Posts Tagged ‘Israel’
Humanity Needs A Rallying Point To Stand Against Israel
I have resisted the urge to write about Israel over the past year because it is so painful. Every day I am moved to greater outrage, often to the point of tears. Never has such evil persisted on this planet while it pretends to be a civilised democracy and is shamefully supported by the USA, UK and EU.
I have no hesitation now in supporting a one-state solution where the state of Israel is dissolved and all its former citizens guaranteed full citizenship in the new state of Palestine. This is justice.
Every red line has been crossed. It is an open truth that Netanyahu promotes conflict to evade both an election and his return to face serious criminal charges in court.
My opposition is not to a people, a race or a religion, it is to a nation state, the state that has become a venal, degenerate insult to the human race and to any concept of decent moral standards.
Israel is evil manifested through its political and military leadership. The IDF is its armed enforcer and the world needs a new judgement on what responsibility must be placed on individual soldiers. If the Nuremberg doctrine applies then the list of war criminals in the IDF is almost too long to comprehend.
Western governments are responsible for their support which clearly breaches international law and many treaties. If they are to maintain any moral leadership, they must, without delay, provide the forum through which Israel and its leaders will be held to account.
Of course, I acknowledge the grievous wrongs against the Israeli people and that those responsible must be held to account. Equally, Israel’s criminals must face justice but the state itself is compromised beyond redemption.
I cannot see that it should survive. The Israeli people must be offered equality and protection in the new state of Palestine, which must be guaranteed at the UN.
The Israeli Psychosis. Its Biggest Threat is Itself.
Both Israelis and Palestinians are suffering extraordinary pain and trauma right now, yet one people’s suffering does not erase the suffering of another. Express horror at the Hamas atrocity and one is accused of defending Israel, a state that is undoubtedly engaged in war crimes. Or express horror at the Israeli massacre of more than 400 children every day in Gaza and one is accused of defending Hamas, a terrorist death cult.
Both Israeli and Palestinian civilians are equal and deserve justice. Similarly, both the Israeli state and Hamas are engaged in mass murder and both deserve the strongest condemnation. Both must be stopped.
But there can be no doubt that the Israeli response is disproportionate. It seems crass to keep score but it cannot be avoided. 1400 Israeli deaths fom the Hamas atrocity. 8,000 Palestinian deaths from the Israeli response. Prior to these events, since 2008, 251 Israeli deaths from the conflict, 5,590 Palestinian deaths. These disproportionate outcomes cannot be ignored.
But ignoring or denying them is a common response from people defending Israel’s position, probably because it is indefensible. But it goes further than that because it’s not just this time, it was the same in 2014 and 2009 and every time the Israeli state goes on a murderous rampage. It extends into every aspect of Israeli politics and is seriously delusional. For instance, a complete failure to accept that the activities of the ‘settlers’ in the West Bank are terrorism, exactly the same as Hamas.
I do wonder whether this is now a condition, a type of psychosis, that needs to be codified. I know there are many Israelis and Jewish people that do not suffer from it but there’s a hard core that is seriously affected and they are driven by the behaviour of Netanyahu and other zealots in the Knesset.
This continuing behaviour is incompatible with Israel continuing to be recognised as a functioning state. It has failed.
Israel was created by the Western powers after World War II as a homeland for the Jewish people after the Holocaust, the greatest ever crime against humanity. But the land for the new state was cleared in 1948 by the violent expulsion of at least 700,000 Palestinians who already lived there. There is no easy way to say this but that the British and Americans who were principally responsible, placed less value on the lives of Arabs than Jews. It is this racist crime that continues to echo strongly after 75 years and is why the UK and the USA keep compounding it by unconditional support for Israel. It’s like a murderer who thought they got away with the crime but new witnesses keep on turning up who also have to be murdered.
Israel’s ‘right to exist’ is the mantra that has dominated its conduct since 1948 and understandably because many Arab states are sworn to destroy it. But its greatest threat is itself and it is precious close to forfeiting its right to exist because it cannot comply with international law and reasonable standards of civilised behaviour, even in war.
Everything depends on how long Israel can sustain the support of the USA and even that must have its limits. I can see it withdrawing its supply of weapons and the time for that is now.
There have to be some standards in civilisation. We know that death cults such as Hamas and theocracies such as Iran have no respect for such ideas but if Israel want to continue to be part of the family of nations then it has to rein in its murderous revenge and abuse of power. It must stop the reckless killing of civilians.
If Britain had responded to IRA terrorism as Israel is to Hamas, then the RAF would have carpet bombed Belfast, Derry and Dublin.
Israeli jet bombs civilian targets in Gaza
The Terrible Error of Unequivocal Support for Israel
The slaughter, rape and capture of Israeli civilians by Hamas is a crime of dreadful proportions. It warrants unreserved condemnation and those responsible should be hunted down like rabid dogs.
Yet the rush by Western politicians to offer unconditional support to Israel is an awful mistake. The monster that is Hamas is the product of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people. Though much Israeli blood was spilled over the weekend, it is a few drops compared to the gallons of Palestinian blood that Israel has been responsible for.
Already, Israel is enacting brutal, disproportionate revenge. Half of Gaza’s densely packed population is children and the IDF is raining down missiles, bombs, artillery shells on them, including banned phosporous munitions which cause agonising burns, even to internal organs.
Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron gave the go ahead for this. They and other Western leaders have encouraged it. The spectacle of Downing Street being lit up with the blood-drenched Israeli flag sickens me. These vile, self-serving, craven hypocrites are beneath contempt and they place themsleves in the same category as Netanyahu. As far as I am concerned they are war criminals and they should be taken to the Hague, locked up and put on trial.
This will never happen, although if he lives long enough, Netanyahu might be the exception. A few days from now these same politicians will be urging restraint on Israel but it will be too late. The beast has been unleashed and it will turn Gaza into an abbatoir.
Israel is the aggressor in this conflict. In 1948, the Western powers led, to our eternal shame, by Britain, forcibly expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their own land to create the state of Israel. From that moment on, Palestine has been acting in self-defence.
This forced explusion was an act of genocide, a war crime, yet the culprits stitched-it up into an international agreement to give it a fraudulent legitimacy. Ever since they have tacitly and sometimes explicitly supported Israel in its unlawful oppression of Palestine.
I suppose the hope was that eventually Palestinians and Israelis would live together peacefully and most do. For decades the ‘two-state solution’ seemed to be the conclusion that would bring conflict to an end. It is primarily extremist Israelis who have sabotaged this, the religious extremist Zionists who believe God gave them the land. In recent years, when most reasonable people were expecting the situation to improve, they have made it worse. Under Netanyahu, an apartheid system now exists where Palestinians are the lowest of the low. Through all this the West has sat on its hands. Much blame lies with Republicans in the US Congress but Britain and the EU cannot escape responsibility.
Where this goes now I cannot predict. Too many devious actors are at play but it is going to get much, much worse before, if ever, it gets any better. The mix of Iran, Russia, the Ukraine war and now this could lead to a final conflagration.
Within my world, those who I was entitled to rely on for prudent statesmanship, British politicians, have disgraced themselves yet again. There are no great leaders anymore. There are no leaders of any worth. They are small, contemptible rats in the failing experiment of humanity.
Assassination Is the Ethical Option.
I am for assassination of Putin and key Russian government and military officers.
This is the option that minimises casualties and puts most risk on professionals who have chosen their role. Special forces would welcome this task. They may bear heavy casualties before they succeed but they are volunteers and it is better than the death of civilians, particularly children. Multiple small teams infiltrating by helicopter, HALO parachute jump and every possible route equipped with our most sophisticated weaponry. Many will die but only one needs to succeed.
It’s what we should have done with Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, Netanyahu and Assad. In any circumstances, if there is justification for action that may result in civilian casualties, there is better justification for assassination. It’s the ethical option.
Complaint to the BBC about its Pro-Israel Bias
Devastation in the Omar Al-Mukhtar neighbourhood in Gaza after another Israeli air strike.
I wish to complain about the appalling pro-Israel bias in current news coverage. Perhaps best illustrated by repeated use of the phrase “Palestinian militants”, which suggest that they ‘favour confrontational or violent methods in support of a political or social cause’ (Oxford Languages). This is dreadfully one-sided.
Palestine is occupied by force by Israel. According to Human Rights Watch, Israel enforces a policy of apartheid, according to international law ‘a crime against humanity in which one racial group dominates another through intentional, systematic and inhumane acts of oppression.’
It is not Palestinians that are militant, it is the Israeli government. Palestine acts in self-defence against a brutal, violent occupying force.
BBC News also constantly refers to Israel ‘defending itself’ against Palestinian rockets. The rockets are launched in self-defence in response to Israeli aggression. They are a pitiful and courageous response to one of the world’s most technologically advanced armies. It is quite literally fireworks and catapults against F16s, tanks and guided missile systems.
I could add many more specifics about the bias in BBC coverage. Our political leaders are engaged in the same disinformation, with James Cleverley MP today referring only to ‘Israel defending itself’ and ‘Hamas must stop launching rockets’. I expect the BBC to report truth, not propaganda and while it must report Cleverley’s deceitful words, it must explain how one-sided they are.
Last Week The Anti-Cannabis Gutter Press Launched An Attack On Mike Barnes. This Week It’s My Turn.
Jonathan Bucks
An email popped into my inbox this morning announcing the Mail on Sunday’s intention to ‘do a hatchet job’ on me in tomorrow’s edition, just as it did to my friend and colleague Mike Barnes last weekend. The email and my response are published below.
Evidently, cub reporter Jonathan Bucks took umbrage at my response to his work last weekend. My tweets from my own account and CLEAR’s seem to have upset him. It’s no surprise at all of course to see a Mail publication using its power to bully an individual. That’s the way the Fleet Street Mafia works. Six years ago it branded me a ‘cannabis zealot’ because I insisted on some scientific accuracy rather than hysterical scaremongering. See: ‘Boasts of cannabis zealot who forced anti-drugs JP to quit: Campaigner who made complaint says drug is ‘safer than peanuts”
From: Jonathan Bucks <Jonathan.Bucks@mailonsunday.co.uk>
Sent: 15 December 2018 09:37
To: peterreynolds@clear-uk.org
Subject: Mail on Sunday request
Hi Peter
Jonathan Bucks from the Mail on Sunday here.
Tomorrow (16th) we will be running a story naming both you and CLEAR. Specifically, we will be reporting that CLEAR has changed its policy and is encouraging people to buy cannabis seeds so they can grow their own cannabis. This is despite CLEAR’s claims that it ‘does not advocate, condone or encourage breaking the law’ and it ‘exists to promote a change in the law by legitimate means’.
We will also be reporting that in the past you have made anti-Semitic and homophobic comments on your blog. We will be reporting that you described Jewish people as ‘evil’ and Israel as ‘the Nazi power in the world’.
We will also report that you wrote: ‘Homosexuality is a perversion from the norm and gay culture has been allowed virtually to extinguish heterosexual influence in the fashion industry.’
This is a chance for you to make any comments you wish regarding the change in policy, as well as explain the offensive remarks you have made in the past.
I would be grateful if you could please get back to me by 3pm today (15th).
Kind regards
Jonathan Bucks
Mail on Sunday reporter
From: peter@peter-reynolds.co.uk <peter@peter-reynolds.co.uk>
Sent: 15 December 2018 11:29
To: ‘Jonathan Bucks’ <Jonathan.Bucks@mailonsunday.co.uk>
Subject: RE: Mail on Sunday request
Dear Jonathan,
Yes, CLEAR has changed its policy on home cultivation. It is no longer against the law to use cannabis for medicinal purposes and I congratulate Sajid Javid on taking the law out of the equation completely. The problem now is an appalling ignorance of the science and the evidence amongst doctors. While lack of knowledge can be excused, bigotry, refusal to educate themselves and placing their caution and fear above the interests of patients cannot. The dreadful NHS guidelines are preventing patients accessing the medicine they need and it seems only private doctors have the courage to make their own decisions. In these circumstances the ethical and economical choice is to grow your own.
I am neither anti-semitic nor homophobic. On the contrary, I regard tolerance and liberty as the most important principles. Only those who seek to twist my words make these deliberate misinterpretations.
I do not regard Jewish people as evil. In some ways they are as much victims of the evil Israeli regime as all the inhabitants of Palestine. It is a fact that the violent oppression, apartheid and vicious policies pursued by Netanyahu’s war criminal government are closely comparable with the Nazi regime.
Yes, homosexual culture does dominate the fashion industry which is an imbalance that would be better corrected. The context of my remarks was in discussing dangerously underweight models who look more like boys than women. It will be no surprise to see your ‘newspaper’ publish my remarks out of context. See my full article from 2009 here: https://peter-reynolds.co.uk/2009/06/13/size-0-the-politically-incorrect-truth/
Thank you for asking for my comments. My remarks are not offensive unless you choose to interpret them that way. I have been subject to the same and similar fake allegations and smears previously. The High Court considered whether they could be justified and as a result issued an Injunction prohibiting their repetition in 2014, see https://peter-reynolds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/high-court-injunction-250714.pdf
A very Merry Christmas to you.
Kind regards,
Peter Reynolds
The Devious Defenders Of Israel’s Government And Their Fake Allegations of Antisemitism.
Never before have I given any credence to the idea that there is a massive Jewish conspiracy but the ludicrous spectacle of the campaign against Corbyn is making me re-evaluate my position.
Similarly, never before have I experienced feelings and opinions against Jews as a group. Yet the organised dishonesty, deceit and calculated smears against Corbyn make me extremely angry about the way this tiny minority, about 270,000 people in the UK, is bullying, dominating and subverting our national agenda.
Any prejudice, for any reason, is wrong but neither of these opinions come from a place of prejudice or pre-judging, they come from careful consideration of the evidence and my experience. Clearly, not all Jews support the unjustified attacks on Corbyn and the wildly exaggerrated claims of antisemitism but it seems to be a majority. That majority, in my opinion, is having a malign influence in our country.
The editors of the three Jewish newspapers which jointly attacked Corbyn shamelessly conflate Jews, Judaism and Israel. The other great myth, endlessly repeated and endorsed by a supine media establishment, is that antisemitism is racism. It is not. Religious faith is a choice and discrimination against followers of a faith, while wrong, is not even in the same ballpark as true racism. This subversive attack on democracy and free speech has to stop.
It is sucking in so many other strands of our society which fear to question or challenge the Jewish position for fear of being accused of antisemitism. Of course. many are choosing to align themselves with it for political advantage. The despicable rump of Blairite Labour MPs are cock-a-hoop at the abuse of Corbyn and exploit it ruthlessly for their own ends. Also complicit, although at least they are not guilty of treachery, are the Conservative politicians and supporters who simply cannot believe their luck that the spotlight on prejudice has swung away from the right.
The sickeningly pious virtue-signalling of journalists and the Twitterati feed on this frenzy. It is disgusting to see how so many are jumping on this bandwagon and are unable, nor even attempt to justify it.
Of course there is antisemtism as there are all forms of prejudice in our society, all of which are wrong but I do not believe it is a problem of any great significance in Britain or in the Labour Party any more than in any other political party or similar group. Those who deny the Holocaust are simply idiots, so foolish and misguided that they pose no real threat. What is undoubtedly true is that there is a systematic, organised and increasingly successful effort to characterise opposition to the policies of the Israeli government as antisemitism.
This is not the occasion to go into the many war crimes of the Israeli state. I have written about them extensively before. With the passing of the nation-state law, just a fortnight ago, Israel has enshrined racism and apartheid in its national identity. This is full justification for the complaints of the Palestinian people over many decades. It shows that in Netanyahu and the majority of the Knesset, the allegations have been correct. These are evil and malevolent people driving a regime of brutality, discrimination, intolerance and hate which by any ethical standard is criminal. It is correct that this should be compared to the Nazi regime because never have there been two regimes conducting themselves in similar fashion while pretending to be part of a modern civilised society. The Labour Party’s refusal to adopt those examples in the IHRA definition of antisemitism which are merely Israeli propaganda is correct.
All those MPs, journalists and commentators joining in this madness of fake antisemitism and denial of valid comparison with the Nazis are complict in the crimes of the Israeli state. They may have leapt on the bandwagon for purportedly honourable reasons but they must take responsibility for their part in the baying, hysterical mob.
I remain a Tory on fundamental principles but what is most important in a politician and a leader is integrity. Corbyn has that in spades, unlike few other UK politicians. His courageous stand against the pressure on him from the pro-Israel lobby and those exploiting it makes him a giant amongst MPs. For that reason, not for his policies but also to bring down this corrupt Conservatives government, I support him and I shall vote for him at the next election.
I have been concerned, even a little scared, to publish my opinion in these terms but that is the iniquitous, insidious nature of Israeli propaganda and fake claims of antisemitism. I have been subject to vile abuse in the past for my opinions and there are lowlife abusers who continue to stalk me and try to twist my words and deeds to inflame the mob but these issues are too important. I will not be silenced by political correctness, populist bandwagons or personal abuse.
I really don’t care what religious delusion anyone chooses to pursue. Jews are no more nor less deluded than Christians, Muslims or Hindus. Extremists in all these religions are weird and often involved in inexcusable violence and abuse. When, from any religion, its activists undermine and endanger the most precious tenets of our secular democracy (which has enough problems already) they must be stopped. The subversive by nature pro-Israel lobby, the increasingly strident Jewish support for fake claims of antisemitism and the hijacking of this issue by self-serving politicians and the media has to stop.
Definition of Antisemitism
I fully support the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
However, I do not support and I strongly oppose the examples given by the IHRA which are nothing to do with Jews or Judaism but are about support of the war criminal state of Israel. Specifically:
“Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”
This is nothing to do with antisemitism, Jews or Judaism. It is, sadly, an entirely appropriate, justified and accurate comparison of the conduct of the Israeli state with the conduct of the Nazis. It is particularly ironic and cruel that the state established as the homeland for Jewish people, who suffered such dreadful persecution, should conduct itself in such similar fashion.
Peter Reynolds 