Amnesty Hosts Deluded Self-Obsessed Conspiracy Theorists ...
 | By Jonathan Hoffman
May 23, 2011 | Share |
http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jonathan-hoffman/no-hate-amnesty-next-monday-...
Despite representations from the Board of Deputies, Amnesty went ahead with this Israel hate event. This was no surprise since Amnesty has been taken over by a person or persons with a malevolent agenda towards Israel – see all my previous blogs on meetings there. Notably I have offered Ruvi Ziegler as a Speaker but this offer has been ignored by Amnesty’s Campaigns Director Kristyan Benedict (he who told Richard Millett that he would “smack me in my little bald head”).
https://richardmillett.wordpress.com/tag/kristyan-benedict/
About 15 of us demonstrated before the meeting. Well done to Campaign4Truth for organising this.
I guess that in one respect the meeting (which was largely about the BBC) was music to our ears. The pro-Israel lobby was incessantly said to have cowed the BBC into parroting its own output.... (If only!) Greg Philo for example said (in so many words) that the advocacy manual published by The Israel Project has become the BBC’s Style Guide on Israel. Would that it were so …. The question I wanted to ask was just why was the BBC so much in thrall to the few of us who actively support Israel. But I never got the chance because Victoria Brittain (of the Guardian) who was chairing didn't call me despite having my hand up throughout the Q+A. She never called the other pro-Israel person in the audience (of c250) either. That's how powerful we are …
Reality check: The BBC will never refer to Hamas as “terrorists” – always “militants”. BBC journalists are instructed to say “regarded as illegal under international law" whenever the settlements are mentioned. And Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East Editor, was ruled by the BBC Trust’s Editorial standards Board to be in breach of the organisation’s guidelines on impartiality and accuracy. The notion that the BBC is biased in Israel’s favour is about as absurd as saying that Harold Shipman was kind to old people.
The first speaker was Greg Philo, author of “Bad News from Israel”, a book which in short claimed the media was biased in favour of Israel because it did not reflect his extreme pro-Palestinian view of history. (Philo has a new update out called "More Bad News from Israel", inevitably published by Pluto Press who specialise in this drivel (they published Ben White's book too)).
Here is what Mike Brennan (Warwick University) had to say in his review of Philo’s book:
Ultimately this is a rather tendentious and agenda-driven book in which the researchers set out to prove their own politically-inflected views. Its claims are based upon data generated by the selective use of historical material and flawed research methods. The net effect of the book will be to reinforce perceptions
of Israel as monolithic, and will give succour to those who claim that the western media are controlled by ‘Zionists.’
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d3Brennan-2.pdf
According to Philo Israel has “a very sophisticated propaganda system” (I wish). “All their speakers are organised to give the same message …. BBC journalists “wait in fear for the phone call from the Israelis”
The next speaker was Tim Llewellyn (ex-BBC). Panorama’s “Death on the Med” was distorted but “it has become impossible to raise these issues with the BBC” (those pesky omnipotent Israel supporters hard at work again …) The level of Llewellyn’s bias became clear when he said that the BBC should be supervised by an independent body, not by the Trust. The truth is that the BBC has a “dual key” regulatory structure involving both the Trust and OFCOM. Then Llewellyn – unbelievably – told the audience members they should complain that Labour, the Conservatives and the LDs have no “Friends of Palestine” organisations (they all do of course).
Finally Abdel Bari Atwan spoke. The first thing he did – to prove that “the Israel Lobby“ was out to silence him – was to hold up the JC’s front page: “How Was This Hatefest Allowed on Campus?” Atwan is convinced that the “Israel Lobby” is to blame for the fact that he is not invited as a guest on TV shows (he thinks he gets "worse coverage than Adolf Hitler"). Has he considered that it might just have something to do with the fact that he is an extremist who says that he will “dance in Trafalgar Square” if Iranian missiles hit Israel?
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1506.htm
This meeting was uncomfortably redolent of the thesis in the forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" which claimed that Jews controlled the Press. Shame on Amnesty for hosting it. It is about time that Amnesty members made their voice known against this racist garbage.
Update 1: Richard Millett has blogged on this sick farce, here:
http://richardmillett.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/abdel-bari-atwan-at-amnes...
Update 2:
Some great posts in Harrys Place on this sick farce:
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/05/16/the-wisdom-of-tim-llewellyn/
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/05/21/amnesty-memo-and-the-psc-a-recap/
As HP says, Llewellyn is "a freelance Israel hater with quite a taste for antisemitic language." Example here:
Perhaps the most long-standing and egregious of these organizations, dating back to the early nineteenth century, when Zionism had still to be invented, is the Board of Deputies of British Jews. This influential lobby of the Zionist Great and Good is an important example of how Israel is working its magic here.
COMMENTS
24 May, 2011 - 09:45 Rate this: -1 points | Hi - get yourself on the mailing list of this organisation - they organised this protest,not me |
24 May, 2011 - 09:57 Rate this: 0 points | I think its fascinating that the protest was about Amnesty's 'guilt by association'. It was good to see you loudly disowning your fellow protestors from the EDL last night Jonathan. oh wait...you didn't. |
24 May, 2011 - 10:01 Rate this: 1 point | good to see you loudly disowning MEMO and Amnesty's racism again Jews, Jon. oh wait...you didn't |
24 May, 2011 - 10:01 Rate this: 1 point | Uh oh....... |
24 May, 2011 - 10:03 Rate this: 0 points | oh no, back at me. Jonathan, there was such an irony of you standing outside decrying racism whilst stood next to the EDLJD. Hoping to get some photos back later. Will keep you posted. |
24 May, 2011 - 10:04 Rate this: 1 point | perhaps 'it was beautifully ironic to see...' would have been a |
24 May, 2011 - 10:14 Rate this: 0 points | You want to ban the EDL from the streets? Maybe you should go live in Gaza or North Korea where people can be banned from the streets Or possibly Teheran Great to hear your views on the subject of the meeting last night ... whoops you haven't offered any views ... |
24 May, 2011 - 10:26 Rate this: 1 point | No Jonathan. Just pulling you up on your utter hypocrisy. If you are going to be tireless in your work as an 'antifascist campaigner' then maybe you should start by looking closer to home. Your views lose legitimacy when you campaign alongside fascists. You presumably read the Amnesty statement on their relationship with Memo? Where is your and your groups equivalent statement? Why do you consistently refuse to comedy the EDL and why do you keep protesting with them? |
24 May, 2011 - 10:33 Rate this: 1 point | excuse me curse this autocorrect. |
24 May, 2011 - 10:37 Rate this: 1 point | Good to see the video of last night is going up on youtube. |
24 May, 2011 - 10:50 Rate this: -1 points | Like all the hard Left, you are unable to accept that Jews can be the victims of racism nor that non-whites can perpetrate racism. Fortunately you are a tiny splenetic mendacious minority |
24 May, 2011 - 10:53 Rate this: 0 points | So you condemn the EDL? You won't stand alongside them? Hard left? Dear boy, thats quite a supposition... "Fortunately you are a tiny splenetic mendacious minority" Yep, me and the other 250 people there last night. Tiny, Tiny, Tiny. |
24 May, 2011 - 10:57 Rate this: -1 points | To which I would insufferable. |
24 May, 2011 - 10:58 Rate this: -1 points | you are so boring - you only need google to see my comments on the edl - do you know how to use google? |
24 May, 2011 - 10:58 Rate this: 1 point | Leave Jonathan alone. He really must get on with his work at a well-known London authority instead of blogging |
24 May, 2011 - 10:59 Rate this: -1 points | Now stop trolling and get back on-topic .... |
24 May, 2011 - 11:02 Rate this: 1 point | Get back to work Jonathan or the assistant director will be on to you |
24 May, 2011 - 11:04 Rate this: 1 point | Ok. Back on topic, Can you verify any of the quotes you have listed above? Can you explain why you condemn people for standing with supposed fascists whilst doing the same? Also, was your heckling when Tim Llellewlyn said (and I paraphrase) that Israel advocates could be aggressive and boorish pre planned? The comedy timing was superb. |
24 May, 2011 - 11:08 Rate this: 0 points | Timing, Jon, is everything |
24 May, 2011 - 11:16 Rate this: 0 points | Yep, Timing is everything. Well that and a principled and clear stance on protesting with fascists. That's everything. |
24 May, 2011 - 11:21 Rate this: 0 points | You mean the lowlife Tim Llewellyn who complained about media broadcasters who don’t specifically identify commentators who are Jewish not of course because he is anti-Semitic or anything like that. From the CST blog: ‘[Llewellyn] also denounced broadcasters who invited the “insidious” (nice word to use about a Jew) former US ambassador to the Middle East Denis Ross, without fully identifying him. ‘Mr Llewellyn said: “What a lovely Anglo-Saxon name! But Denis Ross is not just a Jew, he is a Zionist, a long-time Zionist… and now directs an Israeli-funded think tank in Washington. He is a Zionist propagandist.” |
24 May, 2011 - 11:24 Rate this: 0 points | What's your point, that I paraphrased him? |
24 May, 2011 - 11:24 Rate this: 0 points | Like Jonathan does earlier on? |
24 May, 2011 - 12:17 Rate this: 1 point | Excellent post, Jonathan. The event was another disturbing example of how the historic anti-Semitic calumny of "excessive" Jewish control of the media can be sanitized as "progressive" activism. |
24 May, 2011 - 14:01 Rate this: -1 points | "About 15 of us demonstrated before the meeting. Well done to Campaign4Truth for organising this." A whole 15 huh, a miracle of organisation and anti Amnesty fervour. Still an improvement on the Hava counter demos. |
24 May, 2011 - 14:01 Rate this: -1 points | Ahava |
24 May, 2011 - 14:16 Rate this: -1 points | Was it too warm for wooly hats? |
24 May, 2011 - 15:05 Rate this: 1 point | Excellent post Jonathan |
24 May, 2011 - 15:17 Rate this: -1 points | Harvey must mean the EDL members and its friends |
25 May, 2011 - 12:43 Rate this: 0 points | What Harvey said. Good blog Jonathan, plus don't feed the trolls - they are a waste of everyone's time. |
25 May, 2011 - 12:56 Rate this: 0 points | You've been told about blogging in office hours…"CityCA" |
25 May, 2011 - 14:00 Rate this: -1 points | This comment by Yoni has been moderated |
25 May, 2011 - 15:41 Rate this: 0 points | All bickering aside, is it not time for a serious and mature debate about standing alongside the EDL at protests? I think its pretty clear what my view is (unacceptable under ANY circumstances for those that would like further clarification) but I would be genuinely interested to know what other peoples views on it are. It seems to me that its pretty hypocritical to accuse amnesty of bigotry whilst protesting with bigots but I'd be keen to hear other perspectives. |
25 May, 2011 - 16:24 Rate this: 0 points | Problem is, Jon, you are the bigot for spreading the usual lies about the EDL, which are none of the things you claim about them. |
26 May, 2011 - 08:55 Rate this: -2 points | Ok. What are they Yoni in your view? |
26 May, 2011 - 09:32 Rate this: 2 points | Hmmm An extremely courageous Jewish lady member of the English Defence League went along to a recent meeting of the group here called "Unite Against Facism" or UAF to put a counter point of view. To see the treatment she recieved exposes this group as being the very facists they claim to be against. Once they realised she was Jewish they can be heard shouting her down with yells of the nazi "Raus Raus" at which point she was forced out of the meeting See the full video of this disgraceful episode below:- |
26 May, 2011 - 09:59 Rate this: -1 points | Thank, I'll have a look at that as soon as I'm at a computer with sound. I know Raus means out but i wasn't aware that it was specifically a Nazi chant? Where does this come from? I found the debate in the comments thread here fascinating. |
26 May, 2011 - 14:42 Rate this: 2 points | Jon, Perhaps you will do us the kindness of providing irrefutable evidence that the EDL is a "racist" or "fascist" group? Here is their mission statement. http://englishdefenceleague.org/content.php?176-Where-we-are-heading Kindly show me anything in this statement that may support your points. Meanwhile, lay off Jonathan and learn how to debate with facts. You are making a total ass of yourself. Everyone from outside can see you are obsessed with the man and with the EDL. |
26 May, 2011 - 15:03 Rate this: -2 points | Seriously Ufara? You're disputing this? Have you ever seen an EDL March? http://callumhornigold.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/the-edl-nazi-salute2.... http://pibillwarner.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/edl.jpg Couple of photos above.2 mins with google image search... People should be judged by their actions, not by their words. |
26 May, 2011 - 15:09 Rate this: -2 points | Or id you won't accept my opinion, how about the CST? |
26 May, 2011 - 15:14 Rate this: -2 points | Seen one, Jon? She's been on more EDL marches than you've had hot dinners. And I'm not surprised she wants to lay off Jonathan. |
26 May, 2011 - 15:30 Rate this: 2 points | Jon, I did not see anything remotely racist or fascist from the photos you produced. The other day I saw my friend in a photo beside me in an EDL demo, where apparently he was doing a "Nazi" salute. Problem is that he had a camera in his hand and that was not a Nazi salute at all. Hmmmm. Likewise we have caught many such UAF infiltrators inside our demos, posing for cameras, giving Nazi salutes. They were not EDL, they just came inside to give Nazi salutes to their media friends, then they were gone as fast as they could. Why? Because the EDL kicks the Nazis out. Last demo in Blackburn EDL leader Tommy Robinson found infiltrating Nazis insidea and publicy humiliated them and kicked them out. A little fight ensued too. The media was quick to say "Edl fights amongst themselves". No they didn't, they fought the Nazis. So yes Jon, seriously, I am disputing this. What else you got? Thank you for that link on the CST blog where they have quoted an article from a communist and fascist HNH. Every single word in that article is a lie, but CST has now exposed to us all where their loyalties lie. I have saved the article by screen printing, and I will ensure everyone in the Jewish community sees who the CST truly is. They are endorsing communism by posting lies in their site. I quote from it: "During one charge, which resulted in a police officer being repeatedly stamped on, others in the crowd chanted “let him die”. As the event finished hundreds of EDL supporters rampaged through local streets indiscriminately attacking local Asians." Perhaps the CST, who loves to pretend they are Mossad, can provide evidence for the above claims? This is by far one of the biggest lies about the EDL I have ever seen online anywhere. I don't read HNH so perhaps this is why. Any proof from Searchlight or HNH about the above? And no, I do not accept the information of the CST, as they not only lie but also support communists. Cannot trust them. So again, lay off Jonathan until you can do better than that. |
26 May, 2011 - 15:31 Rate this: 2 points | Oh dear, another sufferer from terminal Oedipus complex! What WERE you doing there, Jon? Do you stalk Jonathan from meeting to meeting or protest to protest simply so you can whinge here? |
26 May, 2011 - 15:39 Rate this: -2 points | Ufara, or wotever, you're Roberta Moore, aren't you? Even the EDL thinks she and her "Jewish Division" are too extreme. And if a neo=Nazi organisation like the EDL thins something is too extreme, it really is saying something. |
26 May, 2011 - 15:40 Rate this: -2 points | Mitnaged (to what, I ask) is Jonathan too big an asset to the anti-Israel mob that we should lay off him? |
26 May, 2011 - 15:44 Rate this: -2 points | Ah Ufara you ARE EDL? I see. Good to know,in that case I'm really not interested in debating with you. I think the EDL are scum. Defending Englishness? Who's englishness? You certainly don't speak for me or indeed anyone I know. @Mitnaged? Oedipus complex? Jonathan isn't my father, I don't want to kill him etc... |
26 May, 2011 - 16:02 Rate this: 1 point | Comments for this page are now closed. |
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Harvey
24 May, 2011 - 09:38
Rate this:
Jonathan
Had not realized there was to be a protest outside
Is there any way you or another can coordinate block emailing of Activist action such as this one .