?

If the current Labour administration’s policies regarding immigration can lead to an increase in votes for the BNP, does it follow that their decision to help to overthrow Saddam led to actions of the bombers on 7/7?

Israel

Had an argument with J tonight, and we're both angry with each other for our views. It was an argument about Israel and Palestine, of course. Such a controversial topic! It bothers me precisely because it is controversial. Why on earth is it more controversial than, say, Sri Lanka or Sudan or Congo or any other conflict on the earth? The wars of Israel have affected far less people than wars in Pakistan and India, or in East Timor and Cambodia. Why do newspapers devote column after column to this small conflict in the middle east? Why do these troubles in an area far away from the major spheres of influence generate many thousands of protestors, and even violent protestors

I don't think these questions have definitive answers. Of course the protesters will say that there are such answers - namely that Israel is presiding over an Apartheid state or, more fashionable these days, it is comparable to the Third Reich and its crimes. None of this is credible in my opinion. Apartheid was a brutal establishment which bears no real approximation to present day Israel and the comparison to Nazism is ludicrous. So, to a sensible person, why is Israel  / Palestine in the news disproportionately to it impact in world politics? Well, in my view, Paul Berman seems to make fairly good sense. Yes, I've posted to that link twice. But I think it's very good. It's quite clear that the Jews are, historically, the target of mankind's hatred. This is demonstrated by the Inquisition, expulsion from Western European Nations, Russian pogroms, the Nazi Holocaust and also, without referring to any book, contemporary viewpoints. I have friends, sadly enough, who are adamantly anti-racist but will proclaim that Jews somehow run the world economy.

Mr Berman says all this far more eloquently than me. So what's my point? Well I'm angry with my (Jewish) girlfriend's views on the Israeli / Palestinian issue. She has no time for the Palestinians who live in the areas occupied by the Israelis. She asks "Why won't the Arab neighbours of Israel take them as refugees?" "Why did they vote Hamas?" "Why are they so anti-Semitic?" It is not long before she is flinging the term "they" around in any conversation. "They" are responsible for this and that. As if all of them can be put neatly into a little marked pigeon hole. Of course this generalisation is more approximate to the fascist Hamas than to a mother in the Gaza strip who is merely trying to make a living and avoid any kind of violence.

It makes me especially angry when she asks "why won't the Arab neighbours take them as refugees?" How exactly have they become refugees? Is it because she intends to kick them out? This is where her theory breaks down into pure bigotry. It has to be - but she is blinded to it because in her eyes it is all healthy support of Israel, a place where she knows people and has lived for several years. It is those people who deserve her support - not the anti-Semitic Arabs who fire rockets into Sderot.

And so she sees my support for the two state solution as an act of high treason against her people and her Holocaust surviving grandfather. So, I am suddenly anti-Semitic for being pro-Palestinian. Now, that irritates me because I am in the ridiculous position of acknowledging the growing tide of anti-Semitic attitudes in our ever-irrational world and, at the same time, of being somehow not sympathetic enough to the Jews in strife in Israel.

Perhaps this would have all been avoided if we hadn't had so much to drink? Ha ha.

No longer in London

I thought that I should start writing on this 'blog' again. This happens when I go travelling. There's no reason I can think of that I shouldn't document my life when I'm stationary, but travelling seems to be a good excuse. So I'm in Sydney now. I've been on a fabulous trip in order to get here - my favourite part being in my own unfortunate country. I had a great time there and I hope to put some of my experiences in writing soon.

I want this to be a photo diary. So tomorrow I'm off sight-seeing with a friend called Anna and I will post the photos. We've planned to go to Manly - a place in greater Sydney that was named, apparently, after the manly behaviour of the aboriginal Australians.*

It's late at night now and my new girlfriend is in bed. There are better times to write a diary, especially for one who is unemployed.

*This according to Robert Hughes in the remarkable The Fatal Shore, a history of the convict beginnings of Australia.

In the News today…

Keith Richards follows in Eric Cartman's footsteps and consumes someone else's ashes. Richards mixed his father's ashes with some coke and sniffed it up - so not exactly the way Cartman did it but still a rather silly thing to do. Who, in fact, would do anything Cartman has done?

Cartman reminds me of my friend hoffy - they are both racist cunts.

Kitt, from Knight Rider, is for sale at the price of around £78k. No doubt millions of geeks are foaming at the mouth right now.

A French train has set a new speed record. After reading this, I came across this article, which scores highly in the bullshit stakes as far as I'm concerned.

Letter to my Ex

My ex-girlfriend works for a company that sells organic produce over the internet. She told me the other day that this company flags up all produce which originates in Israel. I told her that this was wrong, if they didn't do it for other countries. She disagreed and said something along the lines of "well some people feel passionately about the situation there".

Well I don't really feel passionately about the Israel situation but I am at a loss to understand why some people do not see Israel's plight. I am open to peoples' views on Israel's policy blunders and even their crimes (which government has a clean slate after all?) but for goodness sake, it is not difficult to see that Israel faces the trickiest situation out of the democracies. So I wrote her this letter:

Ok Miss W, let me explain to you, as briefly as possible, why Israel deserves your support.

Hamas

Currently holds the majority of seats in the Palestinian govt. Here is their charter. Contains such gems as:

The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree

Hamas, it goes without saying, want to establish an Islamic republic, or Caliphate - not a society best known for good treatment of women. They are responsible for numerous suicide attacks as well as kidnappings and shootings. They consider Israel to be a "militarised" society and therefore do not think it criminal to target civilians. Hamas was formed by the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood who, according to Wikipedia, "is often regarded by experts as the source of all modern jihadi terrorism".

Fatah

Known by some as the "moderate" Palestinian party. However, they have been responsible for the creation of groups such as Black September and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who can hardly be described as moderate. Fatah are the main opposition party in Palestine after being defeated in elections by Hamas in 2005.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah is a political party in Lebanon and one of their objectives is the destruction of Israel. They are responsible for indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and have been accused of committing war crimes against Israel by Amnesty International. They may be responsible for the 1983 suicide attack which left almost 300 American and French marines dead. It is possible that they are responsible for child abuse in the form of recruiting child soldiers. They are funded by Iran.
On a less impartial note, I thoroughly recommend that you read Michael Totten's blog. An American photojournalist who has witnessed first hand the destruction that Hezbollah has brought to Lebanon. Posts in August 2006, the month after the Israel - Hezbollah war are particularly relevant.

Iran

The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is a Holocaust denier, has recently been quoted as saying that he would like to see Israel " wiped off the map". Ahmadinejad's regime has recently been involved in far right activities such as the repression of unions, academics, gays and women. As mentioned previously, Iran directly sponsors and trains the military wing of Hezbollah and are also believed to be involved in the funding of Hamas.

Now, of course you can scrutinise this and come to your own conclusions but my overall point is not that Israel is beyond criticism. No nation state can be said to have a clear moral runway and Israel is no exception. However, they are a small democracy with a large minority of ethnicities other than Jews who enjoy rights and freedoms that only those fortunate enough to live in the West experience. They are surrounded by groups (and I'm fairly certain that my list is not definitive) who are hell bent on their destruction. Are they not allowed to try and preserve their status as a pluralist state?

More importantly, can you possibly afford to be seen to be supportive of (or even indifferent towards) the aforementioned thugs, who hold death and criminality as primary objectives in their ideologies?

God, and I didn't even mention the fact that those crazy fuckers in Iran are building a bomb!

Amusing Sign

On Holland Road, near to Kensington High Street.