The Board of Deputies' Critique of the Methodists' Report "Justice for Palestine and Israel"

The Telegraph blogger Julian Kossoff thinks it's over-heated.
He seems like a J-Street sorta guy.
Grauniad lite, I reckon.
If only Mark Steyn was still writing for the Torygraph!

I mean, look at Kossoff's recent blog about "activists" and Al Beeb; he seems to think Bowen is all sweetness and light and we should all accept the opinion of a writer in Ha-aretz that "the world has moved on". (What I see the world as having moved on to is not what Kossoff sees!:

....I read that the BBC’s respected Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, believed he had been targeted by the Israel “lobby” over his reporting, which had led to him being censured. BBC journalists, among others, like to raise the offensive spectre of an orchestrated “lobby” to explain hostile Jewish reactions to their coverage of the Middle East etc, but in truth the anger they engender is a genuine grass roots reaction.

Maybe the media elite are unused to ordinary folk being so passionate about a subject or perhaps they prefer their audience passive, moved only by their brilliant reportage. But Jews who love Israel don’t need to be cajoled or manipulated into writing letters, sending emails and making phone calls by some sinister ‘Elder of Zion’, they are already pumped and primed by their own experiences, beliefs and obsessions.

For the editors and journalists Israel is just another story; for Jewish viewers and listeners it’s deeply personal. They feel protective towards Israelis and maybe even guilty for enjoying the prosperous life in the Diaspora, when friends and family are doing national service and worrying about whether Iran is going to drop the Bomb.

They desperately want to help out by using their democratic rights to challenge perceived media bias and inaccuracies. Emotionally driven, then, the level of debate can often degenerate and, frankly speaking, reporters are often branded “anti-Semitic” far too quickly – though Washington doyenne Helen Thomas managed to live up to the billing. The principle behind questioning authority figures and public servants, however, asking themselves to justify their action, can only improve the common weal, and more people should try it.

But, like Mary Whitehouse and the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association before them, the legion of pro-Israel media minutemen hark back to a simpler time and a black-and-white narrative; before Israel became a regional power and the moral haze descended on the Arab-Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Maybe it is time for them to reassess the relationship. In the aftermath of the Gaza flotilla episode the respected Israeli journalist and columnist, Anshel Pfeffer, called for a new direction for the Disapora’s energy and passion. He wrote:
“If only we had some real friends, friends we could trust implicitly, who could point out the error of our ways. This could be a shining moment of the Jewish Diaspora.
They love us but they also see things from another perspective. We need a strong unified voice telling Israelis enough is enough, you are hurtling down the slippery slope to ‘pariahdom’ and causing untold damage to yourselves and us. Lift your heads above the ramparts and see that the world has moved on.”

I have read the Board of Deputies critique and I have serious reservations about its content. First it calls Arab terrorists "militants" as if the BoD's thought process has become infected by the BBC. Secondly it refers to a cycle of violence - there is no cycle of violence. If a sovereign state, Israel, acting within the law to protect its citizens pursues terrorists, Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah who are committing war crimes by indescriminately targetting Israeli citizens that is not a cycle of violence since it somehow gives legitimacy and moral equivalency to the terrorists. Could do better!

Regarding the BoD's statement, I'm reminded of Dr Johnson's famous remark (sexist notwithstanding) about a lady Quaker: "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

It's encouraging to see the BoD speaking out with gusto.

Anyway, here's a little tribute to the Christians who haven't gone down the Methodists' road:
In Praise of Israel's Christian Friends
By: Daphne Anson
http://www.daphneanson.blogspot.com/