Posted on 07/31/2010 9:50:54 PM PDT by Nachum
Israel's president has accused the English of being anti-semitic and claimed that MPs pander to Muslim voters.
Shimon Peres said England was "deeply pro-Arab ... and anti-Israeli", adding: "They always worked against us."
He added: "There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary."
His remarks, made in an interview on a Jewish website, provoked anger from senior MPs and Jewish leaders who said the 87-year-old president had "got it wrong".
But other groups backed the former Israeli prime minister and said the number of anti-semitic incidents had risen dramatically in the UK in recent years.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Nobody here seems to remember that for the first 20 years or so of the state of Israel, up to about the mid-70s, Israel was hugely popular in Britain, particularly among the young, who idealised the new state: and the trendy thing for a left-leaning young Briton to do at that time was to spend their summer vacation in Israel as a voluntary worker on a Kibbutz. There were also very strong political ties, especially between the Labour parties of the two countries, which retain links to this day. Yes, there are people in Britain with anti-semitic views, as there are, alas, more or less anywhere, the U.S. not excluded: but to assert, as some have on this thread, that the British as an entire nation are and always have been anti-semitic is, I’m afraid, nonsense.
I remember walking through Hyde Park with my uncle and being treated to an anti-Semitic rant. It was astonishing.
There historical facts about England and the Jews.
(A) In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. Lasting for the rest of the Middle Ages, it would be over 350 years until it was formally overturned in 1656.
(B)[In a betrayal of the Balfour Declaration- and resulting in dooming many Jews to Hitler]
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in the Peel Commission Report of 1937, was abandoned in favour of creating an independent Palestine governed by Palestinian Arabs and Jews in proportion to their numbers in the population by 1949 (section I). A limit of 75,000 Jewish immigrants was set for the five-year period 1940-1944, consisting of a regular yearly quota of 10,000, and a supplementary quota of 25,000, spread out over the same period, to cover refugee emergencies. After this cut-off date, further immigration would depend on the permission of the Arab majority (section II). Restrictions were also placed on the rights of Jews to buy land from Arabs (section III).
[c]Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC better known as Glubb Pasha (born 16 April 1897, Preston, Lancashire – died 17 March 1986, Mayfield, Sussex), was a British soldier best known for leading and training Transjordan’s Arab Legion 1939-1956 as its commanding general. [A serving British officer led the Jordanians in attacking the newly declared State of Israel]
Considering the damage they have done I believe it’s fair to consider the British as a people and Government (certainly not all individuals), as one of the Jewish peoples great foes.
For once, Peres, who lived through the British occupation of the Land of Israel and knows all the dealings of perfidious Albion, spoke honestly.
Really? I don’t see how we can be both Muslim-loving lefty liberals while simultaneously looking down at all other races and creeds on the other.
It’s funny, I always thought that Brit-bashing was the preserve of the American left. Judging by all these comments, I must be wrong.
Britain, of course, has had a Jewish prime minister. What was the name of that Jewish American president, again? Slips my mind.
The UK also fought to defend Jewish rights and issue the Balfour declaration at a time when the Americans certainly weren’t interested.
As for the present, I seem to recall that Sacha Baron Cohen, in his Borat incarnation, managed to get a large group of Americans to sing a song called “Throw the Jew down the Well”. Never happened in Britain, nor could I imagine it happening.
Britain, of course, has had a Jewish prime minister. What was the name of that Jewish American president, again? Slips my mind.
The UK also fought to defend Jewish rights and issue the Balfour declaration at a time when the Americans certainly weren’t interested.
As for the present, I seem to recall that Sacha Baron Cohen, in his Borat incarnation, managed to get a large group of Americans to sing a song called “Throw the Jew down the Well”. Never happened in Britain, nor could I imagine it happening.
“Britain, of course, has had a Jewish prime minister.”
Well, that’s not exactly true, if you’re thinking of Benjamin Disraeli. He was born into a Jewish family, but at the age of 13 his family fell away from the Jewish faith.
For the remainder of his life, Benjamin was a practicing member of the Anglican church, which probably accounts for much of his political success in that country.
Do not confuse ethnic extraction, and religious belief. It is a mistake that is commonly made rather like saying all blacks are Southern Baptists (which they are clearly not).
“Sacha Baron Cohen, in his Borat incarnation, managed to get a large group of Americans to sing a song called “Throw the Jew down the Well”.”
I loved that movie. As you know Sacha is also Jewish, which astounded some of my Hebrew friends. When they realized where he was coming from, they all came back with something to the effect that it made the movie REALLY funny.
In any event, if experience in that part of the world is any indication (and I grew up in that sphere), >90% of the audience had never met a Jew. Rather than being biased against Jews, they were probably clueless about Jews which is quite a different matter.
Is that supposed to be irony or humor or something else?
It certainly manifests ignorance of history.
Britain made pledges and promises in the Balfour Declaration. Those pledges were supported by the United States and were incorporated into treaties.
Immediately Britain reneged on those promises, first carving off 2/3 of Mandatory Palestine and giving it to the Arabs- Transjordan, now Jordan.
Defended the Jews? LOL. Britain fought tooth and nail so Jews could not escape to the land of Israel and then fought tooth and nail to prevent the rebirth of Israel.
When Israel declared its independence, and the Arabs attacked -even before- Britain did everything possible to aid the Arabs in their genocidal aims against Israel.
Don't be modest, I think you have believed Israelis are very bigoted- and much much worst -for a very very long time.
Rather curious, then,don't you think, that both main political parties in Britain should choose within a few years of each other to elect a Jewish leader (and thus potential prime minister) - Michael Howard (Cameron's predecessor) for the Conservatives, and the two Milliband brothers, one of whom is almost certain to be elected the next Labour leader. And that there have been numerous prominent Jewish cabinet ministers in almost every British government, of both parties, for generations - in numbers which, I would guess, exceed the proportion of Jews in the general population by a large factor.
For those who haven't bothered to read the whole article, it's worth repeating the quote from British Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain:
Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, minister of Maidenhead synagogue and a writer and broadcaster, said: "I am surprised at Peres. It is a sweeping statement that is far too one-sided.
"Britain has supported both Israel and Arab causes at different periods over the last 50 years. There are elements of anti-semitism but it is not endemic to British society.
"The tolerance and pluralism here make Britain one of the best countries in the world in which to live."
This is far closer to the reality than yours or others of the sweeping generalisations from Peres and others on this thread.
The “Jews” in political power in Britain are so assimilated that calling them Jewish is ridiculous.
As to the Jews of Britain, most of them, to be accepted in that society, suffer a form of Stockholm syndrome.
What I wrote was historical and factual. Dispute history if you can.
“Poles drink anti-Semitism with their mother’s milk” - Yizhak Shamir
There was no “terror” directed at the British until the 1940’s.
Long after the creation of TransJordan, long after the White Paper, long after the Jews saw and felt Britain’s perfidious behavior.
Load of garbage. Poland was the safe haven for Jews for a very long time.
That quote BTW is outrageously bigoted. Try putting different groups in that statement and see how that would go over.
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