Edinburgh Council hugs Hamas

Edinburgh Council want to hug a proscribed terrorist group

On Tuesday – unbelievably -the Policy and Sustainability Committee of Edinburgh Council will debate and vote on a motion to twin Edinburgh with the HQ of a radical Islamic terrorist group. The 17 Councillors on this Committee (5 SNP, 5 Conservative, 3 Labour, 2 LibDem, 2 Green) will debate a petition concocted by an antisemite whose twisted thinking proved even too toxic for the proscribed group Labour Against the Witchhunt. Yes, that’s right, Tony Greenstein, a notorious antisemite himself, kicked this guy out over his antisemitism. That is how bad he is.

Yet his vile motion, that seeks to give the proscribed terror group Hamas a hug, is going be discussed. And even though it was born from the mind of a clear antisemite, two SNP Westminster MPs, Tommy Sheppard and Philippa Whitford, have disgracefully supported the proposal.

According to the original proposal in 2019, there seems to be a council process which means they have to consider a petition that garners more than 200 signatures ‘unless there is a good reason to oppose it’.

I am sure that if this were a far-right racist, asking for a debate that baited Edinburgh’s black community, the Council would have triggered the ‘opposition’ clause by now. The fact this is still going ahead because it only baits Jews – is just more proof that racism against Jews is still acceptable in Scotland.

The toxic proposer.

Anyone who is familiar with the fight against antisemitism in the Labour Party needs no introduction to Pete Gregson, the key actor behind this debate.

Gregson was expelled by the GMB union for antisemitism. Gregson has expressed a view that the Holocaust had been exaggerated. He added that this was ‘by Israel’, for ‘political purposes’. Gregson has previously made complaints about the way he has been portrayed as an antisemite in the media. IPSO did not agree with him.

He was a member of Labour Against the Witchhunt (LAW), but his association and support for 9/11 truther Ian Fantom and his bunch of extremists, along with his description of Holocaust denier Nick Kollerstrom as not a ‘denier’, but a ”Holocaust sceptic’ – led to him being ousted. It is worth noting that LAW is chock full of antisemites and conspiracy theorists itself, and it has even been proscribed by the Labour Party. Gregson was too toxic even for them.

LAW didn’t even support his twinning ideas. Too toxic for LAW, but suitable for Edinburgh Council. That surely is not something to be proud of.

Pete Gregson, Edinburgh Council, LAW

Pete Gregson and LAZIR

He set up his own group, ‘Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism’ (LAZIR). His group handed out fliers that sought to ‘rid Labour’ of Zionists.

Edinburgh Council, Pete Gregson, Lazar

Gregson has clearly swallowed a lot of fake news about Israel and he often speaks in empty soundbites that he seems to have picked up from fake news websites. His leaflets even went as far as showing a ‘laser’ destroying the Jewish Labour Movement:

Edinburgh Council, Pete Gregson

Gregson also has an obvious problem with truth, although it is unclear if it is just ignorance, bad research, or his antisemitism that blinds him. In his original petition for example, he spoke up about the wonders of a Sinn Fein led petition to twin Moyle District Council in 2012. He claims it helped with many important issues. He even implies that the project only ended when Moyle Council was reorganised.

Edinburgh Council Moyle

Except of course none of it is true. In fact, the arguments and proposal damaged the town, and just eight months after Sinn Fein had pushed it through, the twinning was withdrawn. The council was only reorganised three years later. Gregson is spinning lies. Shamefully this easily disproved lie has been repeated in local Edinburgh press. Don’t journalists do even the most basic research anymore?

Gregson’s lack of knowledge on Israel is astounding – even more so given it is his key obsession. The website Israellycool just published some of Gregson’s absurd comments at a recent gathering. At one point he says Hamas has *only* killed 44 people (presumably referring to rockets), which whatever the actual number ignores the 1000+ they have slaughtered on buses, in pubs, clubs and on the streets.

Gilad Atzmon even considers him an ally and tags him into his posts.

The lies of the petition

The petition Gregson put together only contains 253 words, but still manages to spin a bundle of disinformation and outright lies.

The petition states that Gaza is currently twinned with other cities such as Tel Aviv, Dunkirk, Barcelona and Turin. Each of these were twinned between 1996 and 1998, during the Oslo peace process. It is one thing to twin with Gaza as a sweetener to encourage Palestinians to continue down the path of peace – quite another to do it when it is controlled by a radical Islamic terror group. Gregson is attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of the Edinburgh Council.

Further, the source of many of these claims is Wikipedia – which suggests the authors of the petition are somewhat reliant on nonsense for their news. For example the petition lists ‘Camden’ in New Jersey, although even in 2012, local officials had no idea at all where this claim came from. Would Americans really rush to twin cities with one in which 9/11 was publicly celebrated?

The petition says that Britain ‘gifted the beginnings of what is now Israel to Zionists through the 1917 Balfour Declaration‘. This is untrue and remains one of the most often cited lies of anti-Israel propagandists. Britain did not, nor could not, gift anything. In 1917 Balfour wrote a letter of support for an idea. The following five years were to see Britain awarded a mandate through an internationally sanctioned process. When Britain assumed the Mandate in 1922, it was carrying out the will of the League of Nations. Much to the dismay of anti-Israel propaganda, there is more international legal support for Israel in historical documentation, than any other nation on earth. It is why they ignore the Paris Peace Conference, the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Sèvres, the San Remo Conference, and the League of Nations Mandate  and pretend it is all just about a letter.

The petition also states that ‘the majority of Palestinians living in Gaza City are refugees who had to leave their homes when Israel was established.‘ This is nonsense. The average age of people living in Gaza is about 18. To be a refugee who left their home in 1948, you would need to be at least 74.

It also suggests that all they (Gazans) want is to be able to live in freedom and to return to the land their families came from. There are hidden messages of support here for a nonsensical ‘right of return’ that would wipe Israel off the map (does Edinburgh support two states for two peoples – or two Palestinian states?). That aside, it is simply not true. Hamas, a radical terrorist organisation, did not assume power in Gaza by acccident. They won an election there. To suggest Hamas supporters just want to live in freedom is nonsensical. Hamas is a proscribed radical Islamic terror group that seeks to impose an Islamic state (Pan Arab, not Palestinian). They celebrate every time an innocent civilian Israeli is murdered. Hamas is a radical Islamist death cult.

Other figures

Incredibly, the Edinburgh Council, whilst discussing whether to twin with a city controlled by a radical Islamic terror group, have invited Gaza’s Mayor to speak. Nizar Hijazi, leader of the municipal council of Gaza City. This is the *MAYOR* of a HAMAS RUN city. Does anyone doubt he is affiliated to Hamas. If he wasn’t – do you think he would be its Mayor?

Yet he is speaking in a meeting of a city Council in the United Kingdom!

What are these people thinking? Has anybody involved with Edinburgh Council, done due diligence and looked at the FB page for the Municipality of Gaza to see what it contains? The Mayor often meets with delegations of the Hamas leadership from various neighbourhoods. All current research suggests he is affiliated to Hamas, and it would be absurd to think this is not correct.

They want to give him a platform?

The two SNP supporters are also no strangers to anti-Israel obsessions – Tommy Sheppard and Philippa Whitford. I have myself witnessed Tommy Sheppard host a couple of anti-Jewish events in Westminster. And Phillipa Whitford is an expert at spreading demonising lies about Israel. We know that Scotland’s anti-Israel movement is overrun with antisemitic ideology. They even took a Holocaust denying non-Jew, pretended she was Jewish – and got her to speak as the face of Scottish Jews against Zionism. Scotland has a problem with Jews.

Make no mistake about how bad all this is. Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UKLFI, said: “Gaza City is ruled by Hamas, which is proscribed in its entirety under the Terrorism Act 2000. This means that it is very difficult to see how Councillors or Officers could participate in any twinning activity without committing criminal offences.”

Address the problem

There is little doubt that one of the reasons the peace talks have stalled is because of the Hamas domination of Gaza. And the violence they have brought to the area has left innocent Palestinians caught in a truly heart-breaking situation So maybe Edinburgh Council should do something that helps Palestinians and weakens the Hamas grip? That would truly be a cause worth supporting.

This is no different from a Council permitting a far-right agitator a stage upon which to deliberately provoke a minority group. Edinburgh Council should be ashamed that it has even got this far. Gregson’s racist ideology was too toxic for the proscribed group Labour Against the Witchhunt – yet Edinburgh Council gives him a platform. We can only hope that there are enough sensible heads around the Council table in Edinburgh to see this for what it is – and show Pete Gregson that neither he, nor his twisted antisemitism, has any place in our politics.

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35 thoughts on “Edinburgh Council want to hug a proscribed terrorist group

  1. “They even took a Holocaust denying non-Jew, pretended (s)he was Jewish – and got them to speak as the face of Scottish Jews against Zionism.”

    What have you been up to now Brucie, you scamp?

    1. This Rabbi has been delving into history and will reveal my findings soon.

      1. Lovin’ the idea that you’re now the go-to pretend Jew for the lunatic fringe. Did you have to do a Scottish accent for this lot?

    1. Yes, remember Stephen hates it when Jews draw attention to prejudice against them. No problems for him though when people of colour, gays and other minority groups do so. Such a naughty troll.

    2. Oh Stephen. Thank you for your unnecessary concern. I understand some would rather me ‘lie down’ than attack antisemites, but I am fine and can assure you that the Jew haters are not capable of wearing me down.

    3. Glass house made of cheap glass, stones in a pile inside a dirty bucket. In other words, probably Iill advised for you to give mental health advice Dumb Bell.

  2. Interesting that David has moved from asking for funds to support the fight against ” anisemitism” to asking for funds to support the demonisation of Israel. Oviously he has hit the same prob as CST. That is, there is not enough antisemitism around for the political and commercial purposes

    1. The self-appointed CST classifies every complaint made to it as antisemitic in order to justify its funding.

      1. Brucie, you may be onto something here. Just between you and me, d’ya reckon that the CST gets their nans to call them up at work and say “Melvyn, someone just looked at me in a funny way”, so they can get loads of money for flash cars and snacks? D’ya reckon they did the Manchester Arena bombing and the Grenfell fire too? Check out if they were all wearing new cagouls straight afterwards. It fits. pass it on. The Jews did it.

        1. My sermon last week was about the 25 March 1911 Triangle Factory Fire in New York and how two greedy Jews were responsible for the deaths of 146 mostly women. If you see an EXIT sign in a building, that is one legacy of that disaster.

          1. Between you and me Brucie, I’ve been doing some research into the company that supplied the shovels to the guys that stacked the coal onto the spoil tip at Aberfan. Just checking whether they were greedy Jews too coz loads of kids died in that one. Be a decent sermon for you, that one.

            D’ya reckon the Joos did that one too?

          2. Greedy Jews?
            Not greedy Zionists?
            Or just greedy men?

            🙄

            Oh dear Levy….your mask is slipping badly recently….

            🙄

            Gruppenfuhrer “Levy” is a much more appropriate handle for a Jew hating sack of d0gsh1t like you…..

    2. Dear, dear dear Stephen

      Hasn’t it penetrated into your skull yet that although many anti-Zionist/Anti-Israel zealots are not Antisemitic, all Antisemites are anti-Zionist/Anti-Israel fanatics.

      So when David fights Antisemites he is also fighting anti-Israel/anti-Zionist demagoguery

      1. Richard I don’t think you have quite grasped the point. The antisemitism industry can be very effective politically and certainly can be very lucrative, but it is not without its problems.

        The main problem of course is that there is not really enough antisemitism about to sustain the industry. If racism in the UK were a food label antisemitism would appear as ” trace”.

        This is why the batshit notion of an antisemitic trope had to be invented a while back. An antisemitic trope may not be as good as antisemitism but its better than a blank day. Similarly this is why David had to extend his remit to ” the demonisation of Israel.”

        1. Stephen

          Where is this so-called ‘Antisemitism industry’ very lucrative. Who is making the money. On the other hand fighting Antisemitism can be very costly in terms of employment, safety and mental health etc.. Academics who put their heads above the parapet to fight the scourge of Antisemitism run the risk of being cancelled in academia ( by not having papers published, not being invited as guest lecturers, and being silently shunned by their peers etc) and students being treated similarly.

          In terms of Antisemitic violence against Jews, it is mostly directed at religious Jews who dress in a distinctive manner and can thus be easily identified as Jews. I wonder why that is the case.

          This particular comment of yours could be taken from ‘Der Sturmer’ or similar types of publications
          …………….”This is why the batshit notion of an antisemitic trope had to be invented ……………..a while back. An antisemitic trope may not be as good as antisemitism ……………..but its better than a blank day.”

          As time goes by your anti-Jewish Antisemitism becomes more apparent

          So tell me where the ‘Antisemitism industry’ is lucrative, preferably with examples that are verifiable, and without your usual stupid one liners. Still waiting, after years of asking, why you have called the late Rabbi Sacks and the current chief Rabbi racist. You seem to like calling prominent Jews and Jewish organisations racist without ever supplying evidence to back up those allegations

    3. Oh please Stephen, take a stroll through my archive. You’ll see I frequently change the text slightly and you’ll find me talking about the demonisation of Israel ever since about 2015. Get a life.

  3. Hello you happy Zionist racists. I see Collier, as usual, is trying to paint the racist apartheid State of Israel as the victim again. For someone who knows full well that Israel was founded as the result of terrorism and is still a terrorist State with the world’s best equipped terrorist force, it is laughable to be criticising the Hamas occupation resistance group as ‘terrorists’. But I suppose that’s what you get when you hold two diametrically opposing points of view i.e. that Israel is a democracy yet only Jews have the right to self-determination – with their psychotic brains, only Zionists could square that one!

    1. Hello again Jack. Nice provocations.

      Had your quarterly fuel bill yet? Your lot should have cosied up to Vlad like me and the Zios did. He gets to feel relevant on the manor. We get to destroy Iranian and Hezbollah sites with impunity and our fuel bills remain manageable.

      Apartheid oppressors for the win I’d say.

      Don’t be a stranger xx

        1. Yeah, and (whispers) just between you and me Jack, d’ya reckon that us Zios planned the whole Ukraine thing ? It fits. Europe is now shitting itself and our order books for Iron Dome are going through the roof. Putin is parked and we can continue bombing the shite out of the Iranians in Syria and beyond. You must see the connection. Pass it on. The Jews did it.

            1. Ssshh. Not so loud Jack. You know us Zios. Business is business and we reckon your government is good for a few Iron Dome orders. They fell over themselves to buy our Mossad dolphins but (whispers) between you and me, they don’t work. Pass it on. The Jews is bent as 9 shekel notes (winks to Stephen).

              1. David David, quick, there is an antiSemite here posing as a Zionist not realising that Zionists are antSemites anyway. He is further poluting your blog with his antiSemitism – do something before your blog gets an even worse reputation!

                1. As a concerned citizen, you should report me to the CST Jack. Tell them Ian the Zio is back and doing some antisemitism. Ask for Melvyn. He knows me.

    2. Jackie T……he’s not the brightest is he ?

      Jew hating vermin like him all seem to have this in common……ah well…..never mind……

      Happy Monday everyone……

  4. JackT, our resident Antisemite seems to have returned in full force after a brief hiatus .

    And he still knows best what Jews should do because he has a Jewish ‘friend’ or two.

    As I have said before ,you are an Antisemite because you are always telling Jws they are wrong and you and your Antisemitic friends know better, and twist everything to suit your argument whether it is true or not.

    And you are still a coward for hiding behind the anonymity of not using your name

    1. I think this may be the day when erstwhile troll and seasoned Jew baiter of this parish, Michael Farmer shuffled off this virtual coil, possibly through death.

      It’s a timely reminder of the value of this comment section. Old Michael came here on the daily, dropped in the odd provocation, mostly a copy/paste of some much posted slogan and then left. He/she lived and died achieving little more than a ‘send receipt’ and then it was gone.

      That much was true for my old china, Chris Activist and will be true for Stephen, Jack and others no doubt. So, to acknowledge the power of doing nothing, let’s raise our brews and toast to absent friends in The Great Shithouse in the Sky. (Slurp).

  5. If the comments part of this blog’s life have come to a stopping point, that makes me sad because I enjoyed posting here, but I understand the idea for doing so: no one from the Ian/Ken/Richard/me group had anything left to prove and no one from the toxic troll brigade (with its rotating, incontinent membership) had anything left to rant about.
    But I’m fair person, so I’m going to say farewell to both the righteous and retarded of this long-running section, individually.
    To Ian Kay: You were insightful.
    To Ken Dobkin: You were very smart and often funny.
    To Richard Galber: You were right on point.
    To Mike Framer: You really adored Nazis.
    To Sigerico/Charles Alban: You were always there to defend pedophiles as long as they were Catholic.
    To Bruce L***: You were as much a rabbi as my elbow is an arsehole.
    To Jack T: You were missed at Sqwakbox, now you can go rot there for the rest of your lie.
    To Stephen Bellamy: You were both dumb and weirdly pathetic, also mincing.
    And to David C. himself: You did and are doing great work, and I’ll always be here as a reader.
    Good night and G-d bless some of you.

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