I start with an apology. This blog is one that I am forced to write. The trigger is a survey that the Board of Deputies is trying to put together. One I feel poses a real threat to our community. Over the last few weeks I have tried in vain to open a dialogue with the Board of Deputies. I have not been alone in … Continue reading The Board of Deputies don’t want us to talk about their survey
For those who missed the first part of this research into Yachad UK, you can catch up with it here. In the second part of the series, I will look at the core politics and activities of Yachad, and analyse the reason for the frustration and hostility the group generates amongst mainstream British Zionists. In many ways attacking Yachad is exactly what Yachad want you … Continue reading So this is Yachad (UK) – part two: a borrowed ideology
Yachad have been an element of my research for two years. There is discomfort in writing about them, because they are, on the surface, representing a legitimate position. Despite my opposition to their core political argument, I focus on exposing Israel’s enemies, not criticising Zionists I disagree with. As Yachad’s Director Hannah Weisfeld just showed us all, with her astonishingly hypocritical attack on ‘Im Tirtzu’s’ … Continue reading So this is Yachad – part one: astroturf and magic tricks
After the events of last weekend, when the Hezbollah flag was raised in London, spending an evening at a rally with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) seemed positively benign. How wrong I was. 08 July 2016. Richmond Terrace, London SW1A. An area directly opposite Downing Street that is used for demonstrations. It is two years since the 2014 Israel–Hamas conflict, and today the PSC dusted … Continue reading From Hezbollah to Hamas. The PSC rally at Downing Street
An open letter to Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers. Copy also sent by email on 22/05/2016. This letter follows on from the original complaint of 16/5 and the NUT response on 18/5. 21/05/2016 Dear Christine Blower Firstly, thank you for your response to my email. However, your letter, including the statement from the PSC, is so absurd that … Continue reading An open response to the National Union of Teachers
Israel and the Two State Solution. If not now when? For decades Israel has been caught in a violent catch 22, with people outside of the immediate conflict zone, working to toxify the environment. The two state scenario has proven to be a rabbit hole that simply perpetuates an already complex situation. This has allowed space for the radical terrorist groups to repackage themselves as … Continue reading Israel. The two-stage solution
It has been a year now since I changed strategy and began to go to events that are held in the name of the ‘Palestinian cause’. I joined many activist groups and have met with 1000’s of self-declared pro Palestinian activists. Some of those I have had long exchanges with are the ‘stars’ of BDS activism. In only the last ten days, I have been … Continue reading What is a ‘pro Palestinian’?
During these weeks across the UK, universities are holding ‘Israeli apartheid week’. I have sat and viewed with revulsion as images have emerged of students on campus being fed raw radical Islamic propaganda. It has turned into a show, with each of the universities trying to outdo each other. This year Cambridge received praise for placing a military checkpoint in the centre of the Sidgwick … Continue reading Israeli Apartheid week: The shame of UK students
These days, barely an hour goes by without a piece of news about the brutal ‘Israeli occupation’. 1000’s of outlets, whether NGOs, reputable media sources or random blogs, have their output disseminated on social media by an active group of people who simply hate Israel. With this crowd displaying an insatiable thirst for the gruesome and inhumane, market pressures result in a spiral towards higher … Continue reading The ‘schizophrenia’ of Palestinian NGOs
For anyone living outside of Israel and opposed to the delegitimization of Zionism, it is difficult not to be aware of the movement called Breaking the Silence (BTS). The boycott movement against Israel frequently use their material, the anti-Zionist groups on campus show their video clips on a loop and left wing political Zionist groups cling on to their skirt tails and refer to them … Continue reading A silence worth breaking, the reservists fight back
An open letter to Hannah Weisfeld, Director of ‘Yachad’. Hannah, I apologise for having to write this letter. I do not care for internal UK Jewish politics nor tend to involve myself in the arguments and machinations that surround it. My stance is and will remain focused on attacking those that delegitimize Israel. You are right when you state nobody can claim a monopoly on … Continue reading Hannah, are we really ‘Yachad’?
I do tend to write about most of the events that I go to, but walking into a room full of people who do not spend their time spreading lies about Israel is an odd circumstance for me. So despite the serious nature of the BBC Watch events this week, it was a refreshing experience and in an odd way I could relax; I was … Continue reading BBC – Guilty as charged
I didn’t get to go to and see the talk last month by Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice at Gresham College, but having watched the performance on video, I made certain I was going to be there for the second event. Whilst last night’s speech was focused mainly with the events on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, the first speech had been a more general discussion … Continue reading How Gresham College turned history and justice upside down
It is 27/10/2015 and I am at 1 Parliament St for a ’roundtable event’ organised by the Palestine Return Council and hosted by Gerald Kaufman. I had not been to one of these before and therefore had no idea what to expect, but as all the names on the invitation were hostile to Israel, I was hoping for a little excitement. However, even I did … Continue reading Jewish money. An evening with the PRC, Kaufman and classic antisemitic libels
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
