Given the paucity of the arguments, it would be tempting to dismiss the whole thing as unimportant. Would that we could. The documentary has already provoked a torrent of abuse against British Jews... If this sort of language takes hold, a bad situation in Britain may be about to get a whole lot worse. Jewish leadership organizations have long feared accusations of divided loyalty between Britain and Israel and, ironically given the charges now being made against them, are frequently criticized in their own communities for failing to be sufficiently robust in Israel's defense. The risk is that some may now be panicked into silence. Non-Jews who call for a more reasoned discussion of Israel—already a small and diminishing group in Britain—will likely face additional slanders against their integrity: Since there is supposedly no reasonable case to be made in favor of the Jewish state, we must have sold out to the ‘Lobby.’ Such calumnies cannot be allowed to stand. Now more than ever, the forces of reason and decency must continue the fight to be heard. Read it all.
A voice of decency protests
Robin Shepherd’s op-ed on that Dispatches in the Wall Street Journal is a cracker. Having dwelt upon the absurdity and sloppiness of its case, he concludes nevertheless:
Friday, 20 November 2009
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