This is the kind of total contempt for Israel that is so much a part of the social and political landscape in the UK. Notice how they try even to take away Israel's kudos for the Six Day War.
The New Statesman is a left-wing rag, what do you expect from those bastards? The opinion of one of their journalists does not represent the opinions of the majority of the British people.
I've grown to despise the nation in which I was born and raised. How can it be otherwise when I'm surrounded by such hatred for the Jewish people and the Jewish state?
Pardon me, but as an Englishman I find this comment offensive and misleading. Let's look at some facts shall we?
1) If it was not for the Balfour Declaration then Israel would not even exist.
2) If it had not been for British resolve and resourcefulness during World War II, then you're Jewish ancestor(s) would probably have been murdered by the NAZIs and you would not exist.
3) As the article states, the UK knowingly provided nuclear materials to Israel without which it would have been unable to produce nuclear weapons before the Six Day War began.
4) As the article makes clear, the US government (Democrats at the time) would have stopped the deal if they had known about it.
5) Providing precious nuclear materials to a potentially unstable country is very risky. What would have happened if Israel had not got the nukes online in time and had lost the war, leaving the technology and materials in the hands of hostile arab nations?
Instead of acknowledging any of the relevant facts above, you twist this biasedly written (but factually correct) article around, to accuse the British people of anti-Semitism. You seem to be oblivious to your own biased behaviour.
Boycotts of Israel, regular demonisation of Israel on the BBC, threatened arrests of Israeli generals, open hatred and incitement in important newspapers, London with an openly anti-Semitic mayor
These things are all being done by leftists, NuLabour and their government stooges, not by the British people. In England more people voted for the Conservative party than voted for Labour and Blair only won because our skewed constituency boundaries gave him a majority of English MPs. In fact, across the whole UK, Labour was elected on just 21.6% of the eligible vote! This leftist government was elected on a more slender share of the vote than has sustained any British government majority since 1832.
Note that the former leader of the Conservative party was Jewish, as was his second in command, and both of them along with the current leader, are members of the Conservative Friends of Israel organisation.
The BBC has always been a leftist propaganda outlet, so what do you expect from them? Ken Livingstone (the mayor of London - for those here who don't know) is a worthless POS, he is an ex-communist for goodness sake, who cried on the day the Soviet Union collapsed! Besides, he did not know that the reporter he made that stupid comment to was Jewish at the time he made it and afterwards the incident became a political issue (which was why he didn't back down).
physical attacks on Jews at a record rate,
This is entirely due to the increasing population of Islamic immigrants in the UK, not to the behaviour of the native British people.
Britain's real dirty little secret? That Jews are no longer either comfortable or safe in the UK.
Utter nonsense. Tell that to my Jewish boss, who is a well respected university lecturer and who has just been awarded a Professorship at a major British university!
And the hatred of Israel is nearly matched by the hatred of the United States. Your closest ally? In your dreams.
More lies. You need to get out more and stop watching the BBC! Either that, or you are being deliberately misleading in order to damage the reputation of the British people. You should consider whether or not such bad behaviour will facilitate good feeling towards the Israeli and Jewish peoples in Britain, or will be counterproductive to your cause.
2) If it had not been for British resolve and resourcefulness during World War II, then you're Jewish ancestor(s) would probably have been murdered by the NAZIs and you would not exist. >directed to me is equally over the top. I've no relatives I know of Brits saved, nor any I know of who died.
Relatives, including both parents and seven uncles, five survived, who fought in Europe the last century I know all about. My impression, your island was among the nations they were helping.
You're right about the Balfour declaration. IMO, Britain turned their back on that commitment in the 1930s. Jews could have been saved by the hundreds of thousands by allowing immigration to Palestine (that's the Jewish homeland) per the Balfour declaration. As nearly a hundred thousand could have been saved by allowing them to use unused visas to the US. While many individuals risked their lives in the effort, imo no Western leader save the Pope and King Christian X of Denmark did a damn thing.
David, I agree with every word you say.
The person calling themselves Hannah Senesh clearly has some personal issues with your fine country and is not able to rationally discuss the points raised in this article.
Speaking as a Jew who has spent a lot of time in London over the years, and done a lot of business there, I don't consider the British an anti-Semitic people in the least.
Yes, they have their idiots, don't we all, but of all the countries I have visited and the people I have dealt with, my British friends top the list.
Finally, a little history for those who may not know it.
Hannah Senesh was born in Budapest in 1921. She joined the British army in 1943 and she volunteered to parachute into Yugoslavia in 1944 to make contact with resistance fighters.
She was captured in Hungary in June 1944 and was brutally tortured repeatedly but didn't reveal any information.
She was executed on November 7, she refused to wear a blindfold. She stared at her killers as she was shot.
Hannah Senesh is a Jewish hero.
The person using her name on this forum should be ashamed.
"These things are all being done by leftists, NuLabour and their government stooges, not by the British people."
You mean like Jack Straw the anti-Israel FM?
"England's Foreign Minister Jack Straw says that the world should worry about disabling Israel's nuclear capabilities as much as it is concerned with preventing Iran from going nuclear."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1594733/posts
"International condemnation followed Israel's killing of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi in Gaza City. 'snip'
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the missile strike.
"The British government has made it repeatedly clear that so-called targeted assassinations of this kind are unlawful, unjustified and counterproductive."
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/17/rantisi.reaction/index.html
"The BBC has always been a leftist propaganda outlet"
The BBC is supported by your tax dollars. It is a state owned news agency. If it is anti-Semitic, which we both seem to agree it is, the British people should make it shape up.
As to the increase in violence against Jews, you said --
"This is entirely due to the increasing population of Islamic immigrants in the UK, not to the behaviour of the native British people.'
So where the hell are the police, the courts and the government? Where is the public outcry? Non-existant.
"You should consider whether or not such bad behaviour will facilitate good feeling towards the Israeli and Jewish peoples in Britain, or will be counterproductive to your cause."
Threats? Jews better shut up or else? Nice. That will really help your cause -- improving the image of the British as not anti-Semitic.