A story that perfectly captures everything you need to know about the Islamic problem in the UK

A very interesting story in today's Sun perfectly captures many aspects about the Islamic threat in the UK and how the politically correct establishment deals with it. The local council (which is so short of cash it is closing nurseries and day centres) pays known Islamic thugs to go on a holiday in order to stop them violently disrupting a peacful demonstration. Then when the thugs violently assault a white man in an unprovoked racial attack on that holiday, they try to fabricate evidence that they were acting in self-defence (this part of the story is not included in the online version - what the paper says is that Hussain got one of his mates to bruise him to pretend he had been attacked first).  Despite all of this the Race Equality boss claims the whole thing was a success. Oh .. and finally not once in the reporting of this does the Sun actually state that the thugs are Muslims:

FIVE thugs sent on a £2,000 trip to keep them out of trouble ended up attacking a man during the jaunt. They were among 19 known troublemakers taken away to avoid clashes with English Defence League marchers near their homes.

Town hall bosses spent more than £2,100 on the day trip, which was supervised by a cop and five council staff, a court heard. The group, aged 17 to 19, were taken to Blackpool Pleasure Beach amid fears they could become embroiled in the EDL march in Dudley, West Midlands.

But soon after arriving at the Lancashire resort, the Asian yobs began aiming racist chants at dad-of-two Derek Brownhill, 30. Then Riad Hussain, 19, punched him so hard both his "feet left the ground" and he was knocked unconscious, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. Prosecutor David Swinnerton said Sandwell Council organised the trip to "distract the 19 from anti-social behaviour" during the march against plans for a mosque in Dudley. Hussain was locked up for ten months. Raja Rashid and Fahad Atiq, who were on bail at the time over a separate hammer attack, were given 21 months and 16 months. Wasim Telhat and Mazahar Taheir received community orders. All five admitted assault.

Last night Race Equality Sandwell boss Derrick Campbell said: "I would not say the trip had failed. Its purpose was to keep them away from the march."

Jewish Chronicle still sinking lower

I've posted several times before about the Jewish Chronicle's increasingly ambivalent attitude toward Israel. Gina in Golders Green has an interesting post about  the Chairman of the JC (Anthony Julius) defending free ads posted by the Palestine Solidarity Committe on the JC website. Julius spews out the usual 'freedom of speech' mantra (pretty bizarre in this case) which, together with the words 'need for balance' has been used by numerous JC editorial staff in my own dealings with them to justify, for example, the frequent articles posted by writers who are openly hostile to Israel. I have never understood the notion of  'need for balance' in this context. The analogy I like to use for this is to imagine that a shop sells dozens of different Arsenal football club calenders but never stocks a single Spurs calender. Finally, someone produces a Spurs calender but is told they cannot sell it unless - in the interest of 'balance' - at least 3 out of the 12 pictures are of Arsenal players. Insane of course, but that is exactly the game the JC is playing. The fact that anti-Israel articles dominate every other main stream newspaper and magazine does not seem to have registered in the minds of JC editors.

Ihave also noticed that almost every article about Israel in the JC is now written by Anschel Pfeffer who is not only a typical left-wing Haaretz hack, always desparate to see things from the 'other side', but is actually remarkably ill-informed about everything he writes. On last week's front-page article "Bombing back, but not as we know it" which carried over to page 2, Pfeffer insultingly claimed the recent spate of Palestinian terrorist attacks were really nothing to worry about and nothing to do with Hamas (compare his plodding lack of incite about this with real experts such as Barry Rubin, Sultan Knish or Caroline Glick). Pfeffer has two other massive articles in the same edition - the titles of which tell you everything you need to know about his attitude: "IDF braces for Arab Spring" on page 18 and "Nakba law prevents free expression" on page 23.

At a time when Israel is under unprecedented assault physically and spiritually, and when not a single national UK newpaper or TV News programme is prepared even to let somebody tell Israel's side of the story, UK Jews expect the Jewish Chronicle at least to make a stand. Instead, in the shop of 100 Arsenal calenders the Jewish Chronicle is offering the one Spurs calender, but with Arsenal pictures on 7 of the 12 pages 'for balance' and 'free speech'.

Sky News declares war on Israel

I just sent the following self-explanatory complaint to Sky News:

Dear Sirs

When Palestinian terrorists committed one of the worst atrocities in recent history on 11 March - slaughtering a family of five Israelis in their home including a baby aged three months who was decapitated, Sky News TV - a 24-hour news channel - chose not to inform its viewers of the story. Not even in ticker tape form. And not even when the terrorist attack was claimed by the Palestine Authority's own 'military wing', and with celebrations of the attack taking place throughout the Palestinian territories. Any claim that the story could not be covered due to the Japan earthquake were destroyed two days later when Sky News did find time to post a story criticising Israel for announcing plans to build 400 news homes. Sky News was also completely silent last week after Israel's discovery of a major Iranian arms shipment to Hamas on the ship 'Victoria'. This shipment was an act of war by Iran and was one of the most dangerous international incidents of recent years. But it will never be known to Sky viewers. Then on 19 March Hamas launched a major attack against Israel - over 50 rockets fired including Iranian grad rockets into the city of Ashkelon. Again Sky News chose not to cover this story in any way at all.

Yet this morning - while Britain is involved in its new war against Libya - Sky News TV has somehow found the space, time and incentive to provide not one but two 'breaking news' stories about Israel. In fact, as of 9.00am, these were two of only three stories running on the ticker tape of Sky News TV. One of these stories, headlined "17 Palestinians injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza" fails, of course, not only fails to mention the attacks against Israel which preceded this, but also fails to mention the accuracy of the Israelis in pinpointing terrorists arms smuggling tunnels and terrorist arms caches. The second story headlined "Former Israeli President Katzav imprisoned for 7 years for rape", is certainly an important story in Israel, but it is not exactly of great interest to any viewers outside Israel.

It seems clear that Sky News has effectively declared war against Israel. A 'war' whose rules of engagement are that: only stories that cast Israel in a purely negative light can be presented. And any story, no matter how big, which demonstrates that Israel - and not the Palestinians - are the true victims must be ignored.

Sky News used to be considered as fair and objective in its coverage of the Middle East. It is sad that it has now degenerated into a propaganda tool of the Hamas terrorists. How exactly does Sky News expect its viewers to make informed decisions when it is so selective and biased in its coverage?

"Nothing must be done to 'burnish' the image of Israel"

In 2007 Prince Charles's senior aide sent a memo explaining why neither Prince Charles nor the Queen would make a state visit to Israel. The memo famously stated that Prince Charles would not want "to help burnish [Israel's] international image." 

I've been thinking about that statement, and the attitude behind it, in connection with the media's refusal to cover the two big stories from Israel in the last week. The massacre at Itamar and the discovery of the major Iranian arms shipment to Hamas, demonstrate unequivocably the twin threats Israel faces.

• The Itamar attack, and subsequent Palestinian celebrations of it, demonstrated the nature of the enemy that Israel is expected to negotiate and ultimately surrender to. An enemy unparalled in the world in its depravity, which glories in chopping the head off a 3-month old baby and which will never be satisfied until every Jew has been slaughtered.
• The Iranian arms shipment, which happened as a direct result of the Egyptians allowing Iranian warships through the Suez Canal for the first time in 30 years, included state-of-the-art missiles and demonstrated not just the extent to which Iran contiunually lies about its ambitions and the extent to which it is prepared to go to destroy Israel through its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, but also the unique threat posed by the new Eyptian regime.

In a normal world these two stories alone should have been sufficient to put an end to the entire anti-Israel narrative that dominates Western society and media. I genuinely believe that if these two stories had simply been given the coverage that they deserved, most people would immediately have seen the 'Israel problem' from a very different perspective. But of course they were not covered at all by the Western media. And that has nothing to do with the Japanese earthquake or the Libyan crisis;  the media did, after all, find plenty of time to condemn Israel for planning to build some houses two days after the Itamar attack. And each of these stories was FAR more important than the Gaza flotilla incident which totally dominated every news media for four days because, despite the video evidence in that case, the media decided it fitted their anti-Israel narrative.

But it is precisely because these two stories were obvious 'game-changers' that they were ignored.

And the attitude from which this results is perfectly captured by the Prince Charles memo. Never mind about real evils committed by the dozens of countries that the Queen and Prince Charles visit every year. And just as the Queen must not be allowed to visit Israel in case there is a chance it might show the country in something less than the purely negative light in which it is otherwise portrayed by the media narrative, so it is important to suppress any story - no matter how big - which demonstrates that Israel - and not the Palestinians - are the true victims.

Would they stage a play about it?

Following on from my previous correspondence with Sam Walters, the Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre which staged the anti-Israel play "Reading Hebron" I thought it was worth following up with another letter in the light of the Itamar massacre:

Dear Sam

We were in correspondence recently about the play "Reading Hebron" staged in your theatre about the 1994 Hebron massacre.

You are probably not aware of it, since the main stream media in this country has chosen to cover it up, but last Sabbath Palestinian terrorists massacred a family of 5 Israelis (the Fogels) in their home, including a 3-month old baby and a 3-year-old whose throats were slashed. The attack was claimed by the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade who are the 'military wing' of Israel's supposed 'peace partners' - the Palestinian Authority.  You can see the pictures of the slaughter released by the grandparents here:

Whereas the 1994 Hebron massacre was one of the only ever documented deliberate killings by a Jew of Arab civilians - and was carried out by a single deranged individual -  deliberate massacres of Jewish civilians (especially children) by Arabs have been carried out in their thousands since the original massacre of all the Jews of Hebron in 1929.  Moreover, whereas the 1994 massacre was condemned by all Israelis, the massacres of Jews have not only been organised by the Palestinian authorities, but have been celebrated by their masses. These celebrations happened again after the latest massacre.

In the light of this I'd be interested to know if you would stage a play about the Fogel massacre if one was written, especially as your vigourous support for an anti-Israel narrative in the theatre ultimately gives the Palestinians exactly the kind of support and encouragement to continue their massacres of Jews.

Yours

I will post any response I get.
Some powerful pieces about the Itamar massacre are here and here.

Another massacre of Jews that the world will never know about

scene from the Fogel home

I woke up today in Tel Aviv to hear of the appalling terrorist attack that took place in Itamar overnight. A young family of five, including a 3-month old baby, children aged 3 and 11, and both parents were killed by having  their throats cut in their own home by two Palestinian terrorists. Pamela Geller has posted pictures here.

Although the Japanese tsunami is obvously still dominating the news I checked today to find that Sky News and CNN were carrying plenty of other stories from around the world, but a massacre of Jewish children apparently does not count as news. If they had got planning permission to build an extension on their home, then being in 'the West Bank' that would certainly have made the news.  If any Arab child was murdered by an Israeli in this way then the Japanese tsunami would immediately have been demoted to second place, while the world lined up to condemn Israel and a generation of writers would have started working on plays to explain why all Jews are ultimately responsible for the act. Even if a guard had shot and killed the terrorists before committing this atrocity Sky News and CNN would have been all over the story posting claims of Israel murdering innocent Palestinian 'farmers'. So what you will never find out is that the attack has been claimed by none other than the Al Aqsa Martyr's brigade who are the 'military wing' of Fatah - Israel's 'peace partners'. Hamas has hailed the attack as 'heroic' and there have been the usual celebrations and fireworks in Palestinian towns. And, perhaps most importantly, the attack is likely the direct result of Israel being forced to drop certain security checks at the insistance of the Americans and British. Remember that the next time you are lectured about the poor Palestinians having to go through Israeli security checks.

Palestinian terrorists have a long history of murdering Jewish children in cold blood. There is no recorded incident in history of an Israeli deliberately killing an Arab child, let alone in an act organised by official representatives. Yet placards calling Israelis 'baby killers' are more common place on UK campusus and high streets than prostitute calling cards in Soho. If the Nazi Holocaust were taking place today then the main stream media and the UN would be citing only the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw ghetto as a crime against humanity - calling it a bloody massacre of innocent Germans.

UPDATE: As if they are trying to self-parody, the main stream media has this morning triggered into life .... to report for example:

• Israel approves settlement increase after family killed (CNN) 
• Israel police on alert as settlers react to killings (AFP)

Note the tone of the AFP report. Israeli children massacred - no story (and note also no perpetrators). But claims by Palestinians that Jews threw stones at them - that is headline news.

UPDATE: I am appalled to also report on how depraved leftists in Israel really are. In discussions about the massacre several people here have said they feel little sympathy because the Fogels were 'ultra-orthadox fanatics' or because  'they had it coming to them' for living in Itamar.

BBC covering up Islamist violence in Egypt

I have just sent the following self-explanatory letter to the BBC.

During the recent Egyptian uprising the BBC decided to censor the many stories and images that did not support its own narrative (that the demonstrators were universally peaceful democracy seekers). Thus, for example, the BBC failed to show the many blood curdling anti-Semitic images and interviews (widely available on the internet) prominent among the demonstrators; they failed to cover the story of reporter Lara Logan’s rape by dozens of ‘celebrating’ demonstrators chanting “Jew, Jew” at her, and most of all they covered up the significance and extremism of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the speech made by their fanatical anti-Semitic spiritual leader Al Qaradawi on his ‘victorious’ return from exile.

Now it seems the BBC is covering up the wave of Islamist violence targeted at Coptic Christians and secular Egyptians that have exploded in the last few days. For example, I would have thought that the story of a Muslim mob burning down a church in Helwan would have been prominent on the BBC News, especially as there was widely available and compelling film of it happening. Moreover, the fact that today  10 Christians protesting the church burning were murdered by another Muslim mob also strikes me as being a story of major significance that should be leading the BBC News (rather then being buried deeply in the BBC website and ignored elsewhere). Nor did the story yesterday of the attack by Islamists on secular women in Cairo, who were marching for International Women’s Day, make the BBC News. If even remotely similar violence occurred, let us say in Israel, the BBC News would cover nothing else for several days. So why the double standards?

The country where Israel is regarded most positively.....

By a VERY long way it is Russia, as you can see here.

More than twice as many people in Russia view Israel as having a positive influence compared with those viewing it negatively (35% to 17%).

The only other countries where the positives even outscore the negatives are India (21% to 18%) which, like Russia has its own problems with Islamic terrorism, Ghana (32% to 27%) and the USA. But the USA results are extremely concerning as it appears to be the most polarised - 43% positive but an incredible 41% of Americans regard Israel negatively. That is what years of main stream media lies can achieve.

The UK of course is one of the most anti-Israel countries in the world now - almost as anti-Israel as Turkey.

A reminder to avoid buying a red nose

It's that 'red nose' time of year again in the UK when cast-off celebrities and the BBC offer their services 'for free' to promote Comic Relief. This 'charity' raises millions for 'good causes'. So what's wrong with that? The fact that people giving their hard earned cash are not aware that in recent years the four biggest beneficiaries by far just happen to be the four charities (War on Want, Christian Aid, Save the Children, and Oxfam) who spend the most significant amounts of money funding anti-Israel political propaganda, and funding projects in Gaza that invariably end up under the control of Hamas. War on Want in particular is a 'charity' that, since it was led by George Galloway, has become almost exclusively dedicated to the deligitimization of Israel.

For some previous articles giving the details of this see the following:

• http://hurryupharry.org/2009/03/07/a-nose-job/
• https://richardmillett.wordpress.com/tag/comic-relief/
• http://edgar1981.blogspot.com/2010/06/funding-poor-palestinians.html
• http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/war_on_want_wages_war_on_israel_update_
• http://blog.ngo-monitor.org/boycottdivestment/no-laughing-matter-uk-comic-relief-funding-radical-ngo-war-on-want/
• http://edgar1981.blogspot.com/2009/01/letter-to-hypocrites-of-save-children.html
• http://philosemitism.blogspot.com/2008/10/oxfam-anti-israel-campaigns-taste.html

The usual BBC and society elitists are using the generosity of the British public to hoodwink them into giving hard-earned cash in order to divert a substantial proportion of the funding to projects that support their own politically motived agenda. And it also comes at a heavy price to other genuinely worthy charities who suffer reduced donations because of the free publicity the BBC gets for its farcical jamboree.

He's gone

Sir Howard Davies, who told me "Your comments are not worthy of reply" in response to my complaints about the impact of Arab funding on LSE politics has resigned. The only shame is that the official reason for resignation seems to be focused solely on the Libyan money. The scandal surrounding the LSE's anti-Israel  Middle East Centre, and the much greater funding from the United Arab Emirates for this, has been ignored in his resignation letter. The irony is that - as far as Libya is concerned - the LSE was only doing exactly what the British Government was doing in recent years. And while the £300K from Libya effectively 'bought' Gadaffi's son a PhD, the many millions from the UAR has bought far worse:  long term damage to the academic credibility of the LSE through a 'research centre' whose primary agenda is to deligitimize Israel and boycott its academics; and anti-semitic fear on the campus through the promotion of anti-Israel activity that would even shame Hamas.

Yet another update to the LSE story

After I first raised the alarm about the new Middle East Centre at the LSE (I discovered that its publicity material featured a map that eradicated the State of Israel) I followed up with details of my correspondence with Sir Howard Davies (the LSE Director) here and here.

The last article contained Davies's helpful response to my last letter. His response (29 Jan 2011) was:

"Your comments are not worthy of reply."

Since my correspondence the whole issue of LSE's funding by Arab tyrants (which was the focus of my complaints) has become a big story (mainly because of the Gadaffy money given to LSE, but also because reporters started looking into the Middle East Centre and its funding as I had). Dominic Kennedy had a big article about it in the Times on Saturday (you can see Melanie Phillips's comments about that here). Apparently Dominic Kennedy has followed up with an interview with Howard Davies in the Times today (see Harry's Place piece here, as the Times costs to read online) which includes the following:

'Sir Howard defended the LSE’s new Middle East Centre, half of whose board support an academic boycott of Israel. “The biggest donor to the School in the past year is George Soros, who of course is of Jewish origin. We operate, I believe, a very balanced view.”’

Apart from the hilarious 'some of my best friends are Jewish' angle to this, what make Davies's' response all the more incredible is that he is unaware that Soros has been so comprehensively exposed as the key player  in international attempts to deligitimize Israel with his funding of a whole range of anti-Israel organisations.

I'd say it is time for Davies to resign.

Update: Davies has resigned!

The hypocrisy of the British media

You can see here the banner headline in tonight's Evening Standard (full story is here if you are really interested).

Isn't it incredible that an anti-semitic comment by a drunken C-list British designer in Paris who nobody has heard of makes front-page news (and it also made a big splash on tonight's BBC News and Sky News) yet the truly vicious anti-semitism that has united pro and anti 'democracy' protesters across the entire Arab world (as I have reported here,  here, here and here)  - the implications of which will be truly cataclysmic for the entire world -  continue to be completely ignored by all the Western media.

You won't see a play about these hebron massacres in London

Following on from my post about the anti-Israel play about Hebron currently being shown in Richmond, Daphne Anson has a graphic account of the massacre of Jews by Arabs in Hebron in 1929 (that's when according to the standard media narrative Jews and Arabs lived together in peace and harmony before the State of Israel was declared).

The 1929 massacre was not the only Arab terrorist attack against Jews in Hebron. Here are some others since the six-day war that won't be featuring any time soon in a London Theatre.

• 09.10.68 A 17 year-old Arab youth threw a grenade at Jews praying on the steps of the Tomb's main gate. 47 Jews, including an eight month-old baby, were injured.
• 05.11.68 A Jewish man and his son, an elderly Arab man, and three Arab children were injured by an explosive charge near the Tomb.
• 29.12.68 Terrorists attack a security post near the Tomb. One terrorist was killed; the others fled. No Israeli soldiers were injured.
• 07.08.76 Two Jews were wounded when terrorists shot at a tour bus in the city.
• 03.10.76 On the eve of Yom Kippur, a mob of Arab youths burst into the Tomb and desecrated several Torah scrolls. Three soldiers fired in the air in an attempt to prevent their entry. 61 rioters were arrested in the Tomb.
• 02.05.80 Arab terrorists ambushed a group of Jews returning from the Tomb to Beit Hadassah. Six Jews were murdered and 20 wounded.
• 25.10.92 Three Arab terrorists shot at soldiers guarding the Tomb's generator. One reserve soldier was murdered; two were wounded.
• 28.05.93 Yeshiva student Erez Shmuel was stabbed to death approximately 500 meters from from the Tomb, while on his way to Friday evening prayers at the Tomb.
• 06.12.93 Mordechai Lapid and his son Shalom were shot to death near Glass Junction in Hebron. Hamas claimed responsibility.
• 07.07.94 Sarit Prigal (17) was shot to death in a drive-by shooting, when terrorists opened fire from a passing car near the entrance to Kiryat Arba.
• 19.03.95 Nahum Hoss (31) of Hebron, and Yehuda Partus (34) of Kiryat Arba, were murdered by shots fired at their bus from a terrorist ambush near Glass Junction in Hebron. Six others were injured.
• November 15 2002: Twelve Israelis were killed and 15 others wounded in Hebron when Palestinian terrorists opened fire and threw grenades at a group of Jewish worshippers and their guards as they were walking home from Sabbath prayers at the Cave of the Patriarchs. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks.
• December 27, 2002 : Terrorists broke into a dining hall at a yeshiva in Otneil, south of Hebron, and killed 4 students who were working in the yeshiva kitchen, and injured ten others. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
• May 17, 2003: A pregnant Israeli woman and her husband were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself next to them in a public square in Hebron. Hamas claimed responsibility.
• September 26, 2003: Eyal Yeberbaum, 27, and 7-month old infant Shaked Avraham were shot dead by a Palestinian terrorist who knocked on the door of a home in Negohot, south of Hebron, during a celebratory Jewish New Year holiday dinner. Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack.
• June 24, 2005: Two teenagers were killed and three others wounded in a drive-by shooting near Hebron. The Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.
• October 16, 2005: Palestinian gunmen killed three Israelis and wounded as least 5 others in two separate drive-by shootings in the West Bank. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for both attacks.
• December 28, 2007: Two Israelis were killed by Palestinian terrorists while hiking outside of Hebron. A third hiker managed to escape.
• 14 Jun 2010 1 soldier killed, 3 police officers wounded in gun attack on vehicle at Al Fawar Junction, south of Hebron
• August 31, 2010: Four Israelis, including a pregnant woman, were murdered when terrorists ambushed their car as they were driving near Kiryat Arba in the West Bank. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which coincided with the restarting of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington, D.C.

But what is featuring in a London Theatre is yet another anti-Israel play:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/62809/productions/the-holy-rosenbergs.html

Anti-semitism is so natural and oh so hip ...

When I did a google search for images of Egyptian protesters yesterday plenty came up portraying Mubarak as a 'Jew-devil'. The same thing applies now to Libya.

Apart from the concept of Ghadaffi being part of the world Jewish conspiracy, what is especially bizarre here is the bottom picture of the attractive girl, specially made up for the photo-shoot. The message that is supposed to be portrayed here is that Libya is a country of attractive young, freedom-loving people. Not for one second do these 'freedom loving' demonstrators feel that there could be the remotest thing wrong with the images they have drawn. To them it is not only perfectly acceptable and natural to regard Jews as worse than the devil, but they even feel that doing this will curry favour with those in the west. And the worst thing is that they are right - and not one single liberal western reporter will make any negative comment about this kind of thing.

More on jihad watch.

No anti-semitism to worry about there then .....

The 'experts' have been assuring us that anti-semitism has played no role in the 'pro-democracy' revolutions across the Arab world. William Hague publicly scolded Israel for even voicing concerns about their own security after Mubarek's deposal, while Jews are specifically admonished in the Guardian for not being sufficiently enthusiastic about what happens after Mubarek. 

Clearly if we are worried about such trivia as the fact that Egypt's very own Hitler, Al Qaradawi, has returned from exile to a tumultuous welcome, and that for the first time in more than 30 years the Egyptians have allowed Iranian warships to enter the Suez canal to directly threaten Israel, then we are really just being paranoid.  But what I do find slightly ironic is that Sky News, which has been especially obsessed about covering up the anti-semitism angle (still waiting for them to mention the Lara Logan anti-semitic rape story) has been unable to show any images of 'pro-democracy' banners that do not portray Mubarek as a Jewish stooge.  And I am still waiting for any Sky presenter or pundit to even notice it.

Anti-Israel indoctrination in the UK

If you need to know the depth to which the British media has indoctrinated the public with anti-Israel feelings, then I can give no better example than the following:

My daughter, who goes to an orthodox Jewish school, tells me that, when the subject of Israel is discussed in their Jewish studies GCSE class, students routinely state things like "the Jews have no right to Israel because they stole the land from the Palestinians". 

In making statements like that, those regular 15-16 year old Jewish kids, are simply repeating what they are told relentlessly in every part of the media (as I have regularly reported on this web). In the midst of the big story of revolution across the entire Arab world (funny how the media is suddenly realising that these Arab countries were abusing their citizens for decades - they have been telling us all along that Israel  is the pariah state in the region) the BBC and Channel 4 has gone into overdrive ... to demonize Israel. Just a few examples of the anti-Israel tsunami engulfing British TV, in the last few days alone we have had:

• Scandalous BBC 'documentary' attacking Geert Wilders that also promoted the view that anybody supporting the State of Israel in any way was a criminal
• The Promise, on Channel 4, which Richard Millett sums up as ‘rich European Jews came to Palestine after the Holocaust, stole the Palestinians’ land and murdered British soldiers’.
• A film War Child,  on Channel 4, about ‘Jews killing innocent Palestinians'
• The Richard Dimbleby Lecture on BBC Tuesday 15th Feb 2011 about 'the rights of children' given by the author Richard Morpurgo which included a very strong political anti-Israel message plus the completely unsubstantiated and ridiculous claim that Israeli soldiers were shooting at Arab children in Gaza like in a computer game (yeah, like Arabs never lie about these things - just like they claimed a demonstrator was recently killed by tear gas).

 The relentless propaganda seems to be affecting just about everybody I know. It has got to the stage where even strongly pro-Israeli friends are unwittingly accepting anti-Israel bias as perfectly acceptable. I'd like to recount a very good example of this. The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond is currently showing a play called 'Reading Hebron' about the massacre carried out in 1994 by a Jew. The Artistic Director of this theatre, Sam Walters, clearly has a problem with Israel because in his own words (I have the email) two of the three 'political' plays he has put on in the last year have been about Israel and both were highly critical (the other was about the Balfour declaration). For these 'political' plays Walters arranges a public workshop to discuss the political content.  For 'Reading Hebron' this workshop was, sensitively, arranged for a Saturday when no orthodox Jews can attend. However, Walters has arranged for discussions to take place after some of the showings during the week. That brings me to my pro-Israeli friend Joe. He went along to the play and after-show discussion and sent an email about it. I have taken the liberty of reproducing below exactly what Joe wrote because, although he feels very satisfied with the outcome there are aspects of what he says that deeply disturb me:

I went yesterday. Was delighted, as were most of the Jews in the audience, that the discussion afterwards did not become an Arab/Israeli debate. One person did speak out (pro-Palestinian) and tried to make it political...and the audience (vast vast vast majority being non-Jewish Richmondites - retirees who enjoy theatre) were annoyed by his trying to turn a theatrical performance into a political debate. So it actually worked against him...and, to a limited extent, for Israel! The Director - rightly in my view - said that the post-show discussion was to discuss the play NOT the politics (which will be discussed on the Sat "workshop" - which is the only thing I have real issue with). Of the Jews present, most were from Wimbledon Reform - primarily as one of their members was one of the key characters.

Most of the discussion - as it should have been - was about the play itself, its staging and the characters portrayed.

I did find much of the content disturbing - although relieved that (albeit in short supply) the counter-arguments were also made within the text - and certain scenes I was slightly offended by (then again, I suppose the author has the right to write what he wants). Viewed as a piece of theatre...it did its job well. It was thought provoking. My guess is that it would only be the real "self-hating Jews" (those who can see nothing good in what Israel does) and the "blind Jews" (those who can only see the good in Israel and are not prepared to consider the other side) that would have any major issue with the production...in part because it revolves around one character who is obviously a troubled individual (in his personal life) and his political stance is obviously fuelled by other life issues rather than being a rational political stance.

It's not enjoyable theatre...but it is good theatre. I didn't emerge invigorated. I wasn't pushed to the left or the right as a result. I was intrigued by the simplicity of the post-show discussion. I was proud that there were no counter-productive rants. I was thrilled that the one radical view expressed was from the other side (and the mutterings I overheard as people left the theatre were all about the show and that one "idiot")...

Here are the things that disturb me about what he wrote

• He completely misses the whole context of what is going on here. Terrible massacres have been carried out on a daily basis by Muslim terrorists - often supported by governments - for decades. Take a look here at a log of all terrorist attacks in recent decades; for example, since 9/11 alone there have been 16,839 deadly attacks by Muslims. Terrible massacres are also carried out routinely in many countries of the world.  Israel has especially been the victim of terrorist attacks (indeed there were several massacres against Israelis in the days immediately prior to what happened in Hebron). Hebron itself was the scene of one of the worst massacres of Jews by Arabs in 1929 (that was 19 years before the State of Israel).  
• None of those massacres was ever used as the basis for a play, let alone a play to criticise Muslims or Arabs. Yet the one and only terrorist act committed by a Jew in Israel in recent decades merits a play.  And it is not just this play. Of all the 'political' plays that have been staged in the UK in the last 5 years that are focused on criticism of a foreign country I would bet that at least 90% of them have been about Israel. This is despite the fact that, as recent events demonstrate, Israel is the only country in the Middle East which provides its citizens with freedom and democracy. When did you last see a play critical of: Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Tunisia, Morroco, Algeria (or any one of the world's 58 Muslim countries), not to mention the tyrannies that still exist in Eastern Europe, as well as China, Burma etc? 
• Nobody is questioning the right of the playwrite to produce and say whatever they want, but we have every right to question why playwrites and theatre directors are ONLY interested in political plays that are anti-Israel. That should be the context for any debate about this play.
• Given that Jews were effectively barred from the 'political' debate at the Saturday workshop, I am concerned at Joe's cowering acceptance that he had no right to raise any political objections to the play. How the hell do you discuss, for a political play like this,  "the play itself, its staging and the characters portrayed" without the political context?
• I am concered at Joe's casual and quite offensive suggestion of moral equivalence between anti-Israel fanatics (whose greatest wish in life is to see the violent destruction of the State of Israel) and people who simply love Israel and don't feel the need to have to swallow all of the lies and proganda told against it.
• I am concerned that pro-Israel supporters are giving this kind of play far more prominence and support than it deserves.  

Update on this post.

Our friends the Jordanians

Second only to the Egyptians in their level of anti-semitism, and with the prospects of their own Islamists similarly toppling a 'pro-Western' regime, the Jordanians are really starting to flex their ant-semitic muscles at the highest level. Today Jordan's justice minister no less described a Jordanian soldier serving a life sentence for killing 7 Israeli  schoolgirls in 1997 and wounding many others in an unprovoked machine gun attack, as a "hero," and joined a sit-in to demand his release.

And there is an interesting angle in the reporting of this story. Al Arabyia provides very detailed quotes from the Minister's written demands to release the soldier including these gems:
 

"I support the demonstrators' demand to free Ahmad Dakamseh. He's a hero. He does not deserve prison,"


"We cannot imagine that a great fighter like Dakamseh is in jail instead of reaping the rewards of his achievement,"

"If a Jewish person killed Arabs, his country would have built a statue for him instead of imprisonment."

Yet the Jerusalem Post, which has on its books many reporters who refuse to believe that their Arab neighbours hate them so much, is typically downplaying the story by not mentioning what the Minister actually said.  Again the Israeli press is doing exactly what the media in the rest of the western world is doing - censoring news of the Jihad against them. Hear no evil see no evil....

Imagine if the Egyptian revolution really is what the Western media is telling you

Western liberal analysts - who have totally dominated the narrative about the 'revolution' in Egypt - have typically been projecting their own values on the situation. That is why, for example, they are simply 'wishing away' the Muslim Brotherhood or suggesting that they are just a bunch of cuddly religious old men.

But just imagine if the revolution is really going to deliver the kind of democracy, freedom and peace the liberals assume. Then the very first thing that must happen is that anti-semitism, which is the core unifying feature of Egyptians, must be curbed. The reason 98% of Egyptians hate Jews is because antisemitism is bred into them from the day they are born. Anti-semitism is not just pumped out of  state-run media and - with full government encouragement -  from every mosque and imam in the country. It also dominates the beliefs and actions of supposedly enlightened lawyers, writers, musicians and trade unionists (who call for the killing of the rare fellow lawyers, writers musicians and trade unionists for daring to speak to Israelis for example).

Curbing anti-semitism (and, of course, its 'acceptable face' dressed as anti-Israel and anti-Americanism) is essential if there is to be any hope of genuine freedom, domocracy and peace.


When the western media starts mentioning this I will start to believe there is such hope.

The Western main stream media is censoring what it shows from Egypt

Numerous bloggers have pointed out the fact that the Western media is deliberately censoring/ignoring the widespread anti-semitism prominent in banners and feelings at the 'pro democracy' camp in Cairo. Here is a good example. But there is another aspect being censored because it simply does not fit in with the ‘narrative’ that the anti-Mubarek demonstrators are peace-loving democrats. This is the violence.

Where Al Jazeera is different from the Western coverage is that Al Jazeera has been showing very graphic videos of horrific violence by both pro and anti- Mubarek supporters including several actual killings and lynchings. The most appalling examples are clearly being committed by the anti-Mubarek supporters (check out Al jazeer'as coverage tonight). The Western media are simply not showing these. Can you imagine how they would be falling over themselves to show those videos if that kind of violence happened in Israel? In fact, given the amount of time they are spending on Egyypt regurtitating the same material wouldn't you have thought they would be interested in showing something new?

What we can look forward to from Egypt.

As usual Sultan Knish gets the Egyptian 'revolution' right and there is a good analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood from Daphne Anson. For anybody who believes the universal media message that nothing but good is going to come out of the 'pro-democracy' revolution in Egypt watch all 90 seconds of this video.

And it has started already. Since the 'revolution'  we have already seen:

• Hamas, emboldened by the prospects of their parent organisation the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, fired a grad rocket at a wedding reception in Israel
• All Hamas prisoners in Egypt were broken out of jail (and have returned to Gaza to plot the next wave of terrorist attacks)
• The entire Hezbollah network who were recently convicted of plotting terrorist attacks against Israeli tourists in Sanai were broken out of jail.
• Today terrorists blew up the gas pipeline in Norther Sinai that provides gas supplied to Israel and Jordan.

Also, isn't it funny how the same liberal-lefties who set the media agenda don't support pro-democracy movements in Islamist countries that wish to destroy Israel (Iran and Syria being obvious examples).