A distant threat.

Images suggest that the threat from Palestinian stone throwers is a complete fabrication.

Israeli suggestions that the IDF or infact Israel itself is facing an imminent threat from overwhelmingly unarmed Palestinian protesters are put into perspective when you see the distances the ‘superhuman’ Palestinians would have to propel a missile. Even if the Palestinian protesters were made up from Olympians, they wouldn’t be close to spanning the gap between them and the IDF. When you consider the extremely high barbed wire fence as well, any attempt to get a projectile over would be futile. Moreover, why haven’t we seen the injuries caused by the stones over the years they have been considered a weapon?

The mainstream media have insinuated that the shootings are in response to violence but the protesters have no means to inflict injury on the distant IDF snipers.

The initial reporting of the mass killings and injuries concentrated on the flag waving, face painted Palestinian crowds as if they were about to invade Israel without a gun between them. Explanations are by way of Israeli officials, who try to insert the words ‘Hamas’ and ‘terrorists’ into the statement as many times as possible. The compliant media will never question the Israeli spokesperson, no matter how unbelievable the scenario is. There is an overwhelming sense of, ‘it’s their own fault, for being there’.

The blockade is never mentioned in detail. Many times, it will be explained that Israel removed 8,000 people from 21 settlements and they were repaid with rocket and mortar fire. Only one year after the withdrawal from Gaza, a blockade was initiated on these grounds:

From Wikipedia.

The stated reason was that Hamas would not agree to the conditions for continued aid: to recognize Israel, disavow violent actions, and accept the previous agreements between Israel and the PA.

The page claims that Hamas seized power by military force but they had won an election and also received a warning that Fatah was going to ignore these results and assume control by force. Hamas simply overwhelmed the US financed attempt to subvert democracy, which is ironic considering the claims by the US of ‘spreading democracy’. They only want to do this if the side they support wins. If not, they will try to find a way to discredit the winners by smear or accusations of corruption.

The demand for Hamas to recognise Israel is as blatant an example of hypocrisy as you will find. Israel not only fails to recognise a Palestinian state, it stops them from creating one through military superiority.

It’s difficult to show the bias in the media because it’s not so much what they do say but more about what they don’t. Why would Gaza resistance suddenly decide to fire rockets into Israel? There would be no logical answer if you disregard the fact that it could be a response to provocation.

The falsehood that there is some kind of crazy Muslim mentality that enjoys conflict and the prospect of death is just that. Martyrdom is acknowledged when fighting for an honourable cause and the claims that it is effectively a death wish mentality is untrue. In my experience Muslims have the same hopes and aspirations as everyone else. The removal of hope from the people of Gaza (and Palestine in general) would have the same effect on us as it does on them. For a parent to see their child without any chance of progressing or any hope of a successful career would be difficult to take. The vast majority of people in Gaza face a daily fight for survival. They don’t know when the next attack from Israel will be inflicted.

When did the BBC ever inform us of what is restricted from entering Gaza? The only thing they might have admitted is that building materials are prohibited. When the most recent Israel attack reduced to rubble 18,000 homes, that creates a huge problem. Not only for those who have no home, but for the many construction workers who could earn a living but are instead unemployed. The blockade creates many issues that have knock on effects and the Israelis know what they are doing. They are actively forcing (by restriction and containment) all of Gaza inhabitants to slowly succumb to an existence that we in the West can’t possibly imagine.

The pro Israeli groups that squeal incessantly about Boycott, Divest and Sanctions never condemn their own BDS on Gaza. These constraints are far more punishing than the BDS organisation could ever want to inflict on Israel. Pro Palestinians have no intention

The whole argument is mixed up in claims of anti semitism when in fact many of us who support Palestinians don’t want the mirror effect being created on Israel, we just want the miserable lives that are being deliberately inflicted on the Palestinians to be stopped.

In recent days, many high profile critics have attacked Jeremy Corbyn. These people are never affected by anti semitism, the vast majority of people have no idea or are not concerned about who is Jewish and who isn’t. They don’t care, never mind harbour hatred. The pro Israeli groups are attempting to highlight an anti semitism that doesn’t exist and then use that non existent prejudice to silence those that demand the right for Palestinians to live a normal life.

Returning to the JLC and BoD, these groups should be banned in this country, not because they are Jewish groups but because their agenda is primarily to protect Israel and not to assist Jews here that are in need of support. They aren’t concerned about Jews who are facing hardship, these people cannot see beyond deflecting criticism away from Israel. This is the only reason for their existence. They are the British version of the US Israel lobby.

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John Woodcock, Labour MP majority of 209 votes.

Woodcock continues to stab Corbyn in the back while the BoD maintain their suffering is significantly worse than that of the Palestinians.

Jeremy Corbyn visited a synagogue to celebrate a Jewish event but it seems he doesn’t associate with the correct type of Jews for Woodcock. A scathing attack by the MP elected by the skin of his teeth and a vocal critic of Corbyn throughout his leadership, Woodcock should try to appreciate the depth of feeling toward Corbyn, which is in stark contrast to his own views.

Voters see that unlike the vast majority of politicians, Corbyn has integrity and to claim such a mild mannered man could harbour secret hatred of Jews is clutching at straws. While Woodcock is using the smear to oust Corbyn the JLC and BoD merely want to bring him under control. Woodcock only recently claimed that he was about to quit the Labour Party and become an independent representative. Close the door on your way out John. If you are typical of the anti Corbyn resentment in the party, you should invite some of your friends with you. You need to start looking at alternative employment too. Maybe like Gillian Merron, you might get a job in promoting Israel, considering your past chair of the Labour Friends of Israel.

This tweet proves the BoD are a pro Israel propaganda organisation.

Meanwhile the BoD tweeted this:

This is blatant propaganda that exposes the BoD as apologists for the Israeli government. It was a policy by Netanyahu and his goons that arranged dozens of IDF snipers in position to pick off peaceful, unarmed protesters who are trying to inform the world that they have been ethnically cleansed. The BoD lays the blame at the victims door, showing a picture of Palestinians at the internment fence but not the long line of snipers that have been killing them, so I will.

How can this organisation be regarded as respectable enough to hold the moral high ground and criticise Jeremy Corbyn for anti semitism? Even if he was guilty, which he isn’t, how can this propaganda outlet, the BoD, claim that Corbyn’s ties to anything remotely anti semitic can be compared with their clear approval of IDF snipers executing Palestinians?

The JLC and BoD are foreign agents and should be dealt with as such. Mainstream media is a compliant and willing accessory to the air brushing over of Israeli crimes. Incessant complaining about anti semitism always overshadows the real tragedy of innocent Palestinians being slaughtered under the cover of their spurious claims.

A question we ought to continually ask is this:

Is it more difficult to be a Palestinian living under the oppression of an occupier, daily checkpoints, military justice, lack of real opportunities, settler violence or a few snide remarks from uneducated bigots with their anti semitism?

If you really believe that anti semitism is more of a stain on the world’s conscience than the murderous IDF killing Palestinians at will, without ever being held accountable, then you are as racist, prejudiced and exceptionalist as the regime and it’s criminal supporters in Israel.

The largely uncritical organisations such as JLC and BoD are vitally important to distract attention away from the daily killings and torture of the Palestinians. When they stop being the propaganda arm of the Israeli government, then we should start taking the claims of anti semitism seriously.

The current agenda by pro Israeli organisations in the UK are screaming ‘anti semitism!!’ so that we don’t hear the genuine pain and anguish of the victims who were caught in the sights of an IDF snipers rifle.

Silence of the media lambs.

Cowardice in the media means that cowards in the IDF are conveniently ignored.

Some of the sickening testimony and video footage on twitter reveal the depravity of the self proclaimed ‘most moral army in the world’. Delusions and denial spring to mind when we consider the boasting of the higher echelons of the Israel Defence Force who claim the moral high ground.

There was no need for them to prepare the sniper practice for the ‘elite’ marksmen and women. The fences that were already built would contain the prisoner-like ‘inmates’ of Gaza. The most moral army in the world managed to stop the largely peaceful protesters from harming themselves on the razor blade barbed wire by executing them instead.

Israeli officials absolve themselves of any crime by claiming some of the victims were members of Hamas. So what? Does that give them the right to execute these suspects without trial? All the confident statements in the world won’t clear the IDF of multiple summary executions. What on earth gives them the right to do what no other civilised country in the world would do? Accusing them of terrorism won’t allay criticism from the many millions of people who expect the authorities to abide by the law, just as they do. No decent human being could agree that this is the right way for a modern ‘democracy’ to conduct themselves.

What does the media offer in describing the events? Pictures of crowds inside the fences that contain them, with a high probability of the photos being taken from similar vantage points as the snipers. Both taking entirely different types of shots.

When it comes to Israel, unimaginable crimes are ignored or briefly reported. When the Palestinians are accused, the magnifying glass is used. But there is much more that is hidden from the prying eyes of Westerners. We don’t have access to the details of what happens in the military courts that Israel uses only for Palestinians. But almost as guilty as the military judges are the pathetic cowards who are supposed to find out what goes on inside these secretive trials. The media don’t even try to find out on what basis there is a 99% conviction rate. It strikes me as odd that investigative journalists can organise complex and expensive traps to discover a third rate celebrity behaving badly but are unable to reveal the daily discrimination and prejudices inflicted on the Palestinians..

Is it useless journalists that steer clear of sensitive Israeli stories? Or maybe real investigative journalists know its a waste of time reporting on the continual and persistent injustices endured by the Palestinians? There have been a number of writers who have been told that they are being too sympathetic towards the Arab perspective.

Jonathan Cook is one of the few who stuck to his principles. The award winning writer worked for The Guardian as well as other newspapers but it appears his last article for them was around 2007. From what I recall, his perception of the Israel-Palestine conflict was not in keeping with the owner or editor of the newspaper and since then has been a freelance writer and author as well as maintaining  a blog.

It seems that most journalists these days are either pre warned about what is acceptable or the quickly realise that honesty regarding some events can be dangerous to their career. To stand your ground would most certainly end your journalistic aspirations in mainstream media and no matter how talented you are, the description associated with you might contain something that would warn any future employer off publishing you. This isn’t a conspiracy theory, the statistics speak for themselves. The only writer who gives any semblance of fair reporting when it concerns Israel is Robert Fisk and I suspect he knows how far he can go. If the balance of probability was apparent, there would be a 60-40, perhaps 40-60 split of media outlets that would consistently sympathise with the warring factions. Currently, I am not aware of any of the major news or media outlet writers, apart from Fisk, who take a balanced view, never mind empathise with the Palestinians. The real fear must be that if you are even-handed, you risk being smeared as anti semitic.

The big question is whether they should allow principle to get in the way of a successful and financially rewarding career. I have a feeling that Jonathan Cook is one of the few who could tell us from experience what the cost has been.

Bloodthirsty Israel Defence Force relish the risk free target practice.

Planned day of action by Palestinians raises excitement level for the IDF.

This protest has been planned for a while, which has given Israel time to organise and get any prototype killing machines or new tactics honed by testing them on the unarmed crowds. Drones, chemical weapons and the favourite killing weapon for the Israelis, sniper fire. The challenge to kill a real moving Palestinian must be a thrilling prospect, even if they can’t fire back. The good thing about being a sniper is the anonymity. No one knows for sure who fired the shot. Unless they were going to investigate an unlawful killing allegation, which is unlikely, to say the least. Their forensic talents will have to wait until they want to snare a Palestinian for a crime they didn’t commit.

The US are world leaders at allowing their civilian police officers to murder members of the public at will but Israel are always challenging for top spot. This IDF soldier was heralded as a hero after he executed an incapacitated Palestinian who was laid injured on the floor.

Looking quite pleased with himself, isn’t he? He will be. He only served 7 months for the sickening execution. Meanwhile, Ahed Tamimi has been given 8 months for the heinous crime of slapping a trespassing IDF soldier, after he initially hit her.

The soldiers were trying to gain access to Tamimi’s property because it gave them a better vantage point to shoot Palestinians. Just earlier that morning Tamimi’s cousin was almost killed by a bullet.

So in that context, the clearly discriminatory military judges decided to teach the girl a lesson. One big problem with that theory. The young girl in the picture will always be a superior human being. I don’t like to refer to people in this manner but the ugly dog in the first picture really isn’t good enough to clean Tamimi’s shoes. He shouldn’t be described as human at all but unlike the general attitude amongst Israeli Jews that the Arabs are there simply to serve them, my reasoning has nothing to do with race, creed or religion.

She is intellectually superior and far more intelligent. She knows right from wrong because her parents taught her. She has never and will never kill another human being for the fun of it. He thinks he’s clever because he executed a man who was unable to even slightly resist but at some point karma will catch up with him. Tamimi will be released from prison being infinitely wiser and more able to resist the abuses of the IDF. But there is another reason why she will have the last laugh and that is because she will eventually be on the winning side. It might take a while but the treatment at the hands of gun carrying Israelis fresh out of school will simply make them stronger and more resilient. The Israelis are deluded if they think that after over seventy years of ill treatment, discrimination, torture, water deprivation and goodness knows what else will suddenly make them surrender. It won’t, it makes them stronger.

The thousands of Palestinian protesters know they have a target on their back. They accept that they might not journey back from their lawful protest over human rights, civil liberties and right of return. That doesn’t mean they are deliberately walking into death, it means they are brave enough to risk it for their liberty.

Propaganda relating to a death wish is unjustified but they know that death is a possibility and accept their fate. There are already 17 martyrs and dozens injured, like I said, for the IDF, an environment where they can safely kill, without the possibility of any dangers to themselves makes them feel invincible.

When Netanyahu takes the opportunity to be a war Prime Minister, in order to avoid domestic corruption charges, the IDF won’t be so confident. They have no stomach for a fight when their opponents are capable of doing them harm. The Syrian Arab Army and Hezbollah are battle ready. The IDF normally encounters an enemy with no guns. Yes, they have superior weaponry and air superiority but Hezbollah might already have portable air defence missiles and without a guaranteed air safety, they have been largely ineffective on the ground.

Until then, I salute the incredible resilience of the Palestinian people. There is only one winner in the battle between good and evil, the patience of the indigenous people will prevail and conquer.

Gilad Atzmon.

 

The Campaign Against Antisemitism could financially ruin Gilad Atzmon, if he loses.

Gilad Atzmon has decided to fight a libel case brought by Gideon Falter, who is the chairman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism. Falter has apparently took offence about something Gilad wrote on his blog. It would seem that litigation is the new weapon for those defending the atrocities of the Israeli state.

Here is a letter written to the Guardian in 2015.

Some 77% of British Jews say that they have witnessed antisemitism disguised as a political comment about Israel. As if to prove the point, Friday’s letters page was a neatly arranged showcase of claims that our organisation is secretly an Israeli front and our polling on antisemitism was “flawed” or even concocted specially to “dovetail” with the policies of the Israeli government. Ours was not the only polling to lay bare the rising tide of antisemitism. Polling aside, 2014 was the worst year on record for antisemitic incidents. Why can some of your readers not accept the facts for what they are and address the very real problem of antisemitism, rather than supposing in spite of the evidence that it is a fiction, or that it does exist but would cease to if Jews supported Israel less? Jewish concerns must not be silenced by conspiracy theorists railing about Israel.
Gideon Falter
Chairman, Campaign Against Antisemitism

‘antisemitism disguised as a political comment about Israel’, said Mr Falter.

So this means that any criticism of Israel can be perceived as antisemitism?

‘showcase of claims that our organisation is secretly an Israeli front’

Attempts by the CAA to censor critics of Israel and supporters of BDS would suggest that there is a justifiable suspicion that the CAA are indeed closely connected to the campaign (that Israel have admitted to) attempting to contain the BDS effects.

Jewish concerns must not be silenced by conspiracy theorists railing about Israel.

Ah, the old ‘conspiracy theorists’ smear.

The claim of instances of antisemitism becoming more prevalent is what gets the CAA increased funds but then again, that might be regarded as a conspiracy theory. What isn’t a conspiracy theory is this. Kaydar/Kadar, unlike Ahed Tamimi, has been released on bail for his alleged antisemitic crimes that terrorised thousands of innocent victims around the world, many of them Jewish. I hope Mr Falter will be campaigning for tough sentence for this common criminal that is being treated so well by the Israeli justice system.

Quite frankly, the claims by Falter and his group include antisemitic crimes such as childish name calling, graffiti and threatening behaviour. Sadly the type of anti social behaviour many of us have to endure on a visit to the corner shop, for instance.

The CAA are also alleged to have exerted pressure on live venue owners who have hosted Gilad Atzmon, amongst others. This doesn’t appear to be a fight against antisemitism, more like an attempt to stop free speech.

Just as concerning is the fact that this clearly political group have Charitable status. What on earth is charitable about trying to silence the critics of an Israeli government that ignores international calls for justice for the Palestinians and has made Gaza in to an open air prison? How can an organisation be granted charity status under such circumstances? To conflate trying to protect Palestinian lives with antisemitism, it is Falter who is the wild conspiracy theorist.

 

Free Ahed Tamimi.

I contacted my parliamentary representative to ask him to try to pressure Israel into releasing her.

It could be argued that I was wasting my time but here is the response to that particular aspect of my enquiry.

With regards to the case of Ahed Tamini, I do appreciate your concerns and I know that the British Government has made representations to the Israeli Government about it. More generally, you may be aware that in 2012, an independent report on Children in Military Custody was funded and facilitated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Since its publication, Ministers and our Ambassador to Israel have strongly urged the recommendations of the report to be implemented. FCO Minister of State, Alistair Burt MP, raised the issue of children in detention with Israeli authorities when he visited the region in August.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Best wishes,
Matt

I was going to write back and tell him we could use our trade concessions with Israel as leverage for them to uphold International law. The trade surplus is to their benefit, but restrictions on them selling to us would be a crippling blow considering the size of the relevant economies.

I’ve been trying to discover what favours the EU does for Israel but it’s difficult for me to understand.

Boycott Divest and Sanction.

I did discover that the BDS is having little effect on Israel trade with the UK. In fact it is still going up year on year and if I understood correctly, a large portion of the trade is Pharmaceuticals.

• Dexcel Pharma. …
• Fischer Pharmaceuticals. …
• Mediline Ltd. …
• Rafa Laboratories Ltd. …
• Rekah Group. …
• Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. …
• Trima Ltd. …
• Vitamed Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Dexcel alone offer a huge list of drugs.

Fischer Pharmaceuticals appear to be in to the anti aging market. We all know what a scam that is.

Mediline produce a range of items described here.

Rafa Laboratories work closely with a whole host of companies listed here.

Rekah Group produce pharmaceutical, cosmetic and vitamin products.

Taro pharmaceuticals produce Warfarin and have been warned for poor practices in their Canadian facility by the Food and Drug Administration.

Trima are described as medical suppliers.

Vitamed is engaged in the manufacture of prescription drugs, OTC drugs, dermatological preparations, dermo-cosmetics, vitamins and nutritional supplements. Vitamed is also in the Rekah group.

The irony is not lost on the fact that their close neighbours in Gaza do not get the benefit of these products.

There is only one thing I can add to this disappointing information and that is, wherever possible use natural and herbal remedy sourced in anywhere but Israel.

 

Roger Waters.

A superb interview with the incredible Palestinian activist Roger Waters.

A video with Roger Waters and other Palestinian activists shows  Waters at his defiant best and feels more like an armchair discussion with the fearless musician than a public interview. This audience with Mr Waters appears to be less inhibited with his criticism of the Israel lobby and clearly believes that there is something wrong with the vast majority of Israelis, with regards their opinion of Palestinians. We are all human and no group, religion or ethnicity is any better than another.