The Conservative Friends of Israel have been quoted verbatim and without criticism at ConservativeHome. Tim Montgomerie is responsible and is pictured above on a fact-finding mission (June 2006*). Reproduced below. Here is my immediate response which I would repeat at any similarly ignorant, unbalanced, disingenuous and uncritical posting on behalf of Labour Friends of Israel. In fact I posted a q...

There is little doubt an internationally co-ordinated campaign by Israel, and its main backer the USA has been mounted to stop the Free Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2 from sailing to Gaza. Whilst stopping the flotilla from sailing is to be appalled, it does show the Gaza flotillas are having a considerable impact on international public opinion. Why else would Israel and its friends go to such lengt...

END THE SIEGE OF GAZA STOP THE BOMBING END UK SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL emergency demonstration in Manchester called by Gaza Solidarity Committee Saturday 3rd January Assemble: 12 noon All Saints Park Oxford Road/Cavendish Road Manchester March through city centre to Albert Square Tell your friends and family - download the leaflet and distribute far and wide.

You can go on a little holiday with the Conservative Friends of Israel and return with a mindset about the current carnage in Gaza. Or, you can spend 30 years covering the Middle East as a foreign correspondent and come to the conclusion that simple solutions to complex problems are just trite. The blood-splattering has its own routine. Yes, Hamas provoked Israel's anger, just as Israel provo...

The global demonstrations against Israel's assault on Gaza have been a magnificent display of solidarity with the Palestinians. I wasn't there but a comrade on the march estimates some 50,000 demonstrated in London yesterday - and that wasn't even a national demonstration (that, according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign is pencilled in for next Saturday). Thousands also demonst...

The Mainly Dale, freshly briefed from his hosts when he recently visited Israel, has come out 100% for Israel’s actions, publishing many of the points from Conservative Friends of Israel’s briefing. He thinks “it’s a shame” that William Hague, amongst other things, deeply regretted the loss of civilian life in Gaza and that Hague called on

Just a thought. Whether it's Mad Mel sputtering about Ed Hussain's apostasy, or a member of Labour Friends of Israel expressing dismay over the attack on Gaza, isn't there some suggestive evidence accruing that Israel's usual allies are divided by this assault, and particularly by the sheer viciousness of it? Even the most pro-Israel constituency in the world, the American publ...

Socialist Unity, amongst many others, is excitedly promoting a series of Gaza demonstrations taking place in the UK tomorrow, coordinated by the umbrella organisation The Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Let’s take a look at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, beginning with its list of ‘Who we work with‘: There is strong support for the Palestinian people amongst many religious

Guest post by Judeosphere It’s time: Supporters of Israel need to raise their voices against the further expansion of Israeli settlements. Why especially now? Because we’re at a crucial turning point. Pundits and policy wonks will spend the next several months debating whether Israel “won” this war—but by every significant metric, Israel has emerged from the Gaza

Israel has now launched a full-scale ground attack against the Gaza strip, which no doubt means many more innocent civilians will lose their lives over the coming days. To that extent, I think the demonstrations across the UK to express solidarity with the people of Gaza (not Hamas) were important - even if previous demonstrations