Colin ShindlerZionism has, in recent years, become an increasingly pejorative term. It was, for example, unremarkable for Alexei Sayle to write in the Independent: “If the Zionists wanted a homeland, why didn’t they take a piece of Germany? The answer is, of course, that Arabs, then and now, were not considered fully human by the … Read more
The Reflection of Israel within British Jewry A Special Role British Jewry has played a unique role in the often ambivalent relationship between Britain and Israel. Sometimes it has been characterised as an emboldened advocate for Zionism during the Atlee government during the late1940s. On other occasions, it has been seen as an … Read more
Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis Bat Ye’or Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2005 384 pp., pb. $23.95/£17.50, ISBN 083864077X; hb. $49.50/£36.50, ISBN 0838640761 The Israel–Palestine conflict is an obstacle placed in the path of Jewish-Muslim dialogue in Europe. But in this book there is no indication that there are two narratives to this tortuous conflict … Read more
Ahdaf Soueif (Comment, November 17) simplistically depicts the Israeli right as “Zionists” and the peace camp as merely “Israelis”. Yet the Peace Now movement does not disavow Zionism. Neither does the architect of the Oslo and Geneva accords, Yossi Beilin. Neither do members of Courage to Refuse, who reject military service in the West Bank … Read more
Why didn’t George Galloway (Comment, August 31) notice the absence of air raid shelters in Lebanon? Why did Iran and Syria spend tens of millions of dollars on sophisticated weaponry for Hizbullah, yet not spend a penny to protect Lebanese civilians against the Israeli air force? Why is Hizbullah now offering $12,000 compensation for each … Read more
I came to Spain because I felt I had to… we didn’t worry when Mussolini came to power in Italy. We felt bad when Hitler became chancellor of Germany, but what could we do? We felt – although we tried to help and sympathize – that it was their problem and wouldn’t affect us… I … Read more
Timothy Garton Ash is right to promote the cause of liberal democracy in the Middle East, but although Hizbullah has embraced parliamentary politics, it simultaneously continued the armed struggle (A little democracy is a dangerous thing – so let’s have more of it, August 3). In contrast, the Irgun transformed itself into an Israeli political … Read more
Ned Temko (Comment, last week) is right to differentiate between the present Israeli incursion and Sharon’s categorical refusal to heed cabinet decisions in 1982. By marching instead on Beirut, Sharon brought out 400,000 protesters in Tel Aviv in 1982. Today, demonstrations against the conflict from the Israeli far left can only muster hundreds. There is … Read more
An outright victory over Hizbullah, as David Grossman argues (Comment, July 20), is impossible, but it may be considerably weakened militarily. The Israelis have learned the lesson of 1982 by not mounting a ground invasion of Lebanon. At that time, Sharon disobeyed cabinet orders to clear a 40km swathe of territory of Palestinian fighters and … Read more
Before moving into higher education and teaching Israeli studies, I taught chemistry for 20 years in an inner-London college and was a loyal member of my union, NATFHE (National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education). Lecturers in further education like myself were treated extremely badly by successive British governments and we went out … Read more