I recently pointed out the recent trend in the UK of boycotting Israel in support of 'Palestine' despite the fact that one is the regions only democracy, and the other is governed as a one party Islamic state.
This story of the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge getting caught up in the politics of boycott illustrates the issue nicely. The choir had been due to attend at St George's Cathedral in East Jerusalem, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem after they had been invited to sing in both locations by the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem.
But the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign wrote a letter, signed by just over 200 people (yes, as many as that), asking that the choir cancel its tour of Israel or risk, in their words, "appearing indifferent to Palestinian suffering". The spokeswoman for this tiny organisation Betty Hunter, says that the choirs tour, is "surprising and shocking" which she said "promotes Israel as a normal state rather than one which represses Palestinians".
In a right minded society that would have been the end of the matter, but then the one party and profoundly undemocratic Palestinian Authority joined in. According to the reports the PA asked the Bishop of Jerusalem to withdraw the invitation for the choir to sing in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and then 'banned' them from entering 'ene masse'.
This sort of 'pressure' by small, one issue (and usually blinkered) pressure groups would be easily resistible in normal society but when its in the general 'Anti-Israeli' atmosphere of the left-wing in the UK then its much harder for PC groups such as the Anglicans and Universities to resist them.
I might add as an another illustration of this growing (and shameful) trend, the decision of the UK government to use UK food labels to distinguish between goods from 'Palestinians in the occupied territories' and 'produce from Israeli settlements', is little more than an Anti-Semites and boycotters charter. Somewhat disingenuously the Labour government said that it was 'opposed to a boycott of Israeli goods', but that 'the settlements posed an obstacle to peace'.
For shame ............ its sad that the left wing want to finish the job of the Nazis, and maybe we should just put a yellow star on the food labels?
This story of the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge getting caught up in the politics of boycott illustrates the issue nicely. The choir had been due to attend at St George's Cathedral in East Jerusalem, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem after they had been invited to sing in both locations by the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem.
But the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign wrote a letter, signed by just over 200 people (yes, as many as that), asking that the choir cancel its tour of Israel or risk, in their words, "appearing indifferent to Palestinian suffering". The spokeswoman for this tiny organisation Betty Hunter, says that the choirs tour, is "surprising and shocking" which she said "promotes Israel as a normal state rather than one which represses Palestinians".
In a right minded society that would have been the end of the matter, but then the one party and profoundly undemocratic Palestinian Authority joined in. According to the reports the PA asked the Bishop of Jerusalem to withdraw the invitation for the choir to sing in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and then 'banned' them from entering 'ene masse'.
This sort of 'pressure' by small, one issue (and usually blinkered) pressure groups would be easily resistible in normal society but when its in the general 'Anti-Israeli' atmosphere of the left-wing in the UK then its much harder for PC groups such as the Anglicans and Universities to resist them.
I might add as an another illustration of this growing (and shameful) trend, the decision of the UK government to use UK food labels to distinguish between goods from 'Palestinians in the occupied territories' and 'produce from Israeli settlements', is little more than an Anti-Semites and boycotters charter. Somewhat disingenuously the Labour government said that it was 'opposed to a boycott of Israeli goods', but that 'the settlements posed an obstacle to peace'.
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For shame ............ its sad that the left wing want to finish the job of the Nazis, and maybe we should just put a yellow star on the food labels?
Well the Labour Party was later caught up in an anti-seite scandal with a former party leader expelled. All this post shows is that they were leaning in that direction a decade before that scandal broke.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten this story ... so yes, it does look like that had been heading in that direction for longer than I later recalled when the anti-Semitism scandal broke under Corbyn. Thanks for the comment.
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