Paul Eisen writes:

It’s now well known that the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) was pressured by the Zionist lobby group North West Friends of Israel (NWFOI) to cancel a concert by internationally acclaimed jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon. What is less well known is that the co-chair and spokesperson for NWFOI is one Anthony Dennison (Mr Dennison’s name and role in the organisation can be confirmed here). These machinations by the NWFOI and the leading role played by Mr Dennison were duly reported by the Jewish Chronicle

So far, so… well, if not exactly good, certainly understandable.

Less understandable is the fact (not mentioned by the Jewish Chronicle) of Mr Dennison’s documented and well-known dishonesty. Because of his dishonesty, Anthony Dennison, once a lawyer closely associated with the no win, no fee scam was found by the High Court to be unworthy to practice law and was duly struck off

Everyone knew about it. The BBC knew about it, the Solicitor’s Journal knew about it, the Daily Telegraph knew about it and the Manchester Evening News knew about it, so it’s safe to say that the NWFOI and the Jewish Chronicle certainly knew about it.

But Mr Dennison is not only an aficionado of white-collar dishonesty; in fact he’s not at all averse to getting down and dirty because it seems that Anthony Dennison is also a bit of a football hooligan. Perhaps you remember the incident from October 2014 when Mr Dennison’s all-Jewish football team, Maccabi, was about to be wiped out in a match (9:2 with only 10 minutes left to play) and Mr Dennison took his young players off the pitch claiming “anti-Semitic abuse”. The fledgeling anti-Semite was duly disciplined but Dennison was also later banned and fined by the Football Association – for his “foul and abusive behaviour”. And yes, the incident was duly reported by the Jewish Chronicle here and here.

So, are we entitled to conclude that Anthony Dennison is both dishonest and a hooligan? And if we are, is it then surprising that, when orchestrating the pressure on the RNCM, he should call to his support fellow discredited lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who is now implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein under-age sex scandal?

Leaving aside whether we should allow such a man as Anthony Dennison to bully a British artist and an academic and beloved cultural institution, there is another, wider question to be asked: how come a supposedly respectable lobbying organisation like NWFOI is happy to have as a prime representative a man known to be dishonest and also an occasional hooligan? And further, how come the premier Jewish media outlet representing mainstream Jewish opinion in this country has nothing to say on this matter?

How come?

Well, for us Jews, when something is legitimate and acceptable we say it is kosher. So, in the case of Anthony Dennison we have to admit that some dishonesty is well… kosher!