The conversation follows Stephen Sizer's posted link to former diplomat Craig Murray's blog regarding Sir Vincent Fean, the British consul-general who was received inhospitably recently by students at Bir-Zeit University, and British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould, who is Jewish.
In a blog that has attracted the usual share of anti-Israel comments, Murray writes:
"The physical hassling of Vince Fean by Palestinian student activists is a mistake. Vince is not only an extremely decent man, but his private views are of horror at the occupation, and as Consul-General he refuses to deal with the Israelis in the West Bank.
Anger at William Hague is perfectly understandable, I feel it myself. As is anger at Matthew Gould’s repeated and uncalled for declarations of commitment to zionism. But I urge all Palestinians not to attack Vince; he is doing his best and on your side."However, it's not those comments that concern me here, but rather what Stephen Sizer replies on Facebook to Salim Nazzal's offensive (nay, antisemitic) remark describing the Jews of Eretz Israel as "professional east europian murderers".
I realise that one of Sizer's fixations is having Britain apologize for the Balfour Declaration (he's initiated the Balfour Project to that end) but in view of his disavowal of the antisemitism tag I'm surprised that, rather than scolding Nazzal for his intemperate remark or distancing himself from it, he gives the impression of concurring with it:
I don't know about you, Daphne, but I think that the UK first ought to apologize to the Jews for actually working against its own undertaking to the League of Nations to foster development of the Jewish National Home in the Land of Israel. You know that British officials on site in Israel --Ernest Richmond, Ronald Storrs, Herbert Samuel, General Bols, General Allenby himself, Col. Waters-Taylor and others-- were favoring the Arabs in the country against the Jews even before the San Remo Conference of 1920 assigned the Land of Israel to be the Jewish National Home for which the UK was designated the ruling power until the Jews could assume independence. Moreover, indeed much worse, when the Jews most needed a home in the Hitler period, the UK issued the "palestine White Paper" of 1939. Britain then proceeded to prevent Jewish refugees from the Nazis from finding even refuge in the Jewish National Home. I am waiting for a British apology for that.
ReplyDeleteThen, Salim Nazzal Effendi does not want to remember that about 1/2 of the Jews in Israel today actually came to Israel from Arab-Muslim countries, not from Europe, east or west. In countries under Muslim rule, Arab and other, Jews belonged to the perpetually oppressed class of non-Muslim subjects called dhimmis. That was true of the Land of Israel under Muslim rule as well as of Yemen, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, Morocco, etc.
It seems that both Nazzal and Sizer believe and say what is convenient for their Judeophobic goals.
Thanks for your comment, Eliyahu. You make good points re the watering down by Britain of the original undertaking and that notorious White Paper.
DeleteDaphne, thank you for your blogs. I look forward to reading many more.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Gentile, evangelical Christian, Hebraic-roots artist. I've loved the Jewish people since I was very young.
Many thanks for your encouraging words, Susan.
DeleteNot surprised re Stephen Sizer. As I recall he's donated his church to the Palestine Solidarity Movement Xmas Carols Distortion Exercise for the past few years and is a PSC member:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stephensizer.com/about/