Racism at Jewish News Contradicts "Editor's Opinion"

I just picked up a copy of Jewish News at the local beigel bakery.   I saw read an article about how a Romanian guy had admitted to murdering an Israeli woman in London.  I looked for the article on line and here it is:

Romanian admits murdering Israeli woman in her London home

A Romanian who murdered a popular Israeli woman in her home is facing life behind bars.

I don't know the relevance of the fact that the perpetrator is Romanian.  It seems like too much information.  It seems racist, particularly in the current climate.

I went to leave a comment and noticed below the comment box a cluster of other Jewish News articles including this:

OPINION: Arabs need to grow up and look after their own refugees

I left the comment asking what the relevance of a murderer's nationality was and of course I was implicitly criticising the obvious racism in providing such irrelevant information.  But when I noticed the second article I realised that racism at the Jewish News appears to be so casual they might not even understand what I was saying.

And yet they do appear to recognise racism in some instances though they appear to be reluctant to call it what it is.  In the same cluster of headlines below the first article there was another, an "editor's opinion" explaining "why we must champion multiculturism".   Its the editor (apparently) criticising the racism of a Jewish UKIP member, Jeremy Zeid, who said that whites from Ilford in Essex were victims of "ethnic cleansing". Here's a taste of the editor's opinion:

does Mr Zeid represent today’s clash of civilisations? Has he and his party, which has an unfortunate habit of strafing whole races and religions with its stray sound-bites, barged its way to the front in this cultural showdown? 

If so, are we now being led by these yesteryear generals asking “why the bloody hell should they apologise”?
 
If so, where are we being led? And if we don’t speak out against their hate-filled bile, are we collectively only as good as them?

I'm more than happy for this editor chap, I think his name's Richard Ferrer, to condemn UKIP and its racism but if he is that concerned he might want to put his own house in order.

London Workshop on Stopping the Jewish National Fund

Stop the JNF London Workshop Sun 15th June, 2-5pm P21 Gallery, 21 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD
Eurig Scandrett speaking on the Friends of the Earth International Report ‘Environmental Nakba’ - the catastrophic impact on Palestinians of Israel’s occupation, colonisation, and apartheid. Plus documentary, Enduring Roots: Over a Century of Resistance to the JNF (35 mins) produced by IJAN.
The JNF’s role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the maintenance of an apartheid residential system has always been supported by great violence against its victims.   The murder of two Palestinian children by Israeli snipers, caught on camera few weeks ago, is an example.  The link between the JNF and Israeli war crimes was highlighted by the visit of Tzipi Livni last month to address a JNF event in London.  Livni was shielded from the possibility of arrest for war crimes by the UK Government’s grant to her of a temporary diplomatic status.  The JNF is an important part of the Zionist network. They are, nonetheless, worried. In the wake of their losing David Cameron and failing to get Miliband or Clegg as Honorary Patrons, a Westminster parliamentary motion condemning the JNF’s activities, EDM 1677, attracted an unprecedented 70 MPs’ endorsement (two MPs signed a related statement).  Worryingly for the JNF, their counter-attack failed to dislodge a single one of the MPs who signed EDM 1677.  Determined opposition to the JNF can defeat this racist organisation.  A vigorous protest greeted the JNF’s London hosting of Livni on Nakba Day, May 15th.  In Scotland, where grassroots opposition has been ongoing over the last decade, the determined protests that accompanied every public JNF event has led to their cancelling all their previously regular fundraisers, from glitzy Glasgow Hilton events with speakers like Bill Clinton and Colin Powell to pro-am golf tournaments sponsored by Lexus. Last September’s report by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), ‘Environmental Nakba’, took the case against the JNF to a new constituency.  It highlights Israel’s colonialism, water apartheid, ethnic cleansing and the role of the JNF in Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinians.  Eurig Scandrett of FoE Scotland co-authored the report with Abeer Al Butmah from Palestine FoE and Bobby Peek from FoE South Africa. The international Stop the JNF Campaign was launched in 2010 to build on work already done around the world.  Help us to campaign against the JNF, a pillar of the apartheid system in Israel/Palestine, an active participant in the ethnic cleansing now accelerating there, and a registered charity in the UK (Patrons - Tony Blair and Gordon Brown). Read Greenwashing Apartheid: The Jewish National Fund's Environmental Cover Up JNF eBook (Volume 4) Join Stop the JNF Campaign and affiliate our organisation to the Stop the JNF Campaign - Use the Paypal button on the website: www.stopthejnf.org If you prefer to set up a direct debit or use bank transfer, the details are: Stop the JNF Campaign, Account Number: 65476611, Sort Code: 089299. Donations are also very welcome and will help us raise awareness of the role of the JNF in Israeli apartheid, colonisation and occupation: Make a donation. Stop the JNF Campaign, c/o Peace & Justice Centre, Edinburgh EH2 4BJ uk@stopthejnf.org  01501 78 55 63

Stop the JNF: regional workshops

Stop the JNF regional workshops
Eurig Scandrett speaking on the Friends of the Earth International Report Environmental Nakba - the catastrophic impact on Palestinians of Israel’s occupation, colonisation, and apartheid. Plus film premiere Enduring Roots: Over a Century of Resistance to the JNF (35 mins) Produced by IJAN.
Wed 11th June, 7pm – SHEFFIELD Friends Meeting House, Sheffield.  Supported by Sheffield PSC. Thurs 12th June, 7.30pm – BRIGHTON Friends Meeting House, Ship Street Sun 15th June, 2-5pm – LONDON P21 Gallery, 21 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD Thurs 26th June, 7pm – ABERDEEN check Stop the JNF campaign website for details. Sat 5th July, 2-5pm – CARDIFF Media Point, Chapter, Market Road, Canton, CF5 1QE The JNF’s role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the maintenance of an apartheid residential system has always been supported by great violence against its victims.   The murder of two Palestinian children by Israeli snipers, caught on camera few weeks ago, is an example.  The link between the JNF and Israeli war crimes was highlighted by the visit of Tzipi Livni last month to address a JNF event in London.  Livni was shielded from the possibility of arrest for war crimes by the UK Government’s grant to her of a temporary diplomatic status.  The JNF would seem to be an important part of the Zionist network. In the wake of their losing David Cameron and failing to get Miliband or Clegg as Honorary Patrons, a Westminster parliamentary motion condemning the JNF’s activities, EDM 1677, attracted an unprecedented 70 MPs’ endorsement (two MPs signed a related statement).  Worryingly for the JNF, their counter-attack failed to dislodge a single one of the MPs who signed EDM 1677.  Determined opposition to the JNF can defeat this racist organisation.  A vigorous protest greeted the JNF’s London hosting of Livni on Nakba Day, May 15th.  In Scotland, where grassroots opposition has been ongoing over the last decade, the determined protests that accompanied every public JNF event has led to their cancelling all their previously regular fundraisers, from glitzy Glasgow Hilton events with speakers like Bill Clinton and Colin Powell to pro-am golf tournaments sponsored by Lexus. Last September’s report by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), ‘Environmental Nakba’, took the case against the JNF to a new constituency.  It highlights Israel’s colonialism, water apartheid, ethnic cleansing and the role of the JNF in Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinians.  Eurig Scandrett of FoE Scotland co-authored the report with Abeer Al Butmah from Palestine FoE and Bobby Peek from FoE South Africa. The international Stop the JNF Campaign was launched in 2010 to build on work already done around the world.  Help us to campaign against the JNF, a pillar of the apartheid system in Israel/Palestine, an active participant in the ethnic cleansing now accelerating there, and a registered charity in the UK (Patrons - Tony Blair and Gordon Brown). Read Greenwashing Apartheid: The Jewish National Fund's Environmental Cover Up JNF eBook (Volume 4) Join Stop the JNF Campaign and affiliate our organisation to the Stop the JNF Campaign - Use the Paypal button on the website: www.stopthejnf.org If you prefer to set up a direct debit or use bank transfer, the details are: Stop the JNF Campaign, Account Number: 65476611, Sort Code: 089299. Donations are also very welcome and will help us raise awareness of the role of the JNF in Israeli apartheid, colonisation and occupation: Make a donation. Stop the JNF Campaign, c/o Peace & Justice Centre, Edinburgh EH2 4BJ uk@stopthejnf.org 01501 78 55 63

Missing from the IMEU FAQ

Here's the content of a mailout from the Institute for Middle East Understanding.  As far as I can see there are some crucial points missing but I just want to let it hang here while I think of what they are

Q – Who is represented in the new Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet?

A – Based on the agreement announced on April 23, the new government is composed of a consensus cabinet consisting of individuals agreed upon by all of the major Palestinian political parties. The cabinet does not include members of the two largest Palestinian parties, Fatah or Hamas. Instead, it’s made up of independent technocrats whose job is to prepare the groundwork for elections for the PA.


Q – Is Hamas part of the new government?

A – No. Although Hamas supports the government, none of the members of the new cabinet is affiliated with Hamas.


Q - Will this government abide by the Quartet's conditions?

A - In 2006, the members of the so-called “Quartet,” consisting of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, laid out several conditions that Palestinians must meet before they agree to cooperate with or recognize any Palestinian government. They include the renunciation of terrorism, agreeing to abide by previously signed agreements, and recognition of Israel. PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah have said the new government will abide by the Quartet's conditions. However, it is important to note that no Israeli government, including the current one, has ever officially recognized the Palestinian right to statehood or self-determination. Israel has and continues to systematically violate the terms of numerous previously-signed deals, including the Oslo Accords and the 2002 Road Map to Peace, and Israel continues to practice what amounts to state terrorism, systematically using excessive force against Palestinians, including unarmed civilians as documented by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.


Q - Will the US cut off ties and funding to the PA?

A – Some members of Congress have called for the US to cut off funding to the PA, however the Obama administration has stated that because the new government doesn’t include members of Hamas, and in light of assurances from President Abbas and Prime Minister Hamdallah that it will abide by the Quartet's conditions, the US will continue to work with and fund the PA while continuing to monitor the situation.


Q – Will Israel deal with the new PA government?

A - Although the new unity government does not include members of Hamas, Israel has said it still won’t deal with it because it is supported by the group, and has threatened to punish the PA as a result. Senior Israeli government officials have also criticized the US, accusing the Obama administration of “naïveté” and sending a message that “terrorism pays.” In response, the State Department rejected the Israeli allegations, pointing out that Hamas is not part of the cabinet and stating that the US will judge the new government by its actions.


Q – Does the unity government help efforts to make peace or harm them?

A – There can be no lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis that excludes a major player like Hamas. Although Israel officially withdrew from US-sponsored negotiations following the announcement of the unity agreement in April, according to all accounts there was little or no progress made over the previous nine months of talks. Critics of the Israeli government argue that Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing government were looking for an excuse to pull out of negotiations while placing the blame on the Palestinians, citing as evidence the repeated provocations Israel engaged in while talks were ongoing, most notably the announcement of some 14,000 new settlement units to be built on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law and official US policy.


Q - What happens next?


A - This new technocratic government is tasked with managing the PA until elections take place in six months. Meanwhile, Israel will likely continue to apply economic pressure on the PA, withholding tax money that it is supposed to transfer and maintaining its crippling and illegal blockade of Gaza, leading to further humanitarian crises, particularly in besieged Gaza. However, it's unlikely that Israel will apply too much pressure on the PA, for fear that it could collapse and leave Israel directly responsible for all the residents of the occupied territories once again.

Samuel L Jackson and the Apartheid Connection

Samuel L Jackson caused a fair bit of dismay among anti-racists on twitter just recently with this "selfie".

Celebrate Israel Parade in NY today pic.twitter.com/AIUVMRYou5
— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) June 1, 2014

Here are a couple of twitter responses I've taken from Ha'aretz:

@SamuelLJackson Uh. Why would you support something like this? Israel is an apartheid state.

@SamuelLJackson Wow, and I admired you :( Unfollow it is then....

@SamuelLJackson wow, pretty sad to hear that you support an apartheid state. You of all people.

That's just three of many responses from people who are clearly surprised at Jackson's, at best, cavalier attitude to racist statehood.  But I remember him promoting Barclays Bank and Barclays among people of my generation - ie, fifty somethings - will always be remembered as the apartheid bank.

Here's The Daily Telegraph from as far back as 2002 Jackson's role in a then new Barclays ad campaign:

What happens Hollywood star Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction, the mad kilted drug dealer in 51st State) offers up a variety of soliloquies straight to camera about money.

One talks about whether money is really evil; another about how it's better to know who you're dealing with; and a third about how people instinctively mistrust advice about money.

 So, surprise surprise, it's all about money with advertising as with banking.

Now look at Barclays connection to apartheid South Africa.  This is from News24.com:

I remember well 1977 and the so-called Carlton conference, at which Botha summoned all the leaders of big business and asked them to help the regime to beat the international arms embargo imposed by the United Nations.

The Barclays pledge
 
After that meeting Barclays bank pledged a whopping R90m to the apartheid army for its defence force bonds, and I remember well The Citizen, ever the chief supporter and main praise-singer of the racist and oppressive apartheid regime, praising Barclays and carrying a cartoon showing two uniformed apartheid troopies lugging away a hefty Barclays cheque for R90m.

That bank was an unrepentant supporter of apartheid, and I would argue that their financial help for apartheid delayed our liberation by at least a generation.

Now it's just possible that Jackson knew nothing of Barclays' involvement with apartheid South Africa.  It's possible that he didn't know about Israel's support for the apartheid regime, including nuclear weapons collaboration.  It's also possible that he doesn't know that Israel is a colonial settler state based on ethnic cleansing and segregationist laws.  Israel does, after all, get a very favourable press in the USA.  But can he really be so ignorant that there is at least some controversy around Israel that might be worth checking out.

Back in the day, Samuel L Jackson worked for the apartheid bank for money but when he did a selfie at the Celebrate Israel Parade, he gave racists a freebie.  He could at least stand back and look at himself and stop being such a bad motherfucker.

The Lure of Zion?

I got this article by Adi Schwartz out from behind the paywall of Ha'aretz.  It's mostly tosh, being an interview with Zionism: False Messiah author, Nathan Weinstock.  Weinstock was one of these star anti-zionist Jewish writers like, say, Ilan Halevi or Uri Davis but he had this epiphany, denounced his former self and became a rather nasty zionist.  I heard that he had banned anyone from promoting or selling his old book but it is still findable on google and it is still obtainable from Amazon brand new (£97.60) or used (from £4.84)

Here's a taste of the article:

According to Weinstock, underlying the growing hostility toward the Jewish population in Palestine was the realization that the dhimmi Jews were shaking off their traditional legal status of humiliation and submission. In retrospect, the writer maintains, dhimmi status, on the one hand, and the declared attempt by the Zionist movement to be free of it, on the other, led ultimately to the Arabs’ rejection of the United Nations partition plan in 1947 and to the War of Independence the following year.

It's interesting that much of the article takes the form of an interview whereas that bit and some others are in reported speech.  I'm guessing that, like Benny Morris, his direct speech has become too openly racist for Ha'aretz transfer straight to the page.  But I'm only guessing.

Anyway, Weinstock's position is that the rejection of The State of Israel by the Arabs is nothing to do with ethnic cleansing or discrimination or the fact that Israel is a colonialist plant but because of some inborn negative feeling that Arabs have towards Jews.  I should note here that Christians don't warrant a mention in the article.  I don't if they get a mention in the book.

But all that above is not actually the point of this post.  The point is that after so much anti-Arab hasbara, Adi Schwartz looks for and finds a balancer in the form of Dr Sami Shalom:

“[Nathan] Weinstock is a classic servant of the erasure of my history and of the history of the Jews in the Islamic lands,” says Dr. Sami Shalom Chetrit, a Moroccan-born Israeli intellectual who deals extensively with relations between Ashkenazim (European-born Jews) and Mizrahi (Jews of Middle Eastern or North African origin). He teaches Hebrew culture and Middle Eastern studies at Queens College, in New York.

“Like the textbooks in Israel, Weinstock focuses primarily on the Zionist, national era, in which Jewish nationalism developed in Europe in parallel to Arab nationalism from the Maghreb to the Mashriq [i.e., from the West to the East]. There he finds ‘pogroms,’ which are an Eastern European Jewish issue. He ignores the role played by the Zionist movement in undermining the relations between Jews and Muslims in the Arab countries. He talks about ‘anti-Semitism’ in the Arab countries and about expulsion, after much has been written about the ties between the Zionist leadership and the corrupt leaders of Iraq and Yemen, which lead to the decision to deport the Jews from those countries – without a passport and with only a laissez-passer – to Israel only.

“Let’s assume that things were very bad and stressful – why didn’t they get a passport allowing them to choose any destination? Or the Jews of Morocco, who were not allowed to leave after Morocco became independent. No one was allowed to leave Morocco in those years unless he was close to and well connected with the authorities. The Zionists had to use the Jews of the United States and the administration in Washington to bring pressure to bear on the palace in Morocco to allow the Jews to leave after 1956. Why not talk about the years before Moroccan independence, when [Prime Minister David] Ben-Gurion could have brought all the Jews of Morocco to Israel, but took fright and chose to conduct a racist selection in which the strength of their muscles and the width of their shoulders were measured!

“Let us not forget, also, that in the background, the Mossad was running Zionist ‘undergrounds’ that incited the Muslims against the Jews, including throwing a grenade into a Baghdad synagogue, painting anti-Jewish slogans in French on Jewish stores, and spreading harsh rumors about the Jews in order to hasten their departure. This was all done by good Zionists, and I am not saying anything new here.

“Indeed, the life of the Jews in the Islamic lands was no paradise, but neither was the life of the Muslims a paradise in the Islamic lands, unless they were close to the government. And above all, the life of the Jews in the Islamic countries was never the hell of the Jews of Europe. Never at any point in history. The Jews from the Islamic lands came to Israel out of love. Not because of hatred, not because of persecution and not for revenge. Only for love of the Land of Israel.”

That's a tad enigmatic at the end, but note it's "love of the Land of Israel", not the State of Israel and not hatred of or in the lands they left.

Finkelstein went Head to Head with Finkelstein at Conway Hall

Norman Finkelstein's Head to Head discussion with Mehdi Hassan played to a capacity audience at the Oxford Union on Friday June 30.  Kamel Hawwash blogged about it on his Brum2Jerusalem blog under the question, Which Norman Finkelstein turned up to Aljazeera Head to Head with Mehdi Hasan? Kamel concluded that "it was the “I choose my words very carefully” Norman that turned up in Oxford".

Well the Norman Finkelstein that turned up in London at Conway Hall wasn't so careful.  118 people attended the launch of Old Wine Broken Bottle: Finkelstein's latest book taking down, successfully by all accounts, Ari Shavit's ethnic cleansing and crying book, My Promised Land. 

The room in Conway Hall has a capacity of 400 so 118 was a pretty poor turn out.  In spite of this, Norm, managed to make things worse by provoking a walkout by insisting on his two state position and denouncing those who didn't support it as failing to understand him or it. But the hosts had had 40 copies of his new book printed. They sold out at £5 a go.

Anyway, here's an account that has just been emailed to me by one of my spies at Conway Hall.  I should stress, this was someone who attended the launch, not a member of the Conway Hall staff:

Basically he is completely contradictory. It’s not that he has become a zionist - his latest book, which he was launching, is a great demolition job on Ari Shavit’s attempt to justify ‘liberal zionism’ and in doing so he demolishes all the ideological foundations of zionism. And then he goes on with his vendetta against BDS for not being explicit enough in endorsing ‘two states’, rather than just being agnostic on it.His whole line on the so called ‘international consensus is based on a ridiculous fetishisation of international law and UN resolutions. He ends up with a ‘realist’ rejection of the RoR on the grounds that its full implementation is ‘unrealistic’, and then ends up effectively justifying  this by the argument that Israel exists as a state and all states have the right in international law to control their own immigration policies.

I don’t think his position has any consistency. Frankly I think his experiences and his isolation have turned his mind a bit and he resents the fact that a movement he isn’t part of is now making the running. I think there is an element of injured ego in it, though I don’t normally like explaining political disagreements by psychology.

See this is the big contradiction.  He demolishes zionism with his intellect and then rebuilds it with his ludicrous insistence on two states and his fetishisation, not so much of international law, but of the UN. And this is down to "injured ego"?  I wish someone would injure his ego.

De Klerk ought to know that apartheid is not simply about numbers

But apparently Mr De Klerk doesn't know that if this Jewish Telegraphic Agency headline is anything to go by:

De Klerk: Israel not an apartheid state, but could become one

We know where this is going but let's take a look anyway:

Israel could become an apartheid state without the creation of a Palestinian state, former South African leader F.W. de Klerk said on Israeli television.

 De Klerk, the last president in his country under apartheid, said in an interview Tuesday on Israel’s Channel 2 that it was “unfair” to call Israel an apartheid state now.

In Israel to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa, de Klerk said Israel may have to contend with one state for two peoples.

“The test will be does everybody living then in such a unitary state, will everybody have full political rights?” he said. “Will everybody enjoy their full human rights? If they will, it’s not an apartheid state.

So far, so bad.  Palestinian Arabs within Israel's pre-67 boundaries do not have the same rights as Jews in a variety of areas.  And even if they did, the Palestinians under occupation have endured their inferior status for nearly fifty years now. What will happen in the future to make that apartheid that hasn't been happening these last almost five decades.

And then there's the major issue of the people of Palestine who have been forced to leave their homeland since 1947.  Jews from all around the world have more right, under Israel's racist laws, to live in Palestine than the native non-Jewish population who have been forced to leave.  And if we do choose to live there we have more rights there than those who have managed to remain.

Many aspects of Israel's governance within its pre-1967 boundaries qualify for the apartheid label since apartheid is not about the quantity of the unjustly governed but the quality of the governance.  But of course it's chutzpah to describe Palestinians simply as a minority.  Taking all of them together, West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza, the bits in between and those in exile, Palestinians are a majority and zionists subject them to minority rule.

Having said all that, the apartheid label has its limitations.  I already mentioned something far worse: it's the ethnic cleansing, stupid!

So what really happened to FUCU II?

I've just found another JC article about the aborted Moty Cristol against Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust case.

It was again by Martin Bright and significantly it was written before the disastrous outcome of Mr R Fraser v University and College Union.

So let's have a look at the article from the Jewish Chronicle dated, November 15, 2012:

Across the country, strikes are being organised in the heath service by public sector union Unison. Just this week, the union described plans to cut 50 per cent of nursing staff at NHS Direct as a “disaster”. The Department of Health and Unison are effectively at war. All the more bizarre then, that they are united in their fight against Moty Cristal, an Israeli conflict resolution expert, whose invitation to run a workshop at Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust was withdrawn in May.

There's a point to this in an article that has nothing to do with strikes or austerity:

I have tried this week to discover why Unison and the Trust have decided to prioritise fighting an expensive legal case during such straitened times. Neither was prepared to comment while the case was ongoing. This is patent nonsense: this is not a criminal trial and there is no jury to prejudice. But I can understand their reticence. It must be extremely embarrassing that a rare point of common ground between NHS managers and Unison is their determination to justify boycotting a respected international expert, simply for being an Israeli. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and ministers have thus far refused to intervene for fear of further inflaming Unison. 

Actually, it wasn't the union that decided to prioritise the case, it was Moty Cristol, the conflict resolution advisor.  He wasn't boycotted for "simply for being Israeli".  An explanation for his disinvitation was already reported in the JC back in April 2012 thus:

"It was considered that the decision to invite a prominent Israeli negotiator would be unacceptable given UNISON and TUC policy on the Middle East conflict, the irrelevance of the speaker to working relationships within a local NHS Trust and the inappropriateness of funding an international speaker at times of such austerity, when front line staff in the trust are at risk of redundancy."

In more recent articles the JC lets on that Moty Cristol was seeking £26.5 k.  Now in the name of fighting austerity, Martin Bright is suggesting that Unison should simply roll over and pay Moty Cristol £26.5.  He is further arguing that in these "times of such austerity" the health trust should simply have proceeded with an event the union deemed irrelevant and costly.  A bit of a logic fail there.

Further, the union's refusal to comment "while the case was ongoing" seems perfectly reasonable, especially given, that there was another ongoing case at the time.  Yes, the FUCU case linked above.

Whilst trying to pull together the various JC articles on this case I noticed one by Marcus Dysch dated August 30, 2013 announcing the scheduling of the trial:

A trial is due to begin at Central London County Court on September 11 [2013]and to last three days. He is expected to be represented by lawyers from the Mishcon de Reya law firm.

So did it happen?  Again Marcus Dysch reports (September 17, 2013):

Judge David Mitchell told Central London County Court that the complexity of the case meant its future in the courts was unclear.....

Following three days of legal arguments.....
Judge Mitchell told Dinah Rose QC, acting for Prof Cristal, that he was “not against” her, but that he was “concerned” by the number of legal issues the sides were debating and feared the case would “simply mushroom into a huge series of issues”.

The judge added a further warning that with appeals likely from both sides, it may end with the case going as far as the Supreme Court.........

He pledged to publish a judgement “as soon as I can”..........

The court had earlier heard that the Trust’s lawyers would argue that Prof Cristal’s claim was “trivial” and that the cost of the litigation was out of proportion with the benefits that he could gain.

So did the judge publish a judgement?  Did the Jewish Leadership Council threaten to withdraw their support.  Did partners in Mishcon de Reya warn any of their over enthusiastic hasbaristas of the dangers of another costly humiliation?

Its a funny old thing but in his article denouncing Unison and the health trust, Martin Bright called on  the government health minister, Jeremy Hunt,  and the then head of the Trades Union Congress, Brendan Barber to force Unison and the health trust to capitulate.  Look at what turned out to be some major hostages to fortune:

like Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Mr Barber has decided to keep his head down over Moty Cristal. Perhaps they think if they avoid the issue it will just go away, or that it is an obscure matter unworthy of their attention. But their hand may yet be forced when the case comes to court. Moty Cristal is by profession a skilled negotiator and, as such, he knows his demands must be very clear and very reasonable. All he wants is an admission of wrongdoing from the health trust and the union and an assurance that it won’t happen again. This will cost them nothing. The alternative is potentially very expensive indeed in terms of hard cash and reputations.

Well the issue did just go away and Cristol wasn't just seeking an apology, he was seeking money too.  But if Martin Bright didn't want the case simply to go away he certainly wanted it to go one way:

Messrs Hunt and Barber could stop this nonsense now.

In the event it was Moty Cristol who stopped this nonsense but who blinked out of his own side, Mishcon le Reya, the Jewish Leadership Council or Moty Cristol himself or indeed all three?

Another FUCU Case Averted?

Well it certainly looks like it.

A couple of years ago, almost exactly, Moty Cristol, according to Martin Bright in The Jewish Chronicle (August 23, 2012):

an Israeli conflict resolution expert and peace activist with a track record of negotiating at a high level with Jordanian and Palestinian officials, was due to speak at an NHS conference in Manchester to advise health service managers and trade union officials.

However his invitation was revoked following objections from the trade union, Unison.  Closer to the time, ie, April 2012, the Anshell Pfeffer reported in the JC (April 30, 2012) Unison's explanation for the decision:

Explaining the decision, Mr Nelson said: "It was considered that the decision to invite a prominent Israeli negotiator would be unacceptable given UNISON and TUC policy on the Middle East conflict, the irrelevance of the speaker to working relationships within a local NHS Trust and the inappropriateness of funding an international speaker at times of such austerity, when front line staff in the trust are at risk of redundancy."

By November of 2012 Martin Bright in was reporting in the JC (November 8, 2012) that:

Unison, the partner organisation for the seminar, told the NHS Trust that its members would not take part in anything run by the Israeli academic

and that Mr Cristol would now be suing Manchester Health Trust:

Prof Cristal flew to London to talk to lawyers about taking legal action. It now looks likely that the case against Manchester NHS Trust and Unison will be heard in a county court.

Prof Cristal told reporters: “I came here to assess the legal situation. Now I am even more convinced that I am going to pursue the action in the county court.

Significantly it didn't report in that piece on the explanation given by Unison for the disinvitation.  It did however state what it was that Moty Cristol wanted to achieve from his action:

“It is the right thing to do to fight the delegitimisation movement. I was boycotted because I am an Israeli. As a negotiator, I will pursue the action until a decent offer is put on the table”.

He wanted two things, he said: “Public acknowledgement of the wrongdoing of discrimination against me as an Israeli — and the public assurance that this will not be repeated.”

It appears he wasn't boycotted for being an Israeli.  Rather it appears he was boycotted because he is a high profile representative of the Israeli state, now in academia.  And note he is not simply claiming to seek a remedy for anything he has lost but to "fight the delegitimisation movement".  Some people make bones over this.  Some say you can't delegitimise an illegitimate state others say we must deligitimise a state that does after all have international recognition via the UN.  Still others, say we mustn't try or even give the impression that want to delegitimise Israel because its status at the UN is sacrosanct.  I'm with the bunch that says Israel's has no legitimacy but just in case it has then delegitimisation is a perfectly, well, legitimate goal.

But note also that he is saying he wants the Manchester Health Trust to say it did wrong and that it won't do it again.  Note further there is no mention of money.

Anyway, now (today, May 29, 2014) the JC's Marcus Dysch is reporting that Mr Cristol has dropped his action against the Manchester Health Trust:

An Israeli conflict resolution expert has dropped his legal case against a health trust which he claimed had discriminated against him.

Moty Cristal had been seeking damages totalling £26,500 and an apology from Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust after it cancelled a workshop he was due to run for its staff in 2012.

So he wanted £26,500 and a sorry from the aforementioned Trust. I wonder where Dysch got his information from.  Clearly, sensibly, he doesn't rely on the JC.  The article sets out why the case has been dropped:

He [Moty Cristol] said: "I made this decision since the goals that I first set out to achieve have broadly been met. My primary goal was to establish that I had been unfairly treated and discriminated against as an Israeli negotiator."

He said he had received a letter from the health trust’s chief executive apologising for cancelling the lecture. But he originally said he wanted “Public acknowledgement of the wrongdoing of discrimination against me as an Israeli — and the public assurance that this will not be repeated.”  Remember?  He didn't get either of those.  Nor did he get that £26.5 k.

But a more significant aspect might be this:

The JC understands his supporters — including the Jewish Leadership Council — had been prepared to continue backing him, but the court’s initial warnings relating to costs and the likelihood of success had eventually led to his decision to withdraw.

So the JLC was going to continue backing him in his pursuit of public redress plus £26.5 k but he had the magnanimity to withdraw because he didn't want the JLC being stung for costs?  That really doesn't seem likely.  It seems more likely that the JLC told him his cause was hopeless and they were damned if they were picking up the tab especially with the costs of the FUCU disaster possibly still hanging over them.  Or it could be that the JLC really was going to pick up the tab in another fruitless cause but Moty Cristol didn't want to waste his time and face the same humiliation that Ronnie Fraser has gone through.

But Marcus Dysch's conclusion is both interesting and encouraging to those of us who support BDS:

His move also appears to support the belief within the community that the JLC and other organisations will take a new approach to countering boycotters and groups opposed to Israel, using discourse rather than legal process.

 So it appears that lawfare is being quietly dropped and BDS is going from strength to strength.

Come to London to see and hear Norman Finkelstein, the man who pissed off everybody

If you're in striking distance of London you could find yourself in striking distance of Norman Finkelstein by taking a trip to the Conway Hall at 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL where his book, Old Wine, Broken Bottles, Ari Shavitt's Promised Land is being launched by publishers, OR Books, in association with Jews for Justice for Palestinians.

Here's the blurb from Conway Hall:

Special Events

Old Wine, Broken Bottle : Norman Finkelstein's Book Launch

Sat 31 May 2014, 19:00

Jews for Justice for Palestinians presents

London Launch of Norman Finkelstein's latest book: "Old Wine, Broken Bottle: Ari Shavit's Promised Land"

Start: 6.30pm for a 7pm start. End: 10pm.
Norman Finkelstein is a strong speaker celebrated for his brilliant demolitions of Zionist propaganda and full-tilt attacks on the American Israel Lobby.

His new book is a take-down of Ari Shavit’s “My Promised Land”, which he finds is an attempt to repackage Zionist propaganda and win back Diaspora Jews. "Old Wine, Broken Bottle" is a devastating and very entertaining critique that concludes that Shavit will not succeed, and that a broad-based mass movement is now growing that can pressure the Israeli government to withdraw to the 1967 borders.

But Finkelstein is nothing if not controversial: having defied the Zionist establishment, he now stands apart from the mainstream of Palestine solidarity by denouncing the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement as a marginal “cult”. His vehement insistence on the Two State Solution has also been widely challenged.

Professor Finkelstein will open with a conversation with JfJfP signatory Stephen Marks. Then fans and critics alike can put their own questions to him. All are welcome.

Expect a bumpy ride!

Tickets: Free event, but please help towards costs: £3 donation suggested at the door

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Finkelstein has written some wonderful stuff exposing the gulf between Israel's image in the west with its reality on the ground.  He's also given some good talks and made devastating ripostes to zionist critics.  More recently he has lashed out against proponents of the one state solution in Palestine and supporters of the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the State of Israel.  He's expressed a certainty about future events that seemed to some to be misplaced at the time and certainly hasn't been borne out by events.  I'm referring to his belief that Kerry was poised to impose a disastrous settlement on the Palestinians that would leave Israel in direct control of everything within the area of the wall.  This, of course, didn't happen.  Does that mean it won't happen?  I don't know.  Perhaps we should double check with Norman Finkelstein.

Posters from the Palestinian Revolution

I'm going to blog some of the posters and maybe some other things I saw at the RichMix venue in London's Bethnal Green Road tonight at the exhibition, The World is With Us, Global Film and Poster Art from the Palestinian Revolution, 1968 - 1980.

But first up I must say what a tremendous success the evening was.  The RichMix has various levels and the reception, you know, drinks and nibbles was on the ground floor and the exhibition was downstairs in the basement.  Karma Nabulsi opened the proceedings by explaining what the exhibition was all about and she made the now customary reference to Palestine Film Foundation director, Nick Denes, who has worked very hard to bring the whole thing together.

The exhibition consisted of several old televisions positioned around the room on tables and posters adorning the walls.  The age of each TV was matched to the age of the film it was showing and there were headphones wired to each TV so each one could be focused on individually.  I didn't actually pick up a program for the event so I can't say what any of the films were. Some were colour and some were black and white.  There was also an old radio and an old reel to reel tape player to show the kind of technology that was available to our revolutionary heroes during the period under view.

Anyway, here are some of the pics I took and tweeted in the order that I took them:

That's simply the view from the ground floor down to the basement and here's what you see as you land:

But the downstairs wasn't open yet so that was a sneak preview.  Here's the poster announcing the event and the series:

And here's Karma Nabulsi introducing the event:

And here are some of those TVs I mentioned:

 

See that last one?  Can't see a thing on the screen hardly. But look at those phones.  Quaint huh?

And now some posters:

Now I'm hoping the posters will mostly speak for themselves because I spent the whole evening snapping and tweeting the narratives so if you want the narrative I tweeted with the pic please check out @jewssf on twitter:

 

 

Now that last one doesn't hang well with the others.  It was narrated on the wall as 1980 and nothing else, or artist unknown.  It's the only one that drew criticism on twitter and I must admit I found it kind of perplexing.  But see what Nick Denes had to say about the whole exhibition over at MEMO :

It was a lengthy and quite difficult process choosing these posters, as there are so many striking works one might choose," says Nick Denes, Co-Director of the series. "But our aim has been - insofar as we can restrain ourselves - not to pick the 'best' or our 'favourite' works, but rather ones that were widely used or seen in their time, and, or which represent key aesthetic or thematic concerns.

And it's that "thematic concern" that this last poster conveys: international solidarity, the magnet that draws so many of us to the Palestinian cause.

Here are some afterthought shots taken just while the event was closing and I was leaving:

 

And here's my parting shot:

There's a whole site, The World is With Us, devoted to the exhibition and its whereabouts at any given time. It does the exhibition far more justice than I have done here but you really have to be there to appreciate what the exhibition has achieved.

Livni in London Speech in (almost) full

This is a copy and paste of notes of the Jewish National Fund's "Livni Event".  As you will see, they are not full transcripts but I trust the note taker:

REPORT ON JNF UK EVENT WITH TZIPI LIVNI ON NAKBA DAY, MAY 15TH 2014

SUMMARY OF SPEECH BY THE ISRAELI AMBASSADOR, DANIEL TAUB

Daniel Taub recently Israelis have commemorated Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Day), Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance Day for Israeli soldiers), Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) and Yom Yerushalyim (Jerusalem Day).  These days are the first new days to be added to the Jewish calendar in the last 2000 years.  Jews are re-entering history. 

In the rubble of the Warsaw Ghetto was found a JNF blue-and-white box.  The people sent to the Warsaw Ghetto were told only to take their most valued possessions with them, so this must have been included among a family's most valued possessions. 

Israel is a miracle - a miracle with a fair number of challenges.

The demonstrators outside are a group of people that has wiped Israel off the map.  Their maps do not show Israel.

Tzipi Livni is the woman who has done more to try to reach peace than anyone he can think of.

SUMMARY OF SPEECH BY SAMUEL HAYEK, CHAIR OF JNF UK 

JNF is turning the desert green and building new communities.  It is improving the lives of all residents of the Negev, regardless of their backgrounds.  Israeli farmers in the Negev are facing daily attacks.  JNF is the glue that binds Anglo-Jewry to the State of Israel.  

We face a relentless, well-organised and well-funded propaganda war to delegitimise Israel.

He is delighted to see that  the Israeli Bedouin diplomat Ismail Khaldi is in the audience tonight.

It is not for our communal leaders to openly criticise the elected government of Israel.  It is both irresponsible and unjustified to criticise Israel.  The Israeli government has made tremendous efforts to achieve peace.

He is proud and privileged to welcome Tzipi Livni, who will be interviewed by Douglas Murray after her speech. 

SUMMARY OF SPEECH BY TZIPI LIVNI, JUSTICE MINISTER OF ISRAEL

Daniel Taub referred to days in the recent past, but she wants to refer to yesterday:  May 14th, which she personally regards as Yom Ha'atzmaut.  May 14th is the day that Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state. Her parents were the first couple to get married in the State of Israel, on May 14th 1948.  Her parents met, very romantically, while robbing a British money train in order to get money to buy weapons - as the Minister of Justice, she feels a bit embarrassed at telling us this.  Both were in prison and they both escaped from prison.  They were in the Irgun.  Her parents were freedom-fighters, not terrorists.  She is not willing to accept the comparison between freedom fighters who do not want to incur civilian casualties and those who attack civilians.  She is very proud that she made decisions to defend her own people against terrorists.   She has put her own "Wanted" picture on her wall at home, next to the "Wanted" picture of her father that was issued by the British.

There is no hope of peace with Hamas.  They may be prepared to accept Israel's actual existence within the 1967 borders, but they refuse to accept Israel's right to exist and they refuse to renounce violence.  She felt frustrated, even angry when Abbas signed the reconciliation agreement with Hamas.  

Israel is facing threats.  We live in a tough neighbourhood.  We need to recreate the Zionist vision of a secure Jewish and democratic State. What does it mean to be a Jewish State?  It means keeping Jewish values, but does not mean giving a monopoly to the Orthodox parties (loud audience applause).  It means giving rights to minorities in accordance with our Jewish values.  It means fighting hate crimes, fighting for equal rights for all, but it also means that Israel is the nation-state of the whole Jewish people.

She is the chief negotiator in the peace talks.  Her parents believed in Greater Israel.  This is engraved on their tombstones.  But we need the Jewish majority.  We need two states for two peoples. This is the only way we can be a Jewish and democratic State.  Giving everyone Israeli citizenship means that Israel could become an Arab or binational State.

Oslo was a failure because the final status issues were not addressed and left till later.  We need the entire package and the end of the conflict.  We need to tackle all the final status issues.  We have a legal and moral right to the entire land, but her choice is for Israel as a Jewish and democratic State.  Any Israeli leader has difficult decisions to make.  We built more and more settlements, but they take up only a small percentage of the West Bank. We left Gaza but got only terror in return - so any agreement needs to take security into consideration.  

We need two States for two peoples.  Each State will provide an answer to the national aspirations of each people.   In 1947, the UN decided for a Jewish State and an Arab state - in fact, not a Palestinian State (sounds of agreement from the audience). Israel provides the answer for the entire Jewish people.  Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people.  The creation of the Palestinian State will be the answer to the Palestinian problem.  It will be the answer for the Palestinian refugees.  It will also be the answer for the Palestinians within Israel.  They will have equal rights as Israeli citizens, but their national aspirations will be fulfilled in the Palestinian State.

Defining borders: we need to annex the blocs of settlements. The Palestinians will need some land in compensation. 

The future Palestinian State will be demilitarised.  We need to define what this means.

Jerusalem and the holy places: another difficult question to negotiate.

She feels that she is negotiating on behalf of the Jewish people, not only on behalf of the State of Israel.

Secretary of State Kerry is a man who is not willing to take no for an answer.

In July last year, they agreed on confidence-building measures.  Israel agreed to release prisoners and the Palestinians agreed not to go to the UN Conventions to use them against Israel.

Building settlements was not against Israel's agreement with the US.

There needed to be compromises on both sides.  There were problems with releasing the last tranche of prisoners and we asked Abu Mazen to wait till we could release them.  But he refused to wait and went to the UN.  How would you feel if you were about to pay a debt but had a few problems and asked the debtor to wait a little while and he refused?  Israeli compromises are not all that is needed.  The Palestinians need to make compromises too. (Loud audience applause).

There is a huge gap between Israel as it is and the image of Israel abroad.

She will end with a story that Arik Sharon once told her.  When he was a small child, he was working with his grandmother in a field.  He said: "Stop - I'm so tired and there is so much more to do".  She said: "Instead of looking ahead to see how much we have to do, look back and see what we have achieved." 

TZIPI LIVNI INTERVIEWED BY DOUGLAS MURRAY

MURRAY:

It's wonderful to have you back in London.  But after what you have said, how can we hope for peace?

LIVNI

In 2005, Abu Mazen  told Condi Rice that Hamas would only get 20 per cent of the vote in the Palestinian elections.  But Hamas won.

People say: how can you negotiate with Abu Mazen when he doesn't represent all the Palestinians?  This may seem a contradiction of our refusal to negotiate with him after his reconciliation with Hamas.  But Abu Mazen himself would say that he really represents all the Palestinians.  And Hamas brings in the religious perspective.  Abu Mazen only brings in the national perspective.  Hamas needs to accept the right of Israel to exist and to renounce violence.

But the peace talks are not over.  There is only a pause.  

I have doubts that the PA and Hamas will create a government.

MURRAY

There is a lot of fatigue about the peace process.  How do you break through that fatigue?

LIVNI

The vast majority of Israelis support two states for two peoples.  But some think there is no partner for peace.  Many Israelis have been born into this situation.  Some think it can't change.  I joined politics in 1995 and left two years ago. In the last election, no-one was talking about peace - only social problems.  But the price of peace is less than the price of not making these decisions.  The world is going to turn against us more and more unless we make these decisions.

MURRAY

You are quoted as saying recently that "the settlements make it impossible to defend Israel around the world." Do you still think this?

LIVNI

As a young girl, I celebrated the settlements. One vision is Greater Israel.  Those who want this are in the minority.  The majority of Israelis believe in two states for two peoples.  We are asked: "why do you build in places that will not be part of the State?".   A settler said to me recently: "You are going to reach the point of no return, when you can't remove the settlements".

MURRAY

Why does the BBC go on about settlements but says nothing about Hamas indoctrination of children to kill Jews? 

LIVNI

Israel is a small state surrounded by enemies.  The BBC sees Israeli soldiers and tanks threatening Palestinian children. They do not see the big picture of Israel as the David threatened by the Goliath of the region. Thank God, Israel is strong, but we are the David of the region.

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

Only a few were allowed.  They included:

1) How much freedom did you have in the negotiations?*

LIVNI

Netanyahu's representative was in the room.  At first I found this difficult, but we are partners now.

2) What is Israel doing about Iran getting the bomb?

Livni never actually answered this and the meeting was closed.

There were actually 4 questions allowed but two of them were too mad for my man to note. One was leaning in the direction of the international community abolishing the concept of human rights and the other claimed that Israel is the size of London (which might be true in population terms but even London has clearer boundaries than Israel) so why can't those enormous Arab states take in "their own".

*That was Jonothan Hoffman.