It is 09/09/2015. In the Middle East, millions are oppressed by their own leaders, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and untold numbers are still making their escape. Today the democratically elected leader of the only nation in the Middle East that provides freedom and protection for all its citizens came to visit the UK, and in London, at the very heart of the British democratic system, there was a protest. This protest was not about Syria, nor Iraq, it was not about ISIS, Libya, Yemen or Iran. It was a protest that waved the flags of Hizbullah and Hamas, the flags of proscribed terrorist organisations; this was a protest against the democratic State of Israel.
The people behind this protest are from groups like the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) and the ludicrously named ‘Stop the War coalition’, the backbone of BDS in the UK; these are the activists, the hard core; these are the ones handing out leaflets, trying to persuade others to join, disseminating disinformation on campus and whipping up the hatred against Israel. And they come to London with Hizbullah and Hamas flags in their hand. When the mask slips, it is important to memorise what you saw behind it.
If anyone is in any doubt, it is worth viewing some of the footage taken from the protest. (Credit to Israel Advocacy Movement).
For those that cannot quite believe what they are hearing, this is the conversation:
Q “And what should happen to the Israelis that live there?”
A “I don’t care, they can f..k off basically, go into the sea. They’re not coming here, we would actually march against Zionists coming here as refugees. We would, that’s a fact.”
Q “You want, basically genocide against the Israelis, that’s what you are saying?”
A ” Six million Jews there, wiped out”
Q “Six million Jews, so would you want another Holocaust?”
A “I don’t know what the Holocaust is”
BREAK
Q “You do realise that 20% of Israel is not Jewish?” – “don’t touch the camera”
A “Well don’t put it in my f..king face…(inaudible) because I am tainted by Zionism”
Q “Your face is tainting our camera…(inaudible)
A “A racist is calling me a racist, a racist is calling me a racist”
Q “You said you want 6 million Jews in the sea?”
A “I want them out of Israel”
Q “You’ll have to kill them all”
A ” Well, so be it”
Now I am all for free speech and I really do not care that people such as this woman breath the same air as I do. This is not my choice, nor my rule to make. Freedom is not freedom unless it is allowed to be pushed to the extreme. But the fact this woman believes she can make these comments freely on camera and there will be no repercussions, highlights just how far down a dark road we are travelling. If she had been talking about blacks it would be a viral video by now, and she’d be out of a job in days. The same would have happened if it had been about gays, the refugees… anyone in fact…except the Jews. When it comes to the Jews, it is different. People mix and match Zionism and Jews these days and nobody even blinks. This woman said she’d happily see 6 million Jews die, and if an Israeli Jew was trying to escape the genocide, she’d march in opposition to him being accepted here.
There are a few video’s circulating now, and this one shows the basic mindset that supports PSC, BDS and the boycott of Israel. (This from the YouTube channel of Yoni Tzayad)
Hamas, a group that put suicide bombers onto buses, into cafes, pubs, clubs and onto the streets at Purim, are not terrorists, they are ‘freedom fighters’. Another activist suggests peaceful solutions do nothing and points out the only people who do anything positive, by waving the flag of the Hizbullah. Someone else believes that Jews can have sex with 3 year olds, and even the ‘Elders’ are invoked amongst one of several rather strange conspiracy theories. The man in the photo capture you see above, thinks the Torah is for Jews, whilst the Talmud is for Zionists. Even Simon Cowell got a mention. It may have been a funny video to watch because of its mind boggling idiocy, but behind it all, this shows that anti-Zionism is blatant anti-Semitism, clear as day.
This image, clearly showing the emblem of the Hizbullah, a proscribed terrorist organisation, being proudly worn within meters of our central government offices. And this photo highlights how our own freedoms are used against us. The police could not do anything about these flags, despite their obvious affiliations, because they have been altered ‘just enough’ to make them different. How does this emblem *not* represent Hizbullah and violence? How has this become acceptable? How weak do we want to become?
These groups, carrying symbols of terrorist organisations are the true face of BDS, the true face of the pro-Palestinian movement. Theirs is not a movement in favour of freedom or peace; theirs is a march of war; a call for a genocide of the Jews. Anti-Semitism that markets itself in the flowery language of human rights and justice.
If anyone disputes the connection between hatred of Zionists and hatred of Jews, this video, also from today’s protest, should answer any doubts. This video is credited to the UK Zionist Federation
And this one calls the British Jews she is addressing, ‘blood drinking swine’ and ‘child killers’! The age old blood libel. (special mention to Sussex Friends of Israel – as usual they are a great source of information).
Hiding behind a call for peace, anti-Semitism is alive, well, kicking and growing in the UK. It is growing because people are helping, supporting, funding, talking to, walking with, protesting with and actively promoting groups claiming they act on behalf of the Palestinians. They don’t, nor do they give a damn about the Palestinians. For them, it is about the Jews, and of course Israel, a place where the Jews are finally out of reach from their hatred and capable of defending themselves.
And so as a few hundred anti-Semites marched with their terrorist banners through the streets of London, calling for a genocide of Jews and screaming anti-Semitic slogans, how was this reported in the British press? Well, it got almost no mention at all; which is disgraceful. But what makes it worse, is when it did, in the Guardian, it had been sterlized.
This image, leading the Guardian’s report:
Is captioned as “two rival demonstrators”, which is an odd way of describing someone supporting a liberal democracy and the other supporting its destruction. For some reason they understated the amount of pro-Israeli demonstrators and the rest of the piece says nothing; nothing about any arrests, nothing about any violence and nothing about any anti-Semitism. It has been whitewashed to the point you believe the protesters are decent folk who may have a case. And this is the heart of the problem; extremists, terrorists, anti-Semites, racists, they exist everywhere; there is nothing a free nation can do to stop vile creatures hiding in dark corners. But the media is failing in its job to report the true face of these movements; it is failing Israel, it is failing British Jews and it is failing to uphold the fundamental values of our society. It is allowing these vile creatures out of the corners and onto the high streets, into the campus and into the mainstream.
After todays events, it was the job of the media to headline that the PSC protest saw calls for a genocide of Jews, to point out that this call came on the streets of London and that it was waving the flag of terrorists. Shameless? The protest today or the media response, I am yet to work out which is the more shameful; but whatever the answer is, this is a road that we cannot continue to walk down. It is time for someone in government to stand up and put things back exactly the way they should be in a country that respects and values its freedom. It is time to be shown that someone in Westminster has some guts. You cannot suggest there is a war on anti-Semitism and then permit acts such as this in London. It is a time to show that anti-Semitism in the UK is not acceptable, not tolerated and not allowed.
This blog has been reposted on UK Media Watch and Jews Down Under
THIS IS A FANTASTIC POST! THANK YOU…
Every one of them a Corbyn voter. If Corbyn acquires real power there will in fact be pogroms in Britain.
Someone that cross posts on the racist cess pit site ukmediawatch is ill placed to complain about racism.
There is not a racist bone in my body. Now you come to a post about blatant anti-Semitism and whine about another website you don’t like, and rather than discuss specifics, you just start hurling abuse at it. What do you think about the anti-Semitism in the videos – can you even see it? Do you think the PSC and Stop the War Coalition have a problem with anti-Semitism in their ranks? Also, I see you felt it important enough to blog on Israel vis-a-vis the Syrian refugees. Considering there are Arab nations with plenty of money and lots of room who are not taking any refugees, is there any reason you did not criticise them, but chose to focus on the one nation in the region that does not have an Arab majority?
Of course I see it . 2000 people gather and it turns out there is a handful of nut jobs. If the camera had been pointed across the street if might have picked out Sussex Friends of Israel racists, Life is such a lottery do you not think ?
Firstly, why on earth would you throw the propaganda figure at me? I never understand why there is this constant need to hide the truth, spread lies and multiply everything by a factor of 4. If you are right, if you are so sure you are right, why would you bother to do this? Secondly, nobody amongst their comrades outed them, nobody amongst the hundreds of people who stood by, said anything, which in itself is pretty outrageous. I was travelling in a bus once, when a woman used the N****R word against a black man and I stood up immediately and put paid to that racist crap. That is what decent people do when they hear such comments. But these people did nothing, which in turn shows these feelings are not exceptional in that crowd, so denial is pointless. Thirdly, what of the flags and banners of proscribed terror organisations? The people standing waving flags of Hamas and Hizbullah, groups that explicitly and specifically set out to kill civilians and in the case of Hamas has a war against Jews as a publicly stated aim? Finally, why did you weakly try to deflect, by falsly accusing others? Why is your case so weak that you need to make up stories, deflect, exaggerate, hide behind the flags of terrorists, play down anti-Semitism in your camp and make false accusations? It never ceases to amaze me how little of a case you have to put forward. It is devoid of all content.
Did anyone in ” your camp” object to or call out the presence of Simon Cobbs and Fiona Sharpe ?
Did anyone in ” your camp” call out the presence of North West Friends of Israel in Cardiff ?
http://wp.me/P5W2a1-6M
” Your camp ” was awash with fans and promoters of Douglas ” things have to be made harder for Muslims all round ” Murray. Did anyone call them out?
As I have told you before I have no doubt as to your sincerity . The reality is that if you engage in street activism, you are, obviously , on the streets and the streets, you can’t control. You are going to find yourself in company you would prefer not to be in the company of. The people you have highlighted are a liability. The name of the Hasborafia game is deflection and such people just make it easy for them. You will notice there is not in your blog post, or the comments, a single mention of Netanyahu and his war crimes. That’s. how it works.
Making claims about Israel and Israelis that the least informed Joe on the street instinctively knows to be untrue is counter productive. There is no need, the truth is sickening enough.
PSC have made their position clear and my entire experience tells me it is a sincere position, They are not a police force. There is nothing else they can do. If crimes were being committed, and clearly they were, it is for the police to sort out.. The vast majority of people were there to do a job and were focused on that.
You have still not addressed the issue of your hanging out with a ZioPsycho like Adam Levick which does little for your credibility. This is something you CAN control.
A strategy of someone possessing a weak argument is simply to throw mud everywhere, real facts, real precision has to be avoided. Please just stop placing names next to false and nasty accusations, it is tiresome. You are right that the street cannot be controlled, but the essense of the local Scrabble team and the essence of the local fascist youth are not the same. The trouble with these Palestinian groups is that violence against Jews and opposition to a Jewish presence is in their very make-up, because without it, there would be no Palestinian issue today. If you remove anti-Semitic thuggery from the Palestinian argument, the argument dissapates because the conflict would never have started. From those very first riots in about 1920 (long before there was an Israel to fight against) it has always been about violence against Jews.
If I pick up a weapon today, walk into Luton and start shooting at Muslim immigrants, how is it possibly anything another other than cold blooded murder supported by vile violent racism? If there are enough people who think like me to join me, what does that make us? If our actions split the community, whose fault is it? These Palestinian groups are just a continuation of the original premise and they became victims when they lost the vile racist battle they chose to fight, creating a heart breaking toll on the wider community. History can never be rewritten to change what happened, why it happened and in the order it happened.
As for how it works, I must thank you for helping me out on this on, because you call Netanyahu “a war criminal”, which he most certainly is not. It is an empty label of desperation, used to whip up ignorant masses into a crowd willing to protest. In truth, any war has ‘war crimes’, and I ask you to name a single war in the entire history of humankind that probably did not see ‘war crimes’ committed? I am no real fan of Bibi (I wouldn’t have voted for him), but he is a democratically elected leader of a nation that has violent enemies. In other words, ‘war criminal’ becomes an empty label and using it as you do belittles true war criminals and their very real and numerous victims. And yes, it is exactly how it works, you just throw mud against Israel without providing facts or context. That blog you wrote where you used Israels prescence in European sport competition as a stone to throw at it is a perfect example. I imagine you are also quick to throw the genocide and ethnic cleansing cards too, but these are just empty lies that have absolutely no basis in fact whatsoever. People who repeat these are not interested in the truth at all.
Israel exists and is not going anywhere, so any movement, including BDS and so on, that pushes a one state solution is simply a call for war that prolongs the agony of Palestinians. Why not just sit down around a table a build a better future for the children? I want peace as do the names of all those people you keep throwing mud at. The groups you support want to see the destruction of a liberal democracy, which makes them a big nasty as far as I am concerned. I am comfortable on the side I sit and perfectly happy with the people who sit here with me.
Her name is Pamela Hardyment . Here are some links http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/leo-mckinstry/8463/Shame-on-the-left-and-its-vicious-hatred-of-Israel
Her Letter to the JC
http://www.thejc.com/blogpost/the-real-antisemitism-underlying-boycotters
Her Facebook Wall which she edited to Pamela Arnold and is now private is awash with antisemitic comments and imagery . For the most part the PSC carefully indoctrinate their members to refer to Zionists / Zionism in their discourse rather than Jews . However , so great is Hardyments irrational and obsessive hatred of Jews , she revels in ignoring the PSC directive and goes her own way . Its important to remember that just a few years ago , Tony Gtrenstein an anti Israel activist from Brighton , called a PSC EGM in order to expel a leading member and Holocaust denier . The vote passed but with some 20% voting against expulsion . The PSC may come out with facile statements denying embedded antisemitism . The reality is very different as this wretched woman helps demonstrate
” Please just stop placing names next to false and nasty accusations, it is tiresome”
I will defend to the death your right to choose not to see. Or to pretend not to see, whichever best fits the case.
Thank you for providing your London report. A report which highlights how antisemitism can be dressed up as anti-zionism. A report which sadly reflects the extent hatred is directed at the Jewish State. Today I wish you, my Jewish friends and those who stand with us in their desire to speak and seek the truth, a Happy and Sweet New Year. שנה טובה ומתוק. There has been much debate these past weeks over the plight of the refugees. Who they are, where they come from, and what is their purpose. As ever, when it comes to matters in the Middle East, Asia or more specifically, Israel, the West struggles to understand. Sometimes poor journalism, but mainly, including the sterilised and sanitised reporting you capture so well, a deliberate distortion of facts has lent credence to numerous conspiracy theories. Perhaps it might be that a distorted viewpoint leads to unpleasant feelings? When the heart opens, the mind listens. I pray for the safety of all those amongst our fellow humans seeking refuge from harm. And for the souls of all those who wish to cause us harm. And more so for the souls of all those who do not understand the difference. #refusetohate
Hi David
I’ve come across your blog as I used to work with an Israeli colleague who posted one of your articles on Facebook. We got on well but it is fair to say that he we had little in agreement with regard to the Israeli-Pakestinisn conflict.
I am someone who is critical of Israel and its continued occupation of Palestinian Territory but I guess reading much of what you wrote, you may conflate that with anti-Semitism which I would not accept. And yes I am a Muslim but I do not consider myself as anti Jew.
I suspect many who ready your blogs are like minded but I am interested in genuinely understanding the view point of the other. I recognise that the conflict can be deeply emotive with entrenched views on both sides.
So although you claim that anti-Zionist academics like illan pappe use history to support their pre-conceived views, I’m not sure that the likes of benny Morris are any different in that regard.
In any case, I’m struggling to find a balanced view in your writings either as it seems to be all the fault of the Muslms and Arabs while Israel is entirely innocent. It kind of reminds me of that Golda Meir saying and I’m only paraphrasing here from memory ‘that we can forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we can never forgive the Arabs for making us kill their children’
Every point in history you seem to suggest is down to Arab rejection and anything contrary to your point of view is Palestinian propaganda. You present statistics to support your claim but I work with data in my job everyday so I know that stats can be presented in such a way to prove anything you want as alleged fact.
And I accept that some of the comments that you have posted From YouTube from pro-Palestinian rallies are deeply offensive. But I can also post similar videos from pro Israeli rallies where the comments are equally offensive to Arabs. What does it really prove other than some ill informed people can let there emotions get the better of them at demonstrations. Is society really that anti-Semitic as I think I face far more criticism and scrutiny as a Muslim particularly after 9/11?
And yes, the killing of Israeli civilians on the street of Israel is a horrendous crime. But settler violence against Palestinian civilians where a teenager is forced to drink petrol and burnt is no less horrendous and shocking.
In any case David, what I am unable to fathom in your posts is what your solution to the conflict is? When Israel conducts a military campaign in Gaza where the sheer destruction and impact on civilians is so severe, most ordinary people with no political affiliations are going to be horrified and protest against Israel.
Israel is losing moral credibility with the masses around the world not because of the Arabs but due to its own violent policies. And people cheering on the hills of sderot having a picnic while bombs are falling on civilians in Gaza is not going to adhere Israelis to the British public. It is the killing that enrages people, not some inherent hatred for Jews.
T
Now I have in mind what a just solution may be but I’m not sure if it correlates to your solution.
I recognise the state of Israel as a political reality although I may disagree with the Zionist project. And I doubt we will agree on the events of 1948 so let’s deal with the present day. I uphold the right of all people to live in peace and security but not at the expense of another. There is now a generation of Israelis that live in the land and I do not seek to drive them into the sea and I genuinely don’t believe that the Palestinians want this either. They just want peace and security David for their families and children but if that is not forthcoming, it is only human nature to fight back even though they are up against one of the most sophisticated and powerful armies in the world.
I know the one state is not going to be acceptable to you as this will undermine your need for a Jewish state. I’m not sure either how you reconcile the concept of a Jewish state with a secular democracy when 20% of the Israeli population is not Jewish. I do not accept that a Jewish state is your inherent right either but I recognise that is what you have and wish to maintain so let it be if that means peace.
I also accept that Jews have an intimate connection to the land but you would also have to accept the same for Palestinians. You say that Israel has returned land in the past like the Sinai which is true but it’s not like Israel had a legitimate claim to this land anyway. So likewise, if Israel were to disengage from the territories captured in 1967 admittedly with some land swaps but this would have to include the dismantling of some of the settlements deep into Palestinian land to ensure that a future Palestine can be a functioning contiguous state with some link to Gaza by highway or train. Remove the economic blockade and the illegal wall and define your borders with agreement. I understand that the right of return will not be accepted but there needs to be a compensation package for those who were displaced in 1948. That leaves East Jerusalem which I know is going to be contentious. So it will just have to be shared with full access to all holy sites probably enforced by an international peace keeping force. In return, the Arab states have promised as pledged in the past, full recognition of the Israeli state and will consider the conflict ended with establishment of full diplomatic and political ties. Now I know you find Hamas abhorrent, but in any conflict, you must talk to your enemies if you are serious about peace.
Is this a basis for a just resolution to you David? If so, can you please tell me since you do not accept BDS, what strategy should an activist like myself take to work toward this being a reality?
If not, tell me what is a solution that is acceptable in your mind.
Because to be honest, I sincerely doubt that Israel is interested in peace as it continues to expand and build more settlements in the occupied territories. Rather, there appears to be a third solution to this which seems to be the one that Israel is actively pursuing.
Build more settlements and take up the most Arable and water rich land interconnected by Israeli only highways, This cuts of the Palestinians leaving them in Non contiguous enclaves making any future Palestinian state unviable. And then unilaterally annex the territory so it becomes part of an extended Israel.
Please advise David
Abu, thank you for your detailed post. Rather than simply write a short response here, I think it more fitting to give your comment the time and thought it deserves. If you have not subsribed, I will send you an email when I have posted the response. Because of the detail contained within, I will post it as a blog. Thank you again for taking the time here to write.
Ok David
Thank you for your time as I only seek to better understand the other point of view.
I have taken the time to read a number of your blogs but not in their entirety as I only came across it yesterday.
It can be frustrating sometimes engaging with really staunch Zionist supporters especiallly if they are of the zealous right wing type. Having a reasoned discussion with certain people on the topic is extremely difficult. You can’t get passed It’s my land because God gave it to me and you are an anti Jew Muslim.
However, I have hope that this will not be the case with yourself as I do not hate Jews. There are many Israeli Jews that I admire who have the courage to go against the tide and seek peace although these voices seem to be a minority. But they seem to be accused of treachery and being self hating Jews. From the face of it and I don’t know Israeli society well so I can only judge by what I read, Israelis are becoming more right wing which is reflective of the parties that they are increasingly voting for.
And by the way, you have mentioned your opposition to a one state solution which you seem to suggest is a call to destroy the democratic state of Israel. So do you mean by this the destruction of Israel which is certainly not defensible or do you mean the idea of a bi national state for all citizens including the occupied territories. Is that a call for Israels destruction in your view too and therefore not acceptable?
Thanks once again for your time
And apologies for the spelling errors in my previous post. It was late night I’m afraid
Sorry to ask again David
I’ve just been taking the time to read more of your blogs so I was particularly interested to learn that you have worked with Israelis and Palestinians for many years.
When you do get the time to respond, might I ask in what capacity this was since you have engaged with people on both sides of the divide?
Many Thanks
I have responded and have only just seen this comment. My response is here. https://david-collier.com/?p=1239
As for your question, I worked in a private capacity, building up strong relationships with many Palestinians over the years. I originally started in travel advice for backpackers and those Palestinians uncomfortable working with Israelis or who refused to speak Hebrew, came to me for their travel needs. From there I opened connections with the NGO’s, UNIFIL and so on. Once you start working with Palestinians and foreign tourists (as I did), you become an expert on restrictions and visas and so on and you get dragged deeper and deeper into the issue, called on frequently for help. There is a lot I cannot say on a public forum about assistance that is required. I started working on tourism projects with the PA and we pushed Palestinian tourism in a paper I printed within Ramallah and distributed nationally in Israel. I do not want to present this as being on the Palestinian side, I was not. I worked with them, helped them (I bent lots of rules) and saw them as friends, but I most certainly wave an Israeli flag.
actually not completely true. I originally started the connection working the fields with Arabs as a volunteer on a Moshav. Nothing quite like properly made Arabic coffee, cooked over at real fire at 5am….