Calls for urgent inquiry into sexual abuse of Jewish children in illegal schools

by Guest Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:37 pm

An investigation by The Independent revealed that a London borough education authority destroyed records of children attending illegal Jewish schools where thousands of children are at risk of physical beatings and sexual abuse

An urgent inquiry must be launched into the sexual abuse of Jewish children following an investigation by The Independent, campaigners have said.

Kol v’Oz,a global organisation dedicated to preventing abuse of Jewish children, has formally written to the UK’s investigations body for child abuse urging action. In a letter to the Independent Inquiry for Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), Chief Executive Manny Waks wrote: “The IICSA notes that it will investigate a wide range of institutions, including those who fall under the category of ‘other religious organisations’. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage the IICSA to seriously consider including at least a segment of the Jewish community in its investigations.

“In the past few years there have been numerous reports of troubling incidents within the Jewish community; more specifically, within the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community in the UK, including a series of reports by The Independent which note that child sexual abuse is alleged to have occurred in illegal Jewish ultra-Orthodox schools and that authorities turned a blind eye to these schools due, in part, to the fear of being accused of anti-Semitism,” Mr Waks added.

An investigation by The Independent revealed that thousands of Jewish children are missing from full time education records in the London borough of Hackney and are feared to be attending illegal, ultra-strict faith schools. The schools teach only religious scripture and all lessons are in Yiddish; meaning that many children with no qualifications and unable to speak English. Physical beatings and sexual abuse is also alleged to take place at some schools.

A redacted internal memo revealed by The Independent recorded that Hackney’s education authority had initially begun collecting information about the illegal schools but destroyed it after receiving a legal threat from some schools.

Department of Education staff have been aware of this since at least 2010 but does not appear to have acted to prevent the destruction of these records.

In response to the allegations, the Department for Education said that the redacted internal memo will be investigated.
The Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse was established under the Inquiries Act 2005 to independently investigate allegations of child sexual abuse by institutions. It undertook the investigation into allegations against Labour peer Lord Janner and alleged institutional failures over child protection by the Anglican Church.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/calls-for-urgent-inquiry-into-sexual-abuse-of-jewish-children-in-illegal-schools-a6973571.html

Jewish boys at these schools are not being taught mainstream subject, just religious ones, and come out with no qualifications. All the schooling is in Hebrew.

Former pupils, whistleblowers and campaigners have told The Independent that the boys, who belong to ultra-Orthodox Jewish families, are taken out of the schooling system by the age of 13. After this age, they attend extremely strict faith schools where lessons are conducted in Yiddish, speaking English is banned, physical beating occurs and children are encouraged to enter arranged marriages upon turning 18.

Data analysis by the British Humanist Association (BHA) reveals that the Government’s own records show that thousands of Jewish boys drop off records of registered school children. Currently, more than 1,100 children are missing from these records in London.

Campaigners say that the boys often start off in legal, state primary schools along with their sisters.

However, their religious beliefs are that boys should dedicate their lives to intense study of religious texts exclusively once they reach their Bar Mitzvah age of around 13. Daughters are not expected to undergo the same education because it is not seen as theologically important for women to have a deep understanding of religious texts when their primary role is looking after their families and the home, and so girls largely remain in legal, state schools.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/illegal-jewish-schools-department-of-education-knew-about-council-faith-school-cover-up-as-thousands-a6965516.html