Lancaster City Council

Reject Antisemitism – an open letter to all the Lancaster City Councillors

A copy of this letter was sent to all the Lancaster City Councillors

 

To the Lancaster City Councillors

This letter is about the anti-Israel motion you recently passed. I have seen the motion, read the minutes and watched the video of the ‘debate’. I wish to keep this letter short, and there are far too many issues to address – so I will just stick to several key points.

Having watched the video, it is quite clear that you were lied to. The successful vote was the consequence of people not having sufficient knowledge to counter the lies that were spread at the meeting.

It was quite disturbing viewing. The proposer admitted he knew nothing about pensions. He also said he had no idea about BDS ties to terrorist groups. He even added that he did not understand the international law upon which he based his entire argument. Yet despite these admissions and the clear ignorance of the person who brought the motion to the table – 39 out of 50 of you still chose to vote in favour of his motion or abstain. This alone should send shudders down the spines of every single person you represent.

I have to be completely honest, it is not easy writing this to you and remaining calm. What you did was slap the Jewish community around the face. This isn’t about peace – it is a divisive move that strengthens only those that seek conflict. You were even told that it was antisemitic. You didn’t care – you went ahead and voted for it anyway. Knowing what I do about the conflict, rising antisemitism and the extremists behind BDS – seeing a Council in the UK vote with such ignorance – for something so toxic – even as convoys of ‘BDS supporters’ call for the rape and murder of Jews on our streets – explains perfectly why British Jews are right to feel so uneasy.

The meeting and the lies

For over 2000 years people have demonised and told lies about Jews in order to set them up for punishment. However you may have chosen to rationalise what occurred at the Lancaster City Council meeting, you merely continued that obsessive and antisemitic tradition. You were told lies about the Jewish state – and you happily voted in favour of punishing it.

All of those speaking in favour of the motion fed you raw propaganda. Councillor Jack O’Dwyer-Henry’s opening speech appeared to mirror Qatari State TV propaganda almost word for word. Don’t be surprised, anti-Israel activists almost never take their news from the mainstream.

There were far too many factual errors and outright lies to mention. Jonathan Hoffman listed some of them in his recent article, but even that is incomplete. Even the term ‘illegal occupation’ which was used dozens of times – is factually incorrect. The ‘occupation’ itself – which was born in a defensive war in which Arab nations sought to annihilate the Jewish state – cannot be ‘illegal’. The entire framing of the motion’s argument was based on ignorance, distortion, lies and the usual demonisation of the global Jew (Israel).

BDS – a call for Israel’s destruction

There was nobody in the room to explain to you what the boycott movement against Israel actually is –  a call for Israel’s destruction. You don’t need to take my word for it. Listen to anti-Zionist – and no friend of Israel – Norman Finkelstein. During an interview, he explains that BDS is fundamentally dishonest – a con – and is a one-sided, extremist movement that seeks Israel’s destruction. Even though I disagree with most of his political arguments, I seriously suggest you all watch it. And then ask yourselves why the BDS movement never talks about peace and refuses to recognise Israel *behind any borders*.

Do any of you know that only one of the three goals of BDS has anything to do with the territory Israel captured (West Bank and Gaza) in 1967?  Do you know what the other two aims are that BDS – and you – now support? Because the result of fulfilling the 3 BDS goals is – as Finkelstein points out – the destruction of Israel – the only Jewish state in the world and the only democracy in the Middle East. How shameful that some of you voted to support something you simply do not understand; If BDS were to succeed – it would leave 6 million Jews in the Middle East at the mercy of their radical Islamist terrorist neighbours.

Picking on the Jewish state

There were a few brave councillors who stood up to oppose the motion. O’Dwyer-Henry’s response to questions was vague and deceptive. Like most ignorant propagandists who read from a sheet, he cannot deal with anything that goes off-script. Every single question was met either with ‘I don’t know’ or avoided.

Two of those on the side of the motion even used the ‘some of my best friends are Jewish’ response, to deflect from questions they were asked. The voice of the Jewish Student Society at Lancaster was ignored and completely silenced by O’Dwyer Henry – and when he was asked about it – he deflected. The vast majority of Jews are Zionists and oppose BDS – how shameful that you allowed people to hide behind a fringe and non-representative voice as a means of disguising an antisemitic act.

Why antisemitic? What you were told about Israel is fundamentally not true. Much of the information was straightforward lies. Other bits were exaggerated, distorted, removed from context and totally one-sided. A few people in a room, obsessing and lying about the one Jewish state. Sitting as it does as the only democracy in the Middle East – and threatened by the same type of radical Islamic terrorist groups that threaten us all here. And this is what you want to boycott? Not China, Pakistan, Russia, Burma, Syria, South Sudan, the DRC, Iran or any of the real human rights abusers in the world – but tiny Israel, with its battle for survival and low-intensity conflict. The very fact that the Council in the City of Lancaster sat to discuss it – is part of the problem. If you cannot see this is the truth – you’ve been blinded by the antisemitism too.

This is not how you bring peace to the region – far from it. You simply help to strengthen the extremists and perpetuate the conflict. All through ignorance.

Every time Israel has withdrawn unilaterally from land, radical Islamic terrorists have taken over. Southern Lebanon is now a Hezbollah stronghold. Gaza is now controlled by Hamas. The Palestinian Authority even cancelled recent elections because they knew that Hamas would win. If you think that if Israel simply dismantles the wall and pulls back to the 1967 borders  – as BDS demands (1 of their 3 aims) – then there will be peace – you know nothing about the Middle East at all.

An offer to help

I did offer to debate against any of the three Councillors who stood behind this motion, and my offer was ignored. So I turn to you all now. I am happy to come to Lancaster and talk to you all about why this motion must be reversed – and to point out the numerous deceptions, lies and cases of pure propaganda that you were fed before the vote. I can prove to you – that the councillors who fed you false information are ignorant of many of the key facts of the conflict and the true nature of the BDS movement they support.

Feel free to contact me at david@tillescentral.com to either ask questions or arrange for me to come and talk to you.

What occurred at your meeting cannot stand and must not go unanswered. You stood in solidarity with terrorists – and warmongers – not Palestinians and peacemakers. This blatantly antisemitic decision must be reversed at the first possible opportunity.

Sincerely

David Collier
Antisemitism campaigner and investigative journalist
MSc Governance and Ethics

 

 


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40 thoughts on “Reject Antisemitism – an open letter to all the Lancaster City Councillors

  1. It will be interesting to see if you get a response of some any kind that is even vaguely relevant to the issue

    Their motion was, and is, an ignorant politically correct knee jerk action to try score ‘brownie’ points with the left wing woke mob that conceal their Antisemitism behind the insidious cloak of anti-Israel anti-Zionism

  2. It would be a great help to readers if articles like this wouldn’t assume that the reader knows what geographic region you’re talking about. I grew up in Phila., Penna. Lancaster, Penna. is about 70 miles west of Philly. But it was named for Lancaster, England. And when I enter “Lancaster” into Google Maps, it informs me that there are Lancasters in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California, Ohio, and Texas. Admittedly, near the end of the 4th paragraph, you do finally mention the UK. But would it have been that hard to reword your title to, “an open letter to all the Lancaster, UK City Councillors”?

  3. More pathetic moaning from a supporter of Zionist racist Israel with one of the most brutal regimes on earth. David Collier even has the nerve to claim that Israel is a democratic State, when in fact it is a repressive apartheid State with one of the best equipped terrorist forces in the world, which ships in Zionist settlers from everywhere to displace and terrorise indigenous Palestinians.

    BDS, a non-violent project to pressurise Israel into behaving humanely, is effective in encouraging the world to use its influence on Israel to change it’s brutal ways. This is why fanatical Zionists such as Collier object to it’s increasing adoption by institutions and authorities who should be congratulated not criticised for trying to alleviate the suffering and repression of Palestinians.

    1. Hello Jack. Most of your team mates have now abandoned this tactic of saying “it’s Zionist, not Jews” since the UK & US Islamists started screaming for Jewish blood, the rape of Jewish women and girls and violence against Jewish religious figures. How come you are still stubbornly maintaining the pretence?

        1. The Arabs colonised Palestine, or the Holy Land as they called it, not the Jews, who are the indigenous people. If you knew anything, Jack T – which you clearly don’t – you’d know that most Jews, Israeli or Diaspora, are Zionists..and they ain’t going anywhere, SO SUCK IT UP.

          1. Erin, Jews and Arabs are both semitic and are both inigenous to Palestine, Zionists are NOT and were not welcomed as colonisers by either Jews or Arabs who knew very well they would just bring trouble and boy have they been proven to be right.

            By the so called Diaspora, if you mean Zionists from Europe and the USA etc., the vast majority have NO connection to Palestine and are simply settler colonisers using religion as an excuse to steal land and homes from Palestinians.

            As one of the American settlers said on film to a Palestinian woman whose house he had stolen by force “if I don’t steal your house, someone else will steal it”

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piIgkqPmI-w

            Are you proud of thieves like that who steal in the name of Judaism? Many Jews are not and are speaking out against Zionists who are bringing shame on the Jewish religion by attempting to use it to justify their crimes.

            You and others on here can scoff all you like but you know I am right and as Avigail Abarbanel said, “Zionism is a mental illness, the delusion that you have rights which do not exist”

        2. Hello Jack, I’ll take that as a “Yes, it’s about Jews.”

          Honestly, you didn’t really have much choice but to come clean once the Islamists blew your cover and started screaming for Jewish blood. Do you guys not confer on these things ?

    2. Jack T is blatantly out of his depth. Israel is less brutal than most of its neighbours. They have expelled their Jews while Israel is 20% Arab, is the most democratic state in the region, with the most freedom of expression, the most religious freedom, the least gender inequality, the least refugees fleeing from it, and the least executions.

    3. Classic antisemitic bilge: the 3 DS: Demonization, Delegitimization, Double standards. Congrats, you scored all 3.

    4. Haven’t really felt your absence, aren’t interested in your bleating, but it’s good to have the Game of Trolls throne on this board being filled by a schmuck like you.

      1. When commenting here, I always have to bear in mind that I’m dealing with a buch of people who according to Avgail Abarbanel, have a mental illness. You can therefore understand if have zrero regard for your unhinged comments and merely post here in case any sane readers stumble across this racist blog.

        1. Unfortunately but not surprisingly considering that you are a stupid person, I know who Avgail Asshole is, which is why I actually smiled widely at reading your latest tea cup-pinky effort to look like you have brains or class. It’s not working. And being a priggish snot doesn’t make you sane Jack-off. It makes you BORING.

  4. Brilliant, David. I hope you get a positive response because if this doesn’t shame the deplorable, ignorant bigots then nothing well. Of course, it begs the question: are we even dealing with human beings?

      1. Our new friend Jack seems to have filled the void left by former trolls Michael, Bruce, Chrjs and others. They too came, placed their slogans and buzzwords and ultimately ran out of steam. Let’s see how long the latest incarnation lasts here.

        1. Well, so far he doesn’t desperately want to sodomize Jeremy Corbyn (ruling him out as the new Mike), he appears to only have one personality albeit a shitty one (so that’s a no for a new Bruce), and he isn’t creaming himself over Nazis (that makes him a non-successor to Chris, Sigerico, and a few others I’m not going to name here). So Jack-off is worthless, but also boring. Not much of an adversary.

          1. Hats off to Bellers though, ever more gnomic with his contributions but nearly a decade of coming here every week to remind us how totally not-arsed he is about coming here. Provocation on the cheap but at least it’s regular.

    1. Cheers Bellers. That’s a couple of extra shekels in the JC’s sky-rocket from your clicks, just to have a poke at me. I feel like I’ve done my bit for the day.

      Time for a brew.

                1. You were quite specific about the address on Rothschild, Bellers, but you didn’t clarify in which city. Those of us that know them, appreciate the difference. Mind you, there’s also the one in Petah Tikva and in Kfar Saba.

                  If you’re gonna poke me, at least use some precision. It’s almost like you can’t be arsed.

                2. DUMB BELLamy,

                  “”whivh” one would you prefer to get banged up in ?”

                  – Gaza
                  – Ramallah
                  – Nablus
                  – Bagdadh
                  – Faluja
                  – Tehran
                  – Dublin

                    1. Classic Bellers.

                      Got a 2003 Joutube film to copy/paste?

                      Go on. You know you want to.

  5. JackT

    You are still too much of a coward to use your full name by hiding behind an alias

    I’ve called you an Antisemite before, and I still stand by that.
    Your obsession with the only Jewish state in the world says it all.

    The Syrians kill their civilians with gay abandon, including thousands of Palestinians; and not a word from you.
    The Chinese imprison hundreds of thousands
    of Uighurs, have occupied Tibet since the late 1940’s and are committing a cultural genocide against Tibetans; and not a peep from you.
    Turkey, Morocco, Russia and all over Africa, and the list goes on. Occupation, cultural genocide, mass murders, and on it goes all over the world; and all you’re interested in is the alledged wrong doing of Israel

    I call you an Antisemetic Racist Bigot because
    of your unhealthy obsession with the Israel ??, the only Jewish ✡State in the world

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