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)

Wednesday 10 June 2015

"I Share Israel’s Love For Freedom & Democracy; I Admire Its Tenacious Determination When The Odds Are Stacked Against It" (plus video of some who won't like that statement!)

The UK's Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Sajid Javid, who as his name suggests is, incidentally, of Muslim heritage (see my earlier post about him here), has delivered a fine speech to at the awards ceremony of UK Israel Business, in which he unequivocally condemns BDS.
 'Good evening, and shalom aleichem.
It’s a great pleasure to be with you tonight to celebrate the ties between our countries, and the very best of UK and Israel business.
Golda Meir said that Israelis only have one complaint about Moses. 
That he led the Jews through the desert for 40 years – then finally stopped at the one place in the Middle East that doesn’t have any oil!
But I guess necessity is the mother of invention. Because over the past 67 years, Israel really has made business bloom in the barren desert.
It’s one of the many reasons I have long admired the country. I’ve travelled there extensively, both for business and with family. And over the years I’ve taken a great interest in its affairs. Because the values that have made Israel such a success are values that matter a great deal to me. 
I share Israel’s love for freedom and democracy. I admire its tenacious determination when the odds are stacked against it.  [Emphasis added here and below]
And, like millions of Israelis, I have a mother who’s still waiting for me to get a proper job!
So we have a lot in common. And that’s why I’m heartened at the growth of British and Israeli trade links. 
Business has always been a part of my life, not just the 20 years I spent in international banking, but the heart and soul of my childhood, growing up in a small flat above the family shop.
And throughout that time I’ve seen how business can do a great many things. 
It doesn’t just provide jobs and local growth. It lifts individuals, communities and even countries up to be the best they can be. 
That’s why tonight we should celebrate the ever-closer business links between Britain and Israel. 
The total value of trade and services between our 2 countries is now well over £4.5 billion a year. 
Last year alone, 25 Israeli companies set up or expanded their operations in the UK. Israeli-owned CinemaCity amalgamated with the UK’s own Cineworld. The Helios Energy Fund committed £30 million to set up 30 biomass installations in the UK. The Noy Fund announced plans to invest £50 million in UK waste-to-energy projects.
There are now over 300 Israeli companies with a physical presence here, responsible for thousands of jobs.
But this is not a one way street. Great British businesses like Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Barclays, Rolls Royce and others have invested more than £1 billion in Israel. Our exports to Israel are increasing rapidly – and the UK is Israel’s second biggest export market.
In addition, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of Israeli companies showing interest in raising capital on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Nine Israeli companies carried out IPOs on the LSE last year – second only to the UK itself.
So the past few years have been a golden era for Anglo-Israeli business. But what really excites me are the possibilities offered by the years to come. 
Collaboration on science and technology is the cornerstone of our shared relationship. As we all know, only Silicon Valley can rival Israel when it comes to developing leading-edge technologies.
We look towards Israel to benefit from its world-leading expertise in cyber security. And equally, we want to support Israel as it exploits recent discoveries of natural gas in its waters – through strategic partnerships, project finance and supply chains.
And we must continue to work together on achieving medical breakthroughs – whether through, the Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership (BIRAX), or as GSK and Technion are doing, or the National Health Service (NHS) and Teva Pharmaceuticals, through a £12.5 million joint-research agreement.
The UK-Israel Tech Hub in the British Embassy in Tel Aviv has also fostered promising collaborations in agriculture, water technologies and in finance, with 14 Israeli start-ups coming to London this March to meet major City players. And initiatives like the Israel Investor Summit are helping to bring together businesses in both our countries. 
It’s a great relationship, and not one we should ever take for granted. 
But sometimes we do. You may have heard that Britain’s National Union of Students recently passed a motion committing itself to a complete boycott of Israel. Last year the same body rejected a motion calling for a boycott of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which I think speaks volumes.
Last December, as Culture Secretary, I made a speech to Britain’s Union of Jewish Students. And I told them that I had no time for the boycott campaign. Because for me, freedom is an absolute concept. 
At the time I spoke of artistic freedom. Today I talk of the freedom to trade, the freedom to go about your business in peace. Today I talk of the idea that underpins my entire political philosophy, that of free enterprise. It simply doesn’t make sense to say “I believe in the free market, but…” 
Let me be very clear – I don’t believe in boycotts. Nor, I’m proud to say, does my party, my Prime Minister. Or, for the most part, my country. 
On the contrary, my department – including United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) – will be working hard to boost Anglo-Israeli trade and investment. And, as Business Secretary, I’ll do anything I can to support and promote it.
So my message to you is clear. Where there are business opportunities, we should actively explore them – just as the winners of tonight’s awards have done to such great effect. And let me, if I may, single out Sir Harry Solomon for his award this evening: congratulations. 
We look forward to working with our Israeli partners in the future. 
Thank you, and todah rabah.
Here are some familiar fanatics, who will be distinctly unhappy at Mr Javid's grand remarks.  These people were making nuisances of themselves outside the Goethe Institut in South Kensington yesterday, angry at the Institut's reception (to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Israel-German diplomatic relations) under the auspices of Eitan Na'eh, Israel's Deputy Ambassador in London, and Tania Freiin von Uslar-Gleichen, Germany's Deputy Ambassador there, at which the Israeli government sponsored SERET 2015 London Israeli Film Festival began with an exclusive preview of the film Farewell Herr Schwarz.

The fanatics explained on their publicity material:
'At the launch of last years Seret film festival Israel's ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub stressed the importance of "the role the Festival plays in providing a platform for spreading a more accurate picture of Israel across all communities". At the launch the programme director "said that the founders saw themselves as informal ambassadors for Israel". Another co-founder of the festival, Odelia Haroush, was previously the marketing manager of the Ahava shop in Covent Garden that sold stolen dead sea produce and was forced to shut down in Sept 2011 after a sustained campaign by human rights activists. She sees the film festival as a direct response to the boycott Israel campaign. The festival is also co-sponsored by occupation profiteers like Bank Leumi.
We have picketed the Seret film festival from its inception 3 years ago and we will be picketing it again this year.' 

The soundtrack to the video has been provided by the intrepid "cinematographer" (my word, not his) of anti-Israel rallies in London, Alex Seymour (aka Seymour Alexander) but from 19:17 the speakers from Central Casting begin to do their party pieces.  The first to perform is the woman with long grey hair who not so long ago used to hop on Tube trains to recite anti-Israel "poetry" to hapless commuters.  She is followed by a woman who reads this letter from The Guardian newspaper signed by big and bigoted egos from the world of show business (Miriam Margolyes, Mike Leigh, Peter Kozminsky) demanding a boycott of the Israel Film Festivals.  Two other Israel-demonisers, one a veritable staple at such rallies, follow.

And here's Shimon Peres in a video denouncing the BDS movement:

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