Anti-Israel Shenanigans in the Land of Song



Anti-Israel fanatic spraying antisemitic graffiti in Swansea

 I have it on impeccable evidence that last Wednesday was a scorcher in the frequently rainy Welsh seaside resort that "boasts" the westernmost Palestine Solidarity Campaign branch in the mainland UK.  Anticipating large crowds on the streets during such sunshine, the four women - two middle-aged and two elderly - who are the staples of that PSC branch were out early, setting up a stall bearing collecting tins and Israel-demonising literature from head office.

Up went the Palestinian flags - four in all. Up went a banner asking "Whatever Happened to Palestine?" And up went a placard saying "End the Siege on Gaza".

One of the middle-aged stalwarts (halachically Jewish, she happens to be) buttonholed passers-by near the stall, and one of the two elderly sidekicks performed the same task on the opposite pavement.  The other two took it in turns to man the stall and to wish "Have a Nice Day" to anyone accepting the proffered literature or (rare birds, these) who approached the stall to peruse the other stuff on display (an anti-Israel petition, those four well-known maps purporting to show Israel's land grab in periodic stages).

But not before the two leaflet distributors had posed for their picture, grinning proudly as they held up "Boycott Ahava" flyers while one of their cohorts snapped away.

While all this was going on the local Liberal Democrat MP rushed out of the LibDem office a block away, and crossed the street.  He was evidently in a hurry, perhaps to catch a train.  But as he was about to turn into the street leading to the railway station he espied the anti-Israel foursome.  He dashed over, tapped the middle-aged leaflet distributor on the shoulder, smiled broadly, said something encouraging (he's as anti-Israel as she is, judging by his record hitherto) and sped away.

Not that the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, is any better disposed to Israel than are so many LibDems (Welsh or otherwise); the Plaid Cymru MEP Jill Evans is a veteran Israel demoniser (http://www.jillevans.net/jill_evans_english.html)

All of which is a far cry indeed from that great pro-Zionist Welshman, David Lloyd George, whose Cabinet promulgated the Balfour Declaration.  I would be willing to bet that Lloyd George's empathy for Israel, which can be traced to his Sunday School days, also owed something to his close friendship with the founder of the prominent jewellery firm Wartski's when it was based in its birthplace, Llandudno, and he was its solicitor.

Just as much of Welsh philosemitism stems from the Old Testament-oriented chapel-going tradition, so much of Welsh antipathy towards Israel derives from the hard leftism of the industrial south.

The following videos show Welsh Israel-haters behaving badly. 

Here they are protesting a visit to Cardiff in 2008 by the Israeli Ambassador in the UK, Ron Prosor; note the cry "Nazis of the twenty-first century!" yelled by an obvious far-leftist:

They're cheered on by these women of a certain age, presumably old unreconstructed far-leftists.  The presence of elderly women is a not uncommon phenomenon in choral street protests against Israel, I've found repeatedly. (What is the attraction of the Arab cause for such gals? And why do they raise their voices against no other country but Israel?)

Here the demonisers are in a Swansea supermarket (the two who damaged the goods taken from inside later walked free when the judge dismissed the case against them); again. why the obsession with Israel of all nations around the globe?:

And here they are in Cardiff, with seemingly ubiquitous campaigner Dee Murphy, the woman who starred in the supermarket video, starring in this.  Defending Hamas rockets into Israel, she says "we all have a right to defend ourselves" - evidently that principle does not apply to Israel. This super-glued bunch probably need hearing aids if they think the BBC is biased in favour of Israel!

See more here: http://swanseaactionforpalestine.blogspot.com/2010/07/swansea-city-council-ban-future.html