used in many ways, but generally refers to a follower of Judaism, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ... ▶(?) Hebrew: אריאל שרון (born February 27, 1928) is the eleventh and current Prime Minister of Israel, serving from March 2001. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

Kaufman voted in favour of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2004 he was assaulted by a group of pro-fox hunting campaigners and subjected to anti-Semitic taunts, which he found ironic as he had recently been accused of being a self-hating Jew by member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.[3] Gerald Kaufman was awarded a knighthood for services to Parliament in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2004. The 2003 Invasion of Iraq began on March 20 comprising United States and United Kingdom forces (98%), and several other nations. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A fox hunt Fox hunting is a form of hunting for foxes using a pack of scent hounds. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jewry. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals personal bravery, achievement or service to the United Kingdom. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Gerald Kaufman MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Gerald Kaufman MP