In a letter to the Independent, UKIP FOI Press Officer, Jacob Campbell vehemently refutes false claims about Israel's recent security operations
DEAR SIR, It is with horror that I read that Israel has orchestrated a massive cover-up of its brutality in the Gaza flotilla raid, that the IDF murdered 759 innocent Palestinians in Operation Cast Lead, and that Israeli soldiers used civilians as human shields ('Israel betrays its ideals by whitewashing the military', 24 January). I read these things with horror because none of them is true. The Turkel Commission was a scrupulously thorough investigation into the military's handling of the flotilla incident which was overseen by a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a Canadian QC. Both international observers were fully satisfied with the impartiality of the commission. To all but the most rabidly anti-Zionist demagogue, it is patently clear that responsibility for the 9 Turkish deaths lies solely with those who resisted IDF commandos by attacking them with knives and iron bars. As for the 2008 Gaza War, the number of Palestinian civilians killed was approximately 295 (1 in 4 deaths), despite the best efforts of Hamas to maximise civilian casualties by operating in densely populated areas. This makes Operation Cast Lead one of the most humanely fought conflicts in the history of modern urban warfare. The sheer mendacity of the claim that IDF soldiers used children as human shields does not even warrant a response. How can peace ever be possible when such lies are allowed to masquerade as fact in the pages of British newspapers?
JACOB CAMPBELL, York Press Officer, UKIP Friends of Israel
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
End this Misguided Criticism of Israeli Settlements
In a letter to the Guardian newspaper UKIP FOI Press Officer Jacob Campbell argues the path to peace is not be found in settlements
DEAR SIR, Not for the first time, I read with exasperation that "all settlements built on territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war are illegal under international law" ('Palestine papers are distortion of truth, say Palestinian officials', 24 January). No they are not. The illegality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is contingent upon their violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies". Yet those territories captured quite legitimately in self-defence by Israel during the 1967 war are not "occupied" at all, since they did not previously belong to any sovereign power. Furthermore, the notion that settlement-building is "one of the most sensitive issues to be resolved in the conflict" is demonstrably incorrect. Thousands of Israelis settled in the Sinai between 1967 and 1982, and every last one of them was uprooted in accordance with the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. In short, settlements are not a barrier to peace.
JACOB CAMPBELL, York Press Officer, UKIP Friends of Israel
DEAR SIR, Not for the first time, I read with exasperation that "all settlements built on territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war are illegal under international law" ('Palestine papers are distortion of truth, say Palestinian officials', 24 January). No they are not. The illegality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is contingent upon their violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies". Yet those territories captured quite legitimately in self-defence by Israel during the 1967 war are not "occupied" at all, since they did not previously belong to any sovereign power. Furthermore, the notion that settlement-building is "one of the most sensitive issues to be resolved in the conflict" is demonstrably incorrect. Thousands of Israelis settled in the Sinai between 1967 and 1982, and every last one of them was uprooted in accordance with the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. In short, settlements are not a barrier to peace.
JACOB CAMPBELL, York Press Officer, UKIP Friends of Israel
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
"A Textbook Example of the European Left's Delusion Over the Arab-Israeli Conflict
In a letter to The Guardian, UKIP FOI Press Officer Jacob Campbell points out the flaws in Naomi Shepherd's thinking.
DEAR SIR,
Thanks to Naomi Shepherd for her article ('Israel needs a coherent opposition', 19 January), which is a textbook example of the European Left's delusion over the Arab-Israeli conflict. If only Israel could get its act together, she sighs, there would be peace in the Middle East.
How many more failed negotiations will it take for Ms Shepherd to realise that no concession Israel can afford to make will be great enough for the Palestinians to accept? The idea that "the Palestine Authority [sic] needs only an end to settlement building to resume talks" is absurd, not least because even the recent ten-month moratorium could not coax the PA back to the table. The settlements issue is a red herring; the real clincher is the Palestinian 'right of return', which would be a death sentence for the Jewish state.
Even more outlandish is the belief that "Hamas is prepared for an indefinite truce" - a pronouncement so trusting of a fascist regime that it would make Neville Chamberlain blush - when precedent shows that Hamas only favours ceasefires when it needs time to rearm. Common sense dictates the futility of negotiating with someone whose raison d'être is to have you annihilated, but Ms Shepherd is apparently impervious to common sense.
Whether "the time is ripe for an end to the conflict" is questionable, but Israel cannot be blamed for Palestinian obduracy.
JACOB CAMPBELL, York
Press Officer, UKIP Friends of Israel"
DEAR SIR,
Thanks to Naomi Shepherd for her article ('Israel needs a coherent opposition', 19 January), which is a textbook example of the European Left's delusion over the Arab-Israeli conflict. If only Israel could get its act together, she sighs, there would be peace in the Middle East.
How many more failed negotiations will it take for Ms Shepherd to realise that no concession Israel can afford to make will be great enough for the Palestinians to accept? The idea that "the Palestine Authority [sic] needs only an end to settlement building to resume talks" is absurd, not least because even the recent ten-month moratorium could not coax the PA back to the table. The settlements issue is a red herring; the real clincher is the Palestinian 'right of return', which would be a death sentence for the Jewish state.
Even more outlandish is the belief that "Hamas is prepared for an indefinite truce" - a pronouncement so trusting of a fascist regime that it would make Neville Chamberlain blush - when precedent shows that Hamas only favours ceasefires when it needs time to rearm. Common sense dictates the futility of negotiating with someone whose raison d'être is to have you annihilated, but Ms Shepherd is apparently impervious to common sense.
Whether "the time is ripe for an end to the conflict" is questionable, but Israel cannot be blamed for Palestinian obduracy.
JACOB CAMPBELL, York
Press Officer, UKIP Friends of Israel"
Monday, 17 January 2011
Letter to the Independent
UKIP FOI Press Officer, Jacob Campbell has sent the following letter to The Independent highlighting the hypocrisy of Arab citizens living in East Jerusalem.
DEAR SIR,
Why are Arab residents of East Jerusalem protesting the construction of 1,400 new Israeli homes ('New Jerusalem settlement hits peace process', 17 January) when a recent poll informs us that a majority of them would rather live in Israel anyway?
Decades of Israeli 'occupation' have brought them access to world-class healthcare, education and employment, as well as the ability to vote in the only free and fair elections held in the Middle East. With plans in the pipeline for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital threatening this comfortable status quo, they should be welcoming the new settlement.
Instead, it appears that East Jerusalem's Arabs would rather have their cake and eat it. While content to reap the benefits of living under the ward of the Jewish state, they are appalled by the prospect of having Jews in their neighbourhood.
Nimbyism, it seems, is alive and well in the Holy Land.
JACOB CAMPBELL, York
Press Officer, UKIP Friends of Israel
DEAR SIR,
Why are Arab residents of East Jerusalem protesting the construction of 1,400 new Israeli homes ('New Jerusalem settlement hits peace process', 17 January) when a recent poll informs us that a majority of them would rather live in Israel anyway?
Decades of Israeli 'occupation' have brought them access to world-class healthcare, education and employment, as well as the ability to vote in the only free and fair elections held in the Middle East. With plans in the pipeline for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital threatening this comfortable status quo, they should be welcoming the new settlement.
Instead, it appears that East Jerusalem's Arabs would rather have their cake and eat it. While content to reap the benefits of living under the ward of the Jewish state, they are appalled by the prospect of having Jews in their neighbourhood.
Nimbyism, it seems, is alive and well in the Holy Land.
JACOB CAMPBELL, York
Press Officer, UKIP Friends of Israel
Friday, 14 January 2011
Expose this ignorant bigotry
In a piece published in the Jewish Chronicle, Prof. David Conway makes an eye-opening criticism of the United Nations Conference on Racism.
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Israel finds a friend in UKIP – mazel tov!
Shortly before being appointed the new (acting) UKIP FOI Press Officer, Jacob Campbell, expressed his support for the organisation on his personal blog which is reproduced here:
Israel has never been in greater need of friends than at the present time. Now, thanks to the efforts of a few dedicated members, it has found one in UKIP.
A lot has changed in British government since the days of Tony Blair’s noble and unwavering support for the beleaguered Jewish state. Now we have a Prime Minister who, despite being tragically identical to Blair in almost every respect, has decided that this is the one Blairite legacy that must be atoned for.
On a recent visit to Turkey (to support its bid for EU membership, no less), David Cameron tacitly condoned Hamas terrorism by describing the Gaza Strip as “a prison camp” – a claim as absurd as it was sycophantic.
On top of that we have a Foreign Secretary who, although notionally a ‘Conservative Friend of Israel’, refused to sack the British Ambassador to Lebanon for heaping praise on the leader of genocidal terror group Hezbollah. He is also an expounder of the bizarre charge that Israel acted “disproportionately” in its 2006 offensive against the same organisation – as if wars are ever fought and won by proportionality.
Of all the mainstream party leaders, only leader-to-be Nigel Farage has been outspoken in his support for Israel. In an interview last year with the Jewish Chronicle, he said: “There is a fundamental dislike of Israel, but it’s more than that. And we find that objectionable and worrying.”
In the same interview, he even went so far as to call this anti-Zionist fervour “almost a new trendy form of anti-Semitism.” Nigel is, as ever, spot on.
I, for one, would like to express my support for this new movement within the party, and to applaud the hard work of those involved in getting it off the ground. Israel and UKIP are, after all, united in the battle for national self-determination.
Israel has never been in greater need of friends than at the present time. Now, thanks to the efforts of a few dedicated members, it has found one in UKIP.
A lot has changed in British government since the days of Tony Blair’s noble and unwavering support for the beleaguered Jewish state. Now we have a Prime Minister who, despite being tragically identical to Blair in almost every respect, has decided that this is the one Blairite legacy that must be atoned for.
On a recent visit to Turkey (to support its bid for EU membership, no less), David Cameron tacitly condoned Hamas terrorism by describing the Gaza Strip as “a prison camp” – a claim as absurd as it was sycophantic.
On top of that we have a Foreign Secretary who, although notionally a ‘Conservative Friend of Israel’, refused to sack the British Ambassador to Lebanon for heaping praise on the leader of genocidal terror group Hezbollah. He is also an expounder of the bizarre charge that Israel acted “disproportionately” in its 2006 offensive against the same organisation – as if wars are ever fought and won by proportionality.
Of all the mainstream party leaders, only leader-to-be Nigel Farage has been outspoken in his support for Israel. In an interview last year with the Jewish Chronicle, he said: “There is a fundamental dislike of Israel, but it’s more than that. And we find that objectionable and worrying.”
In the same interview, he even went so far as to call this anti-Zionist fervour “almost a new trendy form of anti-Semitism.” Nigel is, as ever, spot on.
I, for one, would like to express my support for this new movement within the party, and to applaud the hard work of those involved in getting it off the ground. Israel and UKIP are, after all, united in the battle for national self-determination.
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Message to Alex Stevenson
In response to Alex Stevenson's article " BNP rhetoric 'becoming like Ukip' ", I have sent him the following message:
I was greatly saddened to read in your article about how the BNP are trying to tone down their racism in order to gain more appeal to the British electorate. I have noticed that in Nick Griffin's TV appearances he has tended to focus more and more on the need to preserve "Britishness", and has avoided directly answering questions on race- he has even been heard in the media trying to defend Israel. I am deeply grateful to you for exposing the tactics of this sick man who has even published works denying the historical accuracy of mainstream holocaust study.
It does not surprise me Political Quarterly has found the BNP's language is beginning to sound similar to UKIP's. However, it is key people remember the vast difference between the two parties. UKIP is a fundamentally non-racist, liberal party binded squarely to the Enlightenment principles of equality for all people regardless of race or creed.
People should remember that the BNP does not want to be like UKIP. It is merely copying our political strategy which involves a expounding the need to protect the nation-state, a fundamental democratic principle developed by thinkers including John Stuart Mill. As an active member of the British Jewish community and Director of UKIP Friends of Israel (www.ukipfoi.co.uk) . I would just like to thank you for your article and I hope you will find my comments useful.
I was greatly saddened to read in your article about how the BNP are trying to tone down their racism in order to gain more appeal to the British electorate. I have noticed that in Nick Griffin's TV appearances he has tended to focus more and more on the need to preserve "Britishness", and has avoided directly answering questions on race- he has even been heard in the media trying to defend Israel. I am deeply grateful to you for exposing the tactics of this sick man who has even published works denying the historical accuracy of mainstream holocaust study.
It does not surprise me Political Quarterly has found the BNP's language is beginning to sound similar to UKIP's. However, it is key people remember the vast difference between the two parties. UKIP is a fundamentally non-racist, liberal party binded squarely to the Enlightenment principles of equality for all people regardless of race or creed.
People should remember that the BNP does not want to be like UKIP. It is merely copying our political strategy which involves a expounding the need to protect the nation-state, a fundamental democratic principle developed by thinkers including John Stuart Mill. As an active member of the British Jewish community and Director of UKIP Friends of Israel (www.ukipfoi.co.uk) . I would just like to thank you for your article and I hope you will find my comments useful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)