In Britain today, hating Israel has become a valid criminal defense. This week five criminal defendants charged with destroying property valued at some $285,000 at the EDO MBM arms factory in Brighton during a January 2009 break-in were found innocent of all charges. They were found innocent despite the fact that all five admitted to having committed the crime….The jury found the five innocent because the jurors accepted as a valid defense the defendants’ claim that they vandalized the EDO MBM plant because they wanted to prevent Israel from carrying out war crimes in Gaza. EDO MBM does business with the IDF, therefore, the defendants claimed and the jury agreed, it deserved to be attacked. In finding as they did, the jurors were acting in accordance with the guidance they received from the presiding judge…What this verdict shows is that in British courts, hatred of Israel has become a license to break the law.
I knew things had gotten rather strange in the UK, but this is unbelievable.
The attitudes of “progressivism,” incubated largely in Western universities, have now become a serious threat to the survival of Western civilization.
via Bookworm
Nice precedent they’re setting. What’s next? Burning down a synagogue?
British courts have already allowed a fear of global warming as a defense for vandalism and disorderly conduct. Sorry, I don’t have a link.
I don’t understand what is going on in Britain. I have many British friends and we seem to occupy different planets. I sent an e-mail to a friend who is retired military. I mentioned that my new house is conveniently close to a gun range. He commented that my comment was one that would never be seen in a British message. I think that is really too bad.
Last week, a group of ISRAELI leftists spray-painted an anti-Israel-Gaza-policy message on a wall of the Warsaw ghetto.
Also, another major media figure reveals her true opinions about the Middle East, here.
Israeli leftists are as morally confused and ambivalent about their own culture as are western leftists in general.
The deeper Great Britain sinks into the EU, the more socialist, anti-American, and ant-Semitic it will become–what else could anyone expect? The ideal EU form of government is a cabal of. Intellectuals filled with hate. British intellectuals have been anti-British since WW1 (“we will not fight for k ing or country”). A century of change produces the expected result. Goodbye Britain.
Considering that dozens of government sponsored Sharia courts are already operating in Britain, and that female Muslims in Britain have been given over to the jurisdiction of those courts instead of the secular court system, this is not only not surprising; but is in fact expected.
Attacks on Jews and anything Jewish are already implicitly allowed. Soon it will be explicitly allowed, then it will be sponsored. I don’t know where they would go to, because there is absolutely no safe haven in Europe [I know of Jewish refugees from French anti-Semitism settled near Atlanta, Georgia] and soon under the current American regime it will not be safe here; but any Jews in Britain should be looking at ways to get out. Being secular and politically correct will not save them any more than it has saved any Jews in the past.
If you think this is bad, wait until the day Israel is forced to act to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat and the Syrian missile threat, plus Hezbollah rocket attacks from Lebanon. We are looking at a time span measured in months at most.
When that balloon goes up, there will have to be a new British colloquial equivalent to Kristalnacht; and we can be sure from past performance that the British police will neither protect Jews nor prosecute Muslims.
Bloody Dhimmis.
Subotai Bahadur
“and soon under the current American regime it will not be safe here…”
I’m guessing that if European Jewish refugees can get over what they’ve heard about such “bumpkins,” they would be welcomed in regions with large Evangelical populations.
Israel is a war crime in progress. It is legal in the UK to attempt to mitigate war crimes.
Simple enough?
Note that the comment above asserts that “ISRAEL is a war crime in progress”—not that this or that specific policy of Israel is a war crime. Very revealing.
Ah … and so dear ladies and gentlemen of this century … we are getting a detailed demonstration of how a Holocaust can happen. Beginning with the pseudo-intellectual and media groundwork. Thank you, dear PenGun for demonstrating this to us, in your small way.
Percy Dovetonsils Says:
I’m guessing that if European Jewish refugees can get over what they’ve heard about such “bumpkins,” they would be welcomed in regions with large Evangelical populations.
Not just in those regions. I am neither Jewish nor Christian in any of their multiplex permutations. I will shelter and defend any Jews I can against against any modern wanna-be Cossacks, Totenkopfverbande allegemeine Schutz-Staffel, Jihadis, or whatever flavor of modern Democrats/Leftists. Partially [and mostly] because it is the right thing for free men and women to do, and partially in honor of the memory of my father, whose infantry company [in the 5th Infantry Regiment, 71st Infantry Division, 3rd US Army] liberated the last death camp in Nazi hands at Gunzkirchen.
Despite the best efforts of the Left, there are still Americans remaining in our country.
Subotai Bahadur
“British courts have already allowed a fear of global warming as a defense for vandalism and disorderly conduct. Sorry, I don’t have a link.”
I think you mean this story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/11/activists.kingsnorthclimatecamp
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cleared-jury-decides-that-threat-of-global-warming-justifies-breaking-the-law-925561.html
1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 12
From Pharaoh 3500 yrs ago up to recent past of Hitler and now the present day thugs, tyrants and jackasses..they ALL met and will meet the same fate…Oblivion…cast into the outer darkness amidst much weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Israel will exist long after Mr. Pengun and his ignorant ilk are but dust and memories (if anyone bothers to remember fools)
Jew-baiting in Britain. This is important reading.
David you beat me to it. What comes across is the utter cowardice of the political-intellectual class.The belief that throwing the Jews under the bus will satisfy the Islamistsand buy peace.
Stupid and cowardly.
Paulfr I have been a Buddhist since I was 18. I’m 63 now. Most of the reason I left the Christian church was a careful reading of it’s tenants. The Book of Common Prayer has very interesting things to say about Jews for instance. You are all damned. I could not support such crap.
After a lot of study I have come to a disturbing conclusion. As far as I can tell the Jews worship a demon. It’s exclusivity is a big clue. Universal gods of salvation save everyone. Demons have an agenda.
Now as I have leaning to the Tantra the Tibetan experience has to some extent instructed me. The conquest of the Bon religion by Padma Sambva involved the subjugating and recruitment of the Bon deities, demons essentially. I have no real problem with demons, as a Buddhist they have no power over me at all, but worshiping them always leads to grief. Subjugation and recruitment is the proper way.
I guess Helen Thomas looks a little more friendly now. ;)
After a lot of study I have come to a disturbing conclusion.
You sure have, pal.
I think it’s nice that the internet allows us to interact with the insane without worrying about getting stabbed with a fork.
If I held any unpopular beliefs, I would not feel safe relying on UK law to protect me. That makes the law worthless as most of us hold an unpopular belief here or there.
PenGun – What war is Israel a war crime of? Who are the belligerents and on whose behalf was the war crime committed?
The state of Israel was formed really because of war crimes committed against the Jews by Hitler. Certainly the Zionists had pushed for a state for quite a while but it was Hitler who provided the catalyst. Well that and the fact that the Brits and the Yanks did not want a pile of Jewish refugees in their countries.
Without going into exhaustive trolling of history the formation of the Jewish state was a series of crimes, many of them war crimes. The Stern gang, a terrorist organization, caused many atrocities and is now an honored part of Israeli history.
The refusal of the Israeli government to return to the 1967 line is a war crime. The oppression of the people in the area outside the 67 line is a war crime. The operation in Lebanon in 2006 was a series of war crimes. Gaza in 2008 yielded a flock of war crimes and the recent murder of civilians on a ship in International waters is certainly a crime.
Only the US veto keeps all this from being explored in the UN. Most of the rest of the world is sick of the madness and as time goes by, assuming no change, more states will cut relations and enact laws to punish Israel.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem sat in Hitler’s waiting room begging for the opportunity to kill Jews. He had the men behind him willing to do his bidding. He just needed funding from Hitler. Hitler granted the mufti funding and made him an honorary Aryan. As a result, the Mufti’s armies slaughtered thousands of Jews. As far as I’m concerned, the Jews could get from the river to the sea and the Sinai for that matter. Don’t weep too hard for the Pals there Pen. If you think the Jews worship a demon, WTF do you think the muslims worship?
Atrocities abound throughout history. It might be instructive to notice that very many were committed by worshipers of gods for religious reasons.
As a Buddhist I can only recommend you try the path. I cannot really comment usefully on the value of other religions as it is a personal matter for everyone.
Of the three faces of the Deity the people of the book share I do like the Muslim flavor perhaps best. It’s complete surrender to the one god is a useful exercise at the least.
I follow Bodhidharma who was once asked: “So what is the highest meaning of noble truth?” Bodhidharma answered, “There is no noble truth, there is only void.”
A vast emptiness … ones true nature.
This is the first time I’ve encountered a Buddhist anti-Semite. I suppose there had to be a first time.
I am in no way an anti-Semite. I am against Zionism because of what it has done to the middle east and it’s exclusivity.
I am waiting for the fall of the US empire, not becuase I hate Americans but because it’s in the way of useful progress for all humans.
Any exclusive grouping of humans will find me outside of it.
From my point of view all beings are my beloved children. You can see the problem I have if you think a bit.
Yeah, I know. You like Jews just fine. It’s not your fault they’re getting uppity and wanting their own state like everyone else. Don’t they know their place?
This is interesting. The state of Israel is a religious state. That in it’s self is a big problem for those who live there but are not Jews. Like some Muslim and perhaps the Hindus too the state is committed to being a one religion state. Not a good idea in general. There are reasons for the separation of church and state.
Perhaps the only time this has worked well was the rule of Asoka in India. A Buddhist state is at it’s core non discriminatory. We’ll take anyone no matter what.
None will be left behind. I will personally empty your various hells. I will retrieve those you condemned to outer darkness.
Uppity … heh.
Nice rhetorical sleight of hand. You say you oppose Zionism but not Jews. But then you complain that the Zionist state is Jewish. I see your point. The only good Jews are suicidal or maybe non-Jewish ones. But you like Jews, you really do. It’s like the way I feel about you: you’re a great guy, as long as you don’t exist. Must be the Buddhist in me.