On Wednesday, the Jewish Chronicle’s Jenni Frazer reported an outrageous allegation being made by Christian Aid. The charity was offering for interview with people who “who have spent months in Israel and the West Bank monitoring Human Rights Abuses”.

One of the interviewees is a lady called Miranda Pinch. Christian Aid claimed: “Miranda patrolled a school to prevent Palestinian children being attacked by Israeli settlers. Their presence ensured that the children would be safe. The head mistress had told her some of the children had been sexually abused on their way home.”

This is a sensational allegation, so I wrote to the media department of Christian Aid and asked:

Can you let me know precisely what Christian Aid’s evidence is for this allegation, and how thoroughly you have investigated it?

They replied swiftly:

Dear Mr Newkey-Burden

Christian Aid unreservedly apologises for mis-reporting an interview with Miranda Pinch, an English social worker who travelled to the West Bank in January 2010 with ecumenical accompaniers whom we support.

Ms Pinch told Christian Aid that a Palestinian headmistress in Hebron had described how Jewish settlers verbally sexually harassed children on their way to school.

Verbal sexual harassment is clearly different from sexual abuse and we apologise for the inaccurate representation of what Ms Pinch said.

So that was a swift backdown. I thanked them for the swift reply, but asked:

On the ‘verbal sexual harassment’ allegation can you let me know precisely what Christian Aid’s evidence is for this allegation, and how thoroughly you have investigated it?

I have yet to hear back on that but I will let you know the moment I do. In the meantime I am going to predict that they have no evidence  and have not investigated. After all, even Miranda Pinch admits that she never witnessed anything firsthand. But who cares about evidence? It’s only Israeli settlers!

Well, some of us do care. I’ve recently been reading Anthony Julius’s impressive book Trials Of The Diaspora: A History of Antisemitism In England. The stories of how medieval blood libels were spread about Jewish people attacking children are shocking. Yet in the 21st century we have a leading charity, a Christian charity for goodness sake, spreading lies about Jews and children.

The very concept of charity is a central plank of Judaism and we have the Jewish people to thank for charity originally becoming institutionalised. Which makes it all the more dismaying to see the now routine demonisation of the Jewish state by British charities. They should clean up their act.

Interesting to hear Nick Clegg talk about “antisemite nutters” in Europe during the leaders debate this evening. There’s a few of those in your own party, Mr Clegg. Including one you repeatedly broke your promise to properly deal with.

I am pleased that the Charity Commission is investigating War On Want. You might already have seen the video of the group’s outrageous recent protest at a Waitrose store in London. They trashed Israeli produce and harassed the store’s staff, lying as they did so. ‘Anywhere that says from Israel is basically, is probably from illegal settlements in the West Bank,’ claimed one of the protestors.

Not true – all of the produce they destroyed that day was from inside Israel proper. ‘Probably’ indeed! When it comes to bashing Israel, the notoriously narcissistic John Hilary and his misguided stooges care nothing about the facts. War On Want is an organisation which has made itself unworthy of the title ‘charity’ – you can read more about its record here and here. Remember the above next time they wave a standing order form under your nose.

Meanwhile, much as I try and remain upbeat about the future of Israel and the battle against antisemitism I must admit I feel strangely pessimistic this week. It increasingly feels like the world is turning on the Jewish state and the Jewish people more than it has for decades. When I read that the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has banned Israel from showing an image of the Kotel (Western Wall) in tourism adverts I feel sickened.

Let’s be clear: initiatives such as the War On Want one above and the one that lead to the ASA decision are dishonest, selective and racist. But remember we have power. In response to War On Want, remember to Buycott. In response to the ASA farce, please join this Facebook group.

This is a guest post by Jonathan Sacerdoti

Today is Yom Hashoah - the annual Jewish Remembrance Day for victims of the Holocaust. This annual day of remembrance was established In 1952 by the Knesset (Parliament) of the State of Israel.

While 27th January is the International Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and other genocides, Jews have marked Yom Hashoah for more than 50 years, specifically to remember and honour the Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Every year, on the 27th day of Nissan (in Jewish lunar calendar), Jews around the world remember our six million brothers and sisters who were murdered, including the 1.5 million children. This date was chosen to recognise both the heroic resistance of the Warsaw Ghetto fighters which took place at this time in 1943, and the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, on this date in 1945.

This morning, around 400 people gathered in Hyde Park, at the site of the UK’s Holocaust Memorial, to take part in a short service of remembrance. We recited Kaddish for those who were killed, as well as psalms, poems and prayers both in Hebrew and English. A small choir from the Central Synagogue sung beautifully, and the readings were especially moving. The Shofar was sounded and six symbolic Memorial candles were lit -one for each million of our people who were killed – by survivors and refugees, accompanied by their children and grandchildren.

For me, the speech of the Israeli Ambassador, His Excellency Ron Prossor, was especially good. In it, he said: “We the Jewish people are a nation of survivors. The state of Israel is a living, breathing monument of our survival. Today there are those who continue to threaten our destruction. Even at the United Nations, president Ahmadinejad shamelessly promotes the evils of Holocaust denial. We can never allow malicious, evil and extreme ideas to remain unchallenged. Today as we remember the horrors of the past, we lay down our challenge to those who would attempt to recreate them. Just over a week from now we will celebrate Yom Haatzmaut, and Israel’s 62nd anniversary.

“Our tradition maintains a healthy balance between commemoration and celebration. This is a time for remembrance. We remember the past. We face the challenges of the future. We stand united as free people with a thriving state within our ancient homeland, ready, willing and able to defend our freedom.”

Also, the reading of Primo Levi’s Shema was extremely moving. If you have never done so, please read Levi’s book ‘Se questo è un uomo (If This Is a Man)’ as soon as possible.

For those who could not attend, I took some short videos of the proceedings, which I hope will help you mark the day privately wherever you are. Of course, if you can come to next year’s ceremony, I would strongly encourage you to do so. Next year Yom Hashoah will fall on 1st May. Please put the date in your diary, blackberry or iPhone right now, and join us in Hyde Park at the Holocaust Memorial garden. The ceremony will be about an hour long, and will start at  at 11.00am.

Let us never forget. As the years go on, remembrance becomes all the more important, and also increasingly difficult: soon the survivors will all be dead. As the son of a survivor, I am lucky to be alive myself, and also to have the opportunity to hear his story again and again, and to engage with it. The Holocaust period was a time of incredible evil, but also one which prompted acts of incredible goodness from certain people. Thanks to the selflessness and kindness of a collection of exemplary people, my father and much of his family were saved from death. I owe my existence to those who risked their own lives to save him, and for me, remembrance is as much about them as it is about the millions of victims.

It gives me great pride on this saddest of days, to be able to say עם ישראל חי.

You can see more videos from the event here.

Martin Linton MP says he was unaware of the antisemitic connotations of the “long tentacles of Israel” statement he made at a Friends of Al-Aqsa meeting. I suspect the truth is that Linton – whose record of bigotry is well known – was unaware that there were Israel supporters present who would report what he said.

I hear he is likely to lose his seat at the general election. Well, isn’t that a shame. I expect he has already decided whose fault that will be…

As I wrote in January, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg promised to deal with any new outbursts by Baroness Tonge along the lines of her track record of antisemitic remarks and sympathy with antisemitic terrorism. Since he made this promise he has had two opportunities to act but refused – indignantly - to keep his word.

I concluded, “If Nick Clegg doesn’t even have the balls or the decency to deal with antisemitism and support for terrorism within his own party, why on earth should we believe he is in any way ready to be a leader of the country?”

This week Tonge has called for an inquiry into the ludicrous blood libel allegations that the IDF was harvesting organs during its admirable humanitarian work in Haiti. So, Mr Clegg, will you keep your promise this time and act immediately?

Israel’s deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon spoke at the Oxford Union last night. As was – sadly – to be expected, there were angry protests. How revealing they were. Outside the talk, protestors chanted ‘Free Palestine – from the river to the sea’. This is an explicit, unambiguous call for the destruction of Israel in its entirety.

Meanwhile inside one protestor shouted that Mr Ayalon should be tried for his ‘war crimes’ during Operation Cast Lead. Mr Ayalon was not in government during Cast Lead, but why let the facts get in the way of accusing an Israeli of war crimes? Then a student stormed out, but not before shouting ‘Itbah Al-Yahud’ at Ayalon. This means ‘Kill The Jews’ in Arabic.

What a shower. The ‘Edge Of Where’ blog (by no means a slavish supporter of Israeli policy and no fan of Ayalon) has a first-hand report here.

Interesting to see the Liberal Democrat peer Jenny Tonge on Question Time last night. Well done to the marvellous Douglas Murray for putting her in her place. Tonge has a long track record of antisemitic remarks and of expressing support for antisemitic terrorism. In 2004, an era when Hamas suicide bombers were blowing up schoolbuses, pizza parlours and a Passover seder attended by Holocaust survivors, she said of the bombers:  “If I had to live in that situation — and I say that advisedly — I might just consider becoming one myself.” Two years later she said: “The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the Western world, its financial grips. I think they have probably got a certain grip on our party.”

The above remarks were made before Nick Clegg became Liberal Democrat leader in 2007. Since then Mr Clegg has promised that he would discipline Tonge if she repeated such behaviour “on my watch”. In 2008 Tonge ranted at the IslamExpo about “the Jewish lobby” and asked: “How can we stop antisemitism if they [Israel] keep treating the Palestinians like this?” Last year she met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and described him as “shrewd, plausible and actually very likeable”. She also had a meeting with Ramadan Shalah, head of Islamic Jihad.

So has Mr Clegg kept true to his ‘not on my watch’ promise? No. He refuses to deal with Tonge and erupted when questioned about this by the Jewish Chronicle’s Martin Bright. Clegg’s angry, defensive tone in that interview is familiar. Last year I saw him speak at an event organised by Jewish News. It was mostly a gentle, friendly evening but in the rare moments when Mr Clegg was properly grilled on his and his party’s shameful record on Israel, he was visibly uncomfortable and furious. Like many Liberal Democrats he wants to have it both ways: he wants to victimise and demonise Israel, but then pretend that he’s a friend of Israel too.

You can read a decent compilation of Clegg’s shameful record on Israel at the beginning and end of this CifWatch post by the wonderful Israelinurse. Most revealing is his cowardly U-turn on Jenny Tonge. He can raise his voice and (irrelevantly) remind us that he’s “married to a Spaniard” all he likes, but actions speak louder than words. If Nick Clegg doesn’t even have the balls or the will to deal with antisemitism and support for terrorism within his own party, why on earth should we believe he is in any way ready to be a leader of the country?