As he posed for the cameras at the end of anevening Q&A with Britain’s Jewish community, a beaming Ed Milibandwas heckled by a member the audience. Glancing down, the Jewish leaderof the UK’s Labour Party realized that the Haggadah he was holding, agift from the organizers, was upside down. He quickly corrected course,grinning sheepishly. www.timesofisrael.com/signup/?utm_source=toi-articles& ;amp;utm_medium=middle-link&utm_campaign=signup-buttonsThe audience didn’t seem to mind. By then, Miliband, who according to polls is the UK’s in the modern era, had charmed the room with his easy manner, and hisfrankest yet declarations of admiration for Israel and for his Jewishheritage. The fact that he did not seem to know too much about eitherwas politely ignored.Miliband, who was elected party leader in 2010after defeating his older brother, David, has taken to discussing hisfamily background with increasing frequency. Thursday night, he openedwith the now-familiar story of how his Belgian father escaped the Nazisin 1940 on one of the last boats out of the country, seeking refuge inLondon, leaving behind a mother, sister and more than 20 other membersof the family, all of whom were sheltered by a farmer for the durationof the war. His Polish mother was hidden in a convent by Catholic nuns.He also recounted how he visited his maternalgrandmother in Israel as a 7-year-old, and noticed a picture of hisgrandfather, who had been killed in the camps, on the mantelpiece.“From that moment onward, I realized Israelwas giving my grandmother an incredible sanctuary,” he said to applause.“I have respect, admiration and indeed a debt to Israel for thesanctuary it gave my grandmother.”Growing up with a Marxist academic father innorth London, he admitted that the family was “not very involved” in theJewish community, but that politics was in his blood. Influenced bytheir own background as refugees, his parents taught him that injusticemust be tackled.‘I have respect, admiration and indeed a debt to Israel for the sanctuary it gave my grandmother’“It was tikkun olam. I didn’t know itwhen I was growing up, but my upbringing was about caring about theworld,” said Miliband, confessing that he had learned the Hebrew termfor “repairing the world” only recently.Answering questions from the 300-strong crowd,Miliband declared that he would protect kosher animal slaughter andJewish circumcisions, practices that have come under fire elsewhere inEurope.Asked whether he was a Zionist, Milibandresponded, “Yes. I consider myself a supporter of Israel… It doesn’tmean I support everything Israel’s government does.”Not only would he oppose boycotts of Israel,he was prepared to say so to trade union members who have been at theforefront of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign in the UK,but who were also largely responsible for his election as Labour leader.Boycotts “are totally wrong,” Miliband said. “I have no tolerance forboycotts. I will say it to any trade union member who asks me. You don’tcreate a two-state solution with boycotts.”Miliband declined to say what he would do ifsanctions against Iran failed completely, saying only that it was“essential” to pursue a twin track of sanctions and negotiationsregarding the country’s nuclear program. He also ducked a question onthe Conservative-Liberal Democratic government’s proposals to makeprimary schools teach one of seven foreign languages,in the Jewish community because the list does not include Hebrew.Miliband later said that he was not aware of the plans, and would lookinto them.He seemed on surer ground when responding toquestions on general policy, including immigration, housing and bankers,which initially seemed to preoccupy the audience. Successive audiencemembers preceded their questions by declaring that they were members ofthe Labour party; there was also a high representation from the Board ofDeputies, Anglo Jewry’s representative organization, which sponsoredthe event together with the Jewish News freesheet.Miliband was most animated, however, whenasked by an American in the crowd whether he admired any Americansports. Miliband, who briefly lived in Boston as a child and laterstudied at Harvard, excitedly declared his love for the Boston Red Sox,giving the bemused English audience a potted history of the baseballteam and confessing that he had just ordered a poster featuring DaveRoberts’ stolen base in the 2004 American League Championship Series. Hecould talk about baseball all night, he mused, and wished for morebaseball questions.Read more: Miliband declares himself a Zionist in Q&A with UK JewsThe Times of Israel www.timesofisrael.com/miliband-declares-himself-a-zionist-in