Beware The Anti-Israel MacRatbags: Why we should fear a "Yes" vote in Thursday's Scottish referendum

Members of the Radical Independence Campaign standing with Gaza

The outcome of Scotland's referendum on Thursday to decide whether or not to secede from the Union with England hangs in the balance, with polls indicating that the probable result is too close to call.

A "Yes" vote leading to the breakup of the United Kingdom would be a tragedy, diminishing Britain's weight in the world.

It would also limit opportunities for Scots, people who have not, despite the nonsense pushed in some "Yes" circles, been oppressed by "the English"; indeed, in the twentieth century alone there were five British prime ministers from Scotland and others with Scottish connections, including Tony Blair.

Ratbags in Edinburgh

Scots have played a distinguished part in Britain's wars and in the development of the British Empire (the East India Company was largely dominated by Scots, something that the leftists would rather not acknowledge).

More importantly from our standpoint, Scottish independence would mean and the dominance in Scotland of the Israel-hating Left, which has to date been responsible for five Scottish councils commiting to BDS and which is thirsting to wreak more mischief of that sort.

As the Jewish Chronicle reported last week that some Jews intend to vote "Yes" despite apprehensions:

 'Scottish Jews are concerned that independence could lead to a rise in anti-Zionism but, for many, it will not stop them voting yes.

Scotland's 6,000-strong community has faced a summer of rising anti-Israel protest amid the Gaza conflict, with Glasgow and Edinburgh town halls flying the Palestinian flag and protesters boycotting stores stocking Israeli goods.

With the latest polling putting the yes and no camps at level pegging in the run-up to the vote on September 18, Jews are having to consider what affect independence could have on issues such as circumcision and kosher slaughter, and whether a new goverment would pursue a harder line on Israel.

... Paul Morron, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council [is not panicking but concedes]

"An independent Scottish government will have control over foreign policy and that may take a more anti-Israel view. This could increase pressure on the community. We have seen how quickly anti-Israel feeling can turn into antisemitism.

"In the last 60 years Glasgow has not suffered this level of antisemitism so of course there is a major shockwave going through the community. ..."

....Living in England, Rabbi Alan Plancey, emeritus rabbi of Borehamwood Synagogue, cannot vote next week, but as a proud Scot he is keenly following the campaign, and is dead against independence. "Why do we have to split up everything all the time? If it works, why break it?" he said.

"There is a lot of antisemitism in Scotland - if they go on their own, it could be worse. Once they have their own fully sovereign government and parliament, God knows what they will do."'

 Note this recent press release by the Radical Independence Campaign:

“An independent Scotland could have a Palestinian embassy and support sanctions against Israel”, Radical Independence Campaign co-founder Jonathon Shafi has said, ahead of a Scotland-wide march against the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

The writing on the wall

The Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) were present at the Scotland-wide demonstration and have printed placards reading ‘Scotland’s stands with Gaza – Free Palestine’. Jonathon Shafi, who will be speaking at the demonstration, said:

‘Israel has broken the UN Human Rights Charter many times over. But we have come to come expect nothing but inaction from successive Westminster Governments. This is not the first time Israel have committed war crimes, such as collective punishment, and as long as the UK Government and the rest of the international community continue to stand in support of Israel, it won’t be the last.

An independent Scotland could follow the example of Chile, who announced this week that they were suspending trade talks with Israel and considering withdrawing its ambassador from Tel-Aviv(1).

An independent Scotland could stand with those in the international community who want to see peace and justice for the people of Palestine. It could support effective political and economic sanctions against Israel. And it could make a symbolic gesture of the legitimacy of Palestine on the international stage by having a Palestinian embassy in a newly independent Scotland.

With the full powers of independence, the Scottish Government could play a definitive and leading role in standing against Israeli occupation and the oppression of Palestinians. Contrast that with David Camerons ‘staunch support’ of Israel."

Note what Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), said on Sunday. To quote the  Jewish Chronicle:

'Scottish politician Alex Salmond appeared to compare the Islamic State terror group’s beheading of a British aid worker to the actions of the Israeli government in controversial comments on Sunday.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Mr Salmond said: “The Muslim community of Scotland isn’t responsible in any shape or form for atrocities or extremism, just like a few weeks ago the Jewish community of Scotland wasn’t responsible for the policies of the state of Israel.”

The Scottish National Party leader was commenting after Scottish aid worker David Haines was murdered by Islamic State terrorists in Iraq.'

https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/57306

Note, too, that Mick Napier, the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign chief, is as fanatical a pro-Scottish independence proponent as he is an anti-Israel one.

If Scotland does become independent, this initiative of Napier's, argued by him before the Scottish Parliament that Edward Snowden by granted asylum in Scotland, is a likely example of what the ratbags will do.

Yes, if they get independence, that is a likely example of what they will do Though they are unlikely to cite a Yiddish tale, as he does in that video. What chutzpah!


 I give several recent examples of Mr Napier's mindset below, as contained in recent messages of his on Facebook.

And cheering Scottish independence on, the Welsh Green Party's anti-Israel leader:

As well as the anti-Israel Socialist Workers mob:

Yet another ratbag for independence, in a nonsensical piece in the Guardian:

Jews Nervous North of the Border?

Image: Scottish Jewish Archives on Facebook

“Mostly the Jewish community used to feel that Scotland was a good place to be Jewish but for many that has reversed. Many Jews actively discuss leaving Scotland because they feel alienated, vulnerable and not at home.”

So says Ephraim Borowski, director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC), as reorted in a Scottish newspaper yesterday. 

It reports, inter alia:

'The claim reflects the figures in the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights report, published last month, which found that 38% of Jews surveyed said that they had considered emigrating from their country over the past five years, with the highest proportions found in Germany, France and Belgium.

The survey also found that three-quarters of Jewish people in the UK perceived anti-Semitism to be generally a very big or a fairly big problem, with 29% having considered emigrating.

.... Borowski pointed to SCoJec research from 2015 in which one-third of respondents explicitly talked about a heightened level of anxiety, discomfort, or vulnerability.

He also said that, as part of the survey, five people told SCoJec without being prompted that they were considering leaving Scotland.

The row on anti-Semitism in the UK last year focused heavily on the response by the Labour party to allegations of anti-Jewish sentiment, with various members either being suspended or expelled.

Leader Jeremy Corbyn, who apologised for the hurt caused to Jewish people, was also criticised for his party’s initial refusal to endorse in full an international code on antisemitism.

Corbyn had originally backed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, but not all of its associated examples. He later performed a U-turn.

Mark Gardner, director of communications at the Community Security Trust, a charity set up to ensure the safety of the Jewish community in the UK, said of the Borowski comments:

“This is an accurate summary of the fact that despite the many positives of Scottish Jewish life, many Jews are still considerably more nervous about the state of antisemitism, politics and society than was the case 10 or 20 years ago.

A similar trend can be seen in Jewish communities across Europe and in this context, Scotland and indeed the UK as a whole remain relatively better than elsewhere.” '

Read more here

I've blogged from time to time about antisemitism and anti-Zionism in Scotland, and last year the UK Jewish Telegraph (23 March 2018) reported:

'Scotland has been awash with hatred of Jews and Israel this week. Three separate incidents will have Jews fearing for the future of the Jewish community north of the border.

An anti-racism rally in Glasgow, United Kingdom at the weekend saw Israel supporters verbally abused by thugs with their faces covered. Members of the Confederation of Friends of Israel - Scotland and Glasgow Friends of Israel took part in the march, despite calls for them to be barred. Even when the Muslim Council of Scotland withdrew its support the night before the march because of the “participation of Zionists”, the organisers held firm. This was followed by death threats to Scottish Council of Jewish Communities - SCoJeC director Ephraim Borowski after the conviction of Mark Meechan, of Coatbridge, for teaching his girlfriend’s pug to give a Nazi salute when he shouted “gas the Jews” and “Sieg Heil”.

And a debate on ‘This House Believes that Israel is not an Apartheid State’ was cancelled after no one would debate with famed antisemitism researcher David Collier.

Professor Henry Maitles, Scottish Jews for a Just Peace a member and a Holocaust educator, had been due to oppose the motion, but made a statement with the Scottish Friends of Palestine that it would not be a fair or objectively factual debate with Mr Collier.

In the Meachan [sic; Meechan] case at Airdrie Sheriff Court on Tuesday, Mr Borowski said:

 “In many ways, the bit I found most offensive was the repetition of ‘gas the Jews,’ rather than the dog itself.

 The other thing that struck me was the explicit statement that this was intended to give offence and intended to be the most offensive thing he could think of and then he says he isn’t a racist. Unfortunately, we hear that all the time from people.

“I’m no historian, but it is the marching signal of the Nazi stormtroopers who contributed and supported the murder of six million Jews, including members of my own family.

Material of this kind goes to normalise the antisemitic views that, frankly, we thought we had seen the last of.”

Since the verdict, SCoJeC has been bombarded with hate messages and threats both to Mr Borowski and Jews in general. Others, purporting to come from Jews, have condemned the court case and outcome. Among the messages received by SCoJeC has been:

“I’m going to kill every single one of you ugly, rat-faced kikes. I think I’ll use a knife. Then after I’ve cut you, I’ll shut that dirty, filthy, lying Jew mouth of yours, once and for all. “Make sure you have a good hiding place ready. I’m gonna stick your children into an oven and then I’m gonna serve roasted kike to my dog.”

The video of the pug had been praised by comedians Ricky Gervais and David Baddiel, who is Jewish. Mr Gervais tweeted that if you don’t believe in a person’s right to say things that you might find “grossly offensive”, then you don’t believe in freedom of speech.

 Glasgow Jewish Representative Council - GJRCpresentative Council co-president Nicola Livingston declared: “There’s a difference between making jokes about the Holocaust and saying ‘gas the Jews’. That is not a joke — it’s like saying kill an entire race and what is funny about invoking something like that?”'

Meanwhile, a downplaying by the BBC of Jewish fears of antisemitism in the UK, enthusiastically repeated by the Scottish SPC on SoundCloud, and a new message from Scottish PSC chief Napier:
 

Scottish Jews Protest Church Of Scotland's Association With Stephen Sizer

The umbrella body of Jews north of the Border, the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC), has issued a formal protest to the Church of Scotland, which co-sponsored the Balfour Project's Conference in Edinburgh on 2nd November.

Explains the SCoJeC:

 'The SCoJeC has written to the Church of Scotland, formally protesting at the Church’s sponsorship of and participation in a conference to mark the 95th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, at which Rev Stephen Sizer [pictured, courtesy of this blog, some time ago, with the notorious Raed Salah] is the “keynote” speaker.  The event is organised by the “Balfour Project” (which appears only to exist as a domain name registered to Sizer), and is promoting an apology by the UK Government for what the [sic] “historical injustice” of the Balfour Declaration.

Sizer, a Church of England Minister, has repeatedly associated himself with Holocaust denial, right wing extremism, and unabashed antisemitism – his website links to the antisemitic forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and Holocaust denial. As a consequence, he has been condemned publicly by the Council of Christians and Jews for "conduct unbecoming of a clergyman".  Just last week, the Board of Deputies of British Jews has taken the unprecedented step of submitting a formal disciplinary complaint about him to the Church of England.

An initial informal approach to the Church and Society Council, apprising them of our concerns, was dismissed as an “issue of perception”, so, after consultation with communal organisations, SCoJeC wrote formally to inform the Church that “we are unanimous that for the Church of Scotland to provide a platform for this speaker would be perceived as highly offensive throughout the Jewish community.”  We also made it unambiguously clear that our complaint was not about Sizer's views on Israel or the Middle East, but “his repeated flirtations with supersessionism, Holocaust denial, right-wing extremism, and unabashed antisemitism”.

We attached a dossier detailing many of these, and added “once can be a mistake; persistence can not … linking to another website is advertising its content. He is thus advertising the advertising of the Protocols, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and Holocaust denial.”

This letter received a lengthy but nonetheless dismissive reply from the Rev John Chalmers, the Principal Clerk, which failed to address any of the evidence we had provided, but largely consisted of a list provided by Sizer of his supporters, and concluding that the Church is “satisfied by [Sizer’s] own public position statements” that he is not antisemitic, but only critical of the State of Israel.

This is self-evidently not the case, and we therefore replied quoting the Board of Deputies’ comment that: 

“The evidence indicates that he spends time trawling dark and extreme corners of the internet for material to add to his website ... introducing his readers to the racist and antisemitic websites from where he draws his material. ... Revd Sizer keeps some strange company. He has shared a platform with and quoted from Holocaust deniers, goes on trips to Iran as the guest of the NEDA Institute which contributes to global efforts to deny the Holocaust, and gave an interview with Qods News Agency, a Holocaust denying website.”

We have, however, expressed the hope that our efforts to promote good community relations and to enhance and strengthen the interfaith work in which we are all engaged will not suffer. 

“Both our communities have endorsed the Scottish Government’s strenuous efforts to make religious hatred unacceptable in all its forms, but the dissemination of Sizer's message in Scotland must inevitably undermine this. … You say that you “hope we can overcome this difficult moment and seek to move forward in developing our good relationship”. We share that hope, but with some pessimism: please be in no doubt about the harm your willing association with this man and his activities will undoubtedly do.”'

(See more here)

As for the Board of Deputies, the fact that it is prepared to cooperate with Oxfam, an NGO highly critical of Israel, a decision which has not unnaturally provoked concern, surely suggests that it has not complained about Sizer lightly.

Meanwhile, presumably in reaction to the Board's protest, Rev Sizer has reposted on his blog a statement issued in May following an abortive attempt by the Council of Christians and Jews to have him prosecuted for antisemitism.

(Incidentally, I hear that Egypt-based Dutch Rev Jos Strengholt and The Anglican Publishing House in Cairo are about to publish two of Sizer's books – Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon? and Zion's Christian Soldiers: The Bible, Israel and the Church – in Arabic.)

North of the Border Up Napier's Way

Wrote Scottish political  journalist Stephen Daisley in the Jewish Chronicle last Autumn:

'It reads like the grim manifesto of a fringe group.

"We condemn Zionism as a racist ideology based on Jewish supremacy in Palestine, as well as the related ideology of Christian Zionism... We support the Palestinian non-violent struggle for resistance to the colonisation of their lands, resources and peoples by Israel and by Zionist settlers."

In fact, these words come from the policy statement on Israel and Palestine adopted by the Scottish Green Party at its conference last weekend.The document has attracted attention for its demand that Hamas be removed from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations, but there are even more disturbing provisions.

The resolution "condemns Israel's claim to be 'the Jewish State'", instead declaring it an "apartheid" society "in which non-Jews have inferior rights". As such, it demands the law of return be scrapped for Jews and a right of return introduced for Palestinians.

The party has carved out a startlingly extreme niche.

To achieve this, the Scottish Greens endorse boycotts of Israeli businesses, academics and cultural institutions, Jewish and Arab, Hebron and Haifa. And while calling for the release of Palestinian "political prisoners", they want to see the JNF stripped of its charitable status.

There is some throat-clearing about Israel as a safe haven after the Holocaust but it's tepid stuff. Even amid rising anti-Israel sentiment on the European left, the Greens have carved out a startlingly extreme niche....

In their equation of Zionism to racism, the Greens unearth the notorious UN resolution 3379 and wear it with pride. When the General Assembly carried that motion, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the United States UN ambassador, proclaimed: "A great evil has been loosed upon the world."

Despite the resolution's eventual repeal, that evil has never been contained again. It is at the root of much "progressive" anti-Zionism today. It is why a party of mild-mannered Scottish environmentalists can inveigh against "Jewish supremacy" without shame.'

Also last Autumn, as reported here, Jackson Carlaw, Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for West Scotland, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Scottish student conference run by Israel advocacy organisation Stand With Us, held in Glasgow's Giffnock Synagogue and attended by students from the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Strathclyde.

Inter alia, he said:

"It’s true that MSPs do commemorate the Holocaust. Sometimes I think some think they have ticked a box when they do that and are free the rest of the year to be deeply critical about Israel, and at times to allow that anti-Israel expression of view to cross into an antisemitic expression of view, and not see the difference between them.

The [Jewish]community has started to feel under threat again.

I don’t want the future Jewish community to feel no longer welcome in Scotland or that they have to follow through on discussions about whether it is time for them to leave."

He added that he aimed to tackle anti-Israel feeling in Scottish Parliament with a motion for a members debate this month titled “Bridges not boycotts” which would be a positive motion about the “contribution of the Jewish community in Scotland today”, and “Israel’s place in the world”.

Mr Carlaw was the keynote speaker at the first Scottish student conference run by Israel advocacy organisation Stand With Us, held in Glasgow...

Around 30 students from the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Strathclyde spoke about issues they faced on Scottish campuses.

Noa Cohen, vice-chair of a the new Israel Engagement Society at Edinburgh University, said her group was building up support by emphasising social events rather than political ones.

The IES was formed last year “in reaction to a strong BDS movement”, she said. “The main target was people who were sympathetic towards Israel, not necessarily Jews”. The group already have a core of around 30 members, but only around 25 per cent are Jewish.

IES political vice-chair Theo Robertson-Bonds said that Israel supporters were trying to bring a different mood to the political debate on campus.

“Students for Justice in Palestine tends to have events based around letter-writing or staging a die-in. It’s not fun, it’s not engaging. Thus we’re trying to have fun and engage people through that. Our view is through building up a really rich social base where people talk about anything, but particularly support each other on issues relating to faith and the state of Israel, that will attract more people to come along just organically.”

Ms Cohen also advised avoidance of the word “Zionism”.

“There’s such negative connotations. It needs to be tackled eventually, but especially when you’re trying to build up a base, stay away from it.”

Concerns over anti-Israel members of the Scottish Parliament was also voiced. Such members include SNP (Scottish National Party) politician Sandra White, who has since apologised "unreservedly" for retweeting an obnoxious cartoon tweeted by, to quotereporter Marcus Dysch  the Jewish Chronicle, "a man called Charles Frith, who has repeatedly posted antisemitic messages and images. Ms White has previously re-posted messages from his account."

Needless to say, the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC; Mick Napier, chieftain) has warmly welcomed the Scottish Greens' stance (see here).

Recently, this has become one of the SPSC's principal campaigns, and as the accompanying images show, Mick has been in the thick of the fight.

To quote, inter alia, from the SPSC's propaganda on this issue:

"Police Scotland seem to be lining up with Barclays Bank to prevent political activity on a public street against Barclays' $25m investments in arms giant Raytheon. Barclays profits from military technology that Israel uses  to carry out its massacres of Palestinians as part of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Last Saturday (March 5th) Police Scotland officers on Princes Street threatened to arrest SPSC members, although the officers seemed to be scrabbling to identify any crime being committed that could conceivably justify an arrest of peaceful protestors on a public street, leafletting the public as they have been doing now for some weeks.  Ludicrously, the officers finally claimed the 'grim reapers' representation of Barclays bloody investments had to go because they might frighten young children! ....

To be clear, we have been and will remain outside Barclays because the trail of culpability from Israel's massacre of children in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine leads directly to those at the top of the bank who direct investments and profit from such mass killing. Palestinian kid

The majority of Palestinian children in Gaza are being deliberately traumatised by Israeli sonic boom attacks, massacred with weapons that Barclays invests in purely for profit. Money from childrens blood, trauma, shattered bodies, destroyed homes and schools. The suits who profit from such wanton killing are even worse than the brutes who actually use the fruits of Barclays investments to destroy the Palestinian human beings...."

Blood libel stuff.

Mick's newish slogan (we all know what the end-game is):

And here's Mick's newest thrust of his claymore, referring to a vile article in Ha'aretz by the repellent Gideon Levy:

Funnily ("funny peculiar" not "funny haha") the doughty chieftain is not averse to appearing on the satellite channel of one of the world's most notorious human rights abusing states in the world, which has repeatedly threatened Israel with genocide (I'm not linking to this, his very latest studio appearance; if anyone really wants to listen to his nonsense they must seek it out):

Israel-demonising without shame, eh?

Meanwhile  ...

Anyhow, though not directly relevant to the above. let's close with the latest thoughts of Aussie Newton Gatoff:

Angling For An Apology: Britons Battling The Balfour Declaration

"With the Balfour Declaration of 2nd November 1917 Britain unleashed a series of events in Palestine that have not only caused enormous suffering and loss to the Palestinian people but also unleashed recurrent waves of terrorism affecting many parts of the world to this day. The British Government must accept its historic responsibility and issue an apology."

So runs a silly doomed-for-the-dustbin e-petition to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office concocted last year by an anti-Israel activist.  Tweeted at intervals by its framer, who also happens to head a small Palestine Solidarity Campaign branch somewhere in the British boondocks, the e-petition closed in August this year, having attracted just 155 signatures.

The idea behind the petition, however, has evidently stirred independently in other breasts.

Step forward the Steering Committee of an initiative calling itself The Balfour Project:

Dr Mary Embleton, Historian
Professor Mary Grey, Theologian, writer and activist.
Dr Imad Karam, Academic and film maker
Peter Riddell. Peace activist
Dr Monica Spooner, Medical Doctor
Professor Roger L Spooner OBE,  Scientist
Rev Dr Stephen Sizer Anglican vicar and author

Professor Grey helped to exonerate Sizer from the charge of antisemitism being considered against him by the Crown Prosecution Service last year, but I understand that a Jewish scholar and non-practising Liberal rabbi who did likewise declined to be involved with The Balfour Project, the stated aims of which are:

Marking the centenary of the Balfour Declaration in 2017 as a contribution to justice, peace and reconciliation in the Middle East.

Mindful of Britain’s responsibility, the Balfour Project will encourage understanding of what led to the Balfour Declaration, and what flowed from it.

The Balfour Project will facilitate a network of educational, political, religious and humanitarian groups who share this vision.

The Balfour Project network hopes to produce a wide range of multimedia resources suitable for children and adults, and promote a series of international conferences and cultural exchanges to enable participants to engage with empathy those who have been negatively impacted by the Balfour Declaration.

The Balfour Project seeks to contribute to justice and peace in the Middle East, and in particular the resolution of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Not that the Project is utterly devoid of Jewish involvement, as the inclusion of a familiar Israel-demonising name among its Advisers shows:

John Bond OAM, Former Secretary, National Sorry Day Committee, Australia
Anne Clayton, Coordinator of Friends of Sabeel UK
Abe Hayeem, Architect, peace activist.
Simon Keyes, Director, St Ethelburga’s Centre
Professor Ilan Pappe
Massoud Shadjareh, Chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission
Professor Nur Masalha  Professor of Religion and Politics
Dr Peter Shambrook, Historian and author.
Mariam Tadros, Trustee Biblelands

On 2 November this year (the 95th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration) the Quaker Meeting House in Edinburgh will host the Project's inaugural showcase event, a conference ntitled "Britain's historic responsibilities for the Israel-Palestine conflict: starting an honest conversation":

"The Balfour Project, in association with the Church of Scotland, is organising a one-day conference on the British involvement in Palestine in the first half of the last century. This is a first step in exploring how to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration in exactly five years on 2nd November 2017.

The Balfour Project has been created by a group of academics and activists who believe that this anniversary should not pass unremarked. Mindful of Britain’s responsibility for what has come to pass in the Middle East, the Balfour Project will encourage understanding of what led to the Balfour Declaration, and what flowed from it. Through our website, we plan to facilitate a network of educational, political, religious and humanitarian groups who share this conviction. We aim to stimulate conferences, cultural exchanges and the production of multimedia resources.  Above all, we believe that the search for the truth of what took place, and the acknowledgement of wrong-doing, can contribute to justice, peace and reconciliation in the Middle East.

In the morning Dr Mary Embleton, whose special interest is Britain’s involvement in the Middle East, will outline the contradictory promises Britain made to Arabs and Jews, and their consequences for all parties before and during the British Mandate in Palestine. This will be followed by keynote papers from Rev Dr Stephen Sizer, who will talk about the ideas that shaped this period, Professor Mary Grey will talk about the main players and Dr Imad Karam will talk about the consequences for Palestinians today. In the afternoon John Bond OAM, former Secretary of Australia’s Sorry Day campaign, will use the 2008 national apology to Aboriginal Australians to discuss the impact of acknowledgement and apology."

See the conference programme here

Lloyd George and Leo Amery

I shall resist suggesting that Jews should request an apology from the Church of Scotland and the Church of England for aggressive missionary activity undertaken among the Jews of the Holy Land and elsewhere during the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries.

Instead, I shall remind the Church of Scotland, whose World Mission Council's Secretary, Rev. Ian Alexander, is scheduled to welcome conference-goers, that it was the son of a Hungarian Jewish woman whose family had been converted to Christianity by Church of Scotland missionaries, who was the true drafter of the Balfour Declaration.

Step forward the shade of Leopold Amery, who never forgot his Jewish roots.

Oh, the delicious irony!

As BDS Gains Ground in the Highlands, Scottish PSC Chief Slams "Scottish Zionist Leaders"

Yesterday, at a full meeting, members of Scotland's Highland Regional Council voted to condemn

“the Government of Israel for its continuing illegal occupation of Palestine’s East Jerusalem and the West Bank and for its continuing illegal blockade of Gaza”

and welcomed

“the decision of the United Nations on 29 November 2012 to grant ‘non-member observer State’ to Palestine.”

Exults Mr Mick Napier, chief of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign:

' This decision of the Council provides a basis for current work across the region to extend the BDS campaign....

Highland Regional Council covers over a third of the Scottish mainland and is the seventh out of thirty two Scottish councils population size.

The Highland Council vote took place without any preparatory work beforehand and thus casts a very bright light on the current state of British opinion at local government level. Zionists are acutely aware of the pariah status of Israel in popular opinion across the world and throughout the UK. How much longer will Cameron, Clegg, Miliband and the Charities Commission be able to protect the apartheid state from popular opinion as Israel crosses red line after line of sustained criminality?'

And he claims:

'Scottish Zionist leaders reacted to the impending vote in their usual irresponsible and reckless manner, defending Israeli crime by manipulating the fears of Scottish Jews. Three days before the vote, Scottish Council of Jewish Communities [SCoJeC]spokesperson Linda Martin warned darkly in the local press of possible physical attacks on Jews if Israel was criticised.

Ms Martin claimed somewhat disingenuously that “The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities has no collective view on Israeli policies.” Their claimed neutrality towards Israel’s crimes is manifestly untrue, however, since SCoJeC’s leaders never criticise any Israeli massacre and miss no opportunity to smear criticism of Israel with wholly fabricated claims of anti-semitism. These antics have laid SCoJeC’s leaders open to severe criticism from within the Scottish Jewish community.

Ms Martin is reckless: she and SCoJeC claims to be “concerned at recent research findings that reveal verbal and sometimes physical attacks on Jewish people in Scotland because of their perceived identification with Israel”. Such efforts to implicate the Scottish Jewish community in the crimes of the state of Israel have been vigorously repudiated by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. She also claims that “disproportionate criticism levied at Israel by some politicians makes people feel alienated and vulnerable.” There is, however, no reputable research in the public domain that Scottish Jews are “physically...attacked because of their perceived identification with Israel”. Perhaps Ms Martin can point to some, bearing in mind that Zionists have a long record of exaggerating and welcoming real anti-semitism to support their efforts to persuade Jews to emigrate to Israel/Palestine. Political Zionists, open supporters of Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing, also whinge loudly when they come in for the severe criticism their racist and violent policies deserve.'

I think Mr Napier must be unaware of the sentiments expressed by some anti-Israel elements in Scotland, as seen in the following photos.  If he knew about them, he would surely empathise with the fears of Scottish Jews.

Among The Israel-Haters, Ezra The Prophet (video)

Don't let the well-modulated tones of the narrator in the following video lull or fool you.  Uploaded last month, and focusing on a bunch of five Israel-haters in Scotland who disrupted the performance of The Jerusalem Quartet and appear to be Edinburgh's answer to Melbourne's so-called "Max Brenner 19,"  it's as insidiously nasty a piece of propaganda against what's described in it as "a criminal racist state" as you're likely to find.

These people favour BDS against all Israeli goods and initiatives (though presumably, it goes without saying, not those Israeli inventions and medical breakthroughs that enhance their own lives) and they mean business.  This is no amateurish video.  It's a well-made, far-ranging piece of vilification against Israel, the only Jewish State in the world and – well, well, what a coincidence! – the only country in the world whose existence is challenged.

What these haters overlook (or maybe it doesn't matter to them) is that  the "Palestinian state" yearning to be born already has anti-Jewish apartheid as a principle in its draft constitution. See  here
(Hat tip: E.G.)

There is, however, one person featured in the video who talks sense.  He's Dr Ezra Golombok, director of the Israel Information Office in Scotland.

As outlined in The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, Dr Golombok, a retired research chemist, is the son of Lithuanian-born Zevi (or Zvi) Golombok (1880-1954), who co-founded a Yiddish-language Zionist newspaper in Scotland as well as a Yiddish weekly, and who went on to found the English-language Glasgow Jewish Echo (ran from 1928-92), which Ezra edited from 1950.

"We Cannot Continue To Participate In A Union Which Legitimises Antisemitism": Challenging Britain's University and College Union

Following the vote by the University and College Union (UCU) at its recent annual conference to reject the European Union's working definition of antisemitism, the Jewish Chronicle (24 June) quoted Professor David-Hillel Ruben of Birkbeck College, London University, formerly director of the London School of Jewish Studies, thus:

"As a lifelong socialist and a member of the AUT [Association of University Teachers]/UCU for almost 42 years, I could not have imagined that anything could have made me resign from thye union.  I have grown accustomed to the UCU's annual adoption of illegal Israel boycott motions.  But my imagination was obviously limited.

It is increasingly difficult to find anyone in the union with any serious ties to the Jewish community and committed to its welfare.  

I can no longer allow my dues to support a union that is institutionally racist and that has demonstrated its antisemitism so repeatedly and unashamedly."

Another resignee, Dr Ariel Hessayon, of Goldsmiths College, London University, stated:

"Based on my professional expertise, I have no doubt that the politically motivated rejection of the EUMC working definition has antisemitic implications.

Accordingly, I cannot in good conscience remain a member of a union that countenances the antics of such extremists; fanatics who seem at best oblivious and at worst disdainful of the consequences of their single-minded obsession: Israel."

Now, four Scottish academics, including Professor Gillian Raab of the University of St Andrews, and Ephraim Borowski, the former president of the Glasgow Association of University Teachers, have quit the UCU, telling it, inter alia:

'As officers and members of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, we take no position on Israel. Our role, and democratic remit, is to represent the interests of Jewish people in Scotland. We have grave concerns in this respect. The racist propaganda brought in the wake of the Middle East crisis has exposed Jewish people in Scotland and the UK to a wave of hostility. From a recent survey, more than half the Jews witnessing antisemitic incidents attribute those incidents to anti-Israeli sentiment. This is the situation you are feeding.

.... Your resolution gives licence to racists.

UCU continues to claim, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that it remains opposed to racism. Congress chose to ignore what they were told in the debate: Ronnie Fraser said: “I, a Jewish member of this union, am telling you, that I feel an antisemitic mood in this union and even in this room. I would feel your refusal to engage with the EUMC definition of antisemitism, if you pass this motion, as a racist act.” By the Macpherson test [Sir William Macpherson 's 1999 report inquiring into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence recommended the following definition of a racist incident: "A racist incident is an incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person"], you had a duty to listen. You did not listen. This is a racist policy.

We cannot continue to participate in a union which legitimises antisemitism.' http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/four-ucu-members-resign-from-the-union-in-scotland/

Government minister Eric Pickles, in condemning the UCU's vote, also notes its rejection in 2006 of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism's findings, and its invitation in 2011 to South African trade unionist Bongani Masuku - who had called for Jews in South Africa to be stripped of their citizenship – to address it.

Wrote Pickles:

"Seen in this context, the latest resolution is in fact sending out a chilling message. It says that Jewish academics and students who perceive that they are being harassed or bullied should understand that they will be held to a different standard. It says that they should expect to be fair game for invective, and learn to live with feeling more vulnerable.

Little wonder that the Union has already seen many members of the Jewish faith, other faiths and none vote with their feet and leave." http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/50996/eric-pickles-ucu-sending-jews-chilling-message

And Ronnie Fraser, chairman of the Academic Friends of Israel, has foreshadowed legal proceedings against the UCU. His lawyer has informed Ms Hunt:

'This indecent, discreditable resolution was passed in active disregard of the feelings of Jewish members - a disregard amounting to a kind of inflamed contempt for all Jews other than that minority among them ready to abet a degraded and obsessive "anti-Zionist" activism' .... In simple terms, the UCU is not a place that is hospitable to Jews. This is not just a violation of equality legislation, it is also a scandal." http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/51087/academic-suing-university-and-college-union-over-antisemitism-vote

Be sure to read Ronnie Fraser's touching, heartfelt speech to the UCU conference, where it was met with "stony silence": http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/ronnie-frasers-speech-to-ucu-congress/

Here's a video clip of the UCU's Conference in 2007, which shows all too clearly the fanatical hatred for Israel that's rife among certain activists:

If you're a glutton for punishment you can seek out videos featuring Brighton academic Dr Tom Hickey, a BDS and UCU heavyweight, who talks about the "extirpation of a whole people" through its "erasure from history" at the hands of Israel.  It was he who chaired the talk by Bongani Masuko in 2009 at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS): http://www.thejc.com/blogpost/antisemitic-meeting-soas.
(For the UCU and Masuko see http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/hate-speech-ruling-against-bongani-masuku/ )

Ninety minutes of loathsome invective against Zionism and Israel at Goldsmiths College, London, earlier this year are captured on the following video.  Speakers include BDS champion Mike Cushman (of Jewish origin), an academic at the London School of Economics; he explains "We pick on Israel because Israel demands to be picked on" and that all Israeli goods, not just settlement goods, should be boycotted. (Warning: after watching Cushman's speech, which comes directly after the opening one by Laura Hartley, you may feel like bathing in Dettol):

This video, dating to 2007, featuring Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, captures the very essence of the double standards inherent in the campus war against Israel:

A Z Word in Scotland ... defending Jeremy Corbyn

Gaza-born, LSE-educated economist Dr Husam Zomlot is officially described on his Twitter page as "Ambassador, Head of Palestinian Mission to the UK, former Head of PLO General Delegation to the US, Strategic Affairs Advisor to President of Palestine".  If his name seems vaguely familiar, that may be because in 2014 he clarified remarks of his that led to the accusation that he is a Holocaust denier.  Or it may be because in September last year he was expelled from the United States by the Trump administration when the Palestinian mission in that country was closed down.

Image: AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

In the month following that expulsion, he became head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK. To quote a press release,   

"HE Ambassador Husam Zomlot presented his credentials as head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK to The Rt Hon Alistair Burt, Minister of State for the Middle East, yesterday. Ambassador Zomlot was received by Mr. Alistair Burt at the Foreign Office.

Dr. Zomlot presented a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, from the Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Riyad al-Maliki. Mr Alistair Burt similarly presented a letter to Dr. Zomlot in which the British government welcomed him as head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK and expressed the desire of the UK government to strengthen cooperation with Palestine and deepen the unique and historic relationship between the British and the Palestinian people.

The letter emphasised the British government’s full commitment to achieving a two-state solution through the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. The letter also stated that the UK government looked forward to a constructive relationship between the British Foreign Office and the Palestinian Mission to the UK.

For his part, Dr. Zomlot expressed the hope that the directive of President Mahmoud Abbas to upgrade the relationship between the two countries was achieved at all levels. Dr. Zomlot added that he highly appreciated the very warm and senior reception at ministerial level from the UK government and vowed to continue the work of his predecessors in advancing British-Palestinian relations, particularly at this critical juncture for both Palestine and the UK."

And this month Dr Zomlot has been wowing the Scots, by the look of things.

He was warmly welcomed to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

And by Eve Bolander, the Lord Provost of Glasgow:

And, as reported here, he

'was given a VIP tour of Celtic Park as he thanked Hoops fans for their incredible crowdfunding efforts three years ago.

Mr [sic]Husam Zomlot touched down in Scotland this week for the first time since taking his new role as Palestine's head of mission to the UK.

In 2016, the Scottish champions were fined £8,000 for a huge pro-Palestine fan demonstration against Israeli outfit Hapoel Beer Sheva.

But the charge was dwarfed by the £176,000 raised online for Middle East charities in a bid by fans to match what they thought would be a far harder hit.

And Mr Zomlot paid homage to the extraordinary sum raised by thanking the club and its supporters today during a trip to the stadium....

The Celtic fans' campaign was backed by Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters in 2016, who played a montage of pictures of the Green Brigade waving Palestinian flags during one of his packed out concerts.

The music icon said at the time: "Thousands of Celtic supporters turned up, they carried Palestinian flags and banners.UEFA, in its incredible imbecility decided to fine Celtic for that display of inappropriate images and banners. So the supporters banded together, great Glaswegians that they are, and said, ‘We’re not having that’. They started a fund that was called ‘match the fine’ and they distributed it to Palestinian charities. Good on you Celtic supporters, I’m an Arsenal supporter myself, but in this particular instance I’m with you all the way.”...'

While in Dundee, trades unionists breakfasted with him:

Yes, that looks suspiciciously like Dr Zomlot's old friend Corbyn, in the picture below!  He was in Dundee for the Labour Party's Scottish Conference.

 And at a fringe meeting of the party chaired by Pauline McNeill MSP, Dr Zomlot received a standing ovation after delivering a speech in which he did his best to exculpate Corbyn from the stain of antisemitism:

As reported here,

'Jeremy Corbyn does not have a "shred or ounce or iota of hate" in his heart, Palestine's chief diplomat has insisted.

Dr Husam Zomlot launched a heartfelt defence of the Labour leader as his party continues to be engulfed in rows over anti-Semitism.

Speaking at a fringe meeting during the Scottish Labour conference in Dundee, Mr Zomlot said he first met Mr Corbyn 20 years ago and described him as "dignified but modest man".

He said: "Any cause that has to do with the rights of people, with equality, with fighting racism and hatred – Jeremy Corbyn is there, under the rain, under the most severe circumstances.

"You want to tell me that person has hate in his heart? No.

"That's the person I know for a long period of time."

....

His comments came as Labour peers wrote an open letter to Mr Corbyn describing his party's handling of anti-Semitism complaints as an "embarrassing mess".

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is considering launching a formal investigation into whether Labour has "unlawfully discriminated" against Jewish people.

....

He said he sensed "some hesitation today among our friends, who worry that their support for Palestinian rights will be misconstructed".

Quoting US Senator Bernie Sanders, he said anti-Semitism "is being used to stifle debate about Israel".

But he added: "Let me be clear here: anti-Semitism is real. It is absolutely real. And like all forms of bigotry and racism, it is abhorrent.

"There is no 'but' here. There is absolutely no 'but' here. It is real and it must be fought."

He added: "There is no contradiction in fighting anti-Semitism and also fighting for the Palestinian cause. It is the same struggle."...'

Ah, but are we comparing like with like, MsMcneill?

Like Melanie Phillips, many hardly think so.
 
Meanwhile, a BDS battlecry from Scottish PSC chief Mick Napier

And across the Irish Sea ...