Colin ShindlerThe recent British Labour Party conference was seen as the first stage in the transfer from a Blair government to a Gordon Brown administration. Many comparisons were once again drawn between these two long-time rivals, but one commentator interestingly pointed out that their hostility toward Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, is a rare issue … Read more
Much has been written about contemporary anti-Semitism in Britain, often fuelled by apocalyptic comment from outside the British Isles. Internet bloggers recall the 1930s while emailers plead with British Jews to save themselves before it is too late. Yet there are no pogroms on the high street, no concentration camps in the parks, no crematoria … Read more
I am sitting at home, writing about David Ben-Gurion’s historic debate with Agudat Israel about a constitution for the new state of Israel, when the telephone rings. A colleague from Israel asks if I’m OK. “OK? Everyone’s fine.” A silence. “You had better watch the BBC,” he says. “There have been explosions in London.” A … Read more
Einstein’s address to the National Labor Committee for Palestine – which Howard Jacobson quotes (8 January) – followed the attacks by the Irgun Zvai Leumi on Arabs in November 1937. Up until then, the policy of the Zionist leadership during the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 was one of “self-restraint” – no retaliation to killings of … Read more
Arafat’s pursuit of the politics of expediency led him to support the killing of students in Tiananmen Square and the suppression of the democracy movement. He expressed “extreme gratification that you were able to restore normal order after the recent incidents in People’s China”. He was also sympathetic to the coup in the USSR to … Read more
The British newspaper The Guardian has had a long and illustrious association with Jews and Zionism. The original owners, the Scott family, befriended Chaim Weizmann and its editorial writer, Herbert Sidebotham, was a powerful advocate of the Zionist answer to the Jewish problem at the beginning of the 20th century.Within weeks of Turkey’s entry into … Read more
At the end of August 1929, nearly 80 Jews were killed in Hebron and Safed in an outbreak of Arab violence, instigated by the Mufti of Jerusalem. In all, 13q Jews and over 120 Arabs died in the disturbances. The investigating Shaw Commission, set up by the British- government, emphasised that the root of the … Read more
Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, believes there has been a concerted attempt to label his paper as a receptacle for liberal anti-Semitism due to its criticism of current Israeli government policies.In Daphna Baram’s incisive new book, “Disenchantment: The Guardian and Israel,” (Guardian Books, £17.99), he is quoted as saying: “And, of course, once … Read more
Andreas Whittam Smith (Opinion, 19 April) quotes selectively from a harsh English translation of Jabotinsky’s famous article “The Iron Wall” which was originally published in Russian in 1923. Jabotinsky wrote in the aftermath of Arab attacks in 1920 and 1921 and was actually protesting about the British inability to protect the Jews or arm them. … Read more
Just over one year ago, Ariel Sharon was returned as Prime Minister of Israel in an election in which the Likud and its allies easily attained a blocking majority of 61 seats in the Knesset. The candidate of the Labour Party, the dovish Amram Mitzna, was effectively trounced and resigned his position shortly afterwards. During … Read more