Bravo Senor Aznar and the Friends of Israel Initiative!

Amid the irrational and ominous hubbub of hatred for Israel that has followed the defensive raid on the flotilla vessel Mavi Marmara, a compelling voice of sanity has emerged from Spain.  On 17 June The Times of London carried a splendid, stirring op-ed piece from Jose Maria Aznar, the tough-on-terror realist who served as Spanish prime minister from 1996-2004 (pictured with Ehud Barak in Israel in 2001).

The title of his article speaks for itself, "If Israel goes down, we all go down".  True to his word, Senor Aznar - with nine other prominent people including British statesman and Nobel laureate David Trimble and America's ex-ambassador to the UN John Barton, has formed a group called Friends of Israel, which recently issued a petition robustly and movingly defending the Jewish State and inviting "all men and women of goodwill to join us".  In sum, the petitioners pledge themselves

To combat the delegitimization of the State of Israel at home, abroad and inside the institutions of the international community; to publicly show our solidarity with Israel's democratic institutions - the legitimate expression of the Jewish people's milennial [sic] aspiration to live in peace and freedom in its national homeland; to support Israel's inalienable right to secure borders  unmolested by terrorists or tyrannical regimes so that its citizens can continue living with the same guarantees that our own societies enjoy; to consistently and firmly oppose the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran; to work to ensure that Israel is fully accepted as a normal Western country, an essential and indivisible part of the Western world to which we belong; to reaffirm the value of the religious, moral and cultural Judeo-Christian heritage as the main source of the liberal and democratic western societies.

The petition - this clarion call to justice - already has over 5500 signatures.  It is available here:
http://www.friendsofisraelinitiative.org/index.php