Poor Old Liberals

One has to feel a little for the Liberal Democrat party; led by a non-entity, and languishing in the polls a long way behind UKIP, the party now faces another public-relations problem.

A Liberal Democrat MP, Mr David Ward has got himself into hot water: he is reported to have accused "the Jews" of  "inflicting atrocities on Palestinians... on a daily basis."

Tut tut Mr Ward, you should have accused the Israelis not "the Jews" - as a "Lib-Dem," political correctness should be embedded in your DNA.

Mr Ward MP is of course entirely correct - I have often referred to Israeli excesses here; it was just a matter of terminology, though it is quite possible that the Israelis - at least many of them - consider themselves undeserving of any criticism.

Until the next time

Ashamed and Disgusted

It is not that I am unaware of some (at least) of the realities of international diplomatic relations, but nevertheless, I am appalled that our Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr William Hague, is proposing to abstain at a forthcoming vote at the UN in connexion with an upgrading of Palestine's status.

He would do better to demonstrate possession of some balls and remind the world that Israel has for nearly 45 years consistently ignored UN resolutions concerning the territories that it has occupied illegally and on which it condones the establishment of what are known as "settlements."

I carry no torch for the towel-headed bomb-throwers who believe that they have the authority of the Koran for their appalling acts, but equally, it is entirely unacceptable for the Israelis to behave as they have for over forty years towards the Palestinians.

Until the next time.

I'm Fed Up...

... with the Israelis.

Please read this extract from a Telegraph article concerning a peace settlement with the Palestinians:

"What is preventing the advent of peace, the advent of peace negotiations is that the Palestinians are doing everything in their power to avoid them," Mr Netanyahu told a meeting of foreign journalists in Jerusalem. "That is the simple truth."

Mr Netanyahu's comments came as the United States was attempting, so far unsuccessfully, to revive peace negotiations.

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed after Washington admitted last month it was no longer pressing Israel for a new freeze on settlement building, the Palestinian condition for continuing to negotiate.

Direct talks began on September 2, but stalled three weeks later with the end of an Israeli moratorium on settlement building. The Palestinians refuse to talk while Israel continues building.

Of course the Palestinians are quite correct in refusing to discuss terms with the Israelis - especially with that warmonger Netanyahu.

The Palestinians have been losing their historic country ever since 1947; it now has a fraction of the area that it had even in 1967; the Israelis have consistently ignored numerous UN resolutions and have compounded the felony by continuing to build new settlements on Palestinian lands. I suspect that the Israelis would not have been able to get away with these outrages were it not for the importance of the Jewish vote in the US, plus of course the fact that the US sees Israel as a bulwark against the fanatical Islamists so prevalent in the Middle East; I admit that these matters are far from simple.

I should add that I utterly deplore the actions of the various Palestinian terrorists and hi-jackers. I am not an anti-Semite but equally, I deplore the terrorist actions of the Israeli government and military.

I have never forgotten a film I saw on English TV of an Israeli soldier bulldozing a Palestinian's orchard. That was many, many years ago and put the Israelis and their objectives entirely beyond the pale as far as I am concerned.

Until the next time.