Get ready for another Iraq whitewash

From Gilad Atzmon

The Jerusalem Post reported on 25 November that Sir Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya, criticized the appointment of two leading Jewish academics [Sir Lawrence Freedman and Sir Martin Gilbert] to the UK's Iraq Inquiry panel, stating it may upset the balance of the inquiry.

Miles said the two academics were Jewish and that Gilbert was an active Zionist. He also said they were both strong supporters of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Iraq war.

"It is a pity that, if and when the inquiry is accused of a whitewash, such handy ammunition will be available," he added. "Membership should not only be balanced; it should be seen to be balanced."

The former ambassador also said that having two historians in a panel of five "seems a lot" and also questioned the Jewish academics' credentials.

In December 2004 Sir Martin, while pointing out that the “war on terror” was not a third world war, wrote that Bush and Blair “may well, with the passage of time and the opening of the archives, join the ranks of Roosevelt and Churchill” – an eccentric opinion that would seem to rule him out as a member of the committee. Sir Lawrence is the reputed architect of the “Blair doctrine” of humanitarian intervention, which was invoked in Kosovo and Afghanistan as well as Iraq.

To read the full article, click here.

Inside Britain's Israel Lobby

Dispatches: Inside Britain's Israel Lobby – Channel Four | Monday 16 November | 8 p.m.

Dispatches investigates one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain, which is working in support of the interests of the State of Israel.

Despite wielding great influence among the highest realms of British politics and media, little is known about the individuals and groups which collectively are known as the pro-Israel lobby.

Political commentator Peter Oborne sets out to establish who they are, how they are funded, how they work and what influence they have, from the key groups to the wealthy individuals who help bankroll the lobbying.

He investigates how accountable, transparent and open to scrutiny the lobby is, particularly in regard to its funding and financial support of MPs.

The pro-Israel lobby aims to shape the debate about Britain's relationship with Israel and future foreign policies relating to it.

Oborne examines how the lobby operates from within parliament and the tactics it employs behind the scenes when engaging with print and broadcast media.

For background information, click here. In particular, the articles below (others are listed on the left-hand margin of http://www.redress.cc/stooges):

• Israel’s agents of influence in Britain
• Who's who of Israel's agents of influence in Britain – also in PDF format.
• Zionists at the heart of the British government
• British premier stresses his pro-Israel credentials
• Exposing the ignorance and hypocrisy of Conservative Friends of Israel
• Gordon Brown puts Israel lobbyist in charge of Britain's Middle East policy
• Israel now calling the shots on UK security?

Anti-Zionist riots in Sweden

MALMO, Sweden -- Dozens of rock-throwing anti-Israel activists clashed with police Saturday [7 March] in an attempt to storm a closed arena where Sweden and Israel were playing a Davis Cup tennis match. More

Israel lobbyist Denis McShane passes wind

Labour MP Denis McShane has written a report attacking the BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, for “demonstrat[ing] a preoccupation with humanizing Palestinian perspectives”. Click here to read further.

A rabid Zionist and shameless Israel lobbyist, McShane would rather the media dehumanize all victims of Israeli crimes, as if the media don't dehumanize them enough, presumably by labelling them "terrorists" or "targets".

For those who don't remember McShane's own colourful past, he used to be a BBC reporter but was sacked for dishonesty – fabricating an interview!

Not to worry, if he keeps up his warped Zionist tirade against Mr Bowen, there's a good chance that the BBC and its feeble, pro-Zionist director-general, Mark Thompson, would sack Mr Bowen and maybe even appoint the Zionist nincompoop McShane in his place.

"How can you give someone back only a part of a house he lived in?"

By Henry Lowi

When debating the rights of the Palestine refugees, one often hears the following from left-wing supporters of Zionist racism, purporting to be "pragmatists":

"What's done is done. One can't always be turning back the clock. Otherwise, there would be no end. We must make peace with the Palestinians, and the Palestinian refugees must give up their right to return. Maybe a few can return on humanitarian grounds, the rest will have to accept token compensation."

This is the position of all the wings of "left" Zionism (and left "non-Zionism"), and all those who support the so-called "two-state solution" i.e. those who uphold the discriminatory and anti-democratic state structures of the Israeli regime.

The preposterousness of this position is illustrated by the position that Jewish organizations take toward claims for restitution of property that was seized from Jews by the Nazi invaders, and then re-seized by the "Communist" liberators.

Can you imagine someone saying:

"The Jews of Poland abandoned their homes voluntarily, and sought refuge in the Eastern zone under Soviet protection, planning to return with the victorious Allied armies, and thus forfeited their property"? Or "The Jews of Poland, when they had the chance to return to liberated Poland, chose not to do so but settled in the capitalist West, and thus forfeited their property"?

No one would dare.

Recognition of the right of European Jews to return to their countries of origin in Europe is not in issue. No one in their right mind denies it. It is irrelevant that a minority of European Jews actually seek to exercise this right of return.

In Europe, the only issue is the right to restitution and compensation. And when offered compensation for 15 per cent of the seized property, Naftali Lavie rejected it and responded: "How can you give someone back only a part of a house he lived in," Lavie said. "I would not call this a compromise ... it is depriving people of their property and parts of their lives," he said."

Isn't what is gravy for the goose gravy for the gander?

What is gravy for the goose is gravy for the gander. (See "Holocaust survivors to press Poland for compensation".)