Threats force Matzah Ball to move to secret location

The Jewish Society and Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity’s inaugural Matzah Ball successfully went ahead on Friday night, despite the event having to be held in a secret location.

The move (to an undisclosed venue) followed the Golf Hotel’s decision earlier in the week to cancel their hosting of the event, following several threatening messages received from Palestinian activists.

Calls for protest were made from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign in reaction to the Ball’s decision to include the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (FIDF) as part of their chosen fundraising charities.

It is understood that the Golf Hotel’s manager Niall Thompson felt it necessary to call off the event because of health and safety concerns for staff and guests.

The decision to cancel the event, however, was met with criticism from some Jewish groups around Scotland. Paul Morron of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council said:

“We regard this as a very serious incident, setting a worrying precedent in Scotland. It’s not up to others to dictate to the Jewish community what charities they should support. That’s just not acceptable.”

Cancellation on Wednesday left the organisers with little time to find another venue for the event advertised as ‘the biggest Jewish event in St Andrews’ history.’

One of the Matzah Ball’s chief organisers told The Stand that the decision to hold the event in the secret location was confirmed just 24 hours beforehand. Emails were sent out to the guests that contained details of the transport departure location, but not the event venue itself.

“To avoid any trouble, we planned it so no one knew where they were going. No protestors turned up and everyone seemed to have a great time.”

Image courtesy of http://www.matzahball2013.co.uk/