The Reut Report identified London as the “Hub of Hubs” of the international campaign of Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to delegitimise Israel

This campaign is strategically focussed on five areas of public life in the UK:
Politics, Media, Trade Unions, Academia, Churches

Despite the tireless and dedicated efforts of Israel’s many supporters in this country, both Jewish and non-Jewish, our collective efforts to refute this unjust campaign have not been as effective as we would wish

The Aims:
• To plan how we can make our advocacy in support of Israel more effective
• Permanently transform for the better the terms of the public discourse about Israel in the UK
• To learn how every one of us Can Make A Difference

Who Should Attend a Big Tent Event?
EVERYONE who believes in Israel is welcome inside THE BIG TENT FOR ISRAEL
If you believe in Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, and the absolute right of all the citizens of Israel to live in peace with all their neighbours you will be most welcome

Our Roots
The Big Tent for Israel is the brainchild of Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag and was launched in Manchester in November 2011 in Manchester, UK. Manchester is the cradle of Zionism in the UK. It is thanks to the efforts of Chaim Weizmann, and in recognition of the vital importance of his work as a research chemist in Manchester, that the British Government published the Balfour Declaration.

What can I expect from getting involved with The Big Tent for Israel?
• Make new friends by joining local groups
• Listen to keynote speakers from the UK and abroad
• Attend focused workshops
• Improve your advocacy skills
• Set up or join a virtual pro-Israel group (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
• Set up or join a pro-Israel group where you live
• Help set up a nationwide grassroots network to lobby MPs, MEPs etc

The Reut Report highlighted Politics, Media, Trade Unions, Academia and the Churches as the five areas of public life in the UK in which the campaign to delegitimise Israel is focussed, and London as the international Hub of Hubs from which this worldwide campaign is being mounted.

The Big Tent For Israel explores how best we can most effectively oppose this unjust campaign.
In each of these five areas of public life explore:
1. Issues and challenges we now face
2. New strategies – how we can make a difference?
3. Partnership working – what new links and relationships can we forge?
4. What tools and resources do we need?
5. Next steps – how do we go forward?

1. In POLITICS: What do politicians and political commentators think and say about Israel? In our free and democratic society can they be persuaded to think and act differently?

2. Why is Israel’s MEDIA image negative? How shall we go about improving it? In a country with a free press, if there is media bias against Israel how shall we go about rebalancing the discourse?

3. In ACADEMIA - what do students experience on campus? What are academics doing and saying? What should the government do about it?

4. Have TRADE UNIONS taken a hostile stance against Israel? What can we do to help?

5. What do CHURCH members think, and church leaders do, in regard to Israel? How can we respond?

The Big Tent For Israel explores each of these in detail and strives to plan how we should respond to the challenge they present.

Workshops are also run on New Media - Social Media & Blogging, Delegitimisation in the professions and Israel Advocacy Training - Dates of upcoming events to be announced shortly.

Click here to download the Reut Report (pdf)

Reut Institute website: www.reut-institute.org