That dreadful word "Quisling" suddenly jumped into my thoughts as I listened to Miliband. I saw a weak power-hungry man trying to justify the indefensible. Why are we surprised? Labour English (& other poms on the Right) are historically overtly anti-Jew & pro-Arab in their outlook & decisions, their schooling thoroughly grounded in Shakespearean Shylock times...
No. The UK treating Israel, a far away country, as a child that needs to be taught a lesson whilst pandering to local antisemites cannot be spun as a positive thing. Miliband's apperant acknowledgment that Israel has a right to exist is doing a lot of work here to make him sound sensible despite his other words and actions.
To be generous Miliband is the sort of Zionist that existed around Oslo and his worldview has been shown to be more of an anachronism by the day. This was true even before October 7. The top-line for people like him is that only Israel has agency and therefore only Israel needs to make the necessary changes whilst the enlightened Europeans look on with an appropriate selection of carrots and sticks to persuade the two parties to sign a final agreement. This is pure fantasy.
UK domestic politics provides the backdrop to much of this; the rise of the greens, the increasing sectarian nature of politics and the genuine fear of inflaming "community tensions". Thus, policing has a very colonial feel to it. I could point out that the previous PM (driven by an activist Attorney General (jewish naturally) acted according to the ICC and threatened to arrest Bibi. That certainly constitutes antipathy towards Israel. We could throw in the football debacle too.
Underpinning all of this is the assumption that trade and security co-operation will continue as usual. That is a big assumption.
That dreadful word "Quisling" suddenly jumped into my thoughts as I listened to Miliband. I saw a weak power-hungry man trying to justify the indefensible. Why are we surprised? Labour English (& other poms on the Right) are historically overtly anti-Jew & pro-Arab in their outlook & decisions, their schooling thoroughly grounded in Shakespearean Shylock times...
No. The UK treating Israel, a far away country, as a child that needs to be taught a lesson whilst pandering to local antisemites cannot be spun as a positive thing. Miliband's apperant acknowledgment that Israel has a right to exist is doing a lot of work here to make him sound sensible despite his other words and actions.
To be generous Miliband is the sort of Zionist that existed around Oslo and his worldview has been shown to be more of an anachronism by the day. This was true even before October 7. The top-line for people like him is that only Israel has agency and therefore only Israel needs to make the necessary changes whilst the enlightened Europeans look on with an appropriate selection of carrots and sticks to persuade the two parties to sign a final agreement. This is pure fantasy.
UK domestic politics provides the backdrop to much of this; the rise of the greens, the increasing sectarian nature of politics and the genuine fear of inflaming "community tensions". Thus, policing has a very colonial feel to it. I could point out that the previous PM (driven by an activist Attorney General (jewish naturally) acted according to the ICC and threatened to arrest Bibi. That certainly constitutes antipathy towards Israel. We could throw in the football debacle too.
Underpinning all of this is the assumption that trade and security co-operation will continue as usual. That is a big assumption.
Anyway Happy New Year!
It's more the colonial mindset and the bullying for domestic use that infuriates one.
Well written. I support pressure on either Israel or Palestine to accept the two state partition
Still waiting on the famous “pressure” on Palestine.
Agreed.