"Jewish schools are guilty of racial discrimination if they reject children on the grounds of their parentage, a British court has ruled. In a decision that has shocked the country's 300,000-strong Jewish community, the Court of Appeal held that ongoing personal acts of faith, rather than birth or conversion, must define who is a Jew. In doing so, the court overturned an earlier high court judgment upholding the decision of the JFS in London (the oldest and largest Jewish school in Britain) to deny a boy admission because it did not recognize his mother's conversion.
The three judges, one of them Jewish, ruled that any selection criteria that gives ethnic priority to a Jew is showing racial discrimination. They cited the Race Relations Act 1976, which was introduced to prevent discrimination on the grounds of race. The ruling means that Jewish schools of any denomination, whether privately or state funded, will be barred from giving priority to children who are born Jewish or who convert, and instead must consider how the children and their families practice their Judaism.
... The United Synagogue, the denomination to which JFS belongs, already has spent almost $250,000 in legal costs to fight the case, and is now planning a challenge at the highest court in the land, the House of Lords.
"JFS has been told it must reconsider admitting the boy at the centre of the recent court case.
The Court of Appeal ordered the school to think again about offering a place to the boy, known as M, who was originally refused entry two years because his mother was a non-Orthodox convert.
Two weeks ago the court ruled that the school’s entry policy as unlawful, because allowing entry on the basis of whether a parent is Jewish contravenes the Race Relations Act."
The Court of Appeal ordered the school to think again about offering a place to the boy, known as M, who was originally refused entry two years because his mother was a non-Orthodox convert.
Two weeks ago the court ruled that the school’s entry policy as unlawful, because allowing entry on the basis of whether a parent is Jewish contravenes the Race Relations Act."
Reading the above articles, I was disheartened to learn that the Court of Appeal in London has the right to determine who is a Jew. According to the article, "Jewish schools are guilty of racial discrimination if they reject children on the grounds of their parentage."
I would like to be involved in the appeals process but, unfortunately, after reading that the JFS has spent close to $250,000 in legal costs to fight the case, I realize that financially, I would be unable to challenge the case. The only way I would be able to secure the costs to fight the case would be if I were the Queen of England, provided with a substantial income from English taxpayers. However, it seems I am unable to become Queen of England, due to my parentage. The circumstances of my birth, (not being born into the royal family) leaves me out of the running as a contender for Queen of England. Hey, I wonder if I can sue the government for racial discrimination.
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