Is it OK to be Jewish and criticise Israel?

TRANSCRIPT OF MY OPENING STATEMENT IN LAST NIGHT'S DEBATE AT EDRS SPONSORED BY THE ZIONIST FEDERATION OF GT BRITAIN.

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Is it OK to be Jewish and criticise Israel?

No it’s not.


And I could easily say it’s because we’re one family and should stick together through thick and thin.
How many parents would turn in their own kids?


I could also use the old adage: ‘don’t wash your dirty linen in public’


But I won’t … because our linen is not dirty.


Compared to what we’ve seen unfolding in Arabia over the past few weeks – not to mention the exposure of British government dealings with Gadaffi and its callous betrayal of the Lockerbie victims - I think Israel has one of the most fragrant laundry baskets in the world.


But it goes beyond issues of family loyalties.
It’s about treachery.
And, it’s also about pure selfishness.
I will explain.


Let’s start with treachery.


After 8 wars in 60 years … our enemies know they can't beat us on the battlefield.


So now they fight us with delegitimisation.


In the media, academia, unions .... every forum, quango and parlour meeting – they defame and demean the Jewish state.


For Jews to assist in this delegitimisation is to expose our position in war.


In WW2 there was warning: “Loose lips sink ships”.
People were careless sometimes.
But when it’s deliberate … well, that is pure treachery.


But like most aberrant or illogical behavior, this also has a pathological dimension.

It’s hard to miss that 90% of our “collaborators” are in media and academia.

These types simply crave attention and acceptance by their peers and luvvies.

Sadly, acceptance has never been easy for us Jews.

But nothing gets them more attention than slandering their own people.

It’s the basic human instinct for survival and self-gratification.

One of our heroes of today is the fearless journalist Melanie Phillips. I have heard her say more than once: “To be supportive of Israel in the media world is the kiss of death.” No promotion, no prospects, no friends.

And the corollary is true to form.

The media accolades to Israel-bashers is out of all proportion.

Remember the ‘Sharon eating Arab babies’ cartoonist?

He’s had more awards than the Mohammed cartoonist has had death threats.

Throughout history, Jewish converts have been the most coveted by missionaries.

One Jew was worth ten thousand other converts.

And so it is in the media and academia today.

The NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman likens Israel's leadership to drug users – who need to be protected from themselves. One wonders how much readership he’d have got if his name had been Jones instead of Friedman.

Or whether Noam Chomsky could even pay his grocery bills if he’d been born into a Buddhist family.

In the war of delegitimisation, there is no quisling more coveted than a Jew.

Arafat just hijacked planes.

Today’s Arab leaders are hijackers of the truth.
Truth which would otherwise set their people free.

By helping that propaganda machine, the Jewish collaborators we speak of this evening are not only a disgrace to the Jewish people, but are actively worsening the plight of Palestinian Arabs we see being repressed and exploited in all Arab countries.

These are not even ‘useful’ idiots.

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