The Shame of our Brainwashed MPs

"Sorry, there is no debate. Your one-sided bias is clearly blurring your ability to see this issue fairly." - Rude Boy

Courtesy: luccaspaivasilva.deviantart.com

(LONDON) - Agent Cameron's now infamous dinner speech to Jewish fund-raisers, in which he pledged the British people's support for the state of Israel and its criminal regime, drew many complaints.

Among the objectors was Ted Clement-Evans, who wrote to some of Cameron's lieutenants: "It was shocking to read the PM’s speech at an annual dinner. Shocking that he should assert that support of Israel is in the DNA not only of the Tory party but also of the British people. Please tell him that justice and fair play are in the DNA of Brits. If we only heard the truth from our Media and the BBC of the illegalities and inhumanity of Israel towards the Palestinian people under the yoke of their 40 year occupation.

"But the PM knows of those inhumanities - he listed them to his Israel supporting audience and still he embraced Israel and all it stood for.

"Please tell the PM how wrong he is and how wrong Israel is."

He also wrote to Cameron himself saying, among other things, that his speech was "so committed to the support of Israel, so shocking in its intensity as to make HMG [Her Majesty's Government] complicit in all of Israel’s crimes against humanity – which the UN perforce logs every week. The seizure of the sailing ship Estelle last week, taking humanitarian goods to the besieged 1.4 million people of Gaza, is but another pinprick. It was you who called Gaza an open prison, you who protest against the continued blockade of this ghetto – but did you say one word to stop this illegal seizure?...

"You have now made it very clear that, just as the US is in thrall to AIPAC, so are the Tories in the grip of the Zionist movements of the UK, the powerful BICOM and the Henry Jackson Society. We see now, just as the US supports Israel to the detriment of that country’s best interests, so our own Government acts against the UK’s best interests."

Andrew Percy, the Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole, made this impertinent response: "What an ignorant email. I am sorry you don’t understand this matter. Please do not contact me again with such an ignorant comment.

“It is great that the PM supports the only true democracy in this region, which guarantees equal rights to all its citizen, Jewish or Arab. As opposed to the Palestinian Authority which rewards prisoners and terrorists who seek the murder of innocent Israeli’s with Government funded salaries. A Palestinian Authority that promotes hatred towards Jews on its own TV stations, that allows the indoctrination of its children in schools with hatred and vile images towards the Jewish people and we Christians.

“Then of course there is the hatred and loathing that accompanies the rockets that come over the border aimed at innocent Israeli citizens.

“It is great to know that our PM supports democracy over hatred and racism.”

Percy is a mere 35 years old and a former school teacher. What caused the rude boy to forget his manners? In his very short time in Parliament (just two years) he has visited Israel twice, on the first occasion with the Conservative Friends of Israel. That indoctrination trip no doubt pumped his head full of Israeli propaganda. It worked like a charm because the following article appeared afterwards under his name.

http://www.isrelate.com/pages/1404/The_Real_Israel

I was indifferent about Israel and the Middle East. However, last year when I visited Israel and the Palestinian territories for the first time, I was left with a very different impression of the place: Israel is a country misunderstood and misrepresented. Looking across the border with Lebanon and peering at Hizbullah strongholds, no more than 100 yards away from where I was standing, underlined the significance of Israel's strategic frailty in the face of constant threat.

Touring the security barrier I was surprised to hear that the architect of the barrier had appeared before the Israeli Supreme Court on countless occasions to defend his decisions regarding the route of the barrier. On occasion, when his planned route was ruled illegal, the barrier was removed and re-built according to the judgement. I also learnt that as a country with sparse natural resources Israel has had to develop alternative methods of productivity. The country leads the way in hi-tech, green and agri-techniques as well as in scientific development.

My travels around Israel surprised me completely. The people were full of get up and go, eager to live peacefully in the region; the towns and cities were energetic and cosmopolitan; and the deliverance of democracy never failed to impress upon me. So why is there such a discrepancy between what I experienced and public perception back in the UK? When was the last time you heard a good news story emanating from Israel on your TV screens or in the newspapers? And why has Israel become defined simply by its inability to solve the conflict when it is so much more than that?

I raised these questions when I returned to Israel again last week with colleagues from the UK and Australia for a dialogue with Israeli and Palestinian politicians, journalists, academics and commentators. This serious problem is not being effectively addressed and Israel's future is being undermined by its inability to promote itself both accurately and attractively. As an MP, I witness this difference between perception and reality, on a regular basis in the House of Commons. From Backbenchers through to Government Ministers and Shadow Ministers, colleagues suffer from a serial case of apathy where Israel is concerned. Seemingly no positive impression of the place has been determined in people's minds.

Israel has consistently perceived military might as the number one way to protect and defend the state. Although an important factor, this cannot be the only focus. The country's re-branding is now an issue of serious strategic importance. Israel must accept that engaging their critics, isolating and correcting their propaganda and successfully rebalancing the debate must be a priority in order to protect their future. All of us who see Israel as more than a conflict zone ought to play our part in this important task.

My challenge to anybody who feels strongly on Israel is to get on a plane and go and see the place for yourself. Visit Tel Aviv where you will see a modern liberal western society where most people are just getting on with their lives in peace. Chat to Israelis or to their politicians and you will be reminded that this is the only true democracy in the Middle East where political debate is passionate, diverse and vibrant. More vibrant than our own democracy perhaps. That is the true Israel, the real Israel.

I hope you get the full toxic flavour. CFI UK claims the copyright, so maybe Rude Boy didn't actually write it, just carelessly put his name to it. Either way he does himself no favours.

The piece reveals that he apparently knows nothing about the Apartheid Wall and why it bites deep into Palestinian territory. He knows nothing about how Israel's “true democracy” discriminates savagely against its non-Jewish citizens and how the millions of Palestinian Arabs living under Israeli rule in the West Bank and East Jerusalem enjoy nothing remotely like democracy, only brutal oppression, dispossession and ethnic cleansing, all enforced by Israel’s thuggish military and crooked laws.

Has he forgotten that Hamas won the Palestinian national elections six and a half years ago and had their democratic rule immediately snuffed out by British-US sanctions and the Israeli blockade? Now holed up in Gaza Hamas continues to govern as best it can under impossible conditions. What stopped Rude Boy going to see for himself, like he preaches?

It seems he doesn't know that Israel isn't interested in solving "the problem" because that simply wouldn't suit the Zionist purpose. "The problem" is perpetual because politicians across the Western world don't understand the situation but are happy to carry on supporting.the Israeli regime and subsidising the cost with our tax-money.

He thinks Israel's propaganda needs "correcting" when actually it works only too well. The lies play much better than the truth. Fortunately more and more people are able to see through to the evil beyond, and this is Israel's undoing. It’s all beginning to unravel. The Israelis have tried re-branding, they've boosted the hasbara, they feverishly “educate” politicians, journalists and student on propaganda tours. But they can't hide the awful truth forever. They can’t create a bright new image from the old rotten product. Even their own people are now speaking out, such as Miko Peled http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOaxAckFCuQ.

Next time Rude Boy flies into Ben Gurion airport (formerly Lydda airport) he might remember that he’s landing on stolen Palestinian soil. He should also spare a thought for the massacre and other atrocities committed in Lydda by Zionist forces in 1948.

And before he next visits Sderot to hear more tales about rockets, he should google ‘Najd’, the ethnically cleansed Palestinian village on which Sderot stands.

CFI UK is not, as some might think, the Conservative Friends of Israel. It's the Christian Friends of Israel, an organisation set up to "serve the Lord and bless Israel as true friends". They believe that “God's time to 'favour Zion' has begun". Can we take it that Rude Boy is a member of CFI as well as Conservative Friends of Israel? At any rate he says he’s a Christian. So why hasn’t he spoken out against the torment and abuse the Israelis heap upon his brothers and sisters in the Palestinian Christian communities, and upon their Muslim brothers and sisters?

When peace activist Elizabeth Morley wrote to foreign secretary William Hague and other ministers and MPs saying: "Please ask your friends in Israel to stop this collective punishment of the people of Gaza,” Rude Boy replied: "Please ask your chums to stop supporting terrorism, suicide bombings and the targeting of innocent civilians. Might want to have a word about the hatred taught in some Palestinian education institutions..."

Elizabeth Morley: “How would you like to be accused of supporting Israel bombing innocent civilians? or shooting at fishermen whose only crime is to try and catch enough fish to support their families? or demolishing Palestinian families' homes? or beating and torturing children? All these things are documented by the UN..."

Rude Boy: "Sorry, there is no debate. Your one-sided bias is clearly blurring your ability to see this issue fairly."

He is perfect for the Foreign Office (Middle East desk) in the next government reshuffle.

Stuart Littllewood

Stuart Littlewood’s book Radio Free Palestine, with Foreword by Jeff Halper, can now be read on the internet by visiting www.radiofreepalestine.org.uk

© Stuart Littlewood 2012

Visit: www.radiofreepalestine.org.uk

Read more from Radio Free Palestine series:

• A Wake-up Call — Stuart Littlewood

Special thanks to MyCatbirdSeat

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2012/09/32573stuart-littlewood-a-story-of-betrayal-1/

Stuart Littlewood’s book Radio Free Palestine can now be read on the internet by visiting www.radiofreepalestine.org.uk