"I Used To Hate Israel.... Not Any More": A Pro-Israel Irishman On Palestinian Terrorism & On Israel-Bashing In The Emerald Isle

An Irish activist posing beside IPSC wares

Since my last post showed the antics of some of the more fanatical Israel-bashers in the Emerald Isle, members of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (over the months we've met some of its activists via video several times, of course), I feel compelled to draw readers' attention (in case any of you haven't already seen it) to the marvellous article that young Irish film maker Nicky Larkin had in, of all newspapers, The Independent (home of Robert Fisk and in many respects as reprehensible as The Guardian regarding Israel) a couple of days ago.

Nicky Larkin writes as a former opponent of Israel who had a change of heart as a result of his experiences in the West Bank and Israel.  Here's a brief taste:

'I used to hate Israel. I used to think the Left was always right. Not any more. Now I loathe Palestinian terrorists. Now I see why Israel has to be hard....

....[T]he Palestinian mantra was one of "non-violent resistance". It was their motto, repeated over and over...

Yet when I interviewed Hind Khoury, a former Palestinian government member, she sat forward angrily in her chair as she refused to condemn the actions of the suicide bombers. She was all aggression.

This aggression continued in Hebron, where I witnessed swastikas on a wall. As I set up my camera, an Israeli soldier shouted down from his rooftop position. A few months previously I might have ignored him as my political enemy. But now I stopped to talk. He only talked about Taybeh, the local Palestinian beer.

Back in Tel Aviv in the summer of 2011, I began to listen more closely to the Israeli side. I remember one conversation in Shenkin Street -- Tel Aviv's most fashionable quarter, a street where everybody looks as if they went to art college. I was outside a cafe interviewing a former soldier.

He talked slowly about his time in Gaza. He spoke about 20 Arab teenagers filled with ecstasy tablets and sent running towards the base he'd patrolled. Each strapped with a bomb and carrying a hand-held detonator.

The pills in their bloodstream meant they felt no pain. Only a headshot would take them down.

Conversations like this are normal in Tel Aviv. I began to experience the sense of isolation Israelis feel. An isolation that began in the ghettos of Europe and ended in Auschwitz.

Israel is a refuge -- but a refuge under siege, a refuge where rockets rain death from the skies. And as I made the effort to empathise, to look at the world through their eyes. I began a new intellectual journey. One that would not be welcome back home.

Irish President Higgins at an anti-Israel demo

The problem began when I resolved to come back with a film that showed both sides of the coin. Actually there are many more than two. Which is why my film is called Forty Shades of Grey. But only one side was wanted back in Dublin. My peers expected me to come back with an attack on Israel. No grey areas were acceptable.

An Irish artist is supposed to sign boycotts, wear a PLO scarf, and remonstrate loudly about The Occupation. But it's not just artists who are supposed to hate Israel. Being anti-Israel is supposed to be part of our Irish identity, the same way we are supposed to resent the English...'

Read the entire superb article here (Thanks again, Ian and Rita!)

Playing At Being An IDF Soldier In Limerick (video)

The opening seconds of this video set in Limerick focus on a quaint, almost bizarre, sideshow that evokes a vanished era.

Then the camera swings to a scene nearby, where members of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign - reputedly one of the most extreme such groups in the British Isles - stage a show of their own.  As one (a familiar face and voice to Iwatchers of the Israel-demoniser movement in Ireland) blares anti-Israel propaganda through a megaphone, a bloke who definitely does not look good in uniform (if my ears serve me correctly he later explains that it's that of the "British racist state" and claims that when Israelis don a uniform they change) pretending to be an IDF soldier at a checkpoint, bashing a Palestinian with the butt of his rifle ...

Along come two Arab girls to sign the BDS petition on offer - one is evidently known to the BDSers and the other, questioned by megaphone man, confirms that she is from Saudi Arabia.  Approving noises all round from the welcoming, excited BDSers. Not a word, of course, from those BDSers about the (true) apartheid practised in that country against women and non-Muslims, nor about the heinous punishments meted out by the barbaric "justice" system of the tribal kingdom.

Ah! If only my Muse was moved to compose a limerick about these folk below and their double standards ...
(Update: For a wonderful must-read article on this very issue by pro-Israel Irish film maker Nicky Larkin,   see here - hat tip: Ian and Rita)

John Bolton On The Obama Administration's "Delusional" Policy Regarding Iran (video)

"Can Obama Be Trusted?" asks Isi Leibler in his latest Jerusalem Post column.  A moot point.  And here's the USA's former UN ambassador warning about Obama's policy towards Iran yet again:

(I'm glad to acknowledge the conservative uploader, teacheru.us)

"I Think It's Politically Correct Jew-Hating": Jewish Student Slates Campus "Israel Apartheid Week"

The decision of the Students' Union at the University of Regina, in Canada, to boycott companies that support Israel, has been condemned by a couple of politicians, and a number of Jewish students are fighting back against it, including one who describes Israel Apartheid Week as "politically correct Jew-hating".  The university's president, who appears in the video, justifies the boycott decision, which the politicians had called on her to denounce.

On the same repellent and offensive "Israel Apartheid Week" theme, here's footage of a demo in Brisbane, Queensland, complete with red, green and black balloons, a woman in a black burka, and a wad of anti-Israel literature that's being handed out to young passers-by of various ethnicities/nationalities who appear to read it avidly:

Some Aussie readers may also be interested in this newly uploaded video, which I note here since it touches (fleetingly) on the possible consequences for Israel advocacy of mass Muslim immigration into Australia.  I cannot vouch for the accuracy, or otherwise, of certain of its contentions.

Shock! On Al Beeb's Website, a hint that the Hamas Charter Is antisemitic

"It's a dream," she smiles. "But I am not optimistic."

So concludes a typically snide let's-have-another-bash-at-Israel article by the BBC's Jon Donnison, reporting on restrictings placed on Palestinians' freedom of movement between Gaza and the West Bank ever since the Second Intifada.

It was the reply of a Gaza woman whose degree in Gender Studies at Birzeit University has been put on hold owing to the Israeli restrictions.  Writes Donnison:

"I ask her if one day she can imagine going to do her shopping in the West Bank in the morning, before attending her classes in the afternoon and then heading home to Gaza in the evening for dinner with her family."

"It's a dream," she smiles. "But I am not optimistic."

Al Beeb's practice is to tell us in a sort of grudging aside that Hamas is considered by Israel to be a terrorist organisation (in the same way as the formulaic phrases "Israel says" or "Israel disputes this" turn up near the end of reports that almost invariably present the Palestinian position first), but they have never, so far as I'm aware, told us exactly and at length what is in the Hamas Charter to make Israel so justifiably fearful. Indeed, I seem recall that Jeremy Bowen, during Cast Lead, omitting the bits of a cleric's rantings that reflected genocidal intent towards Jewish (not just Israeli) children...

Donnison's latest article, entitled  "Hamas denies it will attack Israel in any war with Iran," is a case in point:

"Although both Hamas and Iran are hostile towards Israel, which regards the Palestinian group as a terrorist organisation, Hamas supporters are Sunni Muslims while Iran has Shia Muslim majority.

This makes it much closer to Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist movement which operates in southern Lebanon.  [My emphasis]"

No explanation as to why.

Today on the website there's an admission of sorts that the Hamas Charter is antisemitic, but you have to read Al Beeb's rather snotty feature on Freemasonry to find it:

"The charter of Hamas - the Islamist party governing Gaza - states that the Freemasons are in league with the Jews and the Rotary Club to undermine Palestine"

Of course, the admission is not there to highlight judeophobia, but to inform a point the freelancer (note, freelancer, not one of the Bowen gang) who wrote it is making about attitudes to Freemasons.

So, when will Al Beeb give the bare facts about the antisemitic and genocidal nature of the Hamas Charter on its Middle East pages, so that readers have the full background of what valiant Israel is up against?

"It's a dream," she frowns. "But I am not optimistic."

Anglo-Jewry's Leadership: The Problem & The Solution

Many readers will have seen Isi Leibler's latest tour-de-force of an article in the Jerusalem Post. If you have missed it, you simply have to read it, line by line and word for word.  It is a breathtakingly brilliant analysis of what is wrong with an Anglo-Jewish "leadership" stamped by the ethos of "trembling Israelites" and dominated by a unelected hegemonistic plutocracy riding roughshod over elected representatives, squashing dissent, and proving deleterious for Israel advocacy.

But the article does not consist entirely of a jeremiad.  It points to the path that Anglo-Jewry must take, and praises the pioneers who are treading it:

'Chief amongst these is the British Israel Coalition (BIC), a relatively new body headed by Sam Westrop, a talented and dynamic young man. It now has in excess of 5000 members and is growing rapidly, despite the fact that it is denied funding from most of the established Jewish leadership. It holds regular demonstrations, monitors and acts against anti-Israel agitators at all UK universities and aggressively combats Israel boycott movements. It allies itself with other organizations and even introduced pro-Israeli Moslem activists like Hafeez to the forefront of its campaigns.

It is currently expanding operations to promote political lobbying and positive media exposure and publish monthly reports documenting anti-Israeli activity at universities. With a minimal budget it is penetrating areas in which other lavishly funded establishment organizations have made little progress.

BIC recently coordinated a campaign to neutralize the appearance at a major Manchester secondary school of local Islamic extremists raising funds for Hamas who were on record for hailing suicide bombers as freedom fighters, referring to Jews as the descendants of apes and pigs and promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. BIC was castigated by Jewish establishment leaders for indiscreetly exposing the event in the media but the headmaster was forced to cancel the event.

The fledgling body deserves much of the credit for last week’s enforced resignation of the xenophobic anti-Israel Baroness Tonge [pictured] from the Liberal Party following a toxic speech at Middlesex University. It spent months preparing for Israel Apartheid Week and Richard Millett, one of its key activists, filmed the incriminating speeches at the Tonge event and published it on his blog. BIC subsequently coordinated the complaints, presented them to the University and police and on the morning prior to Tonge’s resignation, BIC leader Westrop lobbied the Liberal Democrat Party to take disciplinary action against the incitement by Tonge. The Board of Deputies and JLC sought to take credit for the outcome but it was clearly a product of the determined activists rather than back door whispering.

There is also the Academic Friends of Israel which has been confronting the academic boycott for over ten years. Currently its head Ronny Fraser has a pending legal action of institutional anti-Semitism against the Lecturers Union.

Another recently created body is Lawyers for Israel headed by Jonathan Turner. It actively employs the law to neutralize those seeking to delegitimize Israel and expose Muslim organizations acting as fronts for raising funds for terrorists. It recently intervened, successfully, obliging the Lord Chancellor to formally rebuke a British judge who had exonerated vandals after destroying $300,000 worth of military equipment destined for Israel because of its alleged “immoral” behavior towards Gaza.

None of these independent organizations are funded or supported by the Board or the JLC.

There are also prominent individuals like the indefatigable Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips, who is reviled by much of the Jewish establishment for courageously promoting Israel advocacy. She also contributes to the Jewish Chronicle as does urbane historian Geoffrey Alderman who continuously excoriates the Jewish establishment for its cowardice and silence in the face of concerted anti-Israel and anti-Semitic attacks.

Despite the tortuous capitulation under pressure by Board of Deputies vice-president [Joanathan] Arkush [see the entire article], more and more representatives are beginning to express disapproval of the weak approach to Israel adopted by their leaders and increasingly objecting to the dominant communal role of the unaccountable arrogant leaders of the JLC.

That groups like the British Coalition for Israel are enjoying increasing grass roots support is a healthy sign. They represent the only hope that Anglo-Jewry will find the courage to speak up on behalf of Israel and ensure that future generations of young Jews will not follow the example of their elders running for cover and overwhelmed by the torrents of hatred and lies emanating from the current hostile British social climate. They deserve greater support from the community. [My emphasis]'

See also my posts here and here

At Al Beeb's CoJo: Fisking 101

Robert Fisk of The Independent would appear to be everything the BBC could require in one of its own reporters, given his splenetic hostility to the United States and to Israel.

Back in 2006 he was an honoured castaway on the BBC's "Desert Island Discs" programme, giving freely of his opinions on the Middle East, including Israel, to presenter Kirsty Young.

Mr Fisk, however, seems to have upset Al Beeb recently, if the presence of a piece by Stuart Hughes, one of Al Beeb's World Affairs producers, on the BBC College of Journalism (CoJo) website is any indication:

'Few journalists polarise opinion as sharply as Robert Fisk of The Independent.

For more than three decades, Fisk's impassioned writing on Middle Eastern affairs, and his sustained criticism of Israel and the United States, has won him many awards and many more critics.

Conservative commentators in particular have long dissected and rebutted his articles line by line - to the extent that "fisking" has become a term in its own right, defined as "the practice of savaging an argument and scattering the tattered remnants to the four corners of the internet."

Last weekend, Fisk ... was in typically combative form. Instead of attacking Western foreign policy, however, he turned his ire (not for the first time) on another of his favoured targets - his fellow foreign correspondents....

The article - published just over a week after the deaths in Homs of Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik - provoked a furious response. Many senior and well-respected journalists voiced anger at what they regarded as Fisk's disrespectful, out-dated and even dangerous views.

"Fisk correctly identifies there are plenty in our profession with an over-healthy appreciation of their own ego," the BBC correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse told me in an email from Libya.

"He should know, for Fisk is one of the most egregious practitioners of this kind of journalism," Gatehouse added archly.'

Read the entire piece here and make of  it what you will.

Should you have the time and inclination to linger longer at CoJo, have a look at what it teaches about "Impartiality" - something that Al Beeb practises more in the breach than in the observance, of course.