David Chamberlain and the reprise of historical infamy

I heart Melanie

Thanks again Melanie for providing a valuable insight into how warped the human mind can get.

Neil Turner

Superb article Melanie

As a Conservative voter of over 30 years, I'm ashamed of Hague and Co. I'm glad I voted UKIP in May

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV6DVk04HkM is well worth watching for a concise expose of the story

Gregory

Where indeed? And where is the new version of David Low's great cartoon of Churchill brandishing his fist defiantly from the cliffs of England at the gathering darkness across the Channel? As Israel's former allies cravenly abandon her to the forces of Islamist tyranny one-by-one, perhaps we can visualise Mr.Netanyahu standing on the Israeli shore of the Mediterranean similarly brandishing his fist at the growing number of his adversaries and proclaiming, like Winnie before him, "Very well then - alone!"

Keep up the splendid work, Melanie - we need you more than ever.

A Rational, Reasoned Person

Wonderful Melanie!

Here's a limerick (apologies to Edward Lear):

There was an old man called Hague
Whose ideas were excessively vague
He bought a balloon
To examine the moon
And left the Ster of David waylaid.

Augustus

Now that the flotilla's 'aid' supplies have been checked at the port of Ashdod and found to be worthless and unusable, with expired medicines and equipment in an old and unusable condition, perhaps our politicians will come to their senses and begin to support the
Israeli government's difficult task of defending its citizens
from Islamic onslaughts. What could be more twisted than using
the excuse of humanitarian aid as a pretext to open a well-funded corridor of future weapons and missiles supplies into Gaza from which to continue
their fanatical jihad against Israel and the Jews? These people really are beyond the pail.

Augustus

Oops! That should be 'beyond the pale'.

Veracity

It cannot be said too often that Hamas are the new Nazis. The aim is the same. What does the British government not understand about this. If your charter calls for Israel's elimination and the death of Jews worldwide, could they please demonstrate how this will be carried out 'moderately'. As long as they do it moderately that will be alright then . Now they have the thirty pieces of silver will they please go hang themselves .

Graeme Thompson

'Where oh where is our Churchill?'. It looks like you're it Melanie.

Norm

I used to have a lot of time for Hague as I believed he was a basically good man but I wonder how much is him and how much is the establishment's view that is being spouted here?

Dogsbody

This spinelessness syndrome has spread also to Australia, whose governemnt wants the flow of armaments to Hamas to increase.
The tone for the West was established at the very beginning of Obama's presidency.
I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that he has been lobbying Western governments to adopt these positions, and they have obliged.

ab

To tell the truth, I would be shocked if Cameron stood up for Israel. It just would not fit with his opportunistic personality. The man’s principles are as steady as a well greased weathervane. Israel is always an easy target. I just wish he would stop saying he is a friend of Israel! If he means it, though, it only shows what he thinks friendship means: nothing. Quite frankly, I do not think that Israel really has any friends on the international scene; those who have, heretofore, claimed to be its friends, remind me of the seven sins in Everyman – quick to desert a friend in need. And worse, kick him in the teeth for good measure to be just like the others. The tragicomic thing is that the path the West wants Israel to walk – a path to its destruction – is the same path it will be forced to take once Israel (and all the court Jews) are gone.

Jason from AZ

"And where oh where is our Churchill?"

Unfortunately Melanie, there is no Churchill nor is there one on the horizon. Your politicians do not understand that if Israel is left to the chopping block of jihad, than the West is next.

Either these idiots don't understand this or they don't care as long as they are living comfortable lives for the moment.

benjamin

Dear Melanie, when the clash of civilisations truly gets underway and our rivers are flowing with blood and Death's pale horse once more stalks the land then i feel confident that you shall be seen in your true light - not as a mere polemicist but as a prophet worthy of the Old Testament.
Regrettably, I feel that your words at present are bound to fall upon deaf ears - the West is too blind, too ignorant and too complacent to see the true state of affairs: our morsels of mortality lay poised within the jaws of a global jihad - if we could but look up from our TV's and computer screens and see this!
For now you must be content to be a voice in the wilderness but, rest assured, one day the scales will fall from our brothers and sisters eyes and you will be vindicated. I just fervently pray that it's not when it's too late.

karen

Maybe you, Melanie, will be our (the West's) Churchill. We are following with horrible exactness his milestones to disaster. Your new book is a cry to those of us who are awake. I'm afraid those who refuse to see will never see what is happening until it is too late.

MairiT

Melanie,
I admire you, respect you and am thankful that you write with a healthier perspective than some of the idiot journalists. I am beginning to wonder if this country is full of lemmings and am deeply worried in the way this country is being sold out to Islamic radicals and the bleeding hearts of the lib dems who are assisting them. There is a saying "Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims" they forgot to mention the liberal democrat party! I hope I have not broken any PC rules by stating my mind.

David Catleugh

Top notch article. An excellent attempt to drag our press out of the gutter.

Derek BLADES

Ms Phillips writes that "Cameron, Clegg and Hague are demanding that Israel stop protecting itself from the import into Gaza of missiles and other weapons with which Hamas and others can murder yet more Israelis."

Of course, they are doing nothing of the kind. They are demanding that the Gaza blockade be lifted. This will in no way prevent the Israeli border inspectors from intercepting and banning imports of weaponry.

Incidentally, Hamas’ weaponry is routed through the tunnels and passes through Egypt. The Israeli blockade is irrelevant from the military point of view. It is purely and simply a means of collectively punishing the Gaza voters for having elected Hamas in an open, and relatively fair, election. That is what Cameron, Clegg and Hague (together with most of the thinking population of the western world) are complaining about.

Mike Stone

Britain did not stand alone in the 1940s to defend "liberty" in the abstract, but to prevent one particular power (which happened to be a dictatorship) from threatening Britain's independence by gaining hegemony over Europe. Ditto for the Cold War later.

Is there any convincing evidence that Britain's independence is similarly at stake in the conflict between Israel and the Arabs? I'd have thought it was more threatened by the bureaucrats in Brussels than by all the Moslem "powers" (few of which really rate that name) put together.

Dixon

Mike Stone...why not try to imagine what would happen to your world if the flow of oil stopped tomorrow.

Either you are not old enough to remember or have simply not bothered to learn from the experience of 1973. Western economies were brought to their knees within days of an oil embargo imposed in respoinse to US support for Israel in the Yom Kippur war. The economic and economic effects completely changed British politics for a decade at least. In the US whereI was at the time there were actual gunfights at filling stations over access to petrol. From that time onwards, in spite of the threat of war in Europe, the principal training of the US armed forces became focussed on desert warfare.

Major repercussions from only a minor interruption in oil supplies. Only a tiny hint of the very real power that the Muslim states to which you refer possess.

Dixon

Sorry, "economic and economic effects " was meant to be £economic and political effects"

And I aplolergise afin for mu terrible typing.

Andy Gill

Typical cowardice from a spineless and terrified establishment. Dhimmitude at its finest.

See, look at us, we're bashing your enemies the Jews. Please don't blow us up any more.... Pretty please?

Dr Paul Fidlon

Have just bought 'The World Turned Upside Down' -- very hard to put down!
The Australian Labor (sic) Party is now showing its true socialist colour, Commo Red. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith are blaming Israel for killing Mahmoud al Mahbouh in Dubai and for refusing the "peace flotilla" access to Gaza. In other words, the Australian government lacks the courage to stand up to Islamic terrorists.

Charlotte

This is some of the P.R. Israel needs to show more widely.
However there are more deaf ears & closed eyes than open ones.

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=-tOdW0qEy4g

EDDIE

Blades’ reasoning is the typically left wing woolly sort wherein facts must never interfere with well-established prejudices. Hamas illegally seized Gaza in a Putsch. It is right now waging war against Israel. A blockade of strategic materials and weapons is what is done in wartime. Hamas is an extreme right wing Mafia with no use for the rules of war or justice for its citizen/ victims. It oppresses women and kills gays. Absolutely the right sort of government for liberals in this country to support.

david

Your quote,"history is now repeating itself almost to the lettere"unquote.
As events are unfolding now it seems that Israel is the present day's Checoslovakia just prior WW2.Agreed that no one will stand(at least militarily) with Israel when it comes to a showdown.However,if cornered,Israel will respond with ALL means at her disposal.It's irrelevant if the moslems(arabs,turks,persians)can muster 100 or 200 divisions.
Israel will not emerge totally unscathed,but the population and industrial centers of the moslems will turn to wastelands for many years to come.

John.

What is needed is a simple primer, which has to be widely distributed, explaining, in words of two syllables, the genesis of anti-Israeli bias throughout the world. It must be made clear that Israel was given a small fraction of what it had originally been promised - the rest having been snatched by Jordan, that many or most of the so-called Palestinians are the very recent descendants of Libyans, Egyptians and Syrians who emigrated to Israel to take advantage of Israeli ingenuity in making the desert bloom - and therefore as much recent immigrants as many of the Jewish Israelis are. And that as soon as Israel gained its nationhood it was attacked by the combined forces of the surrounding Muslim nations, that it is the only democracy in the region, that, apart from Turkey, not one Muslim nation can call itself democratic - and Turkey,s claim to be so is dubious to say the least, considering that it has been persecuting the Kurds for un- counted years and has bulldozed away as many perfectly preserved 6th and 7th century Byzantine Christian churches as it can without the outside world noticing, (see "From the Holy Mountain" by William Dalrymple). Also that all land in Jewish hands before the estalishment of Israel as a state was fairly bought from the former owners and that the state was established by the agreement and the resolution of the United Nations - thus a fully legal and justified establishment. That Israel is the vanguard bulwark against fanatical and very determined Muslim aggression against the West and that we abandon her at our own peril. The brain-washed public needs to be disabused of its false illusions and the craven cowardice of politicians and media alike shown up for what it is. The difficulty is in financing and distributing such an ABC of the facts. It would be in Israel,s best interests to pay its embassies to see to this.

Surreybill

Very good article, if a little emotional at times. Trouble is, in 1940 the fascists were on foreign soil. Now the fascists are already in the country. So What can we do?

William Boyd

Well we (I mean we Brits) certainly seem to be distancing ourselves from Israel.

I would rather we didn't not least because Israel is a democracy while its neighbours are not but I can understand the political realities of the situation.

If Israel had chosen to be more accommodating over contentious issues such as extra-judicial killings, settlement building and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty then there would some motive for being more supportive.

Presently there is another situation with an aid ship developing. What to do?

Of course we must step back.

As for Churchill and stuff he was defending our (I mean us Brits') liberty which is neither more nor less what our present leaders are striving to do now for good or bad.

Lynn Johnston

Very well said and what is next in this descent into madness and ignomy.

Natasha

Ms. Phillips, I will be buying your book very shortly. Your title says exactly what I've been saying for some time: The world seems upside down. And I keep asking myself how it could be that we're repeating a history that isn't all that long ago. I've said before that the world seems run by Chamberlains, and there's not a Churchill to be found. Here in Canada, I see us going down a similar path to the UK, and I truly despair for the future.

Augustus

EDDIE - Whatever else BLADES may be, he is certainly misguided. Israelis, who are not only Jews, but also Christians, Atheists, Muslims, Humanists, and Buddhists, amongst others, live at the razor-sharp edge of the blade which Islamic state-sponsored Fascism and worldwide Islamic terrorism holds at the throat of
all civilized nations. BLADES should remember that Israel is the only truly democratic and free nation respecting rules of law and seperation of powers in that part of the world. It is a lone outpost of Western civilization.

Percy Stern

As always Melanie, unlike other journalists, looks behind the glib words of our government heads to the true facts. If only others could see and voice the same warnings.
May she long continue to do so (although we pray that it will not be necessary)

Benjamin

The spectre of the Holocaust is once more casting its fearful shadow across our globe. As the last Holocaust has it's deniers so the pending Shoah also has it's nay-sayers.

Those among the liberal 'elite' who claim that that those aboard the flotilla were not terrorists but ordinary citizens fail to see that this is precisely what makes it so worrying. Recall that the Einsatzgruppen - those Nazi death squads whose commanders were mere 'ordinary citizens' - murdered countless Jews throughout Eastern Europe.

These were not the poor and oppressed - many of them had university degrees. They were educated, comfortable.

In this century the Einsatzgruppen have reforrmed under the supervision of new Jew-hating Islamic elite. To try and appease them under the mistaken assumption that they are rational, educated people just like us who will respond to appeals to reason is to completely mis-read the situation.

The flotilla incident is only the beginning of a long propaganda war that will prey upon the the gullability of the West's intellectual elite. Only when it is too late will we realise the foolishness of appeasement.

John Comnenus

Cameron is obviously trying to emulate an earlier electorally successful Conservative British PM - Neville Chamberlain. Britain will never be great with these spineless cowards running the country.

Paul Weston

Derek BLADES stated:

"...it is purely and simply a means of collectively punishing the Gaza voters for having elected Hamas in an open, and relatively fair, election."

On that basis I suppose Mr Blades is against the "collective punishment" of Nazi Germany, in the aftermath of free and fair elections?

And Herr Hitler was not even elected on the premis of Jewish genocide, unlike Hamas.

just Louise

I think our latterday Churchill might be a courageous and perspicacious young blogger, think-tank head, and occasional "Question Time" panellist called Douglas Murray, who understands the issues and clearly articulates them. I believe he addressed a pro-Israel demonstration in London a couple of evenings ago.
But unfortunately, this young man is not in Parliament, and while Cameron and Hague (shame on you William, for while Call Me Dave is a greasy opportunist you have always - hitherto - given the impression of sound good sense and integrity) are beholden to Clegg for "power" they will willingly assimilate and parrot the odious LibDem anti-West cloud cuckoo land line. And few backbenchers are likely to rock the boat by rebelling, especially not the ambitious newcomers.

Ab, John., Paul Weston, there's little left for the supporter of Israel and the West to add after your brilliant posts.

May the Almighty have mercy on and protect Israel. Because in "princes" (aka world "statesmen") she clearly cannot put her trust.

Rip Van Winkle

Thursday, winter with its gale force near zero sou'westerly reached Cook Straits, New Zealand, and in Wellington, the small nation's capital, folks wrapped up warm and accepted the fierce winds.

In 1865, after much cud-chewing, Parliament moved to centrally located Wellington. In 1867, maori men gained four separate maori seats, big deal; equality is now the norm. In 1893, New Zealand, was the first country in the world to give women the vote. Citizens of voting age have voting rights.

Cud-chewing must have been very prevalent and I suspect Wellington influenced the choice of location - acoustic camouflage.

As an impartial observer of different ethnicities in this free and easy going country, I find folks are ready to give others a "fair go", but then wintry Thursday, June 3rd, 2010, came and a national broadsheet THE DOMINION POST, in a COLOURED PRIME POSITION in its BLACK and WHITE "Letters"s column:

"A rational proposal to Israel's supporters"

"I challenge the Jewish community in Wellington to organise an open-admission public forum - with audience interjections freely permitted -under an independent chairman to debate the proposition: 'Given that Hamas has offered to cease hostilities against Israel if Israel withdraws to its pre-1967 borders, should New Zealand and the rest of the world now demand that the United Nations and the United States, in the interests of world peace, force Israel to immediately withdraw to its pre-1967 borders and so, once and for all, be able to stop being so aggressively self-righteous and so hurtfully defensive?'

"Ï have enough faith in the deep cultural intelligence of our Jewish community to believe that it can summon up enough courage to publicly debate such a rational proposition with the rest of us, and to accept the outcome, even if it might dislike it"

Roger Hay
Johnsonville

Fellow bloggers of Melanie, for or against, in the cut and thrust of debate you have frequently picked holes in each other so I am sure you will see this as a no win set up as per flotilla.

Free interjections permitted - yeah!

For this easy going country I ask you to help nip the bud of this islamist stuff.

Email to:

letters@dompost.co.nz
Fax ë4-474-0350

Letters must include the writer's full name, home address and daytime phone number.

(best to email, it would save a lot of hassle)

Letters should not exceed 200 words and should be exclusive.
Letters will be edited for clarity and length.

"tis now 0020hrs and this old fella is off to sleep while you lovely people get stuck into writing.

Beer Moth

This is what we get when we elect career politicians. They will see which way the wind is blowing, and face accordingly.

In their minds they have little choice if they want to be elected, as the electorate has been specially shipped in and cultivated so as to demand whatever the jihadis want.

And when the next elections come around, there will be so many more of them.

As Freddie Laker used to say: 'Book Early!'

Raymond in DC

Most journalists in the nominally free west have set aside all professional responsibility to join in the anti-Israel rumble. Here's a sampling of what the mainstream media has been feeding us in the US.

On Monday, ABC and NBC provided a few of the IDF provided videos, but the focus was still on the loss of life of "peace activists" who were "attacked" by IDF forces. But even as more info has been revealed about those "activists", their affiliations, their planning for confrontation, etc., coverage if anything has gotten *worse*.

Much of the media made much of the fact that one of the Turkish fatalities was born in the US (left for Turkey at age 2). To that I think, "So what! Does that make him any less a militant?" But the media made a big deal about the Israelis killing "an American".

An NPR interview with Robert Malley (occasional adviser to Obama) insisted that Israel's closure on Gaza wasn't working, so just end it - oblivious to the fact he was handing Hamas a victory - with no suggestion of an alternate approach.

Today another NPR piece with an Arab partisan, a clueless interviewer, and some other know-nothing. The focus was all on Palestinians "suffering" in Gaza. Not a word about the military organization of the activists, the capture of three or four IDF soldiers, the vests, gas masks, night vision gear and spent cartridges found, the ship captain who admitted activists threw guns overboard, etc.

Adam B.

Absolute nonsense Blades. Grad missiles can't be brought through the tunnels, but they can arrive by ship, and this has already been tried by the Iranians. The shipment was thankfully intercepted by the Israelis. Hence the importance of intercepting and inspecting cargo.

Joe Strummer

Melanie is correct. We never learn our lessons from history where appeasement is concerned and the parallels with Czechoslovakia pre-1939 and now with Israel 2010 is truly disturbing. Make no mistake, the same venal and self-preserving politicians today, as before, would be no different in "feeding the crocodile" in a pathetic attempt to save their own sorry skins. I'm not Jewish, in fact I'm not religious at all, but even I can recognise the undisguised and rampant anti-Semitism posing as "anti-Zionism" due to disgraceful and quite shameful biased and impartial media coverage of anything connected to the Israeli / Palestinian conflict.

Israel is being repeatedly demonised, marginalised and criminalised in the world media simply for taking the same actions that any other country would to defend itself and its people.

An American

Melanie,

Obama is no better than your weak Cameron and his cronies.

Obama called Israel's actions to stop the supposed aid ship from running their blockade 'tragic', putting all the blame on Israel.

Everything that Obama has done during his one and half year in the presidency in regard to Israel has helped contribute to the isolation of Israel.

Where is another Churchill?...heck I would take another George Bush about now. Bush was committed to help protect Israel, which Obama most definitely is not.

An American

Dixon,
Very insightful comments on how the middle east can/will hold the west hostage with their oil.

Of course, with our recent gulf oil spill, Obama, who never passes up an opportunity to undermine the American people... has stopped all drilling. Does he really despise America as much as it appears or is he just clueless?

Hairynoddy

There's only one reason for this, our need for arab oil. Politicians are thinking 'well, jews are all well and good, but without oil our countries will grind to a halt. So sod the jews.'

Where is the greatest need for oil in our economy? My guess: people driving to and from work.

Basically the jews are being sacrificed so that British people can do their 50 - 60 mile daily commutes.

An American

Dixon,
Did you know that the US has more than enough oil to supply our country for over a hundred years? The problem is that environmentalists have done everything to stop oil exploration and drilling or build oil refineries. They have also managed to stop any building of nuclear plants (Bush got two started, which Obama is now taking credit for) or nuclear depositories. There is a billion dollar nuclear depository sitting empty underground in the Nevada desert...Harry Reid is responsible for that debacle. The environmentalists would perfer that nuclear waste rot in metal drums it has been stored in for decades and seep into water acquifers than use billion dollar depositories built specifically for nuclear waste...they are also the reason we have this horrendous gulf oil spill since they wouldn't allow more managable, safer oil rigs nearer the coast...too unsightly. But then, they also don't want unsightly wind farms along either coast...that's where all these east coast and west coast idiots live...they perfer to put them where conservatives live and have to look at them.

I think these liberal bleeding heart environmentalists should have their cars taken away...let them walk.

Mike Stone

Hairynoddy:

Well, at least that would be a rational motive. Are you sure you're not giving the government too much credit?

In the Wilderness in America

Melanie, all rational and decent people applaud your examination of the flotilla debacle and the west's despicable response to Israel's right to defend itself. You hit the nail on the head when you said that our leaders' actions are "but the latest appalling demonstration of this western death-wish."

Keep telling the truth about anti-Semitism entrenched in our midst. The leaders in Britain and America will deny that they are anti-Semitic, but it is now as plain as seeing on videotape those steel pipes being used by "peace loving activists" to cripple Israeli soldiers who did not have their weapons drawn.

In the Wilderness in Amrica

George Santayana, the great philosopher, poet, and scholar wrote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

We are reliving 1938. And as far as another Churchill is concerned, there is none. However, there are plenty of Chamberlains to go around with a few Halifaxes thrown in.

In America, we have someone who is clueless about the lessons of history and who acqiesces to America's and the West's enemies.

We are as vulnerable as Britain in 1940 because of the actions of Iran with no leader to snap us out of it and take charge.

Brian

You can refuse to publish this if you like, but you asked the question; And where oh where is our Churchill? Well he was up for election a few weeks ago, but was rejected. There is only one party and one leader that will put an end to this appeasement. The British National Party led by Nick Griffin. You may not like to hear this FACT, but I'm afraid that this is the TRUTH. He has been trying tell the voters just what you point out in your excellent article above, but the people wish to believe the lies and racist smears put out by the media. It now looks as though we have missed our last chance to save our nation and at the same time wake up the West to the nightmare ahead. Survival now is not an option as another 5 years of appeasement and colonisation will seal our fate.

HairyNoddy

"Hairynoddy:

Well, at least that would be a rational motive."

Our need for arab oil is also the only reason why muslims have been allowed to flood the country.

Ignoring the problem only makes sense in the short term, but since politicians only care about the short term, they're unlikely to do anything about it.

Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley

How on earth does one - from nothing more than a rather badly organised charitable enterprise - arrive at "this appalling reprise of historical infamy"?

Surely the people on these boats were respectable citizens doing nothing wrong, though some of them may have panicked in the heat of the moment ie when Israeli armed forces jumped on the boat. These people were not like "pirates" on the high seas. If they had been pirates I daresay the EU or even the USA might have picked them up in some capacity and delivered them somewhere willing to give them a fair trial.

Sherwood Forrest

Well done Melanie. Keep up the fight. Though not jewish myself I fully support the right of Jews to have their own state on the site of their ancient homeland.How can you not? That makes me a Zionist - and proud to be so. Im ashamed however of the weasel words and gutless appeasment of Islamic aggression by the British Government,(not in my name thank you).
The whole issue has a feel of the 1930's about it,right down to the"useful idiots" of the liberal left; apologising for and sucking up to evil. Then it was Stalin and Russia. Now it's Hamas and Iran.