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)

Monday 17 March 2014

Putting The BS Into BDS

That inveterate campaigner against Israel and Zionism, the Reverend Stephen Sizer, has been participating in the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference which took place in Bethlehem.  (I blogged about it here, but do see, especially if you're American, this disturbing article)

The Rev. Sizer flew back to Britain yesterday, informing his Facebook faithful:


This must have been a joke (unwittingly a Purim joke), for surely the vicar cannot be under the delusion that the Arabs of Mandate Palestine owned and operated their own airline.  (The same cannot, with any high degree of confidence, be said of his followers.)

He surely cannot be among those who take a revisionist view of "Palestinian" history, although, after spotting this poster by Elder of Ziyon on my blog

he had this to say to his followers:


Whatever, the man who (note this, because it's not as generally known as it should be) not long ago declared that the time has come for a One State solution


 has returned from the Conference in fighting form.  He proclaims:


(Incidentally, the David Ruffell quoted above is yet another of Sizer's Facebook friends who makes one call into question the company that the vicar keeps on there; an apparent 9/11 truther, Mr Ruffell has posted such eyebrow-raising things as this:



Time to clean out the Augean Stables, vicar?)

Needless to say, Sizer and the rest of the anti-Christian Zionism brigade are unhappy with British prime minister David Cameron, who during his rousingly pro-Israel speech to the Knesset last week declared:
“I am proud to be pursuing the strongest and deepest possible relationship between our two countries.
From our trade – which has doubled in a decade and is now worth £5 billion a year to the world leading partnerships between our scientists, academics and hi-tech specialists.
Britain and Israel share a commitment to driving the growth of high-tech start-ups. In Britain we’ve introduced huge tax breaks on early stage investment and special visas for entrepreneurs and in just three and a half years we have grown our Tech City in East London from 200 digital companies more than 1300 today.
Israel is the start-up nation – with the second highest density of start-ups outside of Silicon Valley anywhere in the world. As the inspirational President Peres has put it: Israel has gone from oranges to Apple. There are now more than 60 multinational companies with research and development facilities in Israel.
Israel’s technology is protecting British and NATO troops in Afghanistan. It is providing Britain’s National Health Service with one in six of its prescription medicines through Teva and it has produced the world’s first commercially available upright walking technology which enabled a British paraplegic woman to walk the 2012 London Marathon. And together British and Israeli technical expertise can achieve so much more.
From our scientists working on stem cell cures for some of the worst diseases on the planet to our hi-tech specialists who are making a reality of the UK/Israel Tech Hub – the first of its kind in the world I hope this visit can lay the foundation for even more collaboration and even more business between our countries.
And to those who do not share my ambition who want to boycott Israel I have a clear message. Britain opposes boycotts. Whether it’s trade unions campaigning for the exclusion of Israelis or universities trying to stifle academic exchange Israel’s place as a homeland for the Jewish people will never rest on hollow resolutions passed by amateur politicians.
It is founded in the spirit and strength of your people. It is founded in international law. It is founded in the resolve of all of your allies to protect an international system that was forged in our darkest days, to put right historic wrongs. It is founded in the achievements of your economy and your democracy – a country pledged to be fair and equal to all its citizens whether Jewish, Muslim, Christian Arab or Druze.
It is your destiny. Delegitimising the State of Israel is wrong.It’s abhorrent.
And together we will defeat it."
Predictably this has not been received well by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (its logo rather gives its endgame away, of course), while one of Sizer's anti-Christian Zionism friends Jeremy Moodey, CEO of Embrace the Middle East, has dashed off an "Open Letter" to Cameron, in which he says:

"....Finally, there was your blanket condemnation of all forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories as ‘delegitimising the State of Israel’ and ‘abhorrent’. These assertions, together with your claim that BDS would deny ‘Israel’s place as a homeland for the Jewish people’ (NB this is not the goal of BDS), are simply a parroting of the Israeli government’s self-serving line on boycott, which is that BDS is just another form of antisemitism...."
"Not the goal of BDS?" Mr Moodey may honestly believe that this is the case, but he is sadly deceived.

As for David Cameron's rousing words, they are, needless to say, very welcome.

However, Cameron in Scots Gaelic means "crooked nose".  There are many who believe the meaning, given its prime ministerial representative's track record, should mean, rather, "crooked mouth" (he tailors his comments to his audience, and is as likely to be as  unctuous towards an Arab gathering tomorrow as he is towards a Jewish one today) or "long nose" (he has a distinct habit of not delivering on his promises) as in Pinnochio.

Cameron is good at a phrase.  But words are cheap.

He is untrustworthy, as I observed in this post which drew attention to his ambivalent attitude to Israel.

And anyone who's inclined to take Cameron at his word should go on over to the blog of the fine pro-Israel British blogger Edgar Davidson for a splendidly candid cautionary view.

15 comments:

  1. Why on earth are you referring to this loathsome creature as 'Reverend'?

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  2. Thank goodness for Anglicans like Ian G, who runs this blog:
    http://thealmondrod.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/how-to-grow-fish-in-desert-and-arab.html

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  3. This by Y. Medad has good cartoons http://blogs.jpost.com/content/state-dept-christ-checkpoint

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  4. I love this comment below Jeremy Moodey's "Open Letter" - well done, the commenter!:

    Submitted by Peter Jones on Fri, 14/03/2014 - 15:36

    There's so much wrong in this that I don't know where to start, but let's have a go...

    1. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Red Cross has acknowledged that. Huge amounts of aid flow in almost daily. As an objective measure, life expectancy in Gaza is above the world average and higher than, for example, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Peru, and Russia.

    You conveniently forget to mention that Egypt has also closed its border to Gaza, and that Gaza is ruled by Hamas, listed as a terrorist organisation by many countries including our own. Hamas seeks the destruction of Israel and the murder of every Jew on earth. Since Israel withdrew from Gaza, thousands of rockets have been fired from there into Israel. Why don't you condemn this, or at least give some background to the situation? Despite all the agression, Israel is bending over backwards to help the innocent citizens of Gaza.

    2. Why are the settlements (a) illegal and (b) an obstacle to peace? Is it because the PA have said that no Jew will be allowed to live in any future palestinian state?

    3. Your comments on borders and the Jordan river are ridiculous. You must be aware that the mountainous terrain makes any border west of the Jordan river impossible to defend. There may be a peace treaty with Jordan, but who knows what will happen in the future?

    And what do you mean by "the permanent acquisition of another nation’s land through military force". What nation are you referring to? Going back in history, the only sovereign nation in Israel (including the west bank) was the ancient Jewish nation. Everyone else has been an occupier.

    4. Israel may not have a written constitution (neither does the UK), but her declaration of independence states
    "it [Israel] will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture;".

    Israel is by no means perfect and minorities do face discrimination (as they do in the UK), but it has the best track record on equality and human rights of any country in the region.

    5. Despite what your friend says, the majority of people supporting BDS do seek the end of Israel and are frequently anti-semitic, not advocating for such action against other countries. Boycotts of countries operating in the West Bank (eg SodaStream) will only hurt the Arabs they employ. This suggests the focus of the BDS camp is anti-Israel rather than pro-Arab.
    - See more at: http://www.embraceme.org/blog/open-letter-david-cameron#sthash.q5fdQlgY.hmPAjYha.dpuf

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  5. A wake up call here:
    http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2014/3/2/do-funders-like-george-soros-pose-a-threat-to-evangelical-christian-support-for-israel#.UyeNhVccHIU

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  6. Colin Stephenson19 March 2014 at 06:34

    Sizer is calling for prayers on your behalf – well I'm praying for you – I'm thanking the Good Lord for your efforts & I praying he gives you strength to carry on

    Anyone not shocked by Sizer knows little of anti-semitism

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  7. Sizer believes it is antisemitic not to try to convert Jews to Christianity!

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  8. BDS a bit closer to home, ie Sydney 8 April.
    It's a fund raiser for Jake Lynch BDS advocate:
    Reckon anyone can go down there?
    http://www.coalitionforpalestine.org/boycott-divestment-and-sanctions-what-you-want-to-know-but-are-afraid-to-ask

    best wishes
    Jill

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  9. Daphne, in other words he distorted your views of a Palestinian state by chopping part of what you posted off to make it look as if you oppose a Palestinian state ever happening. That's very low and devious coming from a clergyman of all people.

    ReplyDelete

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