For some people, the US and the UK may seem like two peas in a bod. Tony Blair throughout his era as a Prime Minister tried his best to make it look like that, even at the price of being called, Bush's lap poodle.But no matter how you slice it: the UK is in Europe and the British are European people. And that set them oceans apart from Americans, culturally and politically. Look at the BBC and The Guardian on one hand, and look at our 'token liberal' New York Times on the other. Get the picture?
This can be a big topic, but I will keep it brief.
Few days ago, our esteemed 'public servants' in the Congress decided to show off the extreme loyalty to the usual cuddly ally: Israel. These 'loyalists' chose the right time to do it; the time when Israel is exercising it military superpower muscles on defenseless people in the unluckiest part of God's land: Gaza.
Our representatives [our is used here in the loosest possible] voted, in a non-binding resolution 390 to 5 in support of Israel's mischief in Gaza, despite the fact that even public opinion polls do not show the American public with that kind of determination (You can read more about this in Foreign Policy Magazine here). What is even funnier is that Israel's government cannot garner this kind of support in its own parliament!
While, on the other side of the ocean, British Members of Parliaments (representatives of our twin pea in the pod) do the unthinkable: they express anger against Israel. In our Congress, that is a 'career-ender' move.
But in the UK, expression of fury at Israel crosses party lines, and the harshest words come from a Jewish MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman.
Check this from The Scotsman:
- BRITISH MPs yesterday lined up to give their strongest condemnation yet of Israel's actions in Gaza, branding Ehud Olmert's government "mass murderers" and calling for the country to face sanctions.
- The strongest criticism in the one hour session, that followed a statement from the Foreign Secretary, came from Sir Gerald Kaufman, a former Labour minister, who is Jewish. Directing his fury at the Israeli prime minister, foreign minister and defence minister, he said: "Olmert, (Tzipi] Livni and (Ehud] Barak are mass murderers, war criminals and bring shame on the Jewish people whose Star of David they use as a badge in Gaza."
- The strongest criticism in the one hour session, that followed a statement from the Foreign Secretary, came from Sir Gerald Kaufman, a former Labour minister, who is Jewish. Directing his fury at the Israeli prime minister, foreign minister and defence minister, he said: "Olmert, (Tzipi] Livni and (Ehud] Barak are mass murderers, war criminals and bring shame on the Jewish people whose Star of David they use as a badge in Gaza."
- Chris Mullin, a former Foreign Office minister, said "These are war crimes that we are witnessing in Gaza. "Britain should start talking with EU allies about sanctions and "at the very least to stop selling them weapons and, perhaps, the withdrawal of our ambassador".
- "The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians."
- The MP [Kaufman] also commented on the claim that large numbers of the Palestinian victims were militants, saying that "I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants," he said.
I know that sounds unreal, but believe me: on the other side of the ocean, in a place called Europe, things like these do happen.
Khaled
More quotes can be found on The Guardian "Commons debate on Gaza - live".
Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment