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Geoffrey Alderman (born 10 February 1944) is a British historian that specialises in 19th and 20th centuries Jewish community in England. He is also a political adviser and journalist.


Life

Born in
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...
, Alderman was educated at
Hackney Downs School Hackney Downs School was an 11–16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995. It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy. History G ...
(then a grammar school), then studied history at
Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
, from 1962, graduating with a BA in 1965 and an MA and D.Phil. in 1969. After short academic contracts at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...
, and the universities of
Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
and
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...
, he joined Royal Holloway College (
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...
) in 1972, lecturing in politics and contemporary history. He was made Professor of Politics and Contemporary History in 1988. From 1989 to 1994, he held senior administrative posts in the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...
and from 1994 to 1999 in
Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries of ...
. From 1999, he has worked in the private educational sector, in the US (
Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac ...
) and, from 2002 to 2006, at the American InterContinental University, London, where he was Academic Dean and Senior Vice-President. On 1 June 2007, Alderman joined the academic staff of the
University of Buckingham , mottoeng = Flying on Our Own Wings , established = 1973; as university college1983; as university , type = Private , endowment = , administrative_staff = 97 academic, 103 support , chance ...
. In 1971, he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...
and in 1991 a Fellow (now a Life Fellow) of the
Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
. In 2006, he was awarded the degree of
Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doct ...
by the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
for his important work on Anglo-Jewish history. In 2010, he was appointed a Visiting Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies. At a ceremony in London on 6 March 2011, Alderman was named the winner of the Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism 2011. He describes himself as an unconventional
Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
. ''Disobedience'', a novel by his daughter, Naomi Alderman, received the 2006 Orange Award for New Writers. Alderman has occasionally contributed to Iran's PressTV channel. In 2011, he made four such appearances and donated his appearance fees of £300 to Israel.


Opinions


Higher education in Britain

In the summer of 2008, following Alderman's inaugural professorial lecture at the
University of Buckingham , mottoeng = Flying on Our Own Wings , established = 1973; as university college1983; as university , type = Private , endowment = , administrative_staff = 97 academic, 103 support , chance ...
, and criticisms of some aspects of UK higher education by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, a brief parliamentary inquiry was undertaken into these allegations. At that inquiry (17 July 2008) the chairman of the House of Commons' Select Committee on Innovation, Universities and Skills accused the Quality Assurance Agency of being "toothless" and declared that the British degree classification system had "descended into farce". Alderman himself gav
written and oral evidence
to a subsequent inquiry of the Select Committee into Students and Universities, whose report (2 August 2009) included an endorsement of Alderman's views.


Palestinians in Gaza

In 2009, Alderman sparked another controversy when he argued that, according to Jewish religious law, every
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
in Gaza who voted for
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Br ...
was a "legitimate target." He articulated his position in a debate with rabbi David J. Goldberg in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s commentary section. He argues that according to the
Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comma ...
, "it is entirely legitimate to kill a ''rodef'' – that is to say, one who endangers the life of another – and this is true, incidentally, even if the ''rodef'' has not yet actually taken another life".


Haredi sexual harassment

In early 2012, ''
The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' reported that complaints were made against a column by Alderman in which he wrote that "it is well known that Charedi men are notorious harassers of the opposite sex", that these comments breached accuracy and discrimination rules. The
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Ind ...
rejected these complaints, saying that it was clear to readers that the content was written from Alderman's own perspective and whether or not the article was offensive required subjective judgment.


Works

Of Alderman's dozen or so books, the best-known is ''Modern British Jewry'' (second edition, 1998, OUP). He has also written for the '' New Dictionary of National Biography'', with special responsibility for post-1800 Jewish entries, and for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' and ''The Jewish Chronicle''. He is a columnist for the '' Jewish Telegraph''.


Principal publications

''As author'': *''The History of Hackney Downs School'' (London, 1971) *''The Railway Interest'' (Leicester University. Press, 1973) (Reprinted by Gregg Revivals, 1993) *''British Elections: Myth and Reality'' (B.T.Batsford, 1978) *''The Jewish Community in British Politics'' (Oxford University. Press, 1983) *''Pressure Groups and Government in Great Britain'' (Longman, 1984; 2nd impression 1987) *''Modern Britain 1700–1983: A Domestic History'' (Croom Helm 1986; reprinted 1987) *''The Federation of Synagogues, 1887–1987'' (Federation of Synagogues, 1987) *''London Jewry and London Politics 1889–1986'' (Routledge, 1989) *''Britain: A One-Party State?'' (Christopher Helm, 1989) *''Modern British Jewry'' (Oxford University Press, 1992; 2nd edn 1998) *''Controversy and Crisis: Studies in the History of the Jews in Modern Britain'' (Academic Studies Press, 2008) *''The Communal Gadfly'' (Academic Studies Press, 2009) *''Hackney Downs 1876–1995: The Life and Death of a School (2012) ''as editor'': *''Governments, Ethnic Groups and Political Representation'' (editor and contributor) (European Science Foundation and Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot, 1993) *''Outsiders and Outcasts: Essays in Honour of William J. Fishman'' (joint editor with C. Holmes, and contributor) (Duckworth, London, 1993) *''New Directions in Anglo-Jewish History'' (Academic Studies Press, 2010) ''other works'': *''The History of the Hendon Synagogue 1928–1978'' (London, 1978) *''The Jewish Vote in Great Britain since 1945'' (University of Strathclyde Studies in Public Policy No. 72, 1980) *''The Jewish Shops Panel: A Guide for Jewish Market Traders'' (written with G. Hudes, Scott Markets Ltd., 1981) *''Anglo-Jewry: A Suitable Case For Treatment'' (privately published, 1990) naugural Lecture delivered 17 October 1989*''Academic Duty and Communal Obligation: Some Thoughts on the writing of Anglo-Jewish History'' (Centre for Jewish Studies, University of London, 1994) *''The Holocaust: Why Did Anglo-Jewry Stand Idly By?'' (Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Touro College, New York, 2001)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alderman, Geoffrey 1944 births Academics of Middlesex University Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Academics of the University of London Academics of University College London Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford English historians English Orthodox Jews Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Historians of Jews and Judaism Jewish historians People educated at Hackney Downs School Living people