Daphne Anson: At Westminster, Anti-Israel MPs Scrape The Barrel's Bottom

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)

Thursday, 23 July 2015

At Westminster, Anti-Israel MPs Scrape The Barrel's Bottom

Nicholas Soames (pictured), the pompous and visibly well-fed Tory MP of privileged background, who's reportedly not beneath making obnoxious sexist comments and gestures to women members of the House of Commons, has long been an Arabist foe of Israel.

Now, this grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, son of the late Cabinet minister and life peer Christopher Soames, and chum of Prince Charles, has hastened to put his name to an "Early Day" motion in Parliament to the following effect:

"That this House condemns the abysmally low proportion of non-Jewish, African asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status in Israel; notes with concern that less than one per cent of applications by African refugees are successful; further notes that Israel's closest neighbours, Jordan and Lebanon, have each accepted millions of refugees fleeing Syria; commends the work of Hotline for Refugees and Migrants Israel, and the Assaf Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel in promoting African refugee rights in Israel; and calls on the Government to demand immediate action from the Israeli government to behave in line with international legal norms and obligations."

What some people will stoop to in order to kick Israel, huh?

I wonder whether Soames was as concerned for the welfare of black Africans back in the day when his father was governor of Southern Rhodesia.

I wonder what other motions he has put his name to, concerning real human rights abuses in benighted corners of the world.

Since he's been described as the "most sexist" MP, perhaps he could make amends by introducing motions condemning the abuse of women and girls in various Islamic countries.

But wait! It seems from this BBC report that Soames believes that the UK should restrict immigration in its national interest (strange, then, that he has the chutzpah to expect Israel to do differently!):

'Mr Soames had blamed the previous Labour administration for its "chaotic, ill-thought out and deeply irresponsible approach to immigration".

Under its watch, he said, the UK had witnessed "the greatest wave of immigration... in nearly 1,000 years".

The popularity of the petition, which calls for "all necessary measures" to be taken to ensure the population stays "well below" 70 million and has been signed by more than 143,000 people, had provided a "clear indicator of the very grave public concern about the scale of immigration to this country", Mr Soames added.

Although immigration was a "natural and essential part of an open economy" with some benefits, there were pragmatic causes for concern, he said.

He told MPs: "In the coming 15 years we will have to build, just for new immigrants and their families, the equivalent of eight of the largest cities outside London... together with all their associated social infrastructure, of schools, roads, hospitals, railways, and all the rest."'

See also here

Others who have rushed to sign the motion are the new heroine of the Left, youthful SNP prodigy Mhairi Black (pictured below), the perennially anti-Israel former leader of the UK Greens, Caroline Lucas, and the man who's in the current contest to be Labour leader (and is expected to win), Jeremy Corbyn.

Read more here

Regarding Corbyn, be sure to look at Richard Millett's blog here

As I point out in a comment regarding a contention Corbyn makes on one of Richard's videos:

'Who were the “Jewish Cabinet members” Corbyn has in mind? There was only one Jewish Cabinet member, Edwin Montagu – and he was notable for his opposition to Zionism. As Prof W.D. Rubinstein wrote in an article that has been seized upon by the anti-Israel Balfour Project website, which put it on in their essential reading “archives” where it remains, Leopold Amery, who made the final draft of the Balfour Declaration, was the son of an ethnically Jewish (Christian) mother and sympathetic to the Jewish cause. But that hardly justifies the “some of the Jewish Cabinet members imposed” contention.' (And now he's trying to wriggle out of it! There was no "Lord Montagu" Mr Corbyn, just plain Mister.)

12 comments:

Anonymous23 July 2015 at 18:39
"Further notes that Israel's closest neighbours, Jordan and Lebanon, have each accepted millions of refugees fleeing Syria..."

I guess these are all "non-Jewish Africans".

Conservative Arabists sometimes manage to outdo their "progressive" brethren in hypocrysy, bordering on, in their case, a very un-Jewish chutzpah.
ReplyDelete
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Empress Trudy23 July 2015 at 22:03
There will in fact be pogroms in Britain soon.
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Anonymous24 July 2015 at 04:28
On a more positive note, it does seem that this bloated Soames fella is not particularly well in touch with the mainstream sentiment in his own party:

http://fathomjournal.org/the-new-special-relationship-the-british-conservative-party-and-israel/

On the other hand, if and when Scotland secedes, there will be another institutionally anti-Zionist member in the EU.
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Ian G24 July 2015 at 10:07
And don't get me started on Nicholas Soames. There must be some good somewhere. Anyone know where?
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Babs24 July 2015 at 22:06
The more I read, Daphne, including on your excellent blog, the less I am convinced of the UK government's capability to act in good faith and fairness towards Israel, regardless of what they may say.

Soames, at least, is open in his one-track-minded anti-Israel bigotry - at least we know who that enemy is.
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'For as long as these antisemites wrap themselves up in the Palestinian flag, too many people are willing to turn a blind eye. Only against Jews is this type of racism openly tolerated. It is flourishing in schools, colleges, universities, unions and in city councils. In fact, so rampant is the disease now, in some settings you can be ostracised if you do not partake in the frenzy yourself. Bashing Jews has becomes a trendy position for the ignorant social justice warrior. "Palestinianism" is a viral "ponzi scheme" and as it spreads, it carries antisemitism in the undergrowth.' David Collier (2017)

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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9685/britain-little-lies

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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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Expose The Lies!

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The "Apartheid" Slur

The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas “A”, “B” and “C” was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.
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.
Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.
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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I am duty-bound to defend freedom, culture, peaceful coexistence, the civic education of children, and all the principles that the Tablets of the Law have rendered universal. Principles which Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. This means that, since I am a Gentile, a journalist and a leftist, I have a triple moral commitment to Israel. Because, if Israel were to be vanquished, modernity, culture and freedom would also be crushed. Even though the world has failed to wake up to this fact, Israel's struggle is the world's struggle. Pilar Rahola

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