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Last update - 09:30 07/02/2007
The anti-Israel lobby
By Jonathan Spyer

This week saw the launching of the Independent Jewish Voices initiative by a group of prominent left-of-center Jews in the U.K. The initiative intends, according to its founding statement, to "promote the expression of alternative Jewish voices." Its sponsors believe that "individuals and groups within all communities should feel free to express their views on any issue of public concern without incurring accusations of disloyalty." The signatories wish to contend that voices critical of Israel are receiving insufficient attention in British discussions of the Middle East. The claim is a strange one.

Do opponents of Israeli government policy in the U.K., Jewish or non-Jewish, truly feel that their arguments are not being heard? Is it really their contention that the British Jewish leadership is setting up "unwritten laws," which establish the boundaries of what may or may not be discussed? If the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the main U.K. Jewish communal body, is indeed attempting to create unwritten laws and to foster anxiety to silence opponents of Israeli policy, it is doing a remarkably poor job. The public debate on Israel in the U.K. affords willing space to the most extreme of anti-Israel positions.

If we take, as an example, contributors to the Guardian, which published the IJV's founding statement, Jews who have successfully found the courage to resist the Board of Deputies and its anxiety-inducing unwritten laws include Daphna Baram, who wrote in a recent op-ed that Israel is an "apartheid state"; Jacqueline Rose, whose book, as her Guardian interviewer reminded us, "draws tentative analogies between Israel's treatment of Palestinians and Nazi Germany's treatment of Jews," and Ilan Pappe, the Israeli academic who recently wrote in support of a boycott of Israeli academia.
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These opinions fit comfortably into parts of the British debate, in which denial of the right of Israel to exist and allegations of conspiracy theory are accepted within the parameters of polite discussion. British-born Jew Tony Judt, for example, was able to promote his thesis advocating the dismantling of the Jewish state in the London Review of Books.

If one expands the search for a moment to include non-Jewish opponents of Israel, it may be recalled that Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer found a home at the same title for their claim that the Jewish lobby controls U.S. foreign policy. The supposedly objective BBC Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, considers Israel exclusively to blame for Palestinian internecine violence, according to a recent leaked memo. This is not to mention those open supporters of Palestinian suicide bombings who are regular fixtures in the British Middle East debate - such as Dr. Azzam Tamimi.

The U.K. has seen a number of public initiatives toward the delegitimization of the Jewish state in recent years. These have included the attempted lecturers' boycott in 2005, a subsequent attempt at a similar boycott by architects and the demonstrations during last summer's war in Lebanon, featuring support for a Shi'ite Islamist organization with the slogan "We are all Hezbollah now." A number of Jewish organizations openly hostile to Israeli government policy already exist - such as Jews for Justice for the Palestinians, and the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights. Such is the climate of debate in the U.K. on Israel.

In the midst of all this, the initiators of Independent Jewish Voices believe that "an oppressive and unhealthy atmosphere" has emerged, as a result of the Board of Deputies stifling anti-Israel opinions.

The Board of Deputies represents mainstream Anglo-Jewish opinion regarding Israel. Britain's Jews, like Jewish communities throughout the world, are strongly pro-Israel. The large attendance at pro-Israel rallies held on two occasions in the last years is testament to this fact.

It is generally held in mainstream Jewish opinion that the Jewish state is currently passing through a moment of some danger. An aggressive, Islamist regime in Tehran is spreading Holocaust denial and openly calling for the destruction of Israel. This regime is currently seeking a nuclear capacity. It is also sponsoring proxy organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are engaged in murderous violence against Israelis.

A climate of opinion has emerged, in which a shocking increase in anti-Semitic violence in the U.K. in the last year receives less than the attention it deserves, because the perpetrators are mainly emerging from within Britain's Muslim communities.

In such a situation, unsurprisingly, individuals such as the Independent Jewish Voices initiators, who ignore these realities or who are in some cases sympathetic to the perpetrators, may find themselves treated in mainstream Jewish circles with less than the exquisite courtesy, which is undoubtedly their due.

But as we have seen, mainstream outlets in the U.K. welcoming the contributions of Jews (and non-Jews) hostile to Israel are proliferating. There are broad swathes of contemporary British opinion in which a breezy dismissal of all Israeli and Jewish concerns is very much the bon ton. There have, indeed, rarely been better days to be a Jewish opponent of Israel in Britain.

Dr. Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.
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  1.   A revealing title 09:41  |  Colin Wright 07/02/07
  2.   Accusation Of Snobbism 09:47  |  Rowan Berkeley 07/02/07
  3.   Left wing British Jews 09:48  |  Dror 07/02/07
  4.   The hidden cost . . . . 09:49  |  revoltop 07/02/07
  5.   Critical versus Anti 09:51  |  Najdt 07/02/07
  6.   Anti-Israel vs. Anti-Israeli Policies 09:59  |  chet 07/02/07
  7.   BROWN NOSING 10:06  |  Albert Fischer 07/02/07
  8.   Legimtimate concerns 10:22  |  Burger 07/02/07
  9.   Dont panic 10:23  |  Dan 07/02/07
  10.   spot on 10:31  |  Daniel 07/02/07
  11.   Anti-Israel???? 10:37  |  Moshe 07/02/07
  12.   #4 REVOLTOP AND THE MYTHS AND FICTIONS REVISITED . 10:39  |  paul harris 07/02/07
  13.   Jewish uncle Toms were there when Brit. mercenaries killed Jews 10:40  |  PETER SM 07/02/07
  14.   Colin Wright 10:41  |  Israeli 07/02/07
  15.   Part 1 - Is IJV anti-Semitic? 10:58  |  Isreali 07/02/07
  16.   The new group are pro-Israel 10:59  |  Cat 07/02/07
  17.   how exactly does opposing the occupation make you "anti Israel" 11:03  |  SD 07/02/07
  18.   Part 2- Is IJV anti-Semitic? 11:05  |  Isreali 07/02/07
  19.   Rowan Berkeley 11:11  |  Itamar 07/02/07
  20.   All you need to know is that Rose is a member of IJV 11:26  |  Danny - Israeli one 07/02/07
  21.   Getting the message across 11:35  |  Sherlock Holmes 07/02/07
  22.   These are the heroes of Haaretz 11:36  |  Choni Davidowitz 07/02/07
  23.   brit jews 11:41  |  ruth 07/02/07
  24.   We must also speak up 11:42  |  Ben Azai 07/02/07
  25.   Dissent is healthy. 11:44  |  Aaron 07/02/07
  26.   Disraeli`s birthplace:Morocco. 11:46  |  hannah 07/02/07
  27.   the crucible pt. II 11:49  |  lev 07/02/07
  28.   just more occultism 12:27  |  jillian 07/02/07
  29.   Review Law of Return 12:28  |  Paolo Ortenzi 07/02/07
  30.   Lev 27 12:37  |  Paul Usiskin 07/02/07
  31.   #26 hannah should know the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 12:52  |  paul harris 07/02/07
  32.   Still coffee and paper cups. 12:53  |  Akram Zekaria 07/02/07
  33.   Brits 12:55  |  Shelly 07/02/07
  34.   #26 MArylin and the usual MISINFORMATION 12:55  |  paul harris 07/02/07
  35.   #26 CORRECTION READ HANNAH FOR MARYLIN 12:56  |  paul harris 07/02/07
  36.   Reply to Dror in Haifa (Post no. 3) 12:57  |  Johnny Weintraub 07/02/07
  37.   The anti-Israel Lobby 12:59  |  MWB 07/02/07
  38.   Paul Usiskin 13:03  |  Leah R 07/02/07
  39.   Reply to Ben Azai in London (Post No. 24) 13:08  |  Johnny Weintraub 07/02/07
  40.   SD They are not just opposing the "occupation" 13:15  |  PETER SM 07/02/07
  41.   The anti-Israel lobby - Crap article 13:18  |  Avi Cohen 07/02/07
  42.   I still have to see 13:22  |  Hastaroth 07/02/07
  43.   # 17 SD 13:25  |  Josef 07/02/07
  44.   All praise 13:28  |  Huw 07/02/07
  45.   Re: so-called `Hannah` who thinks "Disraeli`s birthplace:Morocco" 13:31  |  Vittorio 07/02/07
  46.   British jews are very proud of being British than being a jew 13:58  |  Tamir 07/02/07
  47.   37: MWB, one question 13:59  |  David Teich 07/02/07
  48.   peter sm # 13 14:01  |  dubious 07/02/07
  49.   #44 Huw,your rhetoric speaks lots for you 14:01  |  Hastaroth 07/02/07
  50.   The word is.... 14:02  |  Bill 07/02/07
  51.   Interesting 14:07  |  Stephen Murray 07/02/07
  52.   Danny - Israeli one 14:09  |  Chris Linthwaite 07/02/07
  53.   British jews 14:13  |  london jew 07/02/07
  54.   British Nationalists and Antisemites 14:24  |  Ronnie Wolman 07/02/07
  55.   DUBIOUS.Nobody should act against their countries interests. 14:27  |  PETER SM 07/02/07
  56.   `the community` 14:35  |  ruth 07/02/07
  57.   I am still amazed.. 14:47  |  Charlie Benlolo 07/02/07
  58.   # 45 vittorio - How I know the true Disraeli birthplace? 14:49  |  Hannah 07/02/07
  59.   The Likes of Dr. Jonathan Spyer are exactly why... 14:55  |  Yaakov Sullivan 07/02/07
  60.   Thee climate is set by Tony Blair et al and their weasle words 15:01  |  Ian 07/02/07
  61.   to all those who support IJV 15:05  |  rich 07/02/07
  62.   @ Najdt 15:10  |  Andy 07/02/07
  63.   GREAT COMMUNICATORS 15:16  |  PHIL 07/02/07
  64.   So Hannah... 15:18  |  Charlie Benlolo 07/02/07
  65.   to jacqueline rose in the uk 15:19  |  keith levy 07/02/07
  66.   Left Wing Ignoramuses devoid of Jewishness 15:20  |  S Judah 07/02/07
  67.   add to my previous statement 15:24  |  Andy 07/02/07
  68.   Vittorio on Disraeli #45 15:30  |  Yaakov Sullivan 07/02/07
  69.   #17 STRANGELY SD I WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE IMPRESSED 15:32  |  paul harris 07/02/07
  70.   #52, ahh Chris you missed the point 15:33  |  Danny - Israeli one 07/02/07
  71.