Many people are praising Labour Party MP Hilary Benn for his "Churchillian" speech supporting the bombing of ISIS in Syria. Describing ISIS as 'fascists' he said:
"Can we really stand aside and refuse to act fully in our self-defence against those who are planning these attacks?"Well, apparently while he demands the UK bomb Islamic terrorists in a country over 2000 miles away in order to avoid hypothetical future attacks, he does not believe a certain other country has a right to defend itself from Islamic terrorists on its border - even while those terrorists are launching hundreds of rockets that are reaching 50% of that country's civilian population.
Indeed this would be the very same Hilary Benn who delivered the most vicious condemnation of Israel last summer when Israel finally responded to defend itself from multiple unprovoked Hamas rocket attacks.
Here is what he said (it is difficult to imagine a more sided, anti-Israel statement and all the claims in the first paragraph were subsequently proven to be lies - the schools and power station were hit by Hamas rockets misfiring - with no mention at all of the millions of Israeli civilians having to live in shelters for 4 weeks ):
The scenes we have witnessed have been appalling. The ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli troops was wrong and has only led to even more suffering. 1,800 people there have been killed, 450,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, the fuel supply for the power station has been bombed and the UN has warned that the health service is on the point of collapse. The citizens of Gaza did not know where it was safe to go, and the shelling of the UN-run schools where people were sheltering on 30 July and 3 August was an outrage. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called these attacks reprehensible, unjustifiable and criminal. I agree, and there must now be a full investigation so that those responsible can be held to account.And here is a reminder of the difference between ISIS and the terrorists that Israel faces on all sides:
... As the Labour leader Ed Miliband said “The escalation of violence engulfing Gaza has led, and continues to lead, to suffering and destruction on an appalling scale, and is losing Israel friends in the international community day by day.....the Prime Minister is wrong not to have opposed Israel’s incursion into Gaza. And his silence on the killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians will be inexplicable to people across Britain and internationally. “
From the start, the UN Security Council rightly and consistently demanded an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire, with a complete cessation of violence so as to bring an end to the unacceptable killing of large numbers of Palestinian civilians, including children, and to the rocket attacks into Israel which have targeted and killed civilians there. Like many MPs, I urged the Foreign Secretary to do all he could to achieve a ceasefire, but I share the deep concern that has been expressed about the failure of the British government to condemn the scale of Palestinian suffering as a result of the Israeli military incursion.
On UK arms exports to Israel, I have also raised this with the Foreign Secretary. It is clear that no new licences should be granted where there is any doubt about the end use of military equipment and the Government must urgently publish its review into existing UK export licences to Israel. We must be sure that the UK rules on arms exports, which prevent the export of military and dual use equipment which could be used for internal repression, the abuse of human rights or to provoke or prolong armed conflicts, are being applied fully.
Turning to the longer term, while the terrible murder of the teenagers - three Israelis and one Palestinian - was the immediate cause of this crisis, we know that the real problem is the blockade of Gaza, the continued building of illegal settlements by Israel on occupied land, and no progress at all on the peace process. I have seen for myself how the restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza affect the lives of the people there. The blockade must end with the lifting of restrictions as part of an agreement between the two sides.
The man is scum. When he was in charge of Ealing council, he decided that the borough's libraries - the property of the people of Ealing, not his personal one - should not stock the Times because he disliked its politics.
ReplyDeleteHe is as vile as his father was, and equally a sickening bigot.
I agree. Coupled to anti-semitic statements from some in the Labour Party, it's part of a worrying trend. Will you also condemn the double standard of some British Jews who support Israel quite rightly as the indigenous homeland for Jewish people, yet denounce those of us seeking to defend Britain as the homeland of the indigenous British? Put simply if the forecast by the Muslim Council of Britain that Muslims will be the majority here by 2050 ever comes to pass, then the UK won't be safe for Brits or Jews!
ReplyDeleteOptimusMaximus: I assume you are referring to those British Jews who campaign against 'Islamophobia' and downplay the threat that Islam poses to Britain (such people are also pushing for 'more Syrian refugees to be allowed to come to the UK). I certainly condemn such people (just search, e.g. for "Board of deputies" on this blog). However, interestingly, the most vocal of such British Jews are also those who are the most ambivalent about Israel being the homeland of the Jewish people.
ReplyDeleteHe's a Benn what do you expect ? hypocrisy runs through their veins. He has just inherited along with his siblings a couple of million quid each. This from a family that doesn't agree with inherited wealth. Oh and his brother is retaking the family title Lord Stansted and is booting off any ramblers that dare to walk on the right of way past their pile.
ReplyDeleteAs far as him wanting to ban any arm sales to Israel, be careful Israel may ban any arm sales to the UK's dwindling army, air-force and navy.
His father was a joke ( I feel your pain brother ) drank his tea from a mug just like the working class do, and rebranded is name from Anthony Wegwood Benn to Tony Benn. Didn't like people to remind him the "Wegwood" was the pottery dynesty.
Coupled with the huge lie with which he started his 'Churchillian' speech: 'Jeremy Corbyn is not a terrorist sympathiser'.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that doesn't count as misleading the House of Commons because not a single person will have believed him.