"We Use Live Rounds When ... Necessary to Protect Our People"

Jon Snow grills Israel's Ambassador to the Court of St James Mark Regev:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuv7dnMf2Tg

Colonel Richard Kemp, meanwhile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZeixviJbeo

"In a Very Dangerous Neighbourhood ... Israel Stands Out as an Oasis"

 Brevity of Life
"The days of our years are threescore and ten" - Psalms xc, 10

"Three score and ten," the youth replies,
"How far off seems the day."
"Three score and ten," the old man cries,
"How quickly passed away"....

Those are the opening lines of a poem penned in Victorian times by a British Jew, Philip Abraham (Jewish Chronicle, 2 December 1864).

He was, of course, thinking in terms of end of life, but as we all know, and he could not, 70 epitomises a beginning of life, the period in which the State of Israel has been in existence, and miraculously flourished in so many  ways.

On that note, here's Mark Regev, giving a terrific address at Bnei Akiva's Yom Ha'atzmaut 5778 service at London's Kinloss Synagogue.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnC1ofe4k3s

In Jewish tradition "seventy is a symbol of perfection, of completion" explains Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis at the same event, after paying tribute to Regev, Bnei Akiva, and before giving a stirring encomium to Medinat Israel.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Z_QfEXFks

More videos can be seen on Bnei Akiva's YouTube channel, including a Yom Ha'atzmaut tribute to Israel by Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson MP.  (Read snippets here)

Seems there's always a party pooper, though:

Sheer brilliance

Maps, Shmaps, Mr Suarez

American violinist and propagandist against Zionism Tom Suarez, who as described by David Collier unabashedly maligned Israel in a talk at that bastion of Israel-hatred the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London late last year, calling Zionism "a fascist cult", has become excited by some maps.

Like other anti-Zionists before him, he seems to think that the dastardly Zionists will be routed by this revelation:

Sigh.

They don't seem to understand, the Israel-hating brigade, that no matter how many maps and artefacts (and newspapers, posters, football teams, orchestras from the, er, Yishuv!) they trot out with the word "Palestine" embossed upon them the fact remains that there was never a sovereign state of Palestine.

When will these people get it through their heads that the issue is not whether the name Palestine was applied to the Holy Land (it was, by the Romans, in order to erase the Jewish connection with Eretz Israel) but whether there was a sovereign state of Palestine as pro-Palestinian activists such as themselves maintain (there was not, of course, for since its invasion by Romans that land has always been ruled by someone else, latterly the Ottoman Empire, of which it was a backwater)?

Meanwhile, London's School of Oriental Studies (now SOAS), which began life in the first half of lst century as the SOS with a Jewish lecturer in Hebrew, and has since developed into one of the most vicious anti-Israel and antisemitic UK campuses, has Israel's ambassador to the Court of St James in its line of fire:

 'As Mark Regev prepares to speak at SOAS later this month, students have called a protest against his proposed visit

Palestinian students and student societies across SOAS have called a protest on 27 April in response to the proposed visit of Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev. Many staff and students are particularly incensed that management has entered direct negotiations with the Embassy, despite the fact that the visit was initially proposed by two students societies: the UN Society and the Jewish Society.

SOAS management has also agreed to have the Israeli Embassy control security for the event, including allowing the Embassy to take details of everyone entering the meeting. Palestinian students wrote a letter to management outlining their concerns over free speech and safety, which was ignored.

Over one hundred staff members have signed a letter to management strongly opposing the event, and any event that takes place on campus and seeks to normalise the actions of the Israeli state or any other repressive regime. The letter also affirms solidarity with the Palestinian people and in the fight for justice. Here we reprint the statement prepared by student societies at SOAS, and support the call to protest on 27 April at 4pm opposing the presence of Mark Regev on campus.

It has come to our attention that the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev, will be coming to SOAS on the 27th of April at 19:00. Mr Regev is a well known former spokesperson for the Israeli state who came to international prominence through his defence of the brutal and repeated attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, including the many violations of human rights and international law carried out throughout these operations.   

Firstly [no such word, not-so-learned learned ones; the word you need is 'first'], Mr Regev will be speaking at our University as an official representative of the Israeli state, not in a personal capacity. He is being given the cover of an academic setting to put forward official state positions on the on-going expansion of illegal settlements, the siege of Gaza, land thefts, and discriminatory laws imposed on Palestinian citizens of Israel. This is not an academic debate, informed by fact and reason, it is an official exercise in state propaganda.  

This comes flying in the face of a landslide (73%) SOAS vote that included the entire SOAS community, contract staff, academic staff and students, in favour of endorsing the Palestinian call for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions.The Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) guidelines, explicitly state the refusal to host official representatives of the Israeli state.   

The response to the announcement of the event only confirms the SOAS community’s stance. For example, over 100 members of the academic staff have already signed a statement rejecting Mr Regev’s presence on campus. 

Secondly, through allowing this event to take place, the school is failing to uphold its basic duty of care to staff and students, Palestinians in particular. Israel’s latest "anti-boycott law" stipulates that individuals (both foreign nationals and Palestinians who hold foreign passports) who publicly support the Palestinian call for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) for justice and equality, can be banned entry into the country.   

This law is a blatant breach of free speech and academic freedom. It puts SOAS community in an extremely precarious situation, especially since a number of current staff and students have been denied entry into Israel/Palestine. This is despite the repeated efforts by the school to address these questions of academic freedom. Additionally, this law is yet another example of many attempts to dehumanise Palestinian narratives and criminalise movements and individuals striving to hold Israel to account for its violations of international law and human rights. 

The environment created by this event is unsafe for Palestinian students, many of whom have suffered directly at the hands of the Israeli security services. The Ambassador will be accompanied by  armed  embassy  security  personnel (whether the arms are concealed or carried openly). Many students fear for their safety with Israeli security personnel roaming our campus. Palestinian staff and students would be subject to the same questioning and searching they suffered living under military occupation in Palestine should they attend a public event.

Thirdly, SOAS management cannot guarantee that this event will take place within the acceptable boundaries of academic freedom and free speech, free from intimidation of all participants. The School has ignored a letter of concern by Palestinian students who asked how the School proposes to guarantee that information about attendees will not be passed on to the embassy through the ticketing mechanism, and how the School proposes to deal with the presence of armed security personnel on  campus. It is completely abhorrent that SOAS administration has stated that this visit can go ahead without consulting Palestinian students and staff as part of the risk assessment for the event. Effectively excluding Palestinians from this event.  

Indeed, in their latest correspondence to staff, SOAS management claims to be upholding the right to free speech while also taking into account the concerns of all those affected by the event. It is clear that this is not the case as SOAS administration has effectively ignored letters from staff and Palestinian students and refused to engage with Palestinian students especially.

In response, the SOAS community calls on all students, trade unionists, and concerned individuals who believe in the importance of democracy, the right to academic freedom, educational environments free from intimidation and physical threats, and justice for the Palestinian people to join the ‘Apartheid Off Campus’ day on the 27th April in the afternoon at SOAS. A day where the SOAS community will celebrate its diversity and struggles with teach-outs on resistance movements, the situation in Palestine and their relevance in the UK today from 16:00.   

Signed:  •  SOAS Decolonising Our Minds Society •  SOAS Justice For Cleaners •  SOAS Fractionals For Fair Pay •  SOAS Labour Society •  NUS Black Student Campaign  •  SOAS LGBTQ Society •  SOAS Syria Society •  SOAS Palestine Society •  SOAS Israel Society •  SOAS Islamic Society  •  SOAS Iraqi Society •  SOAS Ahlubayt Islamic Society •  SOAS Transnational Diplomacy Association •  SOAS Men’s Football Club •  SOAS Against Human Trafficking •  SOAS Canadian Society •  SOAS Kashmir Solidarity Movement •  SOAS Afghan Society •  SOAS Teach First Society •  SOAS Albanian Society •  SOAS Martial Arts Society •  SOAS Spoken Word Society •  SOAS Kurdish Society •  SOAS MENA Society •  SOAS Goes to Calais •  SOAS Ceilidh Band •  SOAS Herb Society •  SOAS Origami society •  SOAS Shia Theology Society •  SOAS East Africa Network •  SOAS Yemen society •  SOAS India Society •  SOAS Mehfil e Urdu  

 What a shower!

An op-ed here

UK Ambassador Regev on Leftist Antisemitism (video)

This Channel 4 footage dates from a few days ago.

In London on "Nakba Day", an Altercation (video)

This "Russia Today" newsclip was posted by "London Palestine Action", the group that, among other escapades, pastes anti-Israel posters that look just like bona fide advertisements on London Tube trains.

They say:

"A rally organised by London Palestine Action to mark the 68th anniversary of the Nakba in Palestine, was met by a group of around 25 people from the UK zionist federation heckling the participants and screaming "terrorist" at them in London on Nakba Day, Sunday.

The group of around 100 pro-Palestinian activists were attempting to carry out a peaceful traditional Palestinian Dabke dance outside a Sabon store, an Israeli company that operates in illegally occupied territory in Palestine. However, the participants were harassed and intimidated by the group of zionists, who followed them through the streets screaming "terrorists" and chanting against them."

"From the UK Zionist Federation"?  Really?

 Edgar Davidson has far more here

Meanwhile, in Sydney, a Green Left snap of some of the usual suspects from the usual hard left groups on the Nakba Day march:

As for leftist antisemitism, here's Mark Regev:

See also the brilliant Mr Regev on the Sussex Friend of Israel's video that I've shared on my Facebook page; introduced by Jonathan Arkush, he delivers  a very fine address indeed to the British Board of Deputies.

These Israel-haters have linked to the Board of Deputies' website but you may, like me, have difficulty in accessing the video there:

 

Mark Regev at the Oxford Union (video)

Mr Ambassador at his very best!

One hour's worth of footage.

Palestinian Nihilism & Israel's Response (video) plus That Old Golden Rule

Two days ago, Mark Regev sets the BBC's Evan Davis straight:

A must-read article on the current situation in Israel by Isi Leibler here

Incidentally, in  his syndicated column today, the admirable Australian commentator Andrew Bolt, in deploring prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's sleight-of-hand, head-in-the-sand insistence that Islam, no less than Christianity, recognises the "Golden Rule" to do unto others as you would be done by, appears, though certainly not from any malicious motive, to believe that the Golden Rule exists only in Christianity.

Not quite true, Andrew.  Look here, for example:

'The Talmud tells a story of Rabbi Hillel, who lived around the time of Jesus. A pagan came to him saying that he would convert to Judaism if Hillel could teach him the whole of the Torah in the time he could stand on one foot. Rabbi Hillel replied, "What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is just commentary. Go and study it." (Talmud Shabbat 31a). Sounds a lot like Jesus' "Golden Rule"? But this idea was a fundamental part of Judaism long before Hillel or Jesus. It is a common-sense application of the Torah commandment to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18), which Rabbi Akiba described as the essence of the Torah (according to Rashi's commentary on the verse).'

"Risking Death For The Sake Of Martyrdom ... Has Become A Religious Obligation For Many Gazans"

Notwithstanding the hideous culpability of Hamas for the heart-wrenching plight of the population under its control, Israel is self-evidently bearing the brunt of the blame, and (as my last post – please look at it – shows all too clearly), the kind of antisemitic images once restricted to the Arab and Soviet press in the decades following the Shoah, and in grubby gutter publications elsewhere, has now entered sections of the mainstream press, even here in Australia.  And as seen on various sites around the Web, antisemitic incidents, some violent, have occurred in many parts of the world in recent weeks.

This situation is of course exacerbated by the large and growing Muslim populations that now inhabit major and indeed not so major western cities in both the Old and New Worlds (regarding this photo of a shop sign in Belgium welcoming dogs but barring "Zionists" see here; and see what happened in Preston, Lancashire; incidentally, "Children of the Ghetto"? Is that a take-off of Israel Zangwill's work by the same name?), and by the distortions inherent in the reportage and commentary of leftist news channels such as the BBC (see my last post but one, regarding the odious Jeremy Bowen), CNN, and (in Australia) the ABC and SBS (both of which were particularly biased this evening, Aussie time, with barely a nod towards balanced reporting, and for the most part not even that.

Here's Mark Regev, doing his best to present the Israeli case regarding civilian casualties in Gaza on Al Beeb, but being hectored judge-and-jury style by an all-too-obviously emotional Emily Maitlis (the granddaughter, incidentally, of Jacob Maitlis, a well-known Polish-born Yiddishist cultural figure who from 1958-67 was director of the UK Zionist Federation's Educational Trust):

Hamas's reponsibility for the terrible suffering befalling the population under its control is the focus of the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer; it's entitled "Gaza – Hamas Exploits Death Over Life".

Writes David Singer:

The failure of many Gazans to leave their homes and seek safer shelter after ignoring Israeli leaflet drops, mobile phone calls and even the firing of harmless warning shots as a last resort has been a major contributor to the increasing number of civilian deaths and casualties in Gaza.

This phenomenon has presented a perplexing problem for Israel as it continues its determined drive to destroy the Hamas arsenal of rockets, rocket launchers, weapons caches and extensive network of tunnels located in, under or in the vicinity of densely populated housing areas of Gaza.

Former US President Bill Clinton hit the nail squarely on the head with this prescient statement on 17 July:

"Hamas was perfectly well aware what would happen if they started raining rockets on Israel. They fired a thousand of them, and they have a strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own civilians so that the rest of the world will condemn them…

… In the short to medium term, Hamas can inflict terrible public relations damage on Israel by forcing it to kill Palestinian civilians to counter Hamas."

The strategy was given expression by Hamas MP Fathi Hammad in 2008:

“[The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its [methods] of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: "We desire death like you desire life."

The execution of the strategy rests on two platforms – the religious and the psychological.

The religious platform has been articulated by Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs - Mahmoud Al-Habbash – who declared in his televised Friday sermon from the Al-Yarmouk Mosque in Ramallah on 20 December 2013:

“Pay attention, it is Allah who says: ‘They will not harm you except for [some] annoyance’ (Quran, Sura 3:111, translation Sahih International) – it is possible that they will harm you. I say to you, it is possible that they will kill us, it is possible that Allah will sentence us to Martyrdom. It is possible that we will be wounded, it is possible that terrorism will be laid on us – ‘They will not harm you except for [some] annoyance’ – but in the end, ‘and if they fight you, they will show you their backs’ and the conclusion – ‘then they will not be aided’ (Quran, Sura, 3:111, translation, Sahih International). We ask for victory more than we ask for life. We ask for the strengthening of our people in this good and blessed land.”

 Shlomi Eldar summarises this exhortation to martyrdom:

“The entire Hamas system worked to promote and advance the theme of martyrdom. It emerged as its greatest weapon and, unfortunately, the most effective and destructive weapon that the movement had, too. Preachers in mosques used their sermons to speak about the importance of martyrdom (fi sabil Allah, “in accordance with Allah’s will”), until many people throughout the West Bank and Gaza sincerely believed that Allah wanted to be sanctified through the sacrifice of believers’ lives, and that only through martyrdom could they prove their loyalty and their faith.”

Risking death for the sake of martyrdom – rather than leaving a declared danger zone for safer waters – has become a religious obligation for many Gazans.

The psychological platform is evidenced by Hamas's Ministry of Interior spokesman Iyad Al-Buzum calling on its civilian population on 12 July to ignore Israel's warnings and remain in their homes in spite of the danger:

 

 “The [Hamas] Ministry of the Interior and National Security calls on our honorable people in all parts of the [Gaza] Strip to ignore the warnings [to vacate areas near rocket launching sites before Israel bombs them] that are being disseminated by the Israeli occupation through manifestos and phone messages, as these are part of a psychological war meant to sow confusion on the [Palestinian] home front, in light of the [Israeli] enemy's security failure and its confusion and bewilderment." 

 One day later the same spokesman issued another similar warning:

"Answering the occupation's calls will merely aid it in carrying out its plans to weaken the [Palestinian] home front and to destroy property and homes as soon as you leave them. We call on all our people who have left their homes to return to them immediately."

 Kim Sengupta concludes:

“Hamas can, however, be accused of making people complacent, repeatedly stating in the media that the Israeli warnings were psychological games and asking the population to ignore them. Some mentioned this as a reason for staying behind; returning home having initially left.”

The counter-argument to that was the need to prevent panic spreading. The discovery of the extensive network of cement-strengthened tunnels throughout Gaza (video here) – with many already located snaking into Israel and in and under thousands of residential dwellings – has posed a major problem for Israel in completing its military objectives.

Staying in their homes risking possible death to achieve martyrdom or alternatively succumbing to propaganda falsely promoting a fools paradise on earth has been spectacularly exploited by Hamas.

Respect for life has become the real victim.

Mark Regev on Bringing Back The Boys (video)

In this exclusive interview a few days ago, Bibi Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev talks of the Israeli government's certainty that Hamas is behind the kidnapping of the three missing Israeli teenagers, what needs to be done to bring the boys home, why Mahmoud Abbas's unity deal with Hamas is unconscionable, and what Israel expects from the international community.

Meanwhile, the British-based Islam Channel's Current Affairs show has presented a trio of talking heads to bash Israel's response to the current kidnapping crisis: three hardened anti-Israel warriors, namely freelance writer Ben White (his latest kick at the UK "Israel lobby" and Christian Zionists has just been posted, here), lawyer Toby Carman, and ex-MP Martin Linton (remember that "tentacles of Israel" speech of his a few years ago?).

The discussion, in the unlikely event that you should you care to watch it, follows some ten minutes of background footage.

 The studio anchor, John Rees, is described thus in his Wikipedia entry:

'Elected a member of the National Executive of the National Union of Students in the early 1980s, Rees is a former leading member of the Socialist Workers Party, and was for many years on its Central Committee. He was editor of the quarterly journal International Socialism for ten years and the organiser of the SWP's annual Marxism festival in 1982 and 1983 and again between 1992 and 2002.

A co-founder and a current national officer for the Stop the War Coalition, he has been a central organiser of all its marches including that of 15 February 2003. According to Rees: "Socialists should unconditionally stand with the oppressed against the oppressor, even if the people who run the oppressed country are undemocratic and persecute minorities, like Saddam Hussein." Rees is also vice president (Europe) of the Cairo Conference.

He was top of Respect – The Unity Coalition list in the West Midlands region for the 2004 European Election, and the Respect candidate for the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. He also stood for Respect in the 2006 local elections in the Bethnal Green South ward of Tower Hamlets, East London where he came second to Labour. Rees was controversially not selected by the SWP Central Committee to be on the slate for re-election and did not stand independently at the January 2009 conference. Shortly after his partner Lindsey German [convenor of Stop The War Coalition] resigned from the SWP in 2010, Rees and 41 other members followed disenchanted with the party's direction, internal regime and approach to united fronts (18 others who had resigned in weeks prior also supported the resignations)....'

Yet another reminder of the distinctly curious alliance that exists these days between Islam and the hard Left.

"Without A Single Trace ... in His Name, His Face, or ... His Culture of the Middle East": Galloway on Regev

Here's gorgeous George, telling in a newly posted video of the time when the "South African [sic] Israeli"  Mark Regev allegedly sat behind him at the 2005 Senate hearing into Galloway's conduct:

Of  the "ubiquitous apologist for Israeli war crimes" Galloway notes:

 "He was sat behind me in full view ... a South African Israeli without a single trace either in his name, his face, or anything about his culture of the Middle East ..."

"A Bad Day For Peace & A Bad Day For Reconciliation": Mark Regev On The UN Palestine Vote (video)

Here's Mark Regev telling AlJazeera's domineering anchorwoman that the UN's upgrading of Palestine to "non-member observer state" status doesn't solve any of "the core issues" and won't bring peace any closer.

Mark Regev Interviewed Regarding The Truce (video)

Here's Mark Regev talking to Al Jazeera shortly after the truce came into effect, an interview somewhat  marred by the constant interruptions of a none-too-patient interviewer:

Hamas's reaction to yesterday's bomb blast:

Hat tip to reader Jean Vercors of Ashdod for this photo of an Israeli mother in Ofakim shielding her child as sirens blare the warning of an incoming rocket from Gaza during the recent crisis:

Mark Regev On The Atrocity In Bulgaria (video)

Here's the characteristically unflappable Israeli spokesman in an interview with AlJazeera:

Meanwhile, a suspect has been named

Recent Mark Regev Interviews (videos)

Here's the Israeli government spokesman late last month talking on Al-Jazeera on West Bank settlements and peace prospects:

And here he is a few days ago talking to CNN about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols:

Mark Regev On Israeli Democracy, Peace Prospects, and Hamas (video)

First, a video I stumbled across just now. This raucous song is offset by some fine views of Israel. Judging by those views, the makers/uploaders appear to be telling us that "Free Palestine" will mean the end of Israel.

And here's a five-minute clip from a very recent interview that Mark Regev gave to the Israel Broadcasting Authority's Channel 33:

Mark Regev On The Palestine Statehood Bid (video)

Here's Israel's redoubtable spokesman Mark Regev, interviewed in New York by Australia's SBS television:

Mark Regev On Israel's Relations With Egypt (video)

Mark Regev Regarding Yesterday's Syrian Border Incident (video)

He was absolutely top-class yesterday on the BBC, pointing out what was not reported - that Molotov cocktails were being hurled at Israeli troops, and that Israel and Syria are still officially in a state of war - and here he is on Al-Jazeera:

The Unflappable Mr Regev on a Palestinian State (video)

More Mark Regev (video)

Mark is worth waiting for - about six minutes into the tape ...