Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday 15 March 2015

"It Is Difficult To Imagine A More Striking Example Of How The So-Called Jewish Leadership In The UK Is Failing The Vast Majority Of British Jews"

On 5 March, as many readers will know, the Cambridge Union debated (and carried) the preposterous motion "This House believes that Israel is a rogue state".

The pre-event publicity material stated:
'The Israel/Palestine crisis has existed since Israel’s formation; with neither side gaining the upper hand despite decades of suffering. In this debate we turn to Israel, and ask whether it is time we declared them a rogue state.'
Speaking in favour of the motion were, again quoting from the publicity material, three prominent Israel-haters:
'Dr Norman Finkelstein is a Jewish American political scientist, activist, professor, and author, whose primary fields of research include the Israel–Palestine conflict. He is currently working on his next book, ‘How to Solve the Israel-Palestine Conflict.’Prof.
 Ghada Karmi is a Palestinian author and academic who was made to leave Jerusalem in 1948. Most of her recent research has been on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and has appeared widely in the media and the press
 Ben White is a freelance journalist, writer, and human rights activist. He is a Cambridge graduate, and has published two books on the Israel-Palestine conflict.'  [See White's triumphant take on the debate here]
And those opposing it?
'Vivian Wineman is currently president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the representative body of the Jewish community in Britain.
Hannah Weisfeld is the director and one of the founders of Yachad, the UK’s pro-Israel pro-peace movement. Previously she chaired the Jewish Social Action Forum for two years.
Davis Lewin is the Deputy Director & Head of Policy and Research at the Henry Jackson Society, a global think tank that fights for the principles that keep societies free. He is also a former Middle East Director at the Next Century Foundation.'
The Cambridge Union has a channel on Youtube and posts footage of its debates.  Eventually. 

So far the only video of the debate I've found is this one, which shows rather too much of the frightful Finkelstein but does show the jubilant screams of "Free, free Palestine!" that broke out at the debate's end, as well as a bit of a contretemps afterwards.  Have a look at it, and try to forget that Cambridge is an elite institution when you see the word "rogue" spelt "rouge": 


As Douglas Murray has observed inter alia here:
 'The Cambridge Union – the oldest in the country – enjoys debating that motion more than any other. It is a fixture in its termly schedules.
And once again last week the students of Cambridge decided to hold Israel guilty among the nations. Needless to say there is no record of Cambridge students debating whether Pakistan (created in the same year as Israel) is a rogue state. Despite there being far more reasons to do so.
Nor does the Cambridge Union annually denigrate any of Israel’s neighbours in the Middle East. During last week’s Cambridge debate the notorious anti-Israeli activist and discredited academic Norman Finkelstein explained to the students that Israel is worse than North Korea....'
The students agreed with him. Next month the University of Southampton will become the latest university to fix its position on this bandwagon of hate.'
Quite so.  And regarding that forthcoming "bandwagon of hate" see this excellent analysis of the dramatis personae by David Collier (they [hat tip: Nathan of Plaza] include Wollongong's Marcelo ("BDS and blisters") Svirsky, who features in my previous post, plus a range of heavy-duty srael-loathing nasties).

But it's a post by one of my favourite British bloggers,  Edgar Davidson, which should be ringing alarm bells regarding the Cambridge fracas. He observes, inter alia:
'[T]he Israel 'case' was made by two people whose "support" for Israel is at the very best ambivalent:
1.Hannah Weisfeld, the leader of the anti-Zionist Yachad - which is still trying to con British Jews into thinking it is pro-Israel, even though all the evidence suggests that they fully support the motion that their leader was supposed to be arguing against.
2.Vivian Wineman, the useless and discredited Chairman of the Board of Deputies who has devoted his leadership of the Board to developing ties with the Muslim Council Britain (which is the official Muslim Brotherhood organisation in the UK) and to stopping pro-Israel speakers from coming to the UK....
Two-thirds of Anglo-Jews would vote for Bibi
And irrespective  of their views, Weisfeld and Wineman are also both appalling speakers as anybody who has had the misfortune to hear them will know. It is difficult to imagine a more striking example of how the so-called Jewish leadership in the UK is failing the vast majority of British Jews; unlike Weisfeld and Wineman they are strong supporters of Israel and know that failure to properly support Israel (and counter the propaganda lies against it) is fuelling the rise in antisemitism. [Emphasis added]
 I really [his emphasis] would like to know how either of these goons got selected to make the case for Israel. Was it the Cambridge University Jewish Society? Did nobody raise any concerns? The result of the debate (which interestingly was a complete reversal of a similar motion in 2010) shows what a bad decision it was....' 
 Read all of Edgar Davidson's post here and see his many relevant links below it.

Incidentally, poll results regarding who British Jews favour as Israel's prime minister can be seen here

1 comment:

  1. Again; so what? There's a tiny tiny handful of Jews in Britain. Half of them will never leave even if their families are being beaten to the death in the streets. Of the 90,000 or so remaining who would leave things would still have to get pretty bad for them to consider it. More likely they will simply assimilate and dissolve into the general population. At least until Britain is a caliphate that pursues Nazi-like race laws. Jewish life in Britain is going extinct. Everyone knows that.

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