Michael Coren with Douglas Murray: the future for Jews in Britain

How did anti-Semitism return to the very nations that pledged never to repeat it?

"How, then, did anti-Semitism return to the very nations that pledged never to repeat it? The cynical answer is that it never died, it merely went underground. There is a shred of truth to this, but very small. As a line of reasoning, it is deeply misleading. For the new anti-Semitism is only secondarily aimed at Jews as individuals. Its real target is Jews as a nation – in Israel."

Strange but typical reasoning.  European Jews believe that Europeans like them.  Antisemitism is just a huge misunderstanding and all is needed is more explaining and yet more explaining.  Indeed we need more explaining and all will be sweet and light.

Source: EJP (Those who deny Jews or Israel their freedom will lose, or fail to gain, their own, By Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth)

For the Jews of Europe, these are the best of times and the worst of times. Take British Jewry as an example.

In the past 20 years we have built more Jewish day schools than ever before in our 355-year history. Culturally, a community deemed moribund a generation ago boasts a cultural center, a community center in the making, Jewish Book Weeks, arts, music and film festivals, and an adult-education event – Limmud – that has inspired offshoots in 50 other centers throughout the Jewish world.

Jews have achieved prominence in every field. Both parliamentary speakers, in the Commons and the Lords, are Jewish. We have had, in recent years, two Jewish lord chief justices, Jewish heads of Oxford and Cambridge, a Jewish editor of The Times and Jewish leaders of both the Conservative and Labour parties. Not only are Jews respected, but so is Judaism. The Jewish moral voice has become a significant part of the national conversation.

THESE ARE astonishing achievements. But they are clouded by the disturbing phenomenon of a new anti-Semitism spreading like a virus across Europe. This cries out for explanation. After all, after the Holocaust, if there was one thing on which people of goodwill throughout the world agreed, it was: Never again.

The entire post-war culture of the West – of the world – was tilted in that direction. Out of the determination that there should never be another Holocaust came the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights, the concept of a “crime against humanity,” the idea that racism is a vice, the movement for interfaith dialogue, and the historic shift in Christianity known as Vatican II, Nostra Aetate.

Unholy Money, Unholy Lies: Swedish Diakonia and the UK Methodists

Source: Sweden, Israel and the Jews 

As we reported last year, in 2010 the Swedish government was funneling 800 million SEK ($111.5 mil USD) to organizations like Diakonia, a church NGO which also sponsors anti-Israel activism. Some of the funds also find their way via Diakonia and other organizations (such as SIDA) to terror-linked organizations in Gaza and the West Bank, or may be squandered through corruption and mismanagement.  As we noted regarding the Israel delegitimization efforts of these NGOs:

“In Sweden, these campaigns are a large part the contribution of aid to the Palestinians. This political lobbying is clearly not meant to get the Palestinians to the negotiation table, recognizing the Jewish state or stopping terrorism. It is solely about making Israel into a pariah state.  The top agenda items for these government-funded campaigns are: questioning Israel’s right to exist, forcing territorial concessions, and putting all the blame of the conflict on Israel.”

It must be pointed out that although Sweden is large part of this campaign as a major international donor, it is not alone. There is a linkage with other countries through Christian Aid and its activist recruiting partner Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). These international organizations work to delegitimize Israel through fund-raising and propaganda. In the UK most churches (with the notable exception of pro-Israel evangelical Christians) support Christian Aid and its agenda.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, whose representative recently visited Malmö in an attempt to promote tolerance, published a blog post which takes the UK Methodists—probably the most radical of major UK churches—to task for an article published on the official Methodist website by a church official.  The main point of the article, which purports to give Jewish and Muslim perspectives on Israel and Palestine, is that Jews use Holocaust education to justify Israel’s existence. It also complains that non-European Jewish students are being indoctrinated about an event which had nothing to do with them.

EU foreign policy: intrusive and paternalistic

"European states do not agree on much. But the EU, as manipulated by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, does agree on at least a few things, “peace,” oil, and eliminating pesky problems, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict. There is little domestic price to be paid for anti-Israel policies in European nations and none at all at the EU level. Quite the contrary, the conceit of “peace,” to be realized almost exclusively through Israeli concessions, is an unquestioned ideology.  Like the UN, EU foreign policy directorates are staffed with internationalist true believers who are paid to moralize and not consider the interests of member states, much less those of Israel. European states may be broke and the union in disarray about virtually everything, but pressure on Israel and the “peace process” is a convenient source of reconciliation." 

Ynet: Op-ed: EU foreign policy directorates staffed with internationalist true believers paid to moralize, by Alex Joffe

European relations with Israel are in flux after the signing of the Palestinian reconciliation deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting European counterparts to shore up support for a series of red lines regarding negotiations with a new Palestinian government, namely the recognition of Israel and renunciation of violence. This has met with predictably limited success.

A certain amount of bilateral duplicity is expected in Israeli relations with European countries. British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Netanyahu and then called on Hamas to reject violence, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and to join in negotiations. But this was immediately undercut by an “unnamed senior diplomatic source” who threatened that Britain would recognize a unilaterally declared Hamas-Fatah state if Israel did not make “substantive progress” – meaning major concessions – to the same Palestinian Authority that has refused to negotiate for more than a year.

Netanyahu claimed to have secured similar assurances from French President Nicholas Sarkozy, and similar threats were made by Foreign Ministry sources about French recognition of a Palestinian unilateral declaration of independence.

Both Cameron and Sarkozy need to pander to substantial Muslim electorates, as well as to non-Muslim voters who are, in the uniquely European fashion, dedicated to pacifism at all cost, particularly Israel’s. But there is another level altogether that should be addressed, the European Union and its foreign policy, as embodied by Catherine Ashton.

European foreign policy is a vast new institution. The “European External Action Service” is the diplomatic corps and foreign ministry of the EU, directed by former British Labor Party apparatchik Catherine Ashton. It has a proposed budget of almost $8.3 billion and will have a staff of 7,000 spread out in 137 missions around the world. European Union foreign policy is a mechanism in search of a problem.

Fashion: John Galliano arrested for alleged anti-semitic remarks and assault

Source: Vogue (Galliano Arrested?)

British fashion desigver John Galliano has been arrested for an alleged assault, reports on international news agency ATP, via the BBC, suggest this morning.

The Christian Dior creative director was reportedly apprehended in Paris for assault as well as alleged anti-Semitic remarks.

AFP: Le couturier John Galliano interpellé à Paris pour insultes antisémites
..

Brussels: Guardian journalist attempted to arrest Avigdor Lieberman

This is how The Guardian writes about its own journalist. 

Israeli foreign minister accused of apartheid in attempted citizen's arrest
Avigdor Lieberman targeted in Brussels by journalist David Cronin, who previously tried to arrest Tony Blair for war crimes

An Irish journalist has attempted a citizen's arrest of the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, outside a meeting of the EU-Israel Association council in Brussels.

"Mr Lieberman, this is a citizen's arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid. Please accompany me to the nearest police station," David Cronin told the Israeli minister as he entered the press room of the European council.

Cronin, a freelance journalist who has written for the Economist, the Inter Press Service news agency and the Guardian's Comment is Free, was restrained by security guards and escorted from the building, shouting "Free Palestine".

It is not the first time Cronin, a member of the Brussels press corps since 1998, has attempted such a manoeuvre. Last March he placed his arm on Tony Blair and announced that the former prime minister was under citizen's arrest for his role in the invasion of Iraq.

On that occasion, his press pass was revoked but returned after a warning. The reporter was released without charge after the latest incident . However, Cronin reports that the head of security for the council has informed him that this time the pass will be permanently revoked.

"He told me: 'If you come into my house, you have to behave yourself.' It's a price I'm willing to pay though. Apartheid – the domination by one racial group over another – has been recognised as a crime by the UN since 1973. Israel is an apartheid state, both in the occupied territories and in Israel itself."

Cronin, the author of a new book on EU-Israel relations, returned last week from a tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories organised by the Jimmy Carter Centre and bookshops in Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Jerusalem.

Yoel Mester, a spokesman for the Israeli mission to the EU, said the ambassador will not be pressing for tighter security for future visits of Israeli dignitaries. "This was utterly uncivilised, in bad taste. But Israel, like the EU, is very supportive of free speech. It's just a shame that some people take advantage of that freedom sometimes."  He characterised the 39-year-old journalist as "obviously obsessed with Israel; judging by what he's written, a dedicated anti-Israel activist".

- Guardian journalist shouts anti-Israel slogans at Avigdor Lieberman press conference at EU

Guardian journalist shouts anti-Israel slogans at Avigdor Lieberman press conference at EU

BRUSSELS (EJP)---A Irish journalist shouted “Free Palestine” ,“Israel apartheid state” and “Apartheid is a crime” at the start of a press conference by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman with EU officials in Brussels on Tuesday.

Approaching the minister, he shouted: “Mister Lieberman this is a critizen’s arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid”.

The man, David Cronin, who writes for several newspapers including The Guardian, The Irish Times and European Voice, was immediately removed from the EU Council press room by security guards.

He reportedly provoked the same kind of incident at a press conference by EU Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair at the European Parliament last year.

“If he is a journalist accreditated to the EU, his press card will be confiscated,” one EU official told EJP.

In November, he published a book titled “Europe’s Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation.”

Lieberman attended in Brussels the 10th meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council, the body governing the relations between the two sides.

At the press conference were also Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, whose country currently chairs the EU, and Stefan Fulle, EU Commissioner responsible for Enlargment and Neighborhood Policy.

When European leaders criticise Islam Israel-bashing comes next

After British P.M. David Cameron speech about multiculturalism (i.e. Islam), British Foreign Minister William Hague has harsh words against Israel.  This pattern is repeated time after time.

"The British and other European governments would be well-advised to put more real effort into improving the situation on the ground instead of just taking the backseat and leaving Israel, the only democracy in the region, alone. Talk is cheap, but action is what we need." (Ronald Lauder)

(EJP) --- The World Jewish Congress expressed disappointment about comments made this week by British Foreign Minister William Hague on the Middle East and Israel, calling them "one-sided".

In an interview with The Times in London, Hague said Israel should tone down what he tered its "belligerent" language amid the revolutionary tide sweeping the Arab world, when he was asked to comment recent statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the situation in Egypt.

In a meeting earlier this week with a visting delegation of European parliamentarians, Netanyahu spoke of the possibility that the Islamists in Egypt would exploit the situation in order to gain governance over the country and lead it backwards, in fact warning that Egypt could become a new Iran. He said Israel had to be prepared for "any outcome" in Egypt and "to reinforce its might".

William Hague was quoted by the British newspaper as saying that "this should not be a time for belligerent language".

"It's a time to inject greater urgency into the Middle East peace process," he added.  He also demanded that the Obama administration give a timetable for bringing "greater urgency into the peace process" and for a peace settlement to be based on the borders prior to 1967.

On Wednesday World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder issued a strong statement on Hague’s comments. "Putting undue political pressure on Israel alone, completely neglecting its vital security interests, is counterproductive and unhelpful,” he said, criticizing Europe's political leaders "who on an almost daily basis go around the Middle East lecturing the Israelis about what they should do, and that they should do it now."

The French notice how "viscerally anti-Israel" the Guardian is

Even the French realise that the Guardian's hostility to Israel is unparalled in Europe.  Luc Rosenzweig writes in the influencial French blog "Causeur" that :

"the Guardian is the most viscerally anti-Israel newspaper published outside the Arab-Muslim world".

Surely this statement must mean something coming from  France where the media is pretty hostile to Israel too.  But the Guardian seems to surpass everybody.

Le souk des fuites diplomatiques, Qui veut tuer les négociations au Moyen Orient ?

Recommended:
- http://cifwatch.com/ - Monitoring and exposing antisemitism on the Guardian newspaper's 'Comment is Free' blog.

- British Foreign office, BBC, European liberal-left devastated by leaked revelations on Israeli settlements, Guardian furious at “weak” and “craven” Palestinian leadership, Robin Shepherd

- The Guardian, Jonathan Freedland and Karma Nabulsi: now we know... (Simply Jews)

A Bertrand Russell 'tribunal' to try philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy for warmongering, unbridled imperialism and Zionism etc.

The kangaroo court was created at the initiative an anti-Zionist political party "Les Indigènes de la République" to judge French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy. The "charges" against the philosopher are as follows:

- Advocacy of unbridled imperialism and Zionism
- Intellectual dishonesty, as a characteristic of the errors of philosophy, the accumulation of capital and power
- False accusation of an imaginary crime against Iran
- Warmongering and advocating humanitarian imperialism
- Aiding in the creation and promotion of SOS Racisme with a view to silencing autonomous movements of immigration
- Dissemination of false news likely to sow discord between Christian and Muslim religious communities.

The trial is due to take place in Paris on 28 January. 

This initiative is a pure product of what is happening in Europe.  Among the witnesses one finds British/Pakistani historian Tarik Ali and a Belgian teacher of the prestigious European School, Pierre Piccinin.  Another much respected Belgian, Pierre Galand [1]created a kangaroo court to try Israel ... using Bertrand Russell's name too - the Belgian Russell Tribunal on Palestine.

More in French here

[1] "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU"

We can't rely on Europe, warns Israel ambassador

"When push comes to shove, no-one in Israel really thinks that Europe will come to its aid." After Frits Bolkestein's warning, here comes another similar warning.
 
"A stark warning that Israel cannot rely on the support of European leaders in the battle against the deligitimisation and demonisation of the Jewish state was issued this week by Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor.

Source: Jewish Chronicle

At a packed meeting at London's New West End Synagogue, the envoy warned: "When push comes to shove, no-one in Israel really thinks that Europe will come to its aid."

He lambasted politicians who felt they were taking a sufficiently principled stand by simply stating that Israel had "a right to exist."  If he had found it necessary to state that Britain has a right to exist ,"people would wonder what I had been drinking?" he declared.

The ambassador also slated those who professed Israel's right to defend its people, yet took every opportunity to criticise it over actions such as the war against missile attacks, or the building of the anti-terror wall.

Israel, he said, was facing a "new kind of warfare," aimed at attempting to cast it out of the family of nations. "Our adversaries are crossing the line every day. There is more pressure, more demonisation."  It was also important to state, he said, that the international campaign in favour of a Palestinian right of return "would not result in a two-state solution but in the destruction of the state of Israel.""

More HERE

Positively Moore-ish - Charles Moore on Israel, its Foes, and the Battle for Public Opinion

"All I want to ask my fellow Europeans is this: are you happy to help direct the world's fury at the only country in the Middle East whose civilisation even remotely resembles yours? And are you sure that the fate of Israel has no bearing on your own?"

Source: Daphne Anson

There are two observations that some historians make about post-Reformation Britain. The first is that the sixteenth-century abolition of Romanish superstitions and of medieval cults such as that of “Little St Hugh”, the boy allegedly ritually murdered by Jews at Lincoln and venerated as a martyr, and that century’s introduction of the Bible in the vernacular into parish churches, prepared the way for the philosemitism that underlay Cromwell’s decision formally to admit Jews to England in 1656. The second is that antipathy to the Church of Rome and its adherents has always been far stronger in modern Britain than antipathy to Jews; in other words, that anti-Catholicism has been the British equivalent of continental antisemitism.

I believe this interpretation of British history to be broadly true, and we might perhaps cite the so-called 1904 Limerick “pogrom” (an exaggeration, to be sure, since it lacked bloodshed), which entailed rioting and a mass boycott of Jewish shopkeepers following a local priest’s ranting that Jews were usurious “leeches”, as an example of Catholic prejudice in the non-Protestant component of the United Kingdom.

Nevertheless, since Pope John XXIII’s Nostra Aetete document of 1961, which absolved Jews from the “deicide” calumny and asserted that Jews “should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God”, there have been Roman Catholics – such as the late Irish-born Father William Smith, who headed Australia’s Institute of Social Order, and the Sisters of Sion – who have worked tirelessly to forge robust links with Jewry.

This photograph shows the non-Catholic judeophile Margaret Thatcher (remember her attachment to the former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jakobovits, and to the Conservative Party intellectual Sir Keith Joseph, and how her Cabinet was jocularly said – by a former prime minister, Harold Macmillan – to contain “more Old Estonians than Old Etonians”?) in Rome last year; flanking her are two notable judeophile British Catholics – on her right, former New Statesman editor Paul Johnson, an acclaimed historian of Jewry, and on her left, former Daily Telegraph and Spectator editor Charles Moore.

I’d like to share with you extracts from some of the superb articles that Mr Moore, who writes an occasional op-ed piece for the Telegraph, has written – they are magnificent in the case they make for traduced and beleaguered Israel, and deserve to be more widely known. Please note especially Moore's observations on Israel's poor PR efforts, which I quote at the end.

‘As a boy ... I cheered as Israeli courage swept away the outnumbering Arabs who tried to destroy it again and again. I bought books about the Six-Day War, many of which carried pictures of glamorous female Israeli soldiers.

But then a different narrative supervened. People called "the Palestinians" began to be mentioned. Once upon a time, the word "Palestinian" had no national meaning; it was simply the description on any passport of a person living in British-mandated Palestine. During the 19 years to 1967 when Jordan governed the West Bank, the people there had no self-rule, and no real name. UN Resolution 242, which calls for Israel to leave territories it occupied in 1967, does not mention Palestinians; it speaks only of "Arab refugees". Palestinian nationality came along, as it were, after the fact, a nationality largely based on grievance.

Exhibition at Paris Museum of Modern Art: parallel between Nazi camp/Gaza Strip

"Seen from Europe, it is not because the frightening reality of the Nazi concentration camps began on the soil of our continent ["our continent" is Europe where six million Jews were industrially exterminated, of which 1.5 million children], that we can now accept the reality of what has become in 60 years, with the radicalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a genuine Palestinian internment camp at the gates of Israel." (Edouard Carmignac) 

"To journalists outraged by the infamous parallel Nazi camp / Gaza Strip Carmignac Gestion protested without arguing or convincing."
 
Honest Reporting report on Kai Wiedenhöfer: Getty Images Awards Photo Bias
 
Source: Véronique Chemla (« Gaza 2010 » de Kai Wiedenhöfer)

The prestigious museum of Modern Art of Paris is showing an exhibition by German photographer Kai Wiedenhöfer entitled "Gaza 2010".  Kai Wiedenhöfer, a photographer with Lookat Photos in Switzerland, was awarded  the first ever the "Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Prize".  The Prize was created in 2009 by the Luxembourg/French fund manager Carmignac Gestion and the first theme was Gaza after the Lead Cast operation.  Vivienne Walt, of Time Magazine, was a member of the jury.  The prize comprises EURO 50,000 for further work on Gaza, an exhibition, a book, published by Steidl Publishers (from the U.K. [1]- making it a truly pan-European enterprise) and a deluxe catalogue The Book of the Destruction Gaza – One Year After the 2009 War offered to journalists at the exhibition opening together with … a 20-page summury of the Goldstone report in French.  And lots of exposure.

French journalist Véronique Chemla has made an harrowing account of the exhibition. 

The head of the Carmignac fund, Edouard Carmignac, explained the reasons behind the choice (unauthorised translation):

"It is unacceptable for the victims of one of the most terrible tragedies of the century to remain virtually forgotten and abandoned by all.

Seen from Europe, it is not because the frightening reality of the Nazi concentration camps began on the soil of our continent, that we can now accept the reality of what has become in 60 years, with the radicalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a genuine Palestinian internment camp at the gates of Israel.

Israel lynching tribunal coming to the United States in 2011 (Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Belgium)

Created in Brussels, the capital of Europe, by Pierre Galand (NGO Special Report (2004): "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU"), the "kangoroo court" was launched in Belgium (where it was created and launched in Belgium and held its first session in Barcelona, will be in London in November, in South Africa mid 2011 and in the United States end 2011.  Yet another European (Belgian to be precise) contribution to Peace.

Source: Harry's Place (Amnesty, Law Society Hosts Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Alan A, October 30th 2010)

On Monday 8 November, the Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre will host a meeting on the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. That meeting will feature Ewa Jasiewicz who is billed as a “Member of UK Committee”

Ewa Jasiewicz was the spokeswoman who justified the desecration of the Warsaw Ghetto earlier this year:

The Tribunal will then hold its full session at the Law Society on 20-22 November. It will feature such luminaries as John Dugard, Ronald Kasrils, Mike Mansfield, and the conspiracy theorist and kook, Cynthia McKinney.
"I had a mother to call me because her son had a very gruesome task. Her son’s charge by the Department of Defense was to process 5,000 bodies that had received a single bullet wound to the head. And these were mostly males and her son was afraid to talk because he had signed a silence agreement. So he only complained to his mother. But the data about these individuals was entered into a Pentagon computer and then, reportedly, the bodies were dumped in the swamp in Louisiana. This is as a result of the tragedy of hurricane Katrina. Now I have verification from insiders who wish to remain anonymous at the Red Cross that this is true."
________
Jonathan Hoffman : Please protest (especially if you are a lawyer) to the Law Society about them letting their rooms for this Kangaroo Court:
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contactus.law#contactform

- Irish Nobel laureate to 'examine' Israel war crimes in London soon
Raising funds in Belgium for the London session:
- Anti-Israel "Russell tribunal" coming to London from ... Belgium
- Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Betrays Bertrand Russell

Cartoon above: Israel embassy in Spain

U.K., Spain to boycott OECD tourism conference because it’s in Jerusalem

Source: Haaretz, by Irit Rosenblum

Britain and Spain will not send delegates to the OECD’s biannual tourism conference on October 20-22, because it will be held in Jerusalem, Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beiteinu ) said yesterday.

This is only the second time in its history that the conference, which this year will deal with sustainable tourism, is being held outside Paris.

Journalist and blogger Jorge Marirrodriga (Sobre Israel Opinamos Todos) writes that tourism is the main source of revenue in Spain, a country which is going through serious financial trouble deeply affecting the lives of many people.  But still Zapatero's government seems to put the "Palestinian cause" above the tourist sector interests.

Anti-Israel "Russell tribunal" coming to London from ... Belgium

A top Belgian personality, Pierre Galand, President of the Belgian secular movement, advisor to the Rector of the Free University of Brussels, anti-Israel militant and the initiator of the Tribunal Russell on Palestine will be chairing a fund-raising event at the Molière Theatre in Brussels to bring the "Tribunal" to London. (Special NGO Report: "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU")

Professor Eric David, also of the  Free University of Brussels, will be there too.  Eric David is the spiritual father of the calamitous and now defunct Belgian Universal Jurisdiction Law, a.k.a. "a law against justice"... and a top Israel-basher.  (Last week: Jewish students denounce Free Brussels University biased debate on Dieudonné)

From the "Tribunal" blog: "Russell Tribunal on Palestine-What's next?

Less than a week after the Barcelona session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, we now have to use the little energy we have left to start thinking about the future.  And the future is London.

The Barcelona session focused on EU obligations and failings. The London session will focus on corporations profiting from the occupation but also on labour rights in Palestine-Israel and the role third party States play in letting those violations take place.

We do not have a definitive date yet for this session but it should hopefully happen towards the end of 2010. [In fact 20, 21 and 22 November.]

The Barcelona session, thanks to the efforts of everyone was a huge success. Those 3 days were fantastic, media interest in Spain at least was very impressive, the feedback I receive everyday from participants is incredibly encouraging and the findings/conclusions of the jury are groundbreaking. (to read conclusions, click here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27775868/Russell-Tribunal-on-Palestine-findings)

Our goal is for the London session to be even better.  For this, we need the support of everyone. The first step is going to be to raise around £60K [approx. 94,290.2 USD]. You can help by donating online here http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.net/pages/Support_the_Russell_Tribunal_on_Palestine-1152211.html
do also contact me [?] if you know any organisations, foundations, charities, unions, wealthy individuals...that you think might be able to contribute.  Again, our hope is that we will raise those £60K at a "grassroot" level. This is our tribunal. The tribunal of the people.

I'll very much appreciate if you could put me in touch with people, organisations, foundations, charities that you think might be able to help and support our work.  Thanks a million for your help and support."

[1] On the Belgian Universal Jurisdiction Law, see : The Suit Against Sharon in Belgium: A Case Analysis, Manfred Gerstenfeld's interview of Irit Kohn (JCPA)
and
NGO Monitor's report by Anne Herzberg: NGO "LAWFARE" - Exploitation of Courts in the Arab-Israeli Conflict Resort to National Courts: Criminal Prosecutions Belgium: Ariel Sharon and the Limits of Universal Jurisdiction, p.p. 23-27

Tony Blair speaks of European leaders' double standards towards Israel

"Israel lost 1000 citizens to terrorism in the intifada. That equates in UK population terms to 10,000."

"A constant conversation I have with some, by no means all, of my European colleagues is to argue to them: don’t apply rules to the Government of Israel that you would never dream of applying to your own country. In any of our nations, if there were people firing rockets, committing acts of terrorism and living next door to us, our public opinion would go crazy. And any political leader who took the line that we shouldn’t get too excited about it, wouldn’t last long as a political leader. This is a democracy. Israel lost 1000 citizens to terrorism in the intifada. That equates in UK population terms to 10,000. I remember the bomb attacks from Republican terrorism in the 1970’s. There weren’t many arguing for a policy of phlegmatic calm.

So the issue of de-legitimisation is not simply about an overt denial of the State of Israel. It is the application of prejudice in not allowing that Israel has a point of view that should be listened to.

One thing I state repeatedly in interviews about Gaza – despite disagreeing with the previous policy on it – is to say to western media outlets: just at least comprehend why Israel feels as it does. In 2005 it got out of Gaza i.e. ceased occupying it, took over 7000 settlers with it and in return got rockets and terror attacks. Now I know all the counter-arguments about the unilateral nature of the withdrawal, the 2005 Access and Movement agreement and the closure of the crossings. But the fact remains: there is another point of view and you can’t describe it as illegitimate.

This is then hugely heightened by the way things are reported. Here the televisual images – whether in Lebanon, Gaza or indeed any field of conflict – in Afghanistan for example, are so shocking that they tend to overwhelm debate about how or why conflict began. Because Israel – like the US or the UK – has superior force and because in such situations the horrible tragedy is that the innocent die – these images arouse anger, sympathy and a disgust that at one level is completely understandable but at another obscures the difficult choices nations like ours face, when they come under attack."

- Tony Blair welcomes re-start of direct peace talks during Herzliya speech
- Blair: Delegitimization of Israel is affront to humanity

British ambassador to the UN endorsement of Goldstone report

Europeans just can't stop heaping criticism at Israel.

Source: The Jerusalem Post

Israeli officials on Sunday responded harshly to remarks over the Goldstone Commission's report on Operation Cast Lead made by British ambassador to the UN John Sawers, saying that London could become a target of legal action if it decided to back the report. "London, which is also in the midst of a war against terror, could find itself in handcuffs if it supports the document," officials told Army Radio.

After convening a meeting to instruct senior diplomats to refrain from issuing separate statements to the media following the diplomat's interview, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem expressed hope that the remarks reflected his personal opinion only and not London's official stance on the issue. The radio station quoted sources in Jerusalem as saying they believed a consensus that the Goldstone report is not a valid legal document was beginning to crystallize.

In an interview earlier Sunday, Sawers told Army Radio that both Israel and the Palestinian Authority must examine the findings of the report. The report entails "serious information," that raises suspicions that violations took place during the operation, Sawers said. The tactics used by both sides returned to them "like a boomerang," he added.

Sawers said that he was surprised that the PA had asked to defer until March the UN Human Rights Council-planned endorsement of the report. He also expressed dismay in the fact that both sides failed to cooperate with the commission, adding that the report represented this lack of cooperation.

The ambassador asserted that the judicial authority in Israel, like in his home country, is entirely independent, adding that Britain cannot prevent private persons from filing complaints against Israelis. However, he said, Britain is obviously interested in maintaining normal relations with Israeli politicians and military officials that visit the country, insisting that the state would not by any means prevent them from visiting.

In late September, a British court rejected a petition urging an arrest warrant for Defense Minister Ehud Barak on the grounds that he committed "war crimes" during Operation Cast Lead. The court accepted arguments submitted by the British Foreign Office, which said the defense minister was a state guest, and therefore was not subject to such lawsuits. Barak was in Britain for talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth and Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

"We do not intend to let terror win," Barak said in a statement issued by his office. "We will not apologize in any way for our just struggle against terrorism. We will do everything possible so that the representatives of Israel, security officials and soldiers of the IDF will continue to freely travel the world. The theater of the absurd whereby those who defend their citizens need to be on the defensive has to end. Otherwise, the world is likely not only to give a prize to terrorism, but to encourage it."

Herb Keinon contributed to this report.

Why did Ken Loach boycott Melbourne and not Cannes ?

"Why Melbourne and not Cannes? Perhaps because Cannes is a large film festival with an extensive media exposure and the financial issues are too important for even such a committed filmmaker as Ken Loach to ignore, whereas Melbourne is a small film festival where it is easy to play the militant game and perform a great lesson-giving act."

Unauthorised translation of an extract of a piece (Israël, cible de Ken Loach) by Ariel Schweitzer published in Le Monde

"We learned this summer that filmmaker Ken Loach, who was presenting his latest film, Looking for Eric, at the Melbourne Festival, in Australia, had decided to withdraw. Loach wanted to protest against the screening of an Israeli film, The Meaning of Life for $ 9.99, and the fact that travel expenses of the author, Tatia Rosenthal, were being defrayed by an Israeli public institution. Previously, Loach had asked the festival director, Richard Moore, to refuse Israel's financial contribution. Faced with the refusal of the latter, who described Loach's request as "blackmail", the English filmmaker chose to boycott the event. [Melbourne film festival rejects Ken Loach anti-Israel pressure]

This is not the first time that Loach resorts to this method. In May, he succeeded in convincing the management of the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland to refuse the participation of another Israeli filmmaker Tali Shalom-Ezer, whose trip was to be paid by the Israeli embassy. After a lengthy debate, the director came to the festival, but she had to pay for her own travel costs. [Edinburgh film festival refuses Israeli grant due to pressure by Ken Loach]

Ken Loach is free to screen his film where he pleases. It is also his right to protest against the State of Israel and its occupation policies. The problem is the method chosen. For if one follows the Loach's logic, it is reasonable to question the filmmaker's decision to boycott the Melbourne Festival and not, for example, the last Cannes Film Festival where he came to present the same film, Looking for Eric. Indeed, five Israeli films (three long and two short films) were screened at Cannes this year. All supported by Israeli public funds and whose presence at the festival was also supported by institutions in the country.

Why Melbourne and not Cannes? Perhaps because Cannes is a large film festival with an extensive media exposure and the financial issues are too important for even such a committed filmmaker as Ken Loach to ignore, whereas Melbourne is a small film festival where it is easy to play the militant game and perform a great lesson-giving act."

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Tarik Ramadan has show on Iranian TV

"In his essay, Dr Nicholas Kollerstrom argues that the alleged massacre of Jewish people by gassing during World War II was scientifically impossible. The distinguished academic was dismissed on April 22, 2008 without any explanation and a Holocaust conference held on 16-18 May in Berlin refused his article and warned that he would be arrested if he attended the conference and presented his essay. The West punishes people for their scientific research on Holocaust but the same Western countries allow insults to prophets and religious beliefs…" (PressTV)

Dutch site ScienceGuide reveals that Tariq Ramadan has his own show "Islam & Life" on Iranian broadcaster PressTV. On his show Ramadan discusses various social and political issues from an Islamic point of view. According to PressTV this is "A weekly show presented by Tariq Ramadan on the world's fastest growing religion and the daily challenges faced by its followers especially in the West."

The most recent show, for example, was about Islam and art. Recent shows discussed Islam and student involvement, Changing Europe and Islam, Obama and the Muslim world, Islam and science, and the concept of freedom in Islam. All shows are available online.

ScienceGuide reports that Ramadan is joined on his show by British parliament member George Galloway, who was kicked out of the Labour Party for his support of Saddam Hussein, as political commentator.

Dr. Nicholas Kollerstrom, a former astronomer at University College London, who was fired for Holocaust denial, is also on the show. Kollerstrom wrote: "Let us hope the schoolchildren visitors are properly taught about the elegant swimming-pool at Auschwitz, built by the inmates, who would sunbathe there on Saturday and Sunday afternoons while watching the water-polo matches; and shown the paintings from its art class, which still exist; and told about the camp library which had some 45,000 volumes for inmates to choose from, plus a range of periodicals; and the six camp orchestras at Auschwitz/Birkenau, its theatrical performances, including a children’s opera, the weekly camp cinema, and even the special brothel established there."

PressTV says: "In his essay, Dr Nicholas Kollerstrom argues that the alleged massacre of Jewish people by gassing during World War II was scientifically impossible. The distinguished academic was dismissed on April 22, 2008 without any explanation and a Holocaust conference held on 16-18 May in Berlin refused his article and warned that he would be arrested if he attended the conference and presented his essay. The West punishes people for their scientific research on Holocaust but the same Western countries allow insults to prophets and religious beliefs…"

PressTV is fully paid for by the Iranian government. After the recent presidential elections that station became so militant that a British presenter resigned. Nick Ferrari said at the beginning of July: "I imagine they’ve been told what to do, and I can’t reconcile that with working there."

Professor Ramadan continued with his program in the weeks after the election, without any objection or protest against the course of events. ScienceGuide says this is remarkable given that the Iranian government made arrests on university campuses and among colleagues of Ramadan. Ramadan works for the city of Rotterdam as a 'bridge-builder' in the framework of the 'Islam-debates' that the city organizes. Following this report, CDA (Christian-Democratic Appeal) parliament members Jan Jacob van Dijk and Mirjam Sterk turned with questions to the Dutch government, saying Ramadan should not continue as integration advisor to the Rotterdam municipality. Van Dijk says that this is not just a local Rotterdam issue since professor Ramadan is considered a very influential opinion leader in international media and at important universities such as Oxford. The parliament and government have a responsibility towards the content and credibility of the integration debate.

Sources: Islam in Europe and ScienceGuide 1, 2 (Dutch)

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