Friday, 16 June 2006

The Israel Lobby

The following quotations are taken from Peter Oborne's Channel 4 Dispatches documentary first aired on 16 November 2009, 'Inside Britain's Israel Lobby.'


David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, was quoted thus:
"If I become Prime Minister, Israel has a friend who will never turn his back on Israel!"
In a programme note before the programme was aired, Oborne wrote:

“I was shocked to see that Cameron made no reference at all to the invasion of Gaza, the massive destruction it caused, or the 1,370 deaths that had resulted. Indeed, Cameron went out of his way to praise Israel because it 'strives to protect innocent life'.

I found it impossible to reconcile the remarks made by the young Conservative leader with the numerous reports of human rights abuses in Gaza… To allow this terrible subject to pass by without comment suggested a failure of common humanity and decency on the part of a man most people regard as the next Prime Minister. 
To praise Israel at the same time for protecting human life showed not merely A FUNDAMENTAL FAILURE OF RESPECT FOR THE TRUTH but also it gives the perception, rightly or wrongly, of SUPPORT FOR THE WRETCHED EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE IN GAZA…

TO OVERLOOK ISRAEL’S CULPABILITY IS UNDOUBTEDLY PARTISAN.”
Perhaps Cameron's partiality can be explained by the fact that his great-great-grandfather was a mega-rich Jewish businessman.

Ben Bradshaw, Gordon Brown's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said this:
“I’m afraid the BBC has to stand up to the Israeli authorities occasionally. Israel has a long record of bullying the BBC!"
Outside of the documentary, he added:
“I’m afraid the BBC has been cowed by this relentless and persistent pressure from the Israeli government and they should stand up against it".
David Goldberg, Rabbi Emeritus of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, said:
“In the occupied territories, Israel is an apartheid state. There is no two ways about it. When settlers travel on one road and Palestinians have to use another road; when settlers are governed by Israeli law and Palestinians are governed by military law, you are talking about apartheid."
Sir Richard Dalton, a former UK Ambassador to Iran, had this to say:
“What's unique about the pro-Israeli lobbies is that THEY HAVE SUCH GOOD ACCESS TO POLITICIANS, THEY OFTEN OPERATE BEHIND THE SCENES AND THEY HAVE PRIMARY REGARD, EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY COME FROM BRITAIN, NOT TO THE INTERESTS OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE... BUT THE INTERESTS OF ANOTHER COUNTRY"!
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, said:
“I think it would be a terribly dangerous thing if the British press were made to feel that they couldn't criticise Israel because they were going to be held up as anti-Semites. I think it's a very disreputable argument.”
Gerald Ronson served a year in prison for the part he played in the Guinness scandal. 

He is currently the Chairman and chief sponsor of the Community Security Trust. The CST tells us this at the Home Page of its website:
"The Community Security Trust advises and represents the Jewish community on matters of security... It represents... the Jewish community on police, governmental and communal bodies on matters of security and antisemitism…

The CST draws upon a network of 3,000 trained volunteers throughout the country... These personnel are trained by the CST, and by the Police, so that they can provide the highest level of security for the Jewish community."
Vigilantes, then. 

Nothing wrong with vigilantes, especially when the police, the Judiciary and the Government don't seem to give a monkey's what’s happening to you. However, vigilantes are supposed to be politically incorrect, aren't they? I thought we were supposed to frown upon vigilantes, not get them trained up by the boys in blue. The thing is, 'the police, the Judiciary and the Government' DO 'give a monkey's what happens' to Jewish folk, don't they? Maybe that's why they let them have a little vigilante gang all to themselves.

I wonder if Gerald Ronson, David Cameron and co. would mind would mind if I, an Englishman, organised a 'network of 3,000 trained volunteers" "so that the highest level of security' could be provided for the indigenous British community in this country? I wonder if it would concern such folk if I announced that my 'ethos' coincided precisely with that of the CST? To whit: the British community 'should be responsible for its own security.'

I wonder if the police would help me train up my vigilantes? Come to think of it, as there are about 150 Anglo-Celtic Brits to every Jew in this country, to be fair, they'd have to let us have a 'network of 450,000 trained volunteers,' wouldn't they?

Anyway, after one occasion where The Guardian was intensely critical of Israel, Ronson paid Alan Rusbridger a visit. During which Rusbridger tells us Ronson said this:
"I've always said that opinions are like arseholes, everyone's got one. I'm in favour of free speech but there is a line which can't be crossed and, as far as I'm concerned, you've crossed it and you must stop this!"
Peter Oborne said this during the course of his documentary:
“The Israeli invasion of Gaza earlier this year caused huge controversy. A few months later the Conservative Friends of Israel held its annual lunch for Conservative politicians and businessmen. This years the star speaker was David Cameron. I was astonished to note that he made no reference to widespread KILLING OF INNOCENT CIVILIANS AND MASSIVE DESTRUCTION IN GAZA six months earlier. Indeed, Cameron went out of his way to praise Israel because... IT STRIVES TO PROTECT INNOCENT LIFE!...

So how does the lobby work? Money plays a big part. MILLIONS OF POUNDS IN DONATIONS FROM BUSINESSMEN AND OTHERS INTO THE BANK ACCOUNTS OF POLITICIANS AND POLITICAL PARTIES... The Conservative Friends of Israel is one of Westminster's most active lobbying groups. IT CLAIMS AS ITS MEMBERS 80 PER CENT OF ALL CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT...

Aside from raising cash some of the pro-Israel lobbies in parliament also pay for and arrange trips to Israel. They have sent almost as many MPs and candidates on trips to Israel as have been made by all politicians to the United States and Europe combined over the last eight years.

Two years ago the CFI took 20 parliamentary candidates to Israel. When they got back 10 of them received donations totalling £30,000 from CFI sponsors."
Sir Richard Dalton commented upon such 'donations' thusly:
"I DON'T BELIEVE, AND I DON'T THINK ANYBODY ELSE WOULD BELIEVE, THAT THESE CONTRIBUTIONS COME WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED."
When Hezbollah killed two Israeli soldiers and captured two more in 2006, Israel invaded the Lebanon. During this invasion, as Oborne tells us:'1000 Lebanese civilians were killed and an estimated 3.6 billion dollars worth of the Lebanese economy was destroyed.' He continued:
"On July 20 (William) Haig made a speech. In it he called the Israeli response ‘disproportionate‘, moderate enough you might think but LORD KALMS, A LEADING CFI DONOR, WHO OWNS DIXONS AND WAS TREASURER OF THE PARTY, WAS OUTRAGED AND THREATENED TO WITHDRAW FUNDING TO THE PARTY."


Lord Kalms wrote this response:
“William Haig's usual good sense has deserted him. Think again William. For whom do you speak? Your comments are not merely unhelpful, they are downright dangerous.”
No further donations were received by William Haig from CFI board members.

Michael Ancram, former Charman of the Conservative party, then said:
"I knew Stanley Kalms when I was Chairman of the Party and he was one of those who took the view that ANY CRITICISM OF ISRAEL is effectively damaging to the Israeli state."
Sir Richard Dalton added:
"THE ISRAELI LOBBIES APPEARED TO CENSOR BRITISH POLITICIANS from saying that elements of the Israeli reaction was ‘disproportionate’ and THEY APPEARED TO BE WILLING TO USE FINANCIAL PRESSURES AS A WAY OF ENFORCING THAT DECISION."
Oborne continued:
"After William Haig's speech, THE DIRECTOR OF THE CFI, STUART POLAK, HAD A MEETING WITH DAVID CAMERON AT WHICH IT WAS UNDERSTOOD TERMS LIKE ‘DISPROPORTIONATE’ ARE NOT THE SORT THAT CONSERVATIVES SHOULD USE TO DESCRIBE ISRAELI MILITARY ACTION...

We've been reliably informed that donations from all CFI members and their businesses add up to well over £10 million over the last eight years. That's more than any other lobby in Westminster.

IT WAS UNDER TONY BLAIR THAT THE ISRAEL LOBBY FIRST ACQUIRED REAL INFLUENCE IN GOVERNMENT.

Former Chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel, John Mendelssohn, boasted:

‘ZIONISM IS PERVASIVE IN NEW LABOUR. IT'S AUTOMATIC THAT BLAIR WILL COME TO LABOUR FRIENDS OF ISRAEL MEETINGS'.

Today Mendelssohn is Labour's chief fundraiser and Labour Friend's of Israel  have sent even more MPs to Israel than has the CFI!"
In the introductory note to Oborne's documentary, this is said:
"The Conservative Friends of Israel was founded in 1974 by the Conservative MP Michael Fidler. (Jewish) Since then it has emerged as a powerful lobby group. By 1984, the CONSERVATIVE PRIME MINISTER, MARGARET THATCHER, HAD BEEN PREVAILED ON TO BECOME CHAIRMAN OF THE CFI BRANCH AT HER LOCAL FINCHLEY CONSTITUENCY".
As is this:
"The LFI (Labour Friends of Israel) was founded in 1957 at a public rally at that year’s Labour Party Conference... It has very close ties with the Israeli Labour Party...

One of Tony Blair’s first acts on becoming an MP in 1983 was TO JOIN THE LABOUR FRIENDS OF ISRAEL. He remained close to the group throughout his career, regularly appearing at their events".
Oborne continues:
"Shortly before Blair became party leader in 1994, he met Michael Levy the pop music millionaire at a social event arranged by the Israeli embassy. They became friends, playing tennis together and Levy became Blair's chief fundraiser. It's estimated that he raised over £15 MILLION FOR LABOUR before the row over CASH-FOR-PEERAGES.

When Tony Blair became Prime Minster in 1997, HE AWARDED MICHAEL LEVY A LIFE PEERAGE AND MADE HIM HIS SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST. But, because Lord Levy was unpaid and working directly to the Prime Minister, WHAT HE NEGOTIATED BETWEEN ISRAEL AND ITS ARAB NEIGHBOURS, ON BEHALF OF BRITAIN, WAS KEPT SECRET.
Oxford University Middle East specialist Expert, Avi Schlaim, believes that 'Levy's role was actually damaging to Britain.'

Professor Schlaim said:
"SOMETHING BECAME SKEWED IN BRITISH POLITICS WHEN AN UNELECTED FRIEND OF THE PRIME MINISTER HAD SO MUCH INFLUENCE OVER BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS THE MIDDLE EAST".
Of the intense pressure Jewish lobbyists put upon the BBC to hold back on outright criticism of Israel, Professor Schlaim added:
"There are some people in the Jewish community in Britain who listen to the news, monitor the news and are too quick to start protesting to the BBC. Their complaints are usually unjustified."
Elsewhere in the documetary, the Professor said this:
“There is a split in the Jewish community about Israel. THE LEADERS TEND TO BE BLINDLY PRO-ISRAELI. THE ISRAEL LOBBY DOES REPRESENT A NARROW RIGHT-WING AGENDA… CALLING CRITICS OF ISRAEL ‘ANTI-SEMITIC’ HAS BECOME A DELIBERATE TACTIC AMONG SOME OF ISRAEL'S MORE STRIDENT LOBBY GROUPS."
Almost all the MPs, who were Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel at the time, voted to make war upon Afghanistan and Iraq.

On 3 April 2004, Israeli journalist, Ari Shavit, said this in the Israeli daily, Haaretz:
"The war in Iraq was conceived by 25 Neoconservative intellectuals MOST OF THEM JEWISH, WHO ARE PUSHING PRESIDENT BUSH TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY."
If you ever wondered what Blair, Brown, Straw, Mandelson, Cameron and the Jewish Lobby were really up to, 'changing the course of history' would just about sum it up.

The explanatory commentary provided by Oborne and James Jones is, perhaps, in its revelatory power, even more startling than the documentary itself.

Ladies and gentlemen, Britain's politicians have been in thrall to the whim, the will, the power and the money of the Jews for many decades now.

To point this out is, even now, despite all the evidence, condemned as anti-Semitic. The fact that mainstream journalists are now daring to tell it as it really is, without fear of the consequences, is, perhaps, a sign that the times they are, at last, a-changing.

P.S. The adjective 'anti-Semitic' was first coined in the 1860s by one Moritz Steinschneider, an Austrian Jew.

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