RUTHFULLY YOURS

Last week, Oliver Miles, Britain’s former ambassador to Libya and a pillar of the country’s foreign policy establishment, put his thinking cap on, put pen to paper and came up with the following thoughts in a column in the Independent newspaper about the presence of the esteemed historians Martin Gilbert and Lawrence Freedman on the board of the UK’s latest Iraq Inquiry:

“Both Gilbert and Freedman are Jewish, and Gilbert at least has a record of active support for Zionism,” he said. “…if and when the inquiry is accused of a whitewash, such handy ammunition will be available. Membership should not only be balanced; it should be seen to be balanced.” (My italics)

In other words, Jews are an embarrassment. Ban them.

Hold that thought. Now consider the words of the celebrated journalist Richard Ingrams — a man who once said he does not open emails about Israel if the writer appears to have a Jewish last name — writing in the same paper today.

 

Enthusiastically defending Miles, he said:

“…it is a fact that the campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein was initiated, well before 9/11, by a group of influential American neocons, notably Perle, Feith and Wolfowitz (once described by Time magazine as “the godfather of the Iraq war”) nearly all of whom were ardent Zionists, in many cases more concerned with preserving the security of Israel than that of the US.

“Given that undeniable fact, the pro-Israeli bias of Sir Martin Gilbert and Sir Lawrence Freedman, both of them supporters of the 2003 invasion, is a perfectly respectable point to raise. It is equally legitimate to ask if at any point the panel will investigate or even refer to the US neocons and their links to Israel. Call me snide if you like, but I very much doubt they will.” (My italics)

In other words, the loyalties of the Jews are with Israel and each other. The conspiracy continues.

This all comes, of course, in the wake of a widely watched “Dispatches” television documentary earlier in the month (see entries on this site) which alleged that a secretive cabal of wealthy Jews had the British political and media establishment in its pocket. I said at the time that there was a danger the situation might be about to get a whole lot worse in Britain. The signs are that that could already be happening.

For the key point to understand about the makers of that documentary and about the likes of Miles and Ingrams is that they are quintessentially mainstream figures. They are listened to and accorded respect. They are welcome in all the “right circles”. What they say helps legitimise the thinking and the discourse of others.

And as time goes by, with one incremental move down the slippery slope after another, the revivification of an ancient hatred is starting to look “normal”.

Jewish organisations in Britain like the Community Security Trust (CST) — which monitors anti-Semitism and places guards outside synagogues and Jewish schools across the country — are now voicing their fears openly.

CST spokesman Mark Gardner, quoted in the Jewish Chronicle, said of the remarks by ambassador Miles:

“These comments are ugly enough in their own right, but they also risk giving the impression that Jews are not welcome to participate in politics and society…Coming so soon after the Dispatches programme, we have to ask if a very worrying antisemitic trend is now emerging from the many years of so called anti-Zionism.”

Frightening.

To read the article by Miles, click here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/oliver-miles-the-key-question-ndash-is-blair-a-war-criminal-1825374.html

To read today’s contribution by Ingrams, click here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/richard-ingrams/richard-ingramsrsquos-week-will-zionists-links-to-iraq-invasion-be-brushed-aside-1829896.html