UK Supreme Court Rejects Final Appeal by "The Ahava Four"

Malevolence on Monmouth Streer

The much maligned Ahava store in London's Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, which as chronicled regularly on Richard Millett's blog was subjected to regular protests by BDSers (opposed by a valiant group of counter-protesters, some of whom were Christians made the journey from Wales to stand in solidarity with Israel), closed its doors in September 2011.

Yesterday, four BDSers who chained themselves to a concrete block inside the store late in 2010, had their convictions for criminal trespass by district judge Ian Baker early in 2011 upheld by the United Kingdom's Supreme Court. 

The so-called "Ahava Four", who claimed to be protesting against “war crimes” committed by the cosmetics company (based in Mitzpe Shalom in the West Bank) and also argued that Ahava’s products are "misleadingly" labelled as having been made in Israel, had already had two appeals against their conviction quashed.

Bicom (Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre) reports on its website:

'In its ruling, the Supreme Court rejected the argument that an Israeli company operating in the West Bank is contravening the Geneva Convention unless they encourage people to actually move there. The judgement stated that any link to a breach of the Convention “was not an integral part of the activity carried on at the shop, which was retail selling.”

On the issue of labelling, the Supreme Court said that the selling of mislabelled goods is not an offence in itself, if they have not been labelled by those actually selling the goods. Significantly, the ruling also said that labelling goods as having been manufactured in Israel when they have been produced in the West Bank would in any case probably not constitute an offence, as the number of people whose purchase might be influenced by such a distinction was sufficiently small as to be immaterial.'

In Australia Next Month, "Islamophobes" Will Gather

In Australia, the "Lucky Country"

Explains its website:

"The Q Society is a national grassroots organisation run exclusively by volunteers since 2010. Members and supporters are concerned about the socio-political problems associated with the rise of Islamic sharia law in Australia; as well as religiously-motivated human rights abuses against women and indigenous religious minorities in OIC member countries. We seek to inform and lobby for a free and open discussion about the socio-political impact of political Islam in Australia. Q Society opposes the Islamisation of our society as well as attempts to silence critical debate under the pretence of multicultural tolerance and political correctness. We reject racism and multiculturalism and stand for an integrated multi-ethnic society."

In New York City

From the 7th to the 10th of next month, in Melbourne,  the 1st International Symposium on Liberty and Islam in Australia will be held under the auspices of the Q Society in association with in association with SION and SkipnGirl Productions.  Explains the blurb for the symposium:

 "From China to Iceland and from New York to Sydney, Islam is spreading. Since the 7th century this unique theocratic ideology, veiled in religious veneer, has conquered people and nations. No other ideology spawns discrimination, division and violence on a global scale. People are looking for information, perspectives and better policies. This symposium offers insights and answers."

Americans Pamela Geller of "Atlas Shrugs" and Robert Spencer of "Jihad Watch" are listed among the speakers.

So is the Israeli Arabic specialist Dr Mordechai Kedar, an expert in Islamic ideology and movements, who of course in 2008 on Al Jazeera gave a memorable defence of the Jewish People's claim to Jerusalem:

Dr Kedar's attitude towards the threat to the West from Islam may be discerned from his remarks here in 2009, where he warns of the Muslim demographic weapon that seems poised to undermine Europe and of the wider danger contained in Iranian ambitions and machinations:

The Hamas Covenant goes global

Other speakers include Dr Ashraf Ramelah, founder and president of  the human rights organisation Voice of the Copts.  He knows a thing or two about Islamic persecution of Christians.

There's New York-based human rights activist Simon Deng, a black man who was enslaved for some years by Muslims in his native Sudan.

There's Anders Gravers, chairman and founder of Stop the Islamisation of Denmark and leader of Stop

Islamisation of Europe:

"Despite death threats, violent attacks and harassment from Neo-Nazis and Islamic extremists, Anders continues to fight for freedom of speech and to stop the further Islamisation of Europe and his native Denmark."

 There's the head of the Q Society, Debbie Robinson, of whom it's explained:

"Witnessing a violent anti-Israel rally in the streets of Melbourne led Debbie to question the source of hatred and aggression she saw that day. Realising that the freedom of the Western World is also at stake, Debbie now dedicates her time to raising awareness about the true nature of Islam." 

And there's Kirralie Smith from Halal Choices, which campaigns against what some people call "halal jihad".

The full list of speakers can be found here

Meanwhile, under the headline "Don't be taken in by Islamophobia", a Jewish far-left activist in the correspondence columns of last week's Australian Jewish News, aghast at the contention of one of his friends that Muslim "asylum seekers" are

"only pretending to be boat refugees. But in fact they are the advance wave of a Muslim tsunami that threatens to engulf us all",

wrote:

"You might expect to find such ideas among some of the more benighted members of the general community, but not among fellow-Jews.  Readers of The AJN should keep their eyes and ears open, and resist the blandishments of racist anti-Muslim campaigners."

Woe betide those of any background who dare to voice concerns about mass Islamic immigration to Australia in the hearing of lefties and liberals of any background; for, as elsewhere in the West, to do so is to invite vilification.

I have mentioned more than once how a senior Jewish academic known to me was reported to his department by a clique of Aussie Jewish far leftists intent on making trouble for him after he'd told the AJN in an interview that after what he's seen in the UK in recent years Muslim immigration is not in the interests of the Jewish community or of the wider society.  A strange totalitarian bunch, some leftists.

A strange bunch in general, the Islam-friendly Left, seemingly prepared to overlook or to forgive the Islamic war on Christians, Islamic oppression of women, Islamic cruelty towards animals (see here for the difference between halal and kosher slaughter, a difference very much to the former's detriment) in their absurd insistence that all cultures are created equal.

Among the speakers at the forthcoming International Symposium on Liberty and Islam will be a well-known member of the Jewish community, retired Melbourne businessman Michael Burd.

He's no stranger to readers of the Australian Jewish News and  and the online News and Views from Jews Down Under.

At least Michael has no vice-chancellor and no head of department to whom the totalitarian leftists will be able to "dob him in" (an Aussie term for squealing on someone):

"A vocal member of Melbourne’s Jewish community whose letters in support of Israel and Jewish Human Rights often appear in Australian newspapers. He is a retired rag trader who spent 25 years manufacturing clothing out of India and Pakistan. Michael has an intimate understanding of the mindset of Muslims and Hindus. He is a passionate Zionist advocate  and a critic of the Jewish community representatives’ views  on multiculturalism and asylum seekers."

"The Laboratory Called Israel" & Other Tropes: A Quick Video Miscellany

Here's a mish-mash of video links I've been meaning to put on before but which I never got around to, beginning with this video in which American Muslims for Palestine review their anti-Israel initiatives so far, and foreshadow developments in 2014.


Then (hat tip: reader Ian) there's Chloé Valdary's excellently edited footage of anti-Israel speakers at Tulane University in New Orleans; to see this enlightening video, in which one speaker contemptuously refers to Israel as a "laboratory", click here

 In the following video by Richard Millett in December, Reverend Lucy Winkett, instigator of the disgusting replica Wall at St James's, Piccadilly declares that no messages on the replica Wall will be censured unless "abusive", an undertaking that of course rings disturbingly hollow in view of the fact that messages supportive of Israel were swiftly expunged by church personnel:

Here's footage of how the crowd of Israel-haters reacted when the replica Wall in Piccadilly came tumbling down (5 January):

To see Lucy Winkett receiving the adulation of the crowd, thanking them, and smilingly giving the thumbs up regarding her church's vile stunt, click here

A Prince Falls in Israel

Very sad news indeed.  Professor Barry Rubin, who had been suffering from a long illness courageously borne, fell into a coma on Friday, and passed away this morning, surrounded by his family.

Professor Rubin was a much-respected and prolific scholar and, of course, a doughty champion of Israel's cause.  He  was an expert on terrorism and Middle East issues, and his outstanding analytical online articles will be much missed. 

He leaves behind a number of wonderful, highly informative and greatly recommended publications, some of them available for free (see here)

As I mentioned some months ago, among his output is this book, just released.  I have ordered it, and keenly look forward to reading it.  It promises to be a must-read.

His untimely passing is a tragic loss for Klal Yisrael.

May his memory be a blessing.

Baruch Dayan Emet.

A Democratic Palestine: Collective Amnesia Spells Collective Disaster, Warns David Singer

The latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer is titled
"Palestine – Collective Amnesia Spells Collective Disaster".


Writes David Singer:


'US Secretary of State John Kerry has missed his own deadline of 31 January by not releasing his eagerly anticipated framework agreement designed to help end the 130-years-old Jewish-Arab conflict. It will now be released by 21 February according to US Envoy Martin Indyk.

Whilst speculation is rife as to its contents, it appears certain that there will be one crucial omission – that any Palestinian State created must be democratic – which could doom any further negotiations.

A democratic Palestinian state finds its genesis in the 2003 Bush Roadmap – the foundation which underpins the current negotiations. The Roadmap stated:

“A two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be achieved … through Israel's readiness to do what is necessary for a democratic Palestinian state to be established,

A settlement, negotiated between the parties, will result in the emergence of an independent, democratic, and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours.”

The full text of the Roadmap was presented to Palestinian and Israeli leaders by the Quartet mediators – the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia – indicating strong international support for a democratic Palestinian State as the end game to success.

By 27 November 2007 – when negotiations under the Bush Road Map were non-existent – President Bush assembled the following star-studded list representing their designated countries and organisations to announce that negotiations were set to commence in December:

Israel: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert  
Palestinian Authority: President Mahmoud Abbas
Quartet: United States President George W. Bush
EU Commission Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy: Benita Ferrero-Waldner
EU: High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary General of the Council of the European Union Javier Solana
EU President (Portugal): Minister of State and of Foreign Affairs Luis Amado
Russia: Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey V. Lavrov
UNSYG: Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Quartet Representative: Middle East Envoy Tony Blair
Arab League Follow-up Committee:
Algeria Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mourad Medelci
Bahrain Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa
Egypt Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Jordan Minister of Foreign Affairs Salaheddin Al-Bashir
Lebanon Minister of Culture Tarek Mitri
Morocco Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Taieb Fassi Fihri
Qatar Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdulla Al-Mahmoud
Saudi Arabia Minister of Foreign Affairs Saud Al-Faisal
Sudan Ambassador John Ukec
Syria Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Fayssal Mekdad
Tunisia Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdelwahab Abdallah
Yemen Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Expatriate Affairs Abu Bakr al-Qirbi
Arab League SYG: Secretary-General Amre Moussa
G-8, P-5:
Canada Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Bernier
China Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi
France Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner
Germany Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Italy Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs Massimo D’Alema
Japan Special Envoy for the Middle East Tatsuo Arima
United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Miliband
Others:
Austria Minister of Foreign Affairs Ursula Plassnik Celso
Brazil  Minister of State for External RelationsLuiz Nunes Amorim
Denmark Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Stig Moeller
Greece Minister of Foreign Affairs Dora Bakoyannis
India Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Shri Kapil Sibal
Indonesia Minister of Foreign Affairs Noer Hassan Wirajuda
Malaysia Minister of Foreign Affairs Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar
Mauritania Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mohamed Saleck Ould Mohamed Lemine
Mexico Under Secretary Lourdes Aranda
Netherlands Minister for European Affairs Frans Timmermans
Norway Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Store
OIC Secretary General Ekemelddin Ihsanoglu
Oman Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdulla
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan
Poland Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski
Senegal Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheikh Tidiane Gadio
Slovenia Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrij Rupel
South Africa Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
Spain Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Angel Moratinos
Sweden Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt
Turkey Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief EU Negotiator Ali Babacan
United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla bin Zayed Al Nahayan
Vatican (Holy See) Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Special Envoy Pietro Parolin
Observers:
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
World Bank President Robert Zoellick


They all heard President Bush state the following:

“We meet to lay the foundation for the establishment of a new nation -- a democratic Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel in peace and security…

… Today, Palestinians and Israelis each understand that helping the other to realize their aspirations is key to realizing their own aspirations -- and both require an independent, democratic, viable Palestinian state"

No democratic State – no solution.

By 19 May 2011 Bush’s successor, President Obama, had started to vacillate:

“The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.”

If Obama and the Annapolis participants have conveniently forgotten that creating a “democratic Palestinian State” is fundamental to the conflict being ended – then they only have themselves to blame for the chaos and violence that will surely follow should Israel refuse to negotiate within a Kerry framework agreement that omits any reference to a democratic Palestinian State.

International treachery and duplicity would surely have triumphed over international diplomacy.'

Anti-Israel Christians Launch Toxic Study Guide

'The nationalistic, exclusionary, and racist ideology of Zionism is the exact antithesis of the core spiritual values and moral teachings shared by the three Abrahamic traditions—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Zionism Unsettled is a path-breaking publication that points the way toward achieving real peace with justice and reconciliation among all the Children of Abraham in our shared Holy Land.'

So opines Francis A. Boyle, Professor, College of Law, University of Illinois.

'Zionism Unsettled is a monumental achievement. This comprehensive, compassionate, and fearless critique of Christian and Jewish Zionism should be taken up by churches, seminaries, universities, and community groups who are ready to move away from the destructive impact of Zionist ideology and theology. This is a true gift and invaluable tool for a church that today must follow its social justice calling, as it did in the struggle against Jim Crow and South African apartheid.'

So opines Mark Braverman, Program Director, Kairos USA.

'The urgency of the Palestinian plight in the face of Israeli intransigence indicates that intentional, concrete, and sustained public action is necessary to respond credibly to the crisis. Zionism Unsettled is a welcome study guide. It will prove an effective vehicle for helping to mobilize public opinion so that both attitudes and policies can be transformed in the face of an imperious and exploitative ideology.'

So opines Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary.

Those are just three of the anti-Zionist Christian heavies who have provided soundbites with which to plug a new propaganda weapon in their onslaught against Israel, a slick publication seemingly utterly devoid of sympathy for Israel and Israelis, of understanding of the Arab rejectionism and terrorism that Israel has been up against from the beginning, and, if I'm not mistaken, wishes the sovereign state of Israel replaced with that so-called single state for all.

See this nasty piece of work here

Meanwhile (hat tip: E.G.) it seems that a number of Palestinian Arabs, with brand new electric saws presumably acquired for the purpose, have been caught in the act of cutting down their own people's olive trees and making the vandalism appear to be the work of Jews by daubing the stumps with the words Tag Mehir ("price tag") on the cut off stumps.  (If you read Hebrew click here; if you read French click here)


As for our old mate the vicar of Virginia Water, who needless to say is one of the Christian clerics plugging the study guide, Yisrael Medad makes mincemeat here of one of the vicar's sermons.

Champagne Socialist Camilla Displays Her Naive Hypocrisy Again

Cheers, Camilla!

No, not that Camilla...

We first met this Camilla here, but did not learn her name ("Cam" for short) until her second vlog (in which she commends The Guardian and certain stars of its stable of anti-Israel writers to her friend Cassie).

I dare not attempt to embed it, because when I attempted to do so once before, my blog went awry, so to see it click here

The third vlog of hers (which begins with an allusion to Scarlett Johansson and SodaStream) is a corker, a superb satire on the attitudes of the Israel-demonising, Islamophile Left! 

Click here to view

(Hat tip: reader Ian)