Genocide
-
Hamas: an erroneous silencing. Part two
This is Part two of a two-part article. In Part one I focus on the wrongness and futility of proscribing Hamas. Here, in Part two, I set out in outline Hamas’s position on ceasefires and ultimate objectives. Hamas: from 1988 to now Hamas’s original 1988 Charter prompted accusations of antisemitism, because it characterised the conflict… Continue reading
-
Hamas: an erroneous silencing
This is Part one of a two-part article. In Part two I outline Hamas’s general position on what, for it, constitutes an acceptable negotiated settlement. I aim to publish part two in five days’ time, Tuesday 25 June. It is not possible to defeat Hamas. Therefore, as a war aim, it is irrational for Israel… Continue reading
-
Archbishop Welby and the Chief Rabbi : Conjoined in error
I’m a Jewish member of the Lambeth Witness Group (LWG), which is part of the wider organisation the Campaign against Misrepresentation in Public Affairs, Information and the News. Otherwise known as CAMPAIN (without a ‘g’). On the 25 June, the LWG congregated outside Westminster Abbey to give voice, though a series of speeches, to our… Continue reading
-
Diaspora Jews and moral schizophrenia
It surely is paradoxical – ‘Paradox’ a person, thing, or situation that has two opposite features and therefore seems strange – that Jews in the UK live, prosper, and have the same civil, religious, and political rights as any other UK citizen. Yet, so many UK Jews support, often vehemently, a state – Israel –… Continue reading
-
Palestine and the strategic indifference of the West
We are witnessing a process of strategic indifference to the fate of the Palestinians, in Gaza, of course, but also not to be forgotten in the escalation of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. By strategic indifference, I mean that the USA, the UK and the West in general, have demonstrated, only… Continue reading
-
Besottedness with Israel: It’s over
It’s over. The besottedness with Israel is drawing to a close. Among the general UK population, but particularly among younger generations, sympathy and support for Israel is plummeting, and the trajectory of disdain is heading ever downward. Thus, a poll conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Action For Humanity International reported on the 4 April… Continue reading
-
Before 7th October
Zone of Interest is a depressing, fascinating British film, performed entirely in German. It charts the life of Rudolf Höss, Auschwitz’s Nazi commandant who, along with his family – wife, five children – lived in the family home. That home, along with its extensive, walled and well-tended garden, abutted Auschwitz concentration camp such that it… Continue reading
-
Israel and its uncritical proponents: a danger to Jews
Jews genuinely concerned about antisemitism are ill-served by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) for its actions and approach are more likely to engender antisemitism than to counter it. This is because its main function is to protect and promote the foremost generator of antisemitism, the State of Israel. It is joined in this enterprise by… Continue reading
-
The no solution, two-state solution
It is not a requirement of belief, that prayers are answered. People pray anyway, often in situations when more materially substantial actions are not available, either to salve a hurt, or correct a wrong. So it is with the optimistically titled two-state solution. It had all but expired as a meaningful, let alone just, approach… Continue reading
-
Israel: A state of contradiction
The Israeli state sustains itself despite the contradictions that underpin it. Viewed this way, it’s an inherently unstable structure, its disparate parts coalescing in various formations to produce fragile, temporary, governmental coalitions of ill-grace. The state’s foundations rest, in part, on sustained acts of legerdemain. On ethical, conceptual and theological trickery. This, in part, contributes… Continue reading
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Recent Posts
- Chief Rabbi Mirvis: Moral purpose shattered
- A charade and a reflection on relative time: Jewish Establishment meets with Foreign Secretary Miliband
- You don’t have to succumb to…
- Synod begins loosening the shackles that tied it to the pro-Israel Jewish Establishment
- Clumsy and wrong: Jewish Establishment’s attempt to influence Church of England’s York Synod
Bernard Spiegal 