Simon Platman

@simon_schama @stephenpollard Simon, like u, I grew up thinking that Israel was “a land without people for a people without land”. Later on, I dropped all preconceptions & did a deep dive into it. Tho emotionally draining, I’ve emerged with an utterly different mindset. One that’s wholly liberating. Try it.

@RabbiRomain Ahem… u don’t suppose wealth, celebrity & rampant narcissism have anything to do with it?

Who is at fault in the Beckham family feud? Only a few people know the truth, but the real sadness is that there are so many similar rifts between much less high profile parents & children (& who lack the wealth to soften the emotional hurt). All credit to those who get it right.

@RabbiRomain Dear Rabbi Pls remind me what’s “progressive” abt a religion which practices ritual genital mutilation on baby boys? Btw if u don’t answer, I shall take it that u CAN’T answer. (FYI For every 10 Qs I’ve asked u, I’ve been lucky to get a single response. R u sure ur a rabbi?)

Time to say "hello" not "goodbye" - was the message from the Celebration of Liberal Judaism event on Sunday....marking the formal end of a separate movement for Liberal Judaism (and that of Reform Judaism) as they both merge together into a unified movement, Progressive Judaism.

A confused Jew writes… Dear Lord Mann Was not so long ago the BoD and other leading Jewish bodies were telling the world that non-Jews have no right to define what is or isn’t AS. Have you converted?

The buck stops here

@rupertbu @MichaelRosenYes Does Slough have a National Year, too?

National Year of Reading 2026 | Go All In goallin.org.uk/?utm_campaign=…

@RabbiRomain NOTHING justifies Bondi. But… “Israel is the nation state of the JEWISH people”. Netanyahu says action in Gaza not just for Israel but ALL Jews. Jewish leaders continually declare Israel central to Jewish identity. & Mirvis describes the IDF as “OUR heroic soldiers.” Pls explain

So many false conflations: that British Jews are responsible for what happens in Israel; that all Muslims are extremists; that Jews and Muslims are at war with each other. All untrue. The answer is education, but it's a slow-burner, so we have to be fiercely & loudly moderate.

Donald John Trump.

Life mirroring art…

@drawbinista @MichaelRosenYes @Freedland @JewishNewsUK Interesting clip. Thanks.

@simonplatman @MichaelRosenYes @Freedland @JewishNewsUK “Are we the baddies?” When the fight against “AS” started using terrorism against itself to stoke sympathy then there were no principles left.

There has been a strong reaction to the antisemitism allegations levelled at Nigel Farage - except from those you might have expected to condemn it most loudly. My piece for @JewishNewsUK on a strange silence jewishnews.co.uk/jonathan-freed…

@MichaelRosenYes @Freedland @JewishNewsUK “My enemy’s enemy is my friend.” As the fight against AS by the UK Jewish Leadership has always been about survival not principles, there’s really nothing to see here. Their almost unequivocal support for Israel’s destruction of Gaza attests to that. At least they’re consistent.

@Freedland @JewishNewsUK But why the silence, Jonathan? Why are they being silent?

@RabbiRomain Rabbi, pray tell (see what I did there?) one reason why Judaism should be chosen above any other religion, save for intermarriage or school entry. Just one will do. But pls don’t say “sense of community”, as this is provided in spades (I’m told) by many niche religious sects.

Strangely, there is a surge of people converting to Judaism - even though we are not a missionary religion and reckon there are many paths to God. Here are some of the factors behind the increase, as well as what happens to Jews who convert elsewhere: thetablet.co.uk/features/the-c…

@RabbiRomain How do u know it was because they were Jewish per se and not apologists for Israel’s disproportional brutality in Gaza?

Last night I heard comedy duo Rachel Creeger & Philip Simons, whose gig I helped arrange locally as they had their show in Edinburgh cancelled in the summer - because they were Jewish & therefore dangerous. Yuk! But what a reflection on the comedy circuit (& Scottish resilience)

@MichaelRosenYes @frankcottrell_b Someone should put a stop to that.

@frankcottrell_b But she is. I looked her up on google. She is queen of the colons.

We really know how to honour good punctuaters round here.

@adam_louis52328 Adam, you know what comes from “ignore”? Ignorance.

@RabbiRomain Failure of imagination… Perhaps, for some, children being blown to smithereens trumps children living in relative poverty. Wherever they live.

Fascinating that the biggest cheer when Zarah Sultana launched Your Party last week was that the party would be anti-Zionist. What happens in Gaza is important, but why more than child poverty etc. here? Is it easier to love those far away than nearby? Or that hate trumps love?

@RabbiRomain Did u discuss how discriminatory religious circumcision is against Jewish girls? I mean, what’s their emblem of their “covenant with the Almighty”? Or, to paraphrase @Baddiel, is it that female Jews don’t count?

Took part in a seminar on circumcision yesterday - chosen by some parents for religious reasons and by others who have no faith but think it is right. For me what is key is that it should be done only by those who are medically qualified, and all cases should be monitored.

@DrGuddiSingh @BBCRadio4 Dear Guddi, fyi the UK is NOT the 6th RICHEST country in world — it is 6th largest economy —but only about 20th richest. If u begin ur pgm by asking why the 6th richest country can’t to better by its population, this small fact might go a little way to explain it. @BBCNews

🎙️ It’s here! Three Ages of Child airs today on @BBCRadio4. Real voices. Real stories. What health really means in the UK today. Listen & join the conversation. 💛 bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00… #ThreeAgesOfChild #BBCSounds #HealthEquity

@benj_kerstein @acandidworld @z3_project @davidhazony Ideal reading for self-hating Zionists…

My new book ‘SELF DEFENSE: A JEWISH MANIFESTO’ is now available! Thanks to @z3_project and @davidhazony! open.substack.com/pub/benjaminke…

@RRussellDavies @MichaelRosenYes You’re only saying that coz it’s true…

@simonplatman @MichaelRosenYes Very nice!

Here's the pic I was burbling about the other day -- both MacManuses, Ross and Declan (Elvis), Joe Loss and self in a TV studio.

@RRussellDavies @MichaelRosenYes Gotta be Eamonn Andrews. They were all guests on This is Your Life.

@simonplatman @MichaelRosenYes There must be something!