Greville Janner
Greville Janner, Lord Janner of Braunstone, (11 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was a Labour peer and a leading British Zionist. He was on a leave of absence from the House of Lords since 13 October 2014.[1]
From 1970 to 1997 Janner was the Labour MP for Leicester North West and then Leicester West.
Janner's website notes that: He joined the army at 18, serving as the youngest War Crimes Investigator in the British Army of the Rhine and worked at weekends with survivors in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Persons camp.[2]
Janner has campaigned against the AUT boycott on Israel.[3]
JC Power 100
In 2008, The Jewish Chronicle declared 'the top spots' on their second annual list of those who 'wield the greatest influence on British Jewry'. Janner is listed at number 20.[4] The criteria for being listed is described as 'those with a vision for Jewish life in this country and who did their utmost to bring it about using either money; persuasion; religion; culture; political or social leadership; or simply inspiring through word and deed'. In order for someone to be listed in the top 20, it was generally necessary to demonstrate influence in more than one of the spheres[5].
The article describes how...
- 'The Labour peer’s high standing in the inaugural Power 100 partly signified his role as an “incubator” of communal talent by giving starting jobs to leaders of the future. That influence may be waning as the indefatigable Cardiff-born political operator approaches 80. He represented Leicester constituencies in the Commons from 1970-97 before moving to the Lords. A modernising Board of Deputies president in the 1980s, he remains an impassioned voice on restitution and other Shoah issues as chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust. He speaks nine languages and is a member of the Magic Circle and the International Brotherhood of Magicians'.[4]
Others included in the list were Lord Levy (number 9), Ron Prosor (number 10), Daniel Finkelstein (number 11), John Mann (number 17), Jonathan Freedland (number 18), Julia Neuberger (number 19), Trevor Chinn (number 14), Prime Minister Gordon Brown (number 29) & Poju Zabludowicz (number 30).[4]
Sexual offences
In April 2015 it was decided by the CPS that Janner would not be charged with child sexual abuse offences because his dementia meant he was not fit to take part in court proceedings. The charges were from events in the 1970s and 80s and in 1991 Janner told Parliament he was innocent.[6] During the investigation more than twenty alleged victims were interviewed and police files on the case were studied for nine months. The verdict was reached as director of public prosecution Alison Saunders felt Janner's condition meant there is no current or future risk of offending.[7][8]
Affiliations
- United Kingdom-United Arab Emirates All-Party Parliamentary Group, member
- Parliamentary Committee for the release of Soviet Jewry, founded in 1971
- Board of Deputies of British Jews, Director 1979 to 1985
- Inter Parliamentary Council Against Anti-semitism, 1982 - present
- Commonwealth Jewish Council, Founder and president 1982 - present
- British Israel Parliamentary Group, Vice-Chairman
- World Jewish Congress, Vice-President 1991-2009
- Founder and President of the Inter Parliamentary Council Against Antisemitism (1985- ).
- He is Chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust and of the Lord Forte Charitable Trust.[9]
- Member of both the Magic Circle and the International Brotherhood of Magicians'.[4]
- All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia chairman from November 2010 - January 2011: he quit after he and party vice-chairman Kris Hopkins failed to persuade colleagues to sack a body called iEngage as the group’s secretariat at the group's first meeting in November 2010. [10]
- Israel, Britain and the Commonwealth Association, Honorary Member
- In parliament, and outside, he was involved in campaigning for the War Crimes Act 1991, lobbying the Thatcher government to allow legislation to bring those responsible for Nazi atrocities (and now resident in Britain) to justice.[11]
- vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council until 2015.[12][13]
- President of the National Council for Soviet Jewry (1979–85) and the Commonwealth Jewish Council.[14][12]
- In 1988 he co-founded the Holocaust Educational Trust with Merlyn Rees, a body which successfully persuaded the British government to add teaching about the Holocaust to the National Curriculum in 1988.[15] Janner stood down from the role in 2012. The Lord Janner Scholarship provides funding for ten schools to take part in the Trust's educational programmes each year.[16]
- Co-founder (along with Prince Hassan of Jordan) of the Coexistence Trust.
Notes
- ↑ Parliament.UK ineligible Lords, accessed 16 April 2015.
- ↑ http://www.grevillejanner.org.uk/community.html
- ↑ http://www.zionismontheweb.org/AUT/peacevigil.htm
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Jewish Chronicle JC Power 100: Sacks stays on top, as new names emerge, 9 May 2008, accessed 16 August 2008.
- ↑ The Jewish Chronicle How we made our selection, 9 May 2008, accessed 16 August 2008,
- ↑ BBC Lord Janner will not face child sex abuse charges, CPS says BBC, 16 April 2015, accessed 16 April 2015.
- ↑ Sandra Laville Decision not to prosecute Lord Janner will anger campaigners Guardian, 16 April 2015, accessed 16 April 2015.
- ↑ The decision not to prosecute Lord Janner - statement from the DPP, Crown Prosecution Service, 16 April 2015.
- ↑ http://www.grevillejanner.org.uk/community.html
- ↑ Andrew Gilligan, MPs walk out in battle over Islamist group, The Telegraph, 30 Jan 2011
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTelegraphobit - ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lord Janner QC. Jewish Leadership Council.
- ↑ Vice Presidents. Jewish Leadership Council.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedDalyell - ↑ Jennifer Lipman "Britain is full of people fighting hatred. We are lucky to live here", The Jewish Chronicle, 7 September 2012
- ↑ Holocaust Educational Trust honours champions of Holocaust Education. Holocaust Educational Trust.
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