Daphne Anson: Barry Digs For Israel

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)

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Barry Digs For Israel

Celebrated British/Australian actress Miriam Margolyes is seen here in one of her recurrent roles, ardent Israel basher:

Equally celebrated Australian comedian Barry Humphries, long known as a supporter of Jews and Israel, and close friends since their schooldays at Melbourne Grammar with a distinguished rabbi whom I too know and love, has given Miss Margolyes a little piece of his mind on the ABC, when both were panellists on the discussion show Q&A. A reader of my blog who saw it tells me:

'Miriam Margolyes had early complained about being attacked by Jews for being critical of Israel. Later from 37.20 Barry Humphries has a very subtle dig at her in his sarcastic way. I'm not sure she would have even gotten that he was attacking her. He says after she brought up Mel Gibson (he had made a point that most actors were lefties);

[About Mel Gibson to her] "....well you know, he’s a fellow anti-semite, which you should think about Miriam, and you know Miriam – whose wonderful show of Dicken's Women is in Sydney on Thursday night at the Opera House is incredible, it may not be mentioned again so I'm giving it a plug – you’ll find north London Jews will be perfectly happy with what you have to say, there’s a few anti-semites amongst them I can tell you."

To which she replies "and understandably so" ...'

Some time ago, blogger Ray Cook (no rightwing thunderer, by the way), at the end of a memorable piece prompted by Miss Margolyes's remarks on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show which implied support for a single state solution, observed:

'Margolyes and other ashamed Jews need to educate themselves. I am sick of being ashamed of them.

What is she saying now? Oh yes, the Israelis should understand and accept that they owe reparation to the Palestinians just like the Jews expect it from the Germans.

So she, perhaps unwittingly, makes a moral equivalence between the way Jews were treated in the Holocaust and the way Palestinians (who have been hell-bent on another Holocaust for 100 years, and certainly 60) have been treated by the Israelis.

Who attacked Israel in 1967?

Why was the PLO formed in 1964 before there was any ‘Occupation’?

The Israelis are behaving ”so cruelly’. Yes, sometimes all those with power over others behave cruelly. Maybe she should understand why Israelis might do so to Palestinians who want to kill them, and blow up their children on buses and in their beds. Why can she only see one side to this conflict?....

How often do we see people in the media like Miriam Margolyes, Jews and non-Jews, well-meaning, decent people who just do not understand. They live in their cosy left-wing bubbles dreaming of world peace where all will be luvvies.

Sorry Miriam. You are a very nice woman and a wonderful actress, but you are a deluded Jew.

Go read some history. Go read the PLO charter and the Hamas charter.... [Y]ou need to wake up out of your deluded lefty dreams, you and all the ashamed Jews.'

Update: Habima's appearance at the Globe, which Miss Margolyes wanted cancelled, was disrupted by a bunch of usual suspects, as this BBC report indicates. See my next post.

7 comments:

Ian29 May 2012 at 21:01
Typical Q and A, what a pathetic question “Miriam, your fearlessness in speaking your mind is truly admirable”. As if being anti-Israel in British acting circles is “brave” and on the same day as an actual outrage, the Houla massacre. Syria didn’t even get a mention, so much for a “topical show”.
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Empress Trudy29 May 2012 at 21:42
You misconstrue. The Margolyes' of the world aren't in thrall to genocidal antisemitic racists in spite of their blunt antisemitism. They're in thrall BECAUSE OF IT. Their anger and hatred isn't fueled by any particular love for Arabs. It's fueled by the continued existence of the Jews.
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Shirl in Oz29 May 2012 at 23:50
I rarely watch TV, my husband called me to watchit

Barry Humphries was fantastic, he made Margolis look like an idiot She wasn't too happy
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SteveR30 May 2012 at 20:50
What is it with Margolis ? She would be stoned to death in Gaza/West Bank and the rest of the Arab world for what she gets up to. Yet in Israel she can march with pride with her fellow ladies.
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Islamophobia is a false allegation of prejudice which is deployed to silence rational criticism based on actual facts about attitudes and practices within the Islamic world.
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The "Apartheid" Slur

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95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.
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Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.
There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area “A”. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation – and subjugation – by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance.
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