Tag: Israel

anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK, USA

Stabbings, the Mufti and Enid Blyton – the week that was

As a child, I remember with fondness, reading and re-reading the adventures of Jo, Bessie, Fanny and Dick (the names changed in later editions for reasons that are not totally clear to me), who were four children living near a magical tree that took them to strange and wondrous lands. These stories of course were in Blyton’s tales of the ‘Enchanted Wood’. Today, somewhere in … Continue reading Stabbings, the Mufti and Enid Blyton – the week that was

David6 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, extremism on campus, The I/P conflict, UK

An open letter to Theresa May, Home Secretary of the UK

Rt Hon Theresa May MP I spent the weekend of the 17 and 18th October 2015 at the School for African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) to attend a conference. SOAS was one of the specific universities “named and shamed” as an institution that gives a platform to extremists. The conference was the 10th Annual Conference of the SOAS Palestine Society titled ‘Settler and Citizens: A … Continue reading An open letter to Theresa May, Home Secretary of the UK

David3 Comments
anti-Semitism, The I/P conflict

The Arab with the knife and the murder of the Jew. Over 100 years of excuses

During the height of the second Intifada, the media and politicians in general were adamant, only total desperation could cause one human being to walk onto a bus full of innocent civilians and blow himself up. This twisted logic unashamedly blames the victims for the act of violence that kills them and removes personal responsibility from the terrorist. It is also a logic that only … Continue reading The Arab with the knife and the murder of the Jew. Over 100 years of excuses

David22 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK

My weekend with the antisemites (and 2 Zionists) at Exeter

I have just returned from Exeter, where the university held a 3-day conference discussing ‘Settler Colonialism in Palestine’. Far smaller and less organised than the conference that the University of Southampton cancelled, this collection of anti-Zionists ranged from well- known ‘academics’ from the US, Beirut and Australia to several ‘wannabees’ currently working on research at Exeter; these ‘wannabees’ are Ilan Pappe’s academic children. I always … Continue reading My weekend with the antisemites (and 2 Zionists) at Exeter

David6 Comments
BDS, The I/P conflict, UK

The anti-Zionist Exeter conference

Over the last two days, it became abundantly clear exactly how far off base the JLC is, how removed they are from events on the ground, and how little they understand the anti-Zionist argument developing within the extreme left. I am now certain they are stuck in the 1980’s, when Europeans still went to the Kibbutz and people romanticised over Entebbe. The idea that the … Continue reading The anti-Zionist Exeter conference

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humour

Trouble on Mars, urgent meeting of General Assembly

Trouble on Mars (satire) Following the announcement that water has been found on Mars, the Palestinian delegation to the UN has asked for an emergency session of the General Assembly to discuss what they claim is a clear infringement of their basic human rights. The Palestinian spokesman has declared that the Palestinians were on Mars first, that the water is historically theirs and NASA are … Continue reading Trouble on Mars, urgent meeting of General Assembly

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anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK, USA

The festering swamp of anti-Zionism

I personally dislike sweeping statements and generalisations. It is unfortunately true in a world in which you need to occupy someone’s attention with 140 characters of less, nobody has any time for clarification, but real world issues tend to be complex and nothing is ever absolute. An absolute statement I see repeated often in the I/P argument is that anti-Zionism is antisemitism; a theory born … Continue reading The festering swamp of anti-Zionism

David2 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict

My Yom Kippur with Max Blumenthal

Having spent a July evening listening to Max Blumenthal at his book launch for his written account of last year’s conflict between Gaza and Israel, it then became a struggle to find an opportunity to read the book itself. I engage anything and everything on the Israel / Arab conflict and usually it is critical to do so with internet access close at hand as … Continue reading My Yom Kippur with Max Blumenthal

David3 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK

You do not confront anti-Semitism by waving a white flag

Imagine if you can, a marketplace of ideas in a small city somewhere on the coast in South West England. The owners of this market by law must ensure free trade, free that is for as long as it does not promote violent extremism. Within this market are people who despise the Jewish state, creating for themselves a corner of the market, refusing to deal … Continue reading You do not confront anti-Semitism by waving a white flag

David2 Comments
Uncategorized

The Palestinians, 100 years of catastrophic mismanagement

It is 100 years since the Ottomans ruled the Middle East region, and today Israel is the single oasis of freedom in a bubbling regional mess. Anyone, who like I have, has grappled with the complex history of the Israel/Arab conflict, must have spent long periods attempting to unravel the events that were to bring about such suffering on both sides of the great divide. … Continue reading The Palestinians, 100 years of catastrophic mismanagement

David1 Comment