Bestselling author Noa Tishby starred at the latest UJIA Northern Dinner.
Two-time New York Times bestselling author and Israel’s former Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimisation, Noa Tishby earned two standing ovations from over 500 guests at the UJIA Northern Dinner in November.
At one of the largest UJIA events in Manchester for many years, Tishby spoke about how she “unfortunately was not surprised by what happened on 7th October.” On her book ‘Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth’ she said: “Many people are shocked that it was written before 7/10, as it discussed many of the things we are all talking about now: Hamas, social media, campuses.”
The highlight of the evening was when Daniel Berke, who was interviewing Tishby, invited 13-year-old Mancunian Josh Glynne on stage to join him in questioning the star. Josh, who has gained plaudits from across the Jewish community for fearlessly taking on anti-Israel protestors in debates on the streets of the North West, quizzed Tishby for tips on how to effectively talk about Israel with those who are hostile, and how to manage being a Jewish student on campus when he gets to university in a few years.
The dinner, the theme of which was We Are One, raised £871,000 for UJIA’s projects in the UK and Israel. The organisation announced last month that Israel Tour will launch on 9th December, and with the cost of living still increasing, the demand for bursaries is expected to be higher than ever. In Israel UJIA has launched its Rebuild campaign, to help the residents of two kibbutzim attacked on October 7th – Be’eri and Mefalsim – as well as thoseresidents who have been evacuated from Israel’s northern border communities, to return to their homes and to receive the trauma support that they need.
UJIA Manchester Chair, Carmel Berke, said: “We were delighted to host a full capacity event where over 500 people came to support our work. I know how important UJIA is, because I grew up without it. I grew up in Finland in a tiny, shrinking Jewish community. We had none of the amazing UJIA supported youth groups, Israel connections and educational programmes. In the UK, and particularly in Manchester, at the heart of our amazing Jewish community, is UJIA – a power station that injects electricity into everything around us. Since October 7th, our work has reached a new height and I couldn’t be prouder of what our team has achieved. It takes people to make a community and I encourage everyone to get behind our urgent and clear message.”