"The Law is a ass"

Following a Brighton judge's recent direction to a jury to acquit activists who caused £200,000 criminal damage to an arms factory (EDO MBM Technology) on the basis that they believed the components were intended for Israel, I feel more and more that this is how it must have been for the Jews in pre-war Germany. Criminal behaviour now has a sustainable defence - if it is directed against the Jewish state, or even if there is a reasonable belief that this is the case.



This is not far from justifying attacks on British Jews, based on the reasonable belief that they might just possibly be supporters of Israel. British law is based on precedent - and the Brighton judge (Judge George Bathurst-Norman, born in Palestine and fetched from retirement specifically to judge this case) has indeed set a precedent.


When I see the coverage of the Middle East in the British media, I have no doubt why this is so. A continuous montage of half-truths and downright lies, bias and hate spews at us from the TV screens daily - where Israel is concerned. If you think this is exaggerated, that is because one becomes inured to it - like the steady drip of a tap one no longer hears.
Fortunately, I occasionally get relief from this (uniquely British?) phenomenon by travelling to France. Take, for example, last night's discussion on France 24, the French TV news channel, about the Gaza flotilla and the violence on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara. The continuous backdrop to this discussion was a video of IDF soldiers getting beaten with metal rods and bars, as well as knives.

If there was any doubt in the viewers' minds, the pictures were captioned accurately. I do not recall any British TV station broadcasting such material, which throws a competely different light on this tragic episode to what we have been told in the UK.

Peace activist on board the MaviMarmara

But the Brighton judgement, if left unchallenged, marks a new low - even for Britain.

Karsenty and the Mohammed Al Dura Affair

Camera image

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Some iconic images from the Al Dura Affair

Mali Monument	Al Dura Billboard

I attended an interesting presentation in the House of Commons yesterday (27 January 2010) by Philippe Karsenty on the Mohammed Al Dura Affair, a subject on which he has expended much energy since the original incident about a decade ago. Recall that the 12-year-old was apparently shot on 30th September 2000, while sheltering behind his father, as a result of exchanges of fire between Israelis and Palestinians during the Second Intifida.

This incident has become iconic in the Islamic world, with many states issuing postage stamps commemorating it on billboards, naming streets as well as erecting statues, etc. The incident was originally reported by Charles Enderlin, a respected French-Israeli reporter, who was not present at the scene but added the commentary on the basis of footage supplied by his Gazan cameraman, Talal Abu Rahma. It should be noted that Enderlin is a journalist for France 2, the French national TV station.

Karsenty’s exposure of the incident as a staged hoax led to his losing a case in a French court following Enderlin’s writ for libel on December 9, 2004, followed by a writ from France 2 on December 3, 2005. This decision was overturned on May 21, 2008, and an Appeal by France 2 to the French Supreme Court (Court de Cassation) is currently being heard. There is a detailed account of this controversy here, while Ha’aretz has a summary, and there is an excellent account by Camera.

All of this is, of course, well known. But what intrigued me is the seeming reluctance of many Israelis and Israel-sympathizers, and prominent Jews such as Frenchman Jacques Attali, to support Karsenty or pursue the perpetrators of such an obviously staged event. Some light was thrown on this reluctance by Karsenty himself. Given the weakening of US-Israel relations since Obama’s presidency, and the outright anti-Israel hostility of much of Europe, spearheaded by the UK, it seems futile to antagonize the one possible new ally of Sarkozy’s France, which has just awarded Enderlin the Legion d’Honneur.

Makes sense!

Our magnificent Boys in Blue….

At last the British Bobby has regained his resolve. Confronted on April 1st by a crowd of G20 protesters, many of whom being desperate pensioners – but some as young as 75 – the British Bobby made up for previous shortcomings. Recall that during the London Islamic riots – er, sorry, peaceful protests about Gaza - of 10th January in Kensington, a cowering phalanx of Boys in Blue retreated before violent Muslim hooligans – er, sorry, justifiably Enraged British Youth – and indeed suffered injuries. Boys in Blue: 3 down. And they watched discretely from the sidelines while a respected member of the British Respect Party urged the mob to trash shops in the High Street – which of course the mob proceeded dutifully to do, without let or hindrance.

But our Guardians of the Peace really did their duty on April 1st. As the Guarniad reported,
“at least 10 protesters sitting down in the street close to the Bank of England were left with bloody head wounds after being charged by officers with batons at around 4.30pm. One woman, said to be an Italian student, was carried off unconscious.” Tally so far for our brave Caribinieri? Blue casualties:0. Red casualties:10. And I am not counting the subsequent toll; “Injured demonstrators with bleeding heads and necks were ushered through the crowd while others handed out milk so that people could wash the pepper spray from their eyes and mouths.”

How’s that for “proportionality”? My mathematician friends tell me that this gives a ratio of – infinity in favour of the Blues! Israel–so-called-Defense Forces, eat your hearts out!

Let this be a warning to future Hunt protesters, unemployed marchers, bankrupt pensioners, indeed any peaceful protest.

But somehow I don’t think our Enraged British Youth have anything to worry about.

Gaza Campaign - Tenth Day

I suppose many have been following the Gaza campaign on our TV and radio Channels. By and large, there is the usual amount of anti-Israeli bias - especially from the BBC. The latter insists on misquoting - or not fully quoting, or quoting out of context - various eminent figures, thus painting Israel in a worse light than they intended. For example, President Sarkozy of France called the Hamas actions "irresponsible and unpardonable" as broadcast by French TV and radio - this was not relayed by the BBC. Today mortars were fired from UN schools where Gazans were hiding; this is of course a War Crime on the part of Hamas. The Israeli response was, unfortunately, lethal - but fully justified under international law. However, the use of human shields by Hamas is proving a difficult strategy to overcome. It is a win-win strategy for Hamas - as one of their leaders boasted to a German Radio station:

"When we store our weapons under a school, if they don't find them - we win.
And if they find them and bomb them - we also win."

And the Gazans suffer from it, as this report from April 2008 noted

“Residents of a Gaza town complained this week after Hamas forces constructing a
weapons storage facility under the local schoolhouse severed a water main.”

Last year the IDF succeeded in video-ing mortars being fired from one of the UN Gaza schools bombed this year. So no surprises there.

One of the incredible sights in our media today was the Mad Doctor Madz Gilbert ranting like a lunatic in the Shifa Hospital. It turn out that he really is a crazed Hamas supporter -thanks to Melanie Philips for researching this.

How can the media portray such a lunatic as a humanitarian medic?

Very easy - if you are the BBC.