Eric Lee

Amnesty International in the UK is calling on people to write to the Foreign Minister urging Britain to support efforts to isolate and condemn Israel. They write:

The UN-mandated International Independent Fact Finding Mission, headed by Justice Richard Goldstone, has published its findings on the 22-day conflict in Gaza and southern Israel in December 2008-January 2009. The carefully argued report, which is consistent with the findings of Amnesty International, concludes that both the Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups committed grave violations of international law including war crimes and, possibly, crimes against humanity.

The Amnesty website encourages us all to send messages calling "on the UK government to spare no efforts to ensure war criminals do not get away with murder". In an email to members, they express concern that the UK government may do no such thing.

But Amnesty's website allows people to individualise their messages -- to write their own thoughts, which they cheerfully pass on to the Foreign Minister. So I'd like to thank Amnesty for giving me a chance to write this instead of their text:

I am a member of Amnesty International but I do not agree with their call on the public to encouage Britain to support the Goldstone report.

Amnesty is wrong to call on us to ask you to help bash Israel -- clearly what is needed is a re-launch of the peace process, based on the Road Map, and not something that will only benefit Hamas.

Posted by Eric Lee at 05:51 PM | Permalink

The following letter has been sent to the editor of Amnesty International's magazine in the UK.

Kristyan Benedict's article on "10 Days in the West Bank" (Amnesty Magazine, July/August 2009) takes up three full pages but still manages to tell only one side of the story.

Benedict begins by mentioning that Bethlehem University was closed for three years - but doesn't say why. No doubt it was closed during the three most violent years of the first Intifada (1987-90) because of incidents of violence taking place there -- but there's no mention of this. Why was it closed? Did she ask?

She then quotes a Palestinian activist saying how hard it is to resolve conflict "when people are constantly being provoked to retaliate". This presumably refers to only the Palestinian side (as if Israelis are never provoked by anything) but also reads like a justification for violence, an attempt to understand why some Palestinians choose to become suicide bombers, for example.

The delegation she was on then visited the separation barrier and told of the (presumably) negative impact it had on Palestinians. But not a word about why it was built. Not a mention of the vast number of lives saved by the huge reduction in the number of terrorist attacks carried out in Israel.

Continue reading "An open letter to Amnesty International" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 03:00 PM | Permalink

That was the title of a debate held on Thursday evening at Durham University and hosted by the Durham Union Society. I was invited to be one of the three proponents.

Other speakers included Jonathan Hoffman of the Zionist Federation and Douglas Murray of the Centre for Social Cohesion as proponents. The opponents were Keith Sonnet from UNISON, Dr Ghada Karmi, a Palestinian academic who lives in the U.K., and a student who substituted for a speaker who could not attend.

Continue reading "Is Israel a victim or aggressor?" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Fifteen years after the historic Oslo accords, Israel finds itself isolated as never before in the international labour movement. The erosion of support for the Jewish state has not been affected in the slightest by Israeli concessions over the years. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, the closing of all Jewish settlements in Gaza and the withdrawal of troops, the acceptance of the right of Palestinians to their own state, the ongoing attempts to reach agreement with the PLO – none of these has slowed down the growing hostility toward Israel on the Left and in the trade unions. Read the full article here - on Democratiya.

Posted by Eric Lee at 02:04 PM | Permalink

By police accounts, it was the largest demonstration of its kind. Some 6,000 protestors gathered to remember the innocent victims of a bombing campaign that was so terrible it could be compared to the Holocaust. In fact, the banners they carried explicitly called it a 'bombing Holocaust'.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in London? Nope - neo-Nazis yesterday in Dresden.

The German left did not participate in the protest. Instead, they staged a counter-demonstration.

Just like the British left should have done when pro-Hamas demonstrators marched through London streets shouting anti-Semitic slogans.

Posted by Eric Lee at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

An online discussion of this article can now be found on the AWL website, here.

* * *

The most recent issue of Solidarity features a number of articles about the conflict in Gaza. These articles do the AWL no credit.

Ira Berkovic's “Who speaks for Jewish people in Britain?” reports on the rallies organised by the Jewish community in Britain without once mentioning the politics of those rallies. That's extraordinary. More than that, it's dishonest. As even the BBC reported, these rallies called for peace and an end to Hamas terror. They were not the mirror-image of the pro-Hamas rallies which – as you reported elsewhere in Solidarity – did call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

But to be fair, I think the comrades of the AWL may not be deliberately misrepresenting the Jewish community rallies. I think the article actually reveals the depth of your ignorance. You don't actually know what the rally was about -- because you weren't there.

Continue reading "Workers Liberty - a muddled message on Gaza War" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 04:09 PM | Permalink

Mousa Abu Marzook, deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau, thinks that Israel has lost the battle in Gaza. He certainly has the right to think that. And one can understand why Hamas leaders will want to say such things. But why anyone outside the ranks of that organisation would want to listen is beyond me.

Anyone watching television news in recent days, now that foreign reporters have been able to enter Gaza, can see with their own eyes what has happened.

Whatever one thinks of what Israel did, whether it was provoked or not, whether it should or should not have attacked, the fact remains that Israel attacked Gaza with overwhelming military force.

The only way that could have turned into a Hamas victory would have been divine intervention. But not only was there no divine intervention, no earthly power came to Hamas' aid either. Not their fellow Islamists in Hizbollah. Not their fellow Palestinians in the West Bank. Not even their sponsors, Iran.

Everyone had kind words for them, but in the end they faced the full power of the Israel Defence Forces alone.

It takes a very special way of looking at things to see here some kind of victory for Hamas.

Continue reading "A “decisive loss for Israel”?" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 06:40 AM | Permalink

Last week I was invited to appear on Press TV - the Iranian-backed satellite news channel. It was supposed to be a debate on Gaza, with Jeremy Corbyn MP moderating. The show is now available for viewing online here. Today I donated my fee for appearing on the show to Magen David Adom - Israel's emergency medical service.

Tomorrow I will be debating at Imperial College London. Here are the details:

Title: Israel/Hamas: Who is the aggressor?

Sponsor: ICU Political Philosophy Society

Date/time: Thursday, 22.1.09 19:30

Venue: Clore Lecture Theatre, Huxley Building,
Imperial College - South Kensington SW7 2AZ

Other participants include:

Chris Doyle, Directory, Council for Arab and British Understanding
Husam Zomlot, Senior Political Advisor to the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission to the UK

Posted by Eric Lee at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Die britische Linke ist israelfeindlicher denn je. Die wichtigsten Gruppierungen verbünden sich mit den Islamisten.

Full article here.

Posted by Eric Lee at 06:36 PM | Permalink

The office of Nick Clegg MP, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has responded to my letter. You may recall that the entire point of my letter was to answer Clegg's failure to cite the Nazi rocket attacks on Britain in 1944-5 as a precedent for what Israel has suffered for the last several years from Hamas. (The photo below shows a damaged building hit by V1 rockets in London in 1944.)

Britain's response to those attacks was to intensify the strategic bomber offensive against Germany even though the Third Reich was in already in defeat and could not really defend itself against aerial bombardment. The vast majority of victims of those bombings were civilians, including thousands of women and children.

In my letter, I did point out the irony of the fact that Clegg's predecessor as party leader actually helped plan the firebombing of Dresden - something which the Liberal Democrats today would almost certainly characterize as 'disproportionate' and even a 'war crime'. But that is not what they thought at the time, when German V1 rockets were falling on London.

You'll see that the letter I've received from Clegg's office is boilerplate and makes no reference to any points I raised (such as at the very least dismissing the analogy I made). Click on 'Read more' to read the full text of their reply.

Continue reading "Liberal Democrat leader responds" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Die erwartete Reaktion der internationalen Linken auf Israels Offensive gegen die Hamas in Gaza blieb nicht aus. 1500 Menschen demonstrierten gestern vor der israelischen Botschaft in London gegen den »Holocaust« in Gaza, das Internet wird von E-Mails überschwemmt, die von einem »Genozid« reden und Mainstreammedien sprechen von einem israelischen »Blitzkrieg«. Mit Sicherheit haben auch schon einige Journalist_innen von einer »Endlösung« gesprochen, um das aktuelle Vorgehen Israels zu beschreiben. Bald werden ihnen vermutlich die Hitleranalogien ausgehen - was dann? Wird jemand das, was Israel tut, mit anderen Massenmorden vergleichen?

Continue reading "Die Linke, Israel und der "Holocaust" in Gaza" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 08:42 AM | Permalink

In an extraordinary interview in today's Times, a 24-year old Hamas fighter named “Mohammed” explains in some detail how the organization is preparing to deal a crushing blow to the Zionist enemy. He talks about their tunnels and booby-traps and how Hamas has essentially already won the war.

“We are the soldiers who run towards death,” he boasts. “They run away from it.”

And adds: “I tell you, even our ghosts will defeat the Israelis.”

Our ghosts?

Continue reading "Ghostbusters in Gaza" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If the recent fighting in Gaza was a test for the British Left, the Left failed miserably. There can no longer be any doubt that the British Left has lost its moral compass.

Sympathy for the Palestinians goes far beyond the Left in Britain, which has historically had close relations with the Arab world. Nevertheless, the Left had its own special relationship with the Palestinian cause which may have made sense a generation ago. Back then, the main Palestinian terrorist groups boasted of their “Marxist-Leninist” credentials and put women fighters like the photogenic Leila Khaled in the spotlight.

But those days are long gone and the Palestinian “resistance” in Gaza consists of men like Hamas leader Nizar Rayan, killed with two of his wives in an Israeli air strike. To a man like Rayan, left-wing ideas were Jewish-inspired and conflict with the holy teaching of the Koran. It's hard to imagine what socialists and feminists think they have in common with the religious fascists of Hamas.

Continue reading "The British Left and Gaza" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 07:12 AM | Permalink

[The following was submitted as a letter to the Guardian in response to this article.]

The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, writing in the Guardian today (“We must stop arming Israel”), tosses a sop to Israel with the following sentences:

“Of course, Israel has every right to defend itself. It is difficult to imagine what it must be like to live with the constant threat of rocket attacks from a movement which espouses terrorist violence ...”

He then goes on to call for Britain and the rest of the EU to crack down hard on Israel, to cut off arms supplies and much more. But as I re-read the lines above, I couldn't help but think of the historical amnesia Clegg and those like him are suffering from.

He is in effect saying that we in Britain cannot understand what Israelis are feeling. Never having been under rocket attack ourselves as a nation.

Aren't we forgetting something here, Mr. Clegg? It was called the Second World War. You might wish to ask some older people about it.

Continue reading "Nick Clegg's historical amnesia" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Rabbi Michael Lerner has written a response to my Open Letter. I publish it without comment, below, except that I wish to correct one misunderstanding. Lerner writes: "I know it is hard for people in Israel ... given the inadequate information you have available (when war starts in Israel, your news is censored, and Israel refuses to allow journalists to go to Gaza to report, so your information is deeply limited)."

Actually, I live in London, and have access to the same information that Rabbi Lerner has.

Furthermore, in asserting that Israelis are somehow less well-informed about the war than he is, Lerner does little to contradict my statement that he is both arrogant and ignorant.

Continue reading "Rabbi Michael Lerner responds" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

[This article also appears on Harry's Place.]

Dear Michael,

I've just finished reading your article “It breaks my heart to see Israel's stupidity” and felt I had to reply.

I don't think we've ever talked, but I remember well your appearance some years ago before the central committee of the United Workers Party (Mapam) in Israel. You were asked to say a few words, and, to be honest, your Hebrew just wasn't up to it, and the audience quickly lost interest. As an American immigrant to Israel, I felt empathy for you. You were clearly a fish out of water. To that audience, you were not a guru whose every word was full of meaning. You were just one more tourist, stumbling into a situation you didn't seem to understand.

I felt the same thing today reading your article.

Continue reading "An Open Letter to Rabbi Michael Lerner" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

[This article originally appeared on Engage.]

The worst thing about Jonathan Freedland's article is not the lyrics but the melody.

The article is song-like in its constant repetition of a refrain of “Palestinians say this” followed by “Israelis says that”, paragraph after paragraph, an unending rhythm, beautiful in its simplicity.

But Freedland describes symmetry where there is no symmetry. He equates that which cannot be equated.

Writing from the safety of chilly England, Freedland looks down upon the hot-tempered fools in the Middle East who can't see things as clearly as he does. He can't understand why the residents of Ashkelon, Beersheba and Sderot – and today, all Israelis – are cheering on the IDF. They must all be mad.

Continue reading "Response to Freedland" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 06:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

[This article also appears on Harry's Place.]

The battle for Gaza did not begin yesterday. It is one in a long series of battles that stretches back for decades. On this point, both Israelis and Palestinians agree – even if the mass media tends to have a much shorter memory.

This battle is the latest stage of a war that is entirely about whether a Jewish state will be allowed to exist in the land of Israel. On this point, both Hamas leaders and the Israelis are in agreement.

A strong case can be made that this battle is part of the endgame in that war. The decades-long conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors is slowly coming to an end. And Israel has won.

Continue reading "The battle for Gaza: History as context and as metaphor" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

[This article also appears on the Z-Word Blog.]

Maybe because it's Christmas week, or maybe because the issues are complicated, but there has been a distinctly muted trade union response to the fighting in Gaza.

The International Trade Union Confederation, representing 168 million workers in 311 national affiliates, takes an even-handed approach in its statement, calling for a cease-fire – but blaming Hamas for triggering the current wave of violence and reiterating its support for a two-state solution.

Continue reading "Israel and Gaza: The international trade union response" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

[This article also appears on Harry's Place.]

Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza has triggered the expected response on the international Left. In a 1,500 strong protest yesterday at the Israeli embassy in London, protestors carried signs referring to the “Holocaust” in Gaza. Emails racing around the net talk of “genocide”. The mainstream media speak of an Israeli “blitz”. Some editorial writer somewhere has surely already used the expression “final solution” to describe what Israel is trying to do.

Continue reading "The Left, Israel and the “Holocaust” in Gaza" »

Posted by Eric Lee at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)