
Yesterday I wrote here that Gordon Brown’s brain didn’t seem to be in the same place as his heart over the role of economics in bringing peace to the Middle East. Today, after his speech to the Knesset, I’m afraid that his heart turns out to be a most warped and distorted organ.
For after a passionate panegyric about the miracle of Israel and its achievements, his own upbringing in a staunchly Israel-supporting household, the shadow of the Holocaust, his condemnation of antisemitism, his opposition to the academic boycott of Israel, his abhorrence of Iran’s call for Israel to be wiped off the map and his repeated declarations that Britain is Israel’s ‘true’ friend, he then lurched into pure Arab propaganda and told Israel it had to accept Palestinian demands if there was to be peace. Yup, that’s the Palestinians who say they will never accept Israel as a Jewish state, who teach their children from the cradle to hate and to murder Jews, who have tried to wipe the Jewish presence from the land of Israel for almost a century, who never cease trying to murder Israelis, whose maps, educational materials and insignia depict a state of Palestine that erases Israel altogether -- and that’s before we even start talking about Hamas. But according to Britain’s Prime Minister, who says that
for the whole of my life, I have counted myself a friend of Israel
it is Israel, rather than its Palestinian attackers, which is to be expected to make the concessions which will deliver peace. As my Mail colleague Ben Brogan who is on the PM’s tour reports on his blog about the Knesset speech:
But the longer he went on about his passion for Israel, the more you waited for the other shoe to drop. And it did when he offered the ‘honest analysis’ of a ‘constant friend’. By the time he had finished Israeli diplomats had their eyebrows up. One I spoke to seemed genuinely puzzled and disappointed. At the heart of the complaint was what many in Israel will say is Mr Brown's easy acceptance of key Palestinian positions: that Jerusalem must be shared, that settlements are wrong, and that the ‘right to return’ is acceptable.
Brown, the lifelong ‘friend’ of Israel, has thus told Israel that it must accept the agenda of its mortal enemies: an agenda designed to destroy it. As far as I can see, he has uttered not one word of reprimand to the Palestinians for their unending war of annihilation against Israel. He did not tell them that they have no right to expect anything at all unless they renounce their goal of destroying the Jewish state. He did not tell them that their ‘historic’ claim to any part of the land is based on a historic and legal lie, and that Israel is fully justified under international law to hold onto it against their unending aggression. He did not tell them that their misery is entirely of their own making and would end the instant they stopped trying to destroy Israel. He did not tell them any of these factual and moral truths. Instead, he parroted to the beleaguered Israelis in their own Parliament the disgusting moral inversion of Arab propaganda which turns Israel into the barrier to peace and the Palestinians into the seekers of justice.
He thus told Israel it must return to the ‘1967 borders’ – which are in fact the 1948 cease-fire lines and referred to in Israel as the ‘Auschwitz borders’ because they are totally indefensible. He told it that it must freeze and withdraw from settlements – thus endorsing the Arab agenda of ethnic cleansing which requires not one Jew to be living in a future state of Palestine. He told it that Jerusalem must be the capital of both Israel and Palestine – despite the fact that the Arab claim to Jerusalem is entirely one of conquest; despite the fact that Israeli Jerusalem would be under bombardment from enemies living just a few streets away; and despite the fact that it would mean a return to the desecration of Jewish and Christian holy sites in east Jerusalem that was such a dreadful feature of its previous occupation by Jordanian Arabs.
And although the published text of his speech does not use the explosive term ‘right of return’ which appears in Ben Brogan’s blog and which would mean the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state, he accepts that the Palestinian ‘refugees’ need a ‘just settlement’ – regardless of the fact that the descendants of no other displaced people are judged by the world to have ‘rights’ as refugees, including the 800,000 Jews who were ethnically cleansed from Arab lands after 1948; regardless of the fact that most of the Palestinian Arabs’ ancestors only
arrived in Palestine on the back of the Jewish immigration in the early 20th century; and regardless of the fact that in no other conflict in the history of this planet have those who have tried to wipe out a country been deemed worthy of reward and that the country that is the victim of their violent aggression been expected to accommodate them – even while it is still fending off their attacks.
This moral deformity is not just confined to Arab propaganda but is the signature belief of the left. Since the left believes that anyone who disagrees with it is ‘the right’, it dismisses the cause of truth, justice and morality in the Middle East as merely the thinking of ‘the right’ and thus not even worthy of consideration. That was indeed, after the unease displayed in the Knesset at Brown’s speech, the response by Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert -- a man who has done more to weaken Israel, both morally and strategically, and embolden and strengthen its enemies than any politician since the restoration of the State of Israel in 1948. It is also – tragically -- the view of many prominent Jews on the left in Britain and America. It is rooted in the left’s disdain for – or sheer incomprehension of – moral judgments, and their replacement by moral relativism and inversion camouflaged by self-righteous sentimentality. It is a view which actively strengthens the enemies of civilisation and makes continued violence and war absolutely inevitable. With his Knesset speech, Gordon Brown has shown himself to be just another creature of the morally bankrupted left, and what remained of his reputation as the rock of Caledonian granite now lies crumbled in the desert dust.
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ndm
July 22nd, 2008 12:49amMelanie Phillips gives us more morally-vacuous commentary:
-- It is rooted in the left’s disdain for – or sheer incomprehension of – moral judgments, and their replacement by moral relativism and inversion camouflaged by self-righteous sentimentality. It is a view which actively strengthens the enemies of civilisation and makes continued violence and war absolutely inevitable.
What a load of dreck.
eh-oop
July 22nd, 2008 12:50amNo, it wasn't his heart talking. It was the Glasgow by election. Otherwise, spot on.
raymond joseph douglas
July 22nd, 2008 1:41amYes,melanie,Browns statements were all very sad.How I wish any of our politicians had the guts or knowledge to challenge the set default posistion regarding the "Palestinian" veiw of history or it's agenda.Perhaps he said all this stuff because he had to,perhaps he is just ignorant of the true reality,whatever his motives,Brown went further down in my estimation.Actually,he might have been surprised by the change in his own personal fortunes,had he chosen to go against current recieved opinion On Israel.For as i said yesterday,"Those who bless Israel will be blessed".And boy,does old Gordy need blessing!P.s,On another note,I am appalled that more of my taxpayers money is to be thrown at the So-called "Palestinians!
Roy
July 22nd, 2008 2:47amOne can only hope Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert can distinguish a friend from an effigy. A strong personality will know immediately and be made stronger by the the incoherence of his honorable guests advice. A weaker personality will succumb to depression and hopefully resign before submitting to the advice.
jerry
July 22nd, 2008 3:50amMelanie, perhaps to the British your facility with language is presumed to be part and parcel of a journalist's training, but to an American's ears your eloquence reaches heights not normally found on these shores. Thank you for using your talents to stand with Israel and to uphold the principle of truth as one of the foundations of civilization.
Melanie, I believe that what you saw in Mr. Brown's flogging of Israel today in the Knesset is his estimation that the Jews need to concede all, because 5 million Jews are not as powerful as 450 million Arabs or 1.3 billion Muslims. So strange that he could be so wrong. If the truth be known, the Jews will always have more to do with the positive outcome of world events even if they all left for other parts of the galaxy this afternoon. History cannot be forgotten once it has occurred, even if it is momentarily ignored. From the splitting of the Red Sea to the splitting of the atom the Jews have been there and done that. That is the power of history. Mr. Brown just forgot that for the moment.
Leslie
July 22nd, 2008 4:09amI am thoroughly ashamed of my birth country and its government.
God bless Israel and give her people strength to never give in to bullies and cowards ever again.
Thinkster
July 22nd, 2008 6:43amMelanie, this is not Brown, this is the British character. Having done business with and socialized on both sides of the Atlantic for 10 years aside I can confirm with much confidence that the British will often try to appease BOTH/ALL parties in a given situation rather than take the brave moral high ground. This is not an anti-Jew or Israel thing, it is a British thing. Look at our position on Northern Ireland, India/Kashmir and others, where we try to befriend all - just as long as we benefit. As highlighted by some of those posting comments in your prior entry on Brown's trip to Israel, Britain wins either way: It's all money and politics. Ethics and truth rarely comes into it.
Mladen Andrijasevic
July 22nd, 2008 7:02amGordon Brown said in his speech to the Knesset:
“And to deliver this historic hard won and lasting peace, it is vital also that both sides now create the conditions for a final agreement: the Palestinians acting with persistence and perseverance against the terrorists who attack your country;”
The New York Times:
According to the poll, of 1,270 Palestinians in face-to-face interviews, 84 percent supported the March 6 attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshiva
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/world/middleeast/19mideast.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
"A Time To Speak"
July 22nd, 2008 7:27amIn the realm of wild imagination -- What if Brown had admitted that
1. the entire mess of the "Palestine Problem" was caused by British treachery on the Mandate.
2. The countless victims of the Holocause, along with the progeny they would have had, died because Britain slammed shut and bolted the gates of the Jewish National Home, and condemned the Jews to the hellfires of Europe.
3. That many of the "Palestinian Arabs" were in fact imported by the British during the Mandate, to fill the spaces denied to the Jews.
4. That Britain encouraged and supported and aided the Arab assault on infant Israel in the War of Independence.
(Someone who was in Jerusalem during the siege of 1948 told me "We counted on it that there the daily shelling was suspended 4-5 pm, while the British officers were having their tea.)
Instead, he visits an Israel that Britain tried to strangle in the cradle, to order it to commit suicide.
Indeed a worthy successor to Tony Blair.
Charles
July 22nd, 2008 7:56am"A Time to Speak"
5. That the British 8th Army defeated the Afrika Korps at El Alamein (Google 'Einsatzgruppe Egypt' for clarification).
TomTom
July 22nd, 2008 8:29amBrown is an automaton reciting words penned by Milipede's Foreign Office and the need to placate Muslim voters in BUrnley and Oldham and Dewsbury and Bradford.
Brown is so "autistic" he has no means of recognising how he grates on real people. He is a Dialectical Materialist who thinks economic materialism is the paradise lost and that money can buy compliance as if the Middle East should become a giant welfare state funded by Arab oil.
He forgets that Gaza is a welfare state funded by the USA, EU and Turkey and Japan and that without Welfarism the birth rate in Gaza could not be sustained. That it is Western Aid that is causing population pressures and funding tribal gangsterism....it is just as bad as the way Iran pumps money into Hezbollah in Lebanon
Steve
July 22nd, 2008 8:43amI don't know why you would expect anything else from Brown, he's a politician he will play for both sides until one side reflects his interests more than the other and currently he obviously needs to try and keep both sides happy, what suprises me is why anyone is taking the slightest bit of notice of what he is saying Britain will have about as much influence on the situation as Lichtenstein.
If i were an Israeli i would start to worry because as the oil becomes more and more an issue U.S and british political support for Israel will slowly wane in favour of more compliance with the desires of our 'friends' in the arab world with the large oil reserves.
That is of course unless the U.S can manufacture another 'liberation' of an arab state that just happens to have large oil reserves.
As for the left supporting the palestinian cause, they will always support the perceived loser in any situation the fact that the palestinians if given the upperhand would not think twice of brutally massacring every jew in Israel is irrelevant to the left. But don't worry if that were to happen you can rest assured they will then switch their support to the remaining jewish victims of oppression in what used to be Israel.
Paul B
July 22nd, 2008 9:02amAgain Mel leaves me open mouthed with awe and admiration with he nucleur tipped words prose. Well said that lady.
Bogdan of Australia
July 22nd, 2008 10:00amBrown's senseless jabber is just one more proof that BARBARITY has almost universally been accepted as a legitimate political tool of winning and maintaning POWER. It is also an unmistakable indication that so called "wetern world" is sliding fast down the gutter. This self-destructing process is paralysing Western politicians' and activists' minds and corrupting them morally, so they will seek any argument or justification to absolve themselves from any guilt in relation to any modern tragedy (not only that in ME) and from any participation in problem-solving action. Hence the cowardly and repulsive tendency to blame the victim (in that case Israel), because it is safer and more convenient. There is absolutely NO DOUBT that the great majority of EURABIANS would experience ENORMOUS RELIEF if Israel was to be destroyed. They would issue few, full of false outrage, statements, absorb some of survivors, organise housing for them, build a new memorial, or a museum, organise few symposiums, but most of their effort would be devoted to the process of building a strategic argument dissociating them from any responsibility for Israel's tragedy. We all have a good foretaste of Europe's commitment to Israel's protection in the way the UNIFIL forces in Lebanon failed to prevent Hizbollah from rearming and taking over Lebanon. One is 100% sure; Europe CANNOT BE TRUSTED!
Marwan
July 22nd, 2008 10:25amThe left always entertained a nasty admiration for Nasser and the other so called "national liberation" dictators. Couple this with Brown's need to appease the owners in waiting of the Eurabian Caliphate and we see the reasons for his clueless mumblings at the Knesset. Israel has no friends in the West ; time to wake up to that fact.
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 10:33amMladen, you sum up the problem perfectly. Brown's statement shows that he, and other western politicians, talk about the Middle East in terms of how they want it to be, not how it is. Poll after poll has shown a majority of Palestinians to be in favour of terrorism and genocide against the Jews. Brown falsely believes that this is due to economics. He believes that the hatred will disappear with more investment. He can't get his head around the religiously and culturally driven anti-Semitism of the Islamic world. Saudi Arabia isn't poor, yet is one of the most viciously anti-Semitic adn anti-Western countries on earth.
Harvey
July 22nd, 2008 10:33amWhile on the subject of morally bankrupt, not a word about the Israeli Army's fun day out in Nil'in, complete with piccies. Why am I not surprised?
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 10:34amndm, as insightful as ever - I've never seen such reasoning!
Blue_and_White_Avenger
July 22nd, 2008 10:44amOne should also view Gordon Brown's comments in the light of all the people he's addressing. It's not just the FO and the Fatah agenda that he's advocating - it's also that of Israel's Left Wing and a significant % of the population.
In short, there are people in Israel, like Olmert himself who are "tired of fighting and winning" and losing their sons in battle or blown up in buses.
This is a syndrome, perhaps similar to Jews in Germany in 1938 who refused to recognise the truth or what was said & was happening. Here, despite the undisputed fact that the PLO has not adhered to any agreement it's made, either with Israel nor its fellows in Jordan, Lebanon or Kuwait, nevertheless, they hope that this time it wll be different.
The only way that can happen is not to make concessions but for the other side to demonstarte in real terms that it's sincere.
Where it is sincere is its desire to eradicate Israel, by hook or by crook.
Israel's retreat from Lebanon, Gaza helped that process considerably.
Shaun Harbord
July 22nd, 2008 10:46amThree times you refer to Israel as "the Jewish state" - as you have in previous comments. I'd really like to know what you would do with the non-Jewish residents of Israel. How do they fit in to the Jewish state?
Ben-Tsiyon (ha rishon)
July 22nd, 2008 11:00am"A Time To Speak", right on all four points. Perfidious Albion !
Charles, oh I suppose the sole objective of the British 8th Army in taking on the Afrika Korps was to save the Jews in the Land of Israel ! It figures. As a teenager during WW2, I heard time and time again, pity that Britain had to fight Germany just to save the Jews. What a pathetic bunch you are !
Miranda Rose Smith
July 22nd, 2008 11:01amI'm trying to give this man the benefit of the doubt that he's an ignorant fool. Does he really want Israel to take the hand of Holocaust denier, cozy as kittens with Samir Kuntar Mahmoud Abbas? Does he really want a return to the totally indefensible 1967 boundaries? He talked about a "just and lasting settlement to the refugee problem," and everyone there knew what he meant-Israel should let the "Palestinians"in to turn Israel into one more Arab state where Jews are not allowed to set foot. If he really wanted a just and lasting settlement to the refugee problem, he'd be talking to the Jordanians, who should have taken the refugees in 60 years ago and could solve the problem by taking them in tomorrow.
patricia
July 22nd, 2008 11:08amAnd there we have the reason the right wing press see fit to assassinate Brown on a daily basis.
Israel.
Brown dares to say something intelligent on the subject, and the pack of lipstick dogs like Melanie round on him.
Democracy in action.
patricia
July 22nd, 2008 11:12amPaul B. Suggest you close your mouth in case you swallow a fly.
You seem to be able to swallow all the other rubbish you come across...
michael
July 22nd, 2008 11:17amCandid Friends of Israel -
- Neocon Bush - who on Israel's behalf gave us Iraq
- Necon Blair - who prolonged the Lebanese onslaught by allowing munitions to transit the UK
Candid Friends of Israel are a curse to the rest of us.
Judith
July 22nd, 2008 11:18amBrilliant, Melanie. I second Jerry's praise for your clarity of thinking, passion for truth & support for Israel in these existentially consequential times.
Funny how an otherwise pragmatic West fails to see the obvious moral high ground when it comes to Israel. It all seems so basic...when the horse kicks, don;t give it sugar...when the Arabs murder & demand subservience to their caliphate, don't appease. Guess, when principles & values get muddied, politicians lose sight of who it their most loyal allies..."moderate" Muslims are few & far between.
RUTH
July 22nd, 2008 11:38amThe Old Testament has much writing about compassion, not oppressing poor people and loving the alien...
Not that you would know it from this article or the views of people who write here.
Israelis most of all want peace, not war. A viable political solution that promotes self respect and dignity for all sides.
That is the only way forward.
On whose behalf does Melanie Phillips speak?
Not on ours.
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 11:57amShaun, non-Jews fit into Israel as equal citizens - it is a democratic country, with the rule of law, upheld by an indpendent judiciary. The state religion in the UK is the Church of England. How do others fit into this? Why don't you ask yourself how Jews and Bahai fit into the Islamic Republic of Iran? It's amazing how people like you get so vexed by the existence of one Jewish state, but have no problem with 37 Musilm states and 50+ Christian states.
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 12:00pmRuth, no-one would argue with "dignity for all sides. " The problem is that one side, the Arab world, wants to exterminate the other, Israel. This has been the case since Israel's birth. Until we resolve this, how is a genuine peace attainable?
Charles
July 22nd, 2008 12:48pmBen-Tsiyon,
“One ungrateful man does an injury to all who stand in need of aid”, as the ancients would have said.
RUTH
July 22nd, 2008 12:54pmNot by destroying them first, Phil.
JJS
July 22nd, 2008 12:55pm"Israelis most of all want peace, not war. A viable political solution that promotes self respect and dignity for all sides."
But this is not what its neighbours want. This I base on the evidence of history (that is, what they have DONE), not on what they SAY or have SAID.
So while Ruth's fine ideals are just that (fine ideals indeed), they are not workable. More's the pity.
Dave M
July 22nd, 2008 1:10pmThinkster does raise a valid point. Britain lacks backbone more than it harbours any deep-seated anti semitic disposition. You can see this with regard to the Chechnyan demand for independence from Russia, where Britain wanted Moscow to yield to terror tactics. So did Clinton. Had Vladimir Putin followed that line of appeasement Moscow today would not be a vibrant, booming economy but fragmented and possibly bankrupt. Another fundamental point to bear in mind is neither Britain or the U.S. are going to support any form of nationalism - which in Israel's case means a Jewish Jerusalem and a Jewish dominant identity. This is why Serbia wasn't supported over Kosovo or Russia with regard to Chechnya. In fact, one Mail journalist not so long ago wrote of a new global struggle between nationalists and internationalists and Brown is an internationalist. That is, he doesn't support aspirations of national identity but favours multicultural, multiethnic states, reflected by multiethnic governments. Thus, Brown would like to see no Jewish majority at all in Jerusalem or concept of a Jewish State. In Melanie's posts of late you detect a sense of bewilderment and frustration at the behaviour of the U.S. and U.K. but even American policy has always opposed nationalistic tendencies be it in Israel, Russia, Serbia, China or beyond. This can also be explained by the fact both the U.K. and Britain endorsed internal policies that would change the fabric of their own society via mass immigration, multifaith divide and social diversity as a means to peace. Israel should stick to its plan of a sovereign Jerusalem and not yield to Brown's delusions of removing the security wall. This is because in 15 years time Europe will be facing greater Islamic extremism within their onw borders and demands for Islamic law from. within. As for Brown, a country that faces calls for Sharia Law from within can hardly be hailed as an example of stability to be followed by others.
Anthony Posner
July 22nd, 2008 1:14pmBrown does not realize that the conflict is not just between Israel and the Palestinians. It is essentially a battle between The West and Radical Islam. It is about who controls the world.
Evenif the majority of Palestinians and Israelis could agree on a peace settlement, it would come to nothing. Iran/ Syria/Al Qaeda etc would never allow the conflict to be settled.
Water
July 22nd, 2008 1:16pm"I don't know why you would expect anything else from Brown" Steve has it I think I'll carry on with my break.
Anglo-Libyan
July 22nd, 2008 1:37pmWas my comment too pro-Arab to be posted on this site? Perhaps if I said something like 'The Arabs are a disgusting race', you'd post what I say?
Michael B
July 22nd, 2008 1:46pmBrown and England in general - with notable exceptions such as Thatcher - have spine problems and cranial placement problems when it comes to Israel.
Iow, they have been prone to following the E.U.'s lead when it comes to a realistic assessment of Israel's strategic and moral situation - rather than the lead that has been provided by the U.S., for the most part, at least since '67.
And this:
"It is rooted in the left’s disdain for – or sheer incomprehension of – moral judgments, and their replacement by moral relativism and inversion camouflaged by self-righteous sentimentality. It is a view which actively strengthens the enemies of civilisation and makes continued violence and war absolutely inevitable."
is tragically and decidedly correct. But it's rarely heard, in substantial part because it's so often being drowned out by the self-applause and the obfuscating cacophony of that self-righteousness in general.
Again, Defensible Borders for a Lasting Peace is a solid place to begin some better comprehensions as pertain to Israel's strategic - and moral - situation.
michael
July 22nd, 2008 2:53pmNice one Anglo Libyan.
This is the home of Zionist (the columnists' word, not mine) propaganda (my word), and antagonists are featured sparingly.
In the interests of transparency, I think ALL posts sent in should be featured, and given a vote.
That would present both sides of these contentious arguments in a much fairer way than is the case, where the vast majority of posts agree with the columnist.
Anything less is a form of internet censorship...
michael
July 22nd, 2008 2:57pmAnthony,
Brown realises a lot more than you think and we can assume he is told a lot more than you know.
One thing we all know however, is what little regard the Israeli hard right has for the human rights, economic independence and dignity of its imprisoned subjects.
And how the infusion of foreign assistance will only infuriate its long term plans to kick all Palestinians into the sea.
Dr. Denis MacEoin
July 22nd, 2008 3:17pmI don't disagree with any of this, but I don't wholly dismiss the theory that economic prosperity could become an incentive for a lot of Palestinians to seek peace. Poverty does not create terrorism, but well-being within a stable state can make the prospect of war a lot less attractive. The mistake Blair et al have made (and continue to make) is to ignore completely the reality of Palestinian terrorism, hatred, and false narrative. The prosperity will never come if Gaza and the West Bank continue to be ruled by thugs. The Islamists will never relinquish their hold on the territories or their claim to Israel because rejection of Israel has Islamic roots. Even in the UK, the governmenty blithely ignores all manner of Islamist propaganda; how much more so when it comes to the Palestinians. Many of the comments below show just the same sort of wilful blindness to the obvious. The left has been doing this for decades (and I write as a liberal, not a conservative): refusing to admit to the horrors of Stalinism, of North Korea, of eastern Europe under communism, and now the horrors of Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. That is simple fact. And the same left is morally blind in respect of Israel and the Palestinians. To attack a barrier that saves lives whiole having said nothing in criticism of the terror attacks that led to the barrier being constructed — that exemplifies a double standard that characterizes the entire left today. The left could be a force for good in the world, but instead has aligned itself with all that is most ghastly, from Stalin to Osama bin Ladin.
Sergey
July 22nd, 2008 3:56pmTo believe that Jews can ever live in peace with Arabs is a clear sign of idiocy. These two nations must be completely separated by a distance bigger than the range of rockets available for Arabs.
Lynne T
July 22nd, 2008 3:56pmShaun Harbord posted
July 22nd, 2008 10:46am
Three times you refer to Israel as "the Jewish state" - as you have in previous comments. I'd really like to know what you would do with the non-Jewish residents of Israel. How do they fit in to the Jewish state?
Notwithstanding the claims of the pro-Palestinian propaganda machine, a hell of a lot better than the few Jews and Christians and other non-Muslims still living in the Middle East fit into most Muslim countries. There certainly are problems, but according to a Pew poll, few Arab citizens of Israel would give up their Israeli citizenship for life under the PA or any of the other regimes in the region.
ndm and Adam B: if you've never seen such reasoning, then I guess you missed the crowd parading about London two years ago with signs proclaiming, "We're all Hezbollah Now".
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 4:06pmLynne T, I was being sarcastic! My point was that ndm provided insults without any reasoning.
Ahad Ha'amoratzim
July 22nd, 2008 5:08pm" But don't worry if that were to happen you can rest assured they will then switch their support to the remaining jewish victims of oppression in what used to be Israel."
No, sadly, if such a thing were to happen, G-d forbid, the left would justify it with arguments that the Jews brought it upon themeselves. The left does not admit error, and the Jews would receive no more sympathy from the left than did the victims of Stalin's pact with Nazi Germany, the gulags, the doctors plot, Soviet persecution of Jews, the invasion of Czechoslavakia in 1968, China's Cultural Revolution or Pol Pot's killing fields.
Ahad Ha'amoratzim
July 22nd, 2008 5:16pmRuth, I'm not sure who you mean by "us", but your use of the term "Old Testament" is a pretty good clue that you are not Jewish. Show me one nation that has ever survived by turning the other cheek to a hostile neighbor bent on its utter destruction. Eric Hoffer observed decades ago that alone of all the countries in the world, Israel is expected to behave like a Christian.
The "Old Testament" is also realistic about the need at times to go to war in defense of one's country, and the folly of expecting mercy from an enemy nation during war time. It prescribes moral rules for waging war. Israel puts its own soldiers at risk time and again to reduce the risk of death or injury to enemy civilians; the Arabs who attack Israel go out of their way to maximize the risk to both Israeli civilians and their own.
Israel has tried time and again to improve conditions for the Arabs -- with jobs, food, aid, education and medical care. Each time these efforts are met with increased terrorism, resentment and propaganda (e.g. "Jewish doctors are murdering Arab babies in the Jewish hospitals"). If you want to lecture someone about respect and dignity, go lecture Mahmoud Abbas.
Anglo-Libyan
July 22nd, 2008 5:24pmAfter my highly successful 'The Arabs are a disgusting race' post (which was well-recieved by the Spectator, it seems) I'm going to try to actually express my view now.
I find the views expressed on this blog, by Ms Phillips herself and by those who follow her writing closely, highly worrying.
She and those of her ilk bay for war, demonise another nations and mock those who try to find a construtive solution. Casting aside the legitimate desires of the Palestinians for sovereignty and dignity is irresponsible and helps no one - not the Palestinians and certainly not the Israelis. The claim that the Palestinians have no right to be angry and have no one to blame but themselves for their situation is one that even most Israelis wouldn't make. And Ms Phillips and her followers cannot be more Israeli than the Israelis themselves.
The danger of these views, expressed by Ms Phillips and countless other 'writers' both in the United Kingdom and the States is that they lend legitimacy to Islamic extremists. Bin Laden tells those who will listen that the West wants nothing less than the distruction of the Islamic world. With the likes of Melanie Phillips on hand to prove this, he doesn't even need to argue his point.
The fact that the violence between Palestinians and Israel is taken as a way to judge the Arab and wider Islamic worlds more generally is totally wrong and broad statements about the Arabs are totally damaging.
Is it too much to ask that we try to adopt a more positive outlook, speaking constructively with a view to peace, rather than casting aside the Muslims as some eternal enemy?
Kennybhoy
July 22nd, 2008 5:29pm"Morally Bankrupt"....
Is that how you would describe the author(s) of today's Daily Mail editorial "Brown's Courage" at the link immediately below....?
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1037130/MAIL-COMMENT-Carrots-sticks-welfare-trap.html
Best Wishes,
Kenny
Paskalis
July 22nd, 2008 5:33pmIt's breathtaking how insatiable the supporters of Israel are: not a whisper, not a muted gesture for the victims of the other side.
Pete Hoskin
July 22nd, 2008 5:34pmAnglo-Libyan: The two comments of yours above are the only ones we've recevied on this thread. Sometimes things get lost in the web ether, rather than being censored. If you ever feel one of your comments hasn't got through, you can always e-mail it to me on phoskin @ spectator.co.uk and I'll post it manually.
Harvey
July 22nd, 2008 6:19pmPaskalis said...
'It's breathtaking how insatiable the supporters of Israel are: not a whisper, not a muted gesture for the victims of the other side'
Yup. Unsurprisingly not a squeak on my previous comment on the Israeli Army's charm offensive in Nil'in.
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20080720.asp
Hope the clip doesn't get a few of you overexcited ;)
ndm
July 22nd, 2008 7:27pmMelanie Phillips writes:
[Brown] did not tell them that their 'historic' claim to any part of the land is based on a historic and legal lie, and that Israel is fully justified under international law to hold onto it against their unending aggression.
The first half of this sentence is predicated on the old saw, "a land with no people for a people with no land," that is at the heart of Likudnik denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. The right of the Palestinian people to that land is certainly far stronger than the right of a bunch of Eastern European immigrants. The World has rightly decided that there should be a Jewish homeland there but the denial that there were people there before the resettlement European Jews there over the last century is a foul lie.
The second half of the sentence is almost completely a lie. The State of Israel has a right to defend itself from external aggression up to and including a military occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The State of Israel has no right to colonize the Occupied Palestinian Territories with civilians –that is a war crime. The State of Israel has brutally killed thousands of innocent Palestinians and immiserated millions of Palestinians not to defend the State of Israel and not to defend Jews. No, the State of Israel has brutally killed thousands of innocent Palestinians and immiserated millions of Palestinians to defend Israeli war criminals. In proselytizing lies and fantasies about the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Melanie Phillips does not aid of Israel and she does not aid Jews – instead she provides moral succor to the Zionist war criminals who have "settled" in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
And that is just one sentence.
Ahad Ha'amoratzim
July 22nd, 2008 7:41pmHarvey, assuming that the video by the terror advocacy group B'tselem is indeed accurate, the perperator of the attack will be tried and punished by Israel. The influential Jerusalem Post condemned this behavior as soon it was discovered, as has the Israeli populace in general, and the government has launched an investigation. To add some perspective, the victim who apparently was shot in the foot at close range with a rubber bullet after participating in a violent demonstration against the IDF was able to walk away under his own power. As disgusting as the attack appears to be, he was thank G-d neither killed nor (apparently) crippled, unlike the many who have lost their lives, limbs or loved ones in attacks by your heroes -- attacks that are celebrated by the Arabs dancing in the street and handing out candy to children. Did Israel declare a holiday to celebrate the attack on the Arab at Ni'lin? Did they dance in the streets and distribute candy? You already know the answer.
In short, nothing in your post has anything to do with the topic at hand other than being a feeble and inaccurate attempt at moral equivalence.
Harvey
July 22nd, 2008 8:07pmAhad Ha'amoratzim...
1. B'Tselem advocates terrorism does it? Send for the men in white coats.
2. No doubt the perpetrators will be told they are naughty boys and given a few months in a holiday camp - sorry military prison for the sake of appearances.
3. The chances of any prosecution without the clip would be???
4. Everybody in the world accepts that the clip is genuine. Except apparently you.
5. The followers of Baruch Goldstein are fond of turning up in Hebron for a good old gloatfest. The Israeli authoritie don't seem keen on stopping them. Or doesn't that count?
phil
July 22nd, 2008 8:28pmPASKALIS you need to read what all the posters say if you want to make comments like that -.I for one have always said I pray for peace and justice for both peoples.but I have to wonder if there is one from the other side who hope and pray for the same for us -we hear incessantly from the joker harvey with never a constructive suggestion ,but lots of supercilious criticism and quotes from any source he can find ,so is it any wonder he causes defensive posts here -try the regularly unpleasant NDM -the first poster here as a for instance -would you write kindly platitudes to him and his like -how about making some constructive suggestions and see if you get honest debate ,you might be pleasantly surprised
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 8:34pmndm, why is it that Israel haters always try to portray Israel as a land of Europeans? Perhaps the exodus of Jews from Yemen, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Lebanon, (not to mention those who never left the land of Israel) escaped your notice?
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 8:38pmHarvey, re; your sad attempt to portray Israelis as supporting terrorism - just look at the prisoner exchange last week to see how terrorists are lauded in the Arab world as a rebuttal. And perhaps you can inform me how many Palestinian terrorists have been prosecuted by the Palestinian Authority (when Abbas openly praises child murderers)? Or evidence of outrage at Palestinian terrorist atrocities amongst the Palestinians? Where is the Palestinian equivalent of BTselem?
phil
July 22nd, 2008 8:39pmRuth -I hope you do not mind me asking what the quote by yoiu below is about -I am a little bewildered as I HAVNT SAID ANYTHING here
""""
July 22nd, 2008 12:54pm
Not by destroying them first, Phil.""""
Saxonman
July 22nd, 2008 8:50pmBrown's speech represents more obfuscation of history and outright pandering by our so-called world leaders to the forces of evil in the world. The moral inversion that has swept the world's elites (and many non-elites) is now western civilization's great tragedy and effectively makes us compicit in bringing about our own destruction. Will the true story of Israel and the Middle East ever be understood or have we been living with and listening to the lies for too long?
And NDM, you apparently are the type of person Melanie describes since you are unable to comprehend the significance of what she is saying. Interesting, though, that use use "dreck", which has a Yiddish root. Perhaps another site would be less intellectually challenging for you to comment on.
Anglo-Arab
July 22nd, 2008 9:01pmAdam B - 'Terrorists lauded in the Arab world'.
Why is it that a Hezbollah rally (participants running into the hundreds) becomes a rally involving the whole of the 'Arab world'? Why is it acceptable to generalise about us all?
You may like to look at the Arabic media and ponder the coverage of the recent prisoner exchange. You will find that many views were given - a great deal in praise of Hezbollah AND a great deal of criticism regarding the celebration at Samir Quntar's reception.
The Arab World is tremendously varied, both culturally and politically. Tarring everyone with the same brush only alienates people who would potentially be in accord with you.
Harvey
July 22nd, 2008 9:03pmPhil -
Supercilious? Moi?
I've lots of constructive suggestions. You wouldnt like them.
Two general remarks on comments in this blog:
1. It is a comfort zone for hyperzionists in denial. On some deeply buried level they are aware that their views are an affront to reason, commonsense and elementary decency but as they really want to believe them, they cluster together for mutual solace. I'm not expert to comment further on the pathology of this but the symptoms are foaming at the mouth hysteria, conspiracy theories everywhere and gross personal abuse.
2. This comfort zone should be challenged at every stage. Always go to the belly of the beat. But...
I am cut to the quick by your 'incessantly'. Yup - time to give myself a rest from you lot. Someone else can pick up the torch.
Anglo-Arab
July 22nd, 2008 9:03pmAdam B - 'Terrorists lauded in the Arab world'.
Why is it that a Hezbollah rally (participants running into the hundreds) becomes a rally involving the whole of the 'Arab world'? Why is it acceptable to generalise about us all?
You may like to look at the Arabic media and ponder the coverage of the recent prisoner exchange. You will find that many views were given - a great deal in praise of Hezbollah AND a great deal of criticism regarding the celebration at Samir Quntar's reception.
The Arab World is tremendously varied, both culturally and politically. Tarring everyone with the same brush only alienates people who would potentially be in accord with you.
ndm
July 22nd, 2008 9:06pmAdam B. -
The real "Israel haters" here are those like Melanie Phillips and yourself who provide moral succor for the decades-long Israeli subjugation of the Palestinian people. The true friends of Israel are those like myself who encourage Israel to abandon its unfortunate dalliance with moral depravity which is the outcome of its colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
EC
July 22nd, 2008 9:12pmThe New Labour project has been morally bankrupt from its conception and will remain so until its final acrid fart.
Ahad Ha'amoratzim
July 22nd, 2008 10:33pmHarvey,
1. B'tselem has offered to provide phony cover stories for ISM volunteers coming into Israel to act as human shields for terrorists. This was documented by a journalist for Front Page Magazine who infiltrated an ISM recruting session in Berkeley.
3. As to prosecution had there been no video, sadly this is a problem in prosecuting instances of police brutality in any society, including the UK and the US. Israel's record of punishing those who attack Arabs is still vastly better than the PA's record for prosecuting those who attack Jews. The Israeli government has even punished Jews who acted in legitimate self defense against Arab attackers, and certainly does not fund or encourage such attacks.
4. As to the video, I do not rule out that it may be genuine, but I also do not discount past fraudulent videos of supposed victims of supposed Israeli atrocities. And the video, remember, was taken not by B'tselem but by a demonstrator using a camera furnished by B'tselem.
5. Most Israelis still consider Goldstein a monster. The handful who consider him a hero receive no funding or encouragement from the government. The government has never declared him a hero or a martyr, put his likeness on a stamp, or named anything after him. In short, the opposite of the way that the PA treats mass murderers.
Your attempts at moral equivalence are transparent and disgusting.
BJ
July 22nd, 2008 10:46pmIn calling for withdrawal from territory acquired by Israel in the 1967 war Gordon Brown is doing no more than restating the position in international law. Similarly, his call for a settlement of the 1948 refugee question is entirely consistent with the relevant UN resolutions on the right to return.
His speech is a welcome dose of reality, in contrast to Melanie Phillip's blog..
FinanceDoc
July 22nd, 2008 10:51pmndm
Thread after thread; post after post you make the same fatuous claim of Jews living in Judea and Samaria as "war criminals". And thread after thread; post after post you are enraged with the reality of superior Jewish rights both ancient and as enshrined in UNSC resolutions granting Jews the right to live anywhere in the territories. What a vile racist you are! Advocating for the very type of ethnic cleansing you accuse the Jews of.
It must be extraordinarily painful to know that you cannot alter the world to fit your reality by decree.
Dave M
July 22nd, 2008 11:16pm"Casting aside the legitimate desires of the Palestinians for sovereignty and dignity is irresponsible and helps no one - not the Palestinians and certainly not the Israelis."
The Israelis, I think. don't have a problem with a Palestinian State. Neither do I, for that matter. Yes, of course, the Palestinians have rights but many of us also believe Israel has the same right to its national identity as a Jewish State. That is, as Spain and Italy were Catholic countries, so too should Israel be Jewish with its own borders. Why not? This isn't a great deal to ask of either the Islamic World or the Palestinians. The Islamic world is huge and Israel is comparatively small but it should not have an Islamic identity forced upon it. Now, if Arabs want to live peacefully in Israel and tolerate both Christians and Jews, I don't think Jews would object. But they do object to any notion of Islamic Imperialism expressed by violence and hatred. If the Palestinians adopted zero tolerance of violence and terrorism, Israel would also actively endorse a Palestinian State.
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 11:34pmAnglo-Arab, you are right that there was criticism of the reception of Kuntar in some of the Arab press, and of course I appreciate that the Arab world is varied. I should have been more precise. However, it isn't just about Hizbollah (and it is worth noting that many Arabs oppose this Shia terror group because of worries about Iran's spreading influence). The fact is that terror acts against Israelis are rarely criticized in the mainstream Arab press, and there is no sense of outrage when cafes and buses are blown up along with the innocents inside them. In Palestinian society, such attacks are treated with glee, and sweets are handed out with celebrations in the street. Even when people die in hospital days after the attacks from their injuries, there are renewed celebrations at the news of each death. In addition, virulent anti-Semitism is unfortunately common in much of the Arab press:
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/ArabCartoons.htm
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 11:49pmYeah right ndm, I know you really care about the welfare of Israel(!) Harvey, whilst you are very upset that a Palestinian was bruised on his big toe, (that's ALL that happened - quick, get the TV cameras!) an Israeli today had most of his leg severed by a Palestinian on a rampage with a bulldozer, injuring a dozen others, including a baby and mother. Glad you've got your sense of perspective.
Adam B.
July 22nd, 2008 11:55pmndm, the territories aren't Palestinian, never have been, and BJ, international law does NOT require Israel to return to the 1967 borders.
phil
July 23rd, 2008 12:47amgoodbye harvey I am honoured to be the one to see you off-you will not be missed especially by the good harvey
Al Ramy
July 23rd, 2008 4:49amWell presented! It could be helpful to many British readers to understand that most Israelis barely know a thing about Mr. Brown, nor will they remember one word from his speech. England is regarded as Anti-Israel and traditionally anti-Jewish. It is not helpful to Israel, nor is it where bonds of friendship are made. They seldom worry or care of what the British say. England as a country proved to be a reliably poor partner on numerous occasions. The condecending and contemptuous feelings toward the Jews is not new and came with general Alenby. There are many in Israel who still remember the days when the British flag was flying down the street and it is no happy memory. Therefore, with all due respect, few care about Mr. Gordon Brown and his appeasing agenda.
Paskalis
July 23rd, 2008 8:56am“We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.” David Ben Gurion
Roslyn Pine
July 23rd, 2008 10:30amPaskalis.
We can all find quotes taken out of context.
However, for sentiments of real hatred directed against Jews (and infidels in general), try having a peek in any Arab contemporary textbook, schoolbook, as well as watching their TV, listening to their radio programmes etc. etc.
It is quite obvious from reading the comments here that the ndms, BJs, Patricias, Harveys el al do not love the Palestinians, or anyone else for that matter. None of them have raised so much as a whisper against, say, the genocidal Islamist regime in Sudan.
Of course not, for it is Jewish success in so many areas of life, and against all the odds, that they truly depise.
They are cowards twice over for expressing their virulent anti-semitism "respectably" by attacking Israel, which they also despise for existing, and more obviously for concealing their true identities.
If they have a genuine grievance, what are they afraid of?
Jews are not exactly prone to beheading those with whom they disagree.
It is likely, therefore, that the above mentioned are simply fronts for one or more of the numerous Islamist groups.
Or just cranks?
phil
July 23rd, 2008 10:46amPaskalis ,yesterday I took the trouble to address some concerns of yours and I see you have posted again but without the courtesy of a reply to me -in fact a nasty quotation which no doubt will be refuted by those with a better knowledge of David Ben Gurion than me -If your purpose here is merely that of an agent provocateur I do not doubt that those that post here in good faith will treat your efforts with the contempt they deserve -but maybe I am wrong and you do not read all the posts -you should .
Charles
July 23rd, 2008 11:58amAl Ramy,
"The condecending and contemptuous feelings toward the Jews is not new and came with general Alenby."
Is that the same General Allenby whose achievements are recognised by the naming of Allenby Street, Allenby Square, the Allenby Bridge and the 'Allenby Memorial' (funded by my grandfather's regiment, amongst others, in 1920)?
Adam B.
July 23rd, 2008 12:12pmPaskalis, we can all play that game. Do you want me to list all the genocidal quotes against the Jews by Arab leaders?
"Blessed is he who puts a bullet in the head of a Jew."
Sermon broadcast on official Palestinian Authority TV.
Si, N
July 23rd, 2008 12:29pmHarvey, still not a peep about Ni'lin - not a word - just a load of smoke from the usual melunits.
Ahad, your responses are truly lame - how old are you dear? Understand this: the video is a glimpse of how the Israeli Occupation Forces operate in the ever increasing occupied territories – the truly remarkable thing about the video is that it exists – not the events portrayed – sadly, those are common-place. Similar barbarous practices are being carried-out in Bi’lin and elsewhere. Little of this is reported - the danger for journalists is acute - the IOF regularly terrorise and often kill journalists who report their crimes.
It’s all part of the full spectrum terrorism being visited upon the Palestinians. Understand this, the violence is not only inflicted on people – consider the vandalism to the olive groves - here is Ni'lin resident Asad Amera's story:
'Asad lost thirty-eight of his one hundred and twenty olive trees in two days, and will lose eight of his twenty-five dunums of land to the Wall. This devastating loss came not long after he spent almost 27,000 NIS to put a well on his land. Some land-owners are losing much more. The entire village of Ni’lin will collectively lose 2,700 dunums to the Wall, along with another two hundred dunums to a tunnel that is currently being built in order to connect settlements to Israel. The Israeli military has stated that gates will be provided so that farmers will be able to access their land once the Wall has been completed. This same promise has been offered before, to other villages cut off by the Wall, but these agricultural gates are only opened three times a day for about twenty minutes. Farmers are forced to acquire a permit in order to gain admittance their land, but this does not automatically guarantee entry. Each permit contains a specific gate number, and some farmers are given the incorrect number on their permit. Ultimately, the decision to let people through rests with the soldiers, whether or not the accurate documentation is given.
The fruit and oil of olive trees provide a profitable market worldwide. Asad once sold oil to much of the area surrounding Ni’lin, but as his trees are continually uprooted, he will have to resort to buying it from others. However, his family of eleven depends on the land, not only for income, but for food. Asad will lose a source of money and food as his land is confiscated'.
Such is the daily grind of the occupation.
As for the tired cliché about Palestinians teaching their children to hate - what you seem to forget is that Israel brutalizes every single one its children - boy and girl alike - by forcing them into uniform, giving them a gun and instructing them in the art of killing - fact.
Blow smoke and bleat on.
Dave M
July 23rd, 2008 1:59pmThere are always cases to be found of soldiers who abuse their status and act contrary to law. All that video would indicate is there are one or two rotten apples to be found in the basket. It's odd how the Beeb seems to delight in broadcasting any video they can get their hands on that depicts the IDF as oppressive or lawless. This is what we call "targeted indignation". Such indignation and outrage seemingly ignores the U.N. soldiers or peacekeepers who, we were told, sexually exploited minors in the countries they serve. In some cases even rape has been reported by rogue U.N. troops. Thus, as I said, in every basket of apples you find some rotten ones but I can say for sure the IDF is nowhere near as harsh and heavy handed as the Russian army in Chechnya. The majority of IDF service personnel operate under the rule of law and compare favourably with other armed forces.
Ann
July 23rd, 2008 2:07pmAs usual, the morally and intellectually bankrupt - spearheaded by ndm - spew ignorant antisemitic bilge.
Ann
July 23rd, 2008 2:09pmSi's ignorant antisemitic screeching - the Jews are terrorists, the genocidal Arab cavemen are not - is summarised in 'IOF'. What a jerk.
Ann
July 23rd, 2008 2:15pmAdam, the empty-headed leftoid antisemites lie and lie and lie (when they are not simply stupid and ignorant) because they have no other tool: historical facts, truth, justice and basic human decency are all against them.
This non-stop lie was the favourite tool of Goebbels. It is now the tool of Islamo-Nazis and their stooges everywhere, including quite a few here (we don't need to list their names).
Ian
July 23rd, 2008 2:17pmWhat an extraordinary, uncompromising rant. How long before an exasperated international community simply declares "a plague on all their houses"?
Ahad Ha'amoratzim
July 23rd, 2008 2:41pmPaskalis, your supposed quote from Ben Gurion is not even taken out of context -- the "quote" has long been exposed as a total fabrication. Ben Gurion never said it, and neither did the report it was supposedly taken from. See http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=22&x_article=775
Ahad Ha'amoratzim
July 23rd, 2008 2:52pmSi N, I am 58 -- old enough to know that videos can be manipulated (though I am reserving judgment as to whether this one was) and to know that not every self styled human rights organization is interested in protecting human rights.
Did Asad mention that Israel has paid compensation to every Arab who lost land because of the security fence? I thought not. Or did he simply plant the trees on land that he did not own?
Apparently you think it lame to point out the distinction between an abuse of power that will be investigated and punished by the Israeli government (and which as Adam B. pointed out involved a bruised toe) and the PA's deliberate planning, funding and glorification of mass murder. That you consider it a lame distinction says much more about you than about me. As to your justification for teaching Arab children to hate Jews (not just Israelis, let's remember), if we applied your same standards to the Jews there would not be an Arab left living in Gaza, Judea, Shomron, the Galil, or South Lebanon. Thank G-d that Israelis and Jews generally have not adopted your warped sense of morality.
Si, N
July 23rd, 2008 3:02pmharridANN, calm down - take a deep breath, and point to a lie my last post
Si, N
July 23rd, 2008 4:13pmAhad, when you say, 'Israel has paid compensation to every Arab who lost land because of the security fence', I take it that you are referring to money - typical. Understand this: some people have higher priorities than the slavish worship of Mammon - namely, a resolute attachment to the land on which they and their family have resided for generations - now there's a concept that no zionist can argue with. That said, do you really believe that the sordid shilling is genuine recompense for being brutally robbed off land?
phil
July 23rd, 2008 4:14pmSIN dont bother Ahad -I WILL SAVE HIM THE TIME -get your mates to stop trying to get suicide bombers over the wall and do not doubt it, the wall can come down.the soldiers are in uniform because crazed people like you want to invade Israel and kill its citizensand have done since 1948--you ask Ahad how old he is ,answer old enough to remember -how old are you and do you have a memory? the tale about Asad is very upsetting ,presuming you are telling the truth but would no doubt never happen if your friends were not intent on scaling the wall to kill the ones on the other side -do you have influence there ?
Si, N
July 23rd, 2008 4:44pmPrevious poster (pp), you really are a very ridiculous man.
'….since 1948' - that'll be about the time the zionists commenced their programme of brutal ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian Arabs.
That ethnic cleansing continues apace - see Ni'lin and elsewhere for evidence.
Pp - grow up.
Resume bleating.
phil
July 23rd, 2008 5:08pmSIN forgive me I forgot to ask you ,were the bulldozer drivers farmers from the other side of the fence? and those that killed the students in Jerusalem -you know dressed in civilian clothes -no guns just books -you really are one sick person and a good reason why peace is so hard to attain -perhaps even poor Asad would have a chance to live in peace if it were not for crazies who think like you -and no SIN i AM NOT A HIPER ZIONIST OR WHAT EVER YOU WISH TO CALL PEOPLE WHO WISH TO LIVE INPEACE IN THE HOLY LAND -I am just a guy who wishes to see the two people reconciled and with a chance for the children to grow and live a full life -can you emulate that -silly question I know
Charles Oren
July 23rd, 2008 5:18pmGordon Brown's comments on the Arab-Israel conflict - and his proposed solutions - seem to be based on solely media reports rather than an in-depth study of the problem. I sincerely hope that his knowledge of the other problems that face his government are based on more facts and a better understanding,
Si, N
July 23rd, 2008 5:22pmSorry pp - that's just more smoke - must try harder.
phil
July 23rd, 2008 5:26pmSIN just seen your reply to pp-you are amusing me .but you have before many times and that's ok -what is the pp bit is that where you have been ?and by the way the bleating is all one way traffic from you !!-1948 was exactly the time BEN GURION(rip) invited all the people living in Israel to stay in place and become full citizens -check it out boyo there are newsreels available -any more lies you want to tell -teacher doesn't mind -and I hope you dont mind me taking the pp I am sure you are used to it
-If you want some real juicy stuff I could reccomend some old copies of Der Sturmer and if you give me your address I will send you some really old copies of the dandy and beano -you would like those -very grown up though -best regards boyakasha .
phil
July 23rd, 2008 5:46pmAdam B have you a couple of old hotspurs lying around -I have offered SIN a few dandies but they may be a little advanced for him - a Wizard might do I think there was a good story of Tel Aviv T ony who fought off 50 million invaders with just a few of his friends -he would like that I ,m sure
Ann what was it the girls used to read as we haven't established what SIN is yet nor the age .only that he/she makes up fairy tales and is angry .,can you help ?
Si, N
July 23rd, 2008 5:55pmHey Adam B, you'd best join the fray - harridANN's been calling out for you - now the pp too - oh, and the pp also wants haridANN to have another go - pp, I think her over active apoplexy may have finally gotten the better of her - poor old dear.
phil
July 23rd, 2008 5:56pmAhad please do,nt answer the poor boy he is upset enough-we can stand him in the corner for a while but for heavens sake do,nt tell him any facts ,he is in enough of a mess as it is .I, am organising some comics for him -do you have any to spare ?
phil
July 23rd, 2008 6:20pmwell SIN glad you,ve joined in the fun ,we are giving some of the hard working people a few laughs -at your expense of course - but never mind its in a good cause -and has at least stopped you posting porkies for a while -bed time now its late for you and careful with the pp -got to go now the grown ups are here
KateA
July 23rd, 2008 6:48pmPaskalis - "It's breathtaking how insatiable the supporters of Israel are: not a whisper, not a muted gesture for the victims of the other side."
Unlike your own dear 'freedom fighters' eh? Tell you what, let's 'swop' quotes! Not only in the historical context of Ben-Gurion (1948), which means the Holocaust, the British blockade, and ongoing Arab terrorism against Jews ... let us continue through the next 60 years.
"Of course. Ben-Gurion was a transferist. He understood that there could be no Jewish state with a large and hostile Arab minority in its midst. There would be no such state. It would not be able to exist." (Benny Morris)
Indeed, he was right. Displacement and loss of territory is what happens in war. Ask the Hindus about Muslim conquest (8 million slaughtered); ask the Armenians about the Turks, or ask anybody in the world where Muslims (Arab or Asian) are still colonising territory, displacing the indigenous population and fomenting civil unrest.
What is different about Israel is that the apparatchiks of the 'equality' industry and their self-righteous Jew-hating supporters have deemed Israeli (defensive) war strategy as: an international war crime!
The reality of course, as illustrated in this 'swop' is that, the Arabs have never sought peace or accepted the consequences of their own aggressive actions.
Throughout history, those displaced by war have been given sanctuary and citizenship in the lands to which they have fled. Not so, in the Arab lands surrounding Israel. The following illustrates why.
"Kill the Jews wherever you find them. This pleases God, history and religion.”
Haj Amin al-Husseini, Mufti of Jerusalem
(Radio Berlin, March 1, 1944)
“This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres ...”
(Azzam Pasha, Secretary-General of the Arab League, BBC, May 15, 1948)
"If the Jewish state becomes a fact, ... the Arab peoples, will drive the Jews ... into the sea… we will never submit. We will never accept the Jewish state... But for politics, the Egyptian army, or the Muslim Brotherhood, could have destroyed the Jews".
(Hassan al-Banna, [Grandfather of Tariq Ramadan and Muslim Brotherhood founder]
New York Times, August 2, 1948)
"In demanding the return of the Palestinian refugees the Arabs mean their return as masters, not slaves, more clearly – the intention is the extermination of Israel.”
(Salah al-Din, Egyptian Foreign Minister
(Al-Misri, Egypt, October 11, 1949).
"“Israel, to the Arab world, is like a cancer, and the only way of remedy is to uproot it … we cannot endure the pain of this wound forever. We don’t have the patience ... We Arabs total about 50,000,000. Why don’t we sacrifice 10,000,000 of our number to live in pride and self-respect?”
(King Saud of Saudi Arabia, New York Times, January 10, 1954)
“We will make it a decisive battle and get rid of Israel once and for all… This is the dream of every Arab.”
(Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt
Washington Post, July 27, 1959)
“Our path to Palestine will not be covered with a red carpet or with yellow sand. Our path .... will be covered with blood…”
Gamal Abdel Nasser (Pre-election speech, 1965; in Islamic Imperialism: A History,Yale University Press, 2007, p162)
“We have decided to drench this land with our blood, to oust you, aggressors, and throw you into the sea for good.”
(Syrian government broadcast, Radio Damascus, May 24, 1966)
“We shall never stop until ... Israel is destroyed…no compromises or mediations… the goal is the elimination of Zionism ... We don’t want peace, we want victory. Peace for us means Israel’s destruction and nothing else. ”
(Yasser Arafat, PLO chairman, Washington Post, March 29, 1970)
“We shall not rest until the day when we return to our home, and until we destroy Israel.”
(Yasser Arafat, El Mundo, Venezuela, Feb 11, 1980; The Times, UK, August 5, 1980)
“The Prophet… says: ‘The Last Hour would not come until the Muslims fight against the Jews and .. kill them, and until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him'. (Art. 7) Hamas Covenant.
(Gaza, August 18, 1988; reprinted in Journal of Palestine Studies, Summer 1993, pp122)
“We will not lay down our weapons until complete liberation... Sooner or later we will throw the Zionists into the sea.”
(Lt. Col. Munir Maqdah, PLO commander in Lebanon, Reuters, October 8, 1993)
“... the criminals, the terrorists - are the Jews… They are the ones who must be butchered and killed, as Allah said: ‘Fight them: Allah will torture them at your hands, and will humiliate them and will help you to overcome them’ … Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country. Fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them, kill them.”
(Dr Ahmad Abu Halabiya, Palestinian Authority cleric, PA Television, Oct 13, 2000)
“[This is] an exceptional historic opportunity to finish off the entire cancerous Zionist project.”
(Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader
Financial Times, Europe Ed, April 25, 2001)
"We are ambushing the Israelis and cheating them… If we agree to declare our state over what is now 22 percent of Palestine, meaning the West Bank and Gaza… We distinguish the strategic, long-term goals from the political goals, which we are compelled to temporarily accept due to international pressure.” (Faisal Husseini, PLO strategist
Al-Arabi, Egypt, June 24, 2001; Jerusalem Report, July 30, 2001)
“... we believe that one of these days, we will enter Jerusalem as conquerors, enter Jaffa ... Haifa ... Ramle and Lod … we are convinced that our dead go to Paradise, while the dead of the Jews go to Hell… Oh Allah, show the Jews a black day… Oh Allah, annihilate the Jews and their supporters… Oh Allah, raise the flag of Jihad across the land…”
(Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi, Palestinian Authority cleric, PA Television, April 12, 2002)
“Allah’s promise and the Prophet’s prophecy of our victory over the Jews ... Before Israel dies, it must be humiliated and degraded. Allah willing, before they die, they will experience humiliation and degradation every day... we will make them lose their eyesight, [and] their brains.”
(Khaled Mashal, Hamas leader, Al-Jazeera TV, February 3, 2006)
"The only thing we have against Hitler," wrote popular Egyptian columnist Anis Mansour "is that he did not finish with the Jews."
phil
July 23rd, 2008 7:05pmKATE A YOU SHOULDNT HAVE WRITTEN ALL THAT IT WILL KEEP SIN AWAY FROM HIS COMICS -anyway he won,t understand it :)
Ahad Ha'amoratzim
July 23rd, 2008 7:25pmSiN thanks for pointing out that only a money grubbing Jew would expect someone to take money in return for l